Which type of dried pasta cook faster? [Here is why]

There are so many different types of pasta shapes, each with its own thickness and different taste, clearly, cooking times also change dramatically between one dried pasta shape and another.

Angel Hair is the fastest cooking pasta shape, which cooks only 4-5 minutes in boiling water. Thanks to their wafer-thin structure they are very quick to cook. They resemble spaghetti but with a very fine diameter. Angel Hair can reach cooking in a short time compared to all other pasta shapes.

In this post, I will tell you which type of pasta cooks faster, that is, it has to boil in water for fewer minutes than the others.

But why do some types of dry pasta cook before others?

Dry pasta cooking times are mostly given by the volume/surface ratio, the lower the ratio, the shorter the cooking time will be: if the surface in contact with the water increases with respect to the total volume to be cooked, the time decreases.

The small pastina for soup have a relatively small volume compared to the surface they expose, therefore having very short cooking times. Spaghetti cooks quickly for the same reason.

Please note: if you intend to cook your pasta with the passive cooking method it is better that you read this other post, as below you will find the timing for classic cooking in boiling water.

Which type of pasta cook faster?

Considering every pasta shape, both short, long, and stuffed pasta, there is one precise shape of pasta that stands out for being the fastest to reach the “al dente” cooking degree.

The absolute fastest cooking pasta shape is Angel Hair, also known as Capellini, or “fine hair,” which cooks in only 4-5 minutes in boiling water. They resemble spaghetti but with a very fine diameter. Angel Hair can reach cooking in a short time compared to all other pasta shapes.

Here you can see a table ranking the top 10 fastest pasta shapes to cook, as you can see in the top 5 places there are 4 long pasta shapes, this is because long pasta often has a very thin diameter that allows it to cook in less time.

Form of Pasta	Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Long Pasta	Angel Hair	4 – 5 minutes
Soup	Pastina	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Linguine Fini	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Spaghetti Rigati	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Thin Spaghetti	6 – 7 minutes
Soup	Fideo Cut Spaghetti	6 – 7 minutes
Short Pasta	Mini Wheels	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Elbows	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Mini Farfalle	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Rotini	7 – 8 minutes

Now that you know which pasta shape to cook in record time, now you’ll want to know how to season your Angel Hair pasta in the true Italian way, continue reading at the link.

If you are a lover of short pasta or you want to know more about the cooking times of various pasta shapes, continue reading below.

Which type of Short Pasta cook faster?

Take a look now at the ranking of the 10 short pasta shapes, sorted by cooking pace.

As you can see, there is no clear winner emerging from the ranking, but what is noticeable is that among the short pasta shapes, mini pasta are the one that cook the fastest.

Mini Wheels, Elbows, Mini Farfalle and Rotini are the short pasta shapes that cook in the least amount of time, data show that they cook in just 7-8 minutes.

Speaking of short pasta, did you know that here in Italy we season short pasta with sauces that are different from those we use for long pasta?

Form of Pasta	Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Short Pasta	Mini Wheels	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Elbows	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Mini Farfalle	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Rotini	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Tri-Color Rotini	7 – 8 minutes
Short Pasta	Pipette	8 – 9 minutes
Short Pasta	Mini Penne	9 – 10 minutes
Short Pasta	Campanelle	10 – 11 minutes
Short Pasta	Casarecce	10 – 11 minutes
Short Pasta	Mezzi Rigatoni	10 – 11 minutes

Which type of Long Pasta cook faster?

Let’s see now the ranking of the long pasta shapes, sorted by cooking pace.

Form of Pasta	Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Long Pasta	Angel Hair	4 – 5 minutes
Long Pasta	Linguine Fini	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Spaghetti Rigati	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Thin Spaghetti	6 – 7 minutes
Long Pasta	Bucatini	7 – 8 minutes
Long Pasta	Linguine	9 – 10 minutes
Long Pasta	Spaghetti	9 – 10 minutes
Long Pasta	Thick Spaghetti	11 – 12 minutes
Long Pasta	Fettuccine	12 – 13 minutes

As you can see if we consider only long pasta shapes, the fastest to reach cooking are Angel Hair, Linguine Fini, Spaghetti Rigati and Thin Spaghetti, all these pasta shapes are characterized by a very fine diameter that makes them reach cooking in a few minutes.

Which type of pasta cook slower?

Curious to know which Italian pasta format is slowest to cook?

Here is a ranking of the 10 pasta shapes that need to cook for the longest time.

As you can see Large Shells is the pasta shape with the longest cooking time, 14-15 minutes. Probably because it is a fairly thick one with a complex shape.

Form of Pasta	Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Shells	Large Shells	14 – 15 minutes
Long Pasta	Fettuccine	12 – 13 minutes
Short Pasta	Gemelli	12 – 13 minutes
Short Pasta	Orecchiette	12 – 13 minutes
Short Pasta	Rigatoni	12 – 13 minutes
Shells	Jumbo Shells	9 – 12 minutes
Long Pasta	Thick Spaghetti	11 – 12 minutes
Short Pasta	Cellentani	11 – 12 minutes
Short Pasta	Farfalle	11 – 12 minutes
Short Pasta	Penne	11 – 12 minutes

Which pasta shape cook faster, Spaghetti or Fettuccine?

Spaghetti cook faster than Fettuccine pasta. Generally, spaghetti has 9 to 10 minutes of cooking time, while fettuccine has 12 to 13 minutes of cooking time.

Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Spaghetti	9 – 10 minutes
Fettuccine	12 – 13 minutes

Please note that it is best to check and follow the cooking time of each pasta on its original package before cooking it.

Which pasta shape cook faster, Spaghetti or Linguine?

There is generally no significant difference between the cooking times of spaghetti and linguini, both formats cook in about 9-10 minutes.

Shape of Pasta	Cooking Time
Spaghetti	9 – 10 minutes
Linguine	9 – 10 minutes