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    Spaghetti Serving size... need help ASAP

    Posts: 26
    edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
    Hey!

    One thing I have never been good at is determining serving size. Does anyone know what is considered, by looking at it, a normal serving size of spaghetti? The box says 2 ounces, but no clue what that looks like when looking at a bowl of the yummy stuff!

    Thanks!
    Rhonda

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    Replies

    • Posts: 9,964 Member
      2 oz equals one cup
    • Posts: 531
      http://www.barillaus.com/Home/pages/Measuring_Pasta.aspx
    • Posts: 155
      No it doesn't. 2 ounces is 1/4 cup
    • Posts: 9,964 Member
      Funny, the website I went today said for thin spaghetti 2 oz was 1 cup...I'll have to double check
    • Posts: 2,447 Member
      I'm glad this was asked! Thank you mvI1014, that's super informative! I have a digital scale so I use that, but for out of town this will be a big help!
    • Posts: 9,964 Member
      I just double checked and 2oz for thin spaghetti is 1 cup...thanks for the website
    • Posts: 1,570 Member
      No it doesn't. 2 ounces is 1/4 cup
      2 ounces dry will generally be 1 cup after it's cooked.
    • Posts: 151 Member
      Make a circle with your thumb and index finder that is about the same diameter as a quarter. Put enough long pasta, such as spaghetti or vermicelli into the space to fill the circle and you will have about two ounces of dry pasta. Two ounces of dry pasta yields about 1 cup of cooked pasta.
      Another way to do it is to take a whole 1-pound box of pasta and divide it in half. Put one half aside and then you will have 8 ounces to work with. Divide it into four equal parts and each part will be about two ounces.
      As you can see, two ounces is not a whole lot of pasta. It's very easy to consume 2 cups, or 4 ounces worth, instead of 1 cup if you aren't paying attention both when you are cooking and when you are eating it.
    • Posts: 583 Member
      could you just weigh it? I seperated it by weight using 4 oz as a 1/2 cup and 8 oz as 1 cup and went from there...Not sure if that is right though
    • Posts: 151 Member
      Answer to this mystery: Two ounces of dry spaghetti swells up to become 1 cup of cooked spaghetti once you add the dry to the boiling water.
    • Posts: 9
      I use a digital scale, but thanks for the website mvl1014.
    • Posts: 17 Member
      nice link - thanks!
    • Posts: 531
      glad everyone found it useful!

      To be honest I bookmarked like a week ago when someone else posted it. I don't remember who it was, but all credit to them: thank you!
    • Posts: 901 Member
      I have one of those circle measuring thingys for pasta. After it is cooked, I still measure out 1 cup worth of pasta. After 2 years of this lifestyle change, I can eye ball a lot of portion sizes, EXCEPT pasta. Thus I still measure each and every time. I very rarely ever order pasta out at a restaurant because: 1]they never have whole wheat/grain pasta as a choice, 2] It is too easy to cook at home.
    • Posts: 155
      No it doesn't. 2 ounces is 1/4 cup

      Yup I get the Duh award for the day. Must have been brain freeze from all those Losing for Life Challenger reports. Thanks Ann for clearing all this up for us.
    • Posts: 20
      The box says 2 oz, is it for dry? Also, I weigh it and cooked it and it more than a cup...
    • Posts: 1,787 Member
      The box says 2oz for a serving. This is a dry measurement, and it's by weight -- not volume. Two weighed ounces of dry pasta. How this cooks up will usually be about one cup, but it frankly varies by cooking method, brand of pasta, etc. Better to weigh your dry pasta at the outset for precision.
    • Posts: 1,216 Member
      2oz dry is apx 4oz cooked. (I think) That's what I have been doing anyway. I googled it once and hope I got the right information. :laugh:
    • Posts: 1,390 Member
      2oz dry is apx 4oz cooked. (I think) That's what I have been doing anyway. I googled it once and hope I got the right information. :laugh:

      This is correct. I weighed it dry and cooked because I REALLY wanted to know.

      I gave up trying to guess cups etc, and just weigh it out using scales. Seems pasta is really difficult to learn portion sizes by sight.
    • Posts: 204 Member
      I just learned something! Thanks! :smile:
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