How do you measure spaghetti?

purplishblue
purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
edited November 5 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm never sure how to measure spaghetti, the package says something like 1/2 inch think of uncooked but that's ridiculous to estimate. Do you just cook it, and then measure it by the cup-full?
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Replies

  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Dry with a scale (grams).
  • purplishblue
    purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
    Oh, I don't have a scale. I'd rather not get one though.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    The last time I did it was cooked with a measuring cup

    Catelli's whole wheat - 155 calories for 1 cup
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    Don't measure after cooking unless the package gives you a serving size for cooked. You'll eat a lot more than one serving if you do it that way. If you won't get a scale, then do the 1/2 inches think using a measuring tape. A scale really is the way to go for pasta, though.

    155 grams for a cup of cooked pasta seems really, really low. That seems more like the dry value.
  • sbarella
    sbarella Posts: 713 Member
    There's an app for that. Not kidding. My boyfriend always used it before buying a scale :laugh:
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
    I also measure dry, in grams, with a scale. While you said you'd rather not buy one, you would probably come to love it because it helps with measuring everything accurately. I can't even count how many times a day I use it...or maybe I can - it would be almost equal to the foods in my diary/recipes.
  • purplishblue
    purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Oh, I don't have a scale. I'd rather not get one though.

    Then you won't be accurate.

    Your choice.
  • chickenz
    chickenz Posts: 101 Member
    Use a scale and measure uncooked. It is the most accurate way to go.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    Spaghetti is one of the few times I use a cup instead of a scale. I do that because the serving size on the box is for dry pasta. I cook for 4 people, and I am not going to cook my 2 oz separately. That just seems incredibly silly to me, and completely unnecessary.

    I lost 53 pounds in 2013 (this is a new account), so it obviously worked.
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
    A scale is the only reliable method. A basic kitchen food scale really doesn't cost that much these days and every cook should have one.

    If you won't get one or don't want a scale, then you're stuck with eyeballing the box contents and dividing to get 2 oz portions. Spaghetti comes in different sizes so the size of the bundles will vary based on that.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    there are spaghetti measures with different diameter holes pasta-gauge1.serendipityThumb.png
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Oh, I don't have a scale. I'd rather not get one though.
    Why not? Go get one at Kmart. $20 and a whole lot of accuracy.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Oh, I don't have a scale. I'd rather not get one though.


    Why not?

    Digital scale at Walmart measuring in g, oz, kg and lb = $12.97

    WELL WORTH the price.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.
    But, calorie counting is one of those things that it's good to be obsessive about. I also had an eating disorder when I was younger, and accurate calorie counting does not trigger that at all for me.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I weigh it dry. One serving is 2 oz.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.

    Okay well in that case just realize it won't be completely accurate. Look at how many servings are in the package and divide the dry spaghetti into that many equal portions. Then cook one of them.
  • purplishblue
    purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.
    But, calorie counting is one of those things that it's good to be obsessive about. I also had an eating disorder when I was younger, and accurate calorie counting does not trigger that at all for me.
    Ok, and that's good it works for you. Personally I feel like weighing my food plus counting calories is just too much. Due to my past I'd prefer to not get that far into things such as measuring, I just don't feel like that would be good for me.
  • StarChanger
    StarChanger Posts: 605 Member
    Excellent answer...for the situation at hand.
  • KristinD1977
    KristinD1977 Posts: 100 Member
    This... but if you don't have/won't get a scale then you can pick up a spaghetti measuring (stick)... I don't know what it's really called but it's a piece of plastic with holes varying circumference for different serving sizes.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    I weigh it dry then cook. Really the only way to measure pasta of any sort and be accurate.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.
    But, calorie counting is one of those things that it's good to be obsessive about. I also had an eating disorder when I was younger, and accurate calorie counting does not trigger that at all for me.
    Ok, and that's good it works for you. Personally I feel like weighing my food plus counting calories is just too much. Due to my past I'd prefer to not get that far into things such as measuring, I just don't feel like that would be good for me.

    How are you planning to count calories if you don't know how much you are eating? :huh:
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    there are spaghetti measures with different diameter holes pasta-gauge1.serendipityThumb.png

    I believe you can buy something like this at Walmart/Target in housewears.
  • laurimaki
    laurimaki Posts: 47 Member
    I'm afraid of getting to obsessive- past ED.
    But, calorie counting is one of those things that it's good to be obsessive about. I also had an eating disorder when I was younger, and accurate calorie counting does not trigger that at all for me.
    Ok, and that's good it works for you. Personally I feel like weighing my food plus counting calories is just too much. Due to my past I'd prefer to not get that far into things such as measuring, I just don't feel like that would be good for me.

    then why measure at all? weighing, measuring, et cetera... ithe concept is all the same...some forms are just more accurate than others.
  • running_shoe
    running_shoe Posts: 180 Member
    You'll need a food scale. Trust me, you won't regret the small cost; you'll find yourself using it for everything. I looked it up once and can't recall the source, but 85 grams of dry pasta is 176 grams cooked. I just cook a mess of pasta and then take 176 grams and charge myself for the 85 grams dry.
  • blueskiesnatw
    blueskiesnatw Posts: 18
    But different things are triggering for different people?!
  • poesch77
    poesch77 Posts: 1,005 Member
    a serving size is 2 oz dry....one cup cooked...about 200 calories.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    Don't measure after cooking unless the package gives you a serving size for cooked. You'll eat a lot more than one serving if you do it that way. If you won't get a scale, then do the 1/2 inches think using a measuring tape. A scale really is the way to go for pasta, though.

    155 grams for a cup of cooked pasta seems really, really low. That seems more like the dry value.

    I used what was in the data base - figured it was accurate as how could you measure a cup of spaghetti when it's dry?

    Also I am a carb lover and limited myself to the one cup and use spaghetti squash to offset the extra I would like to have.

    edit - the 155 was for calories for 1 cup cooked whole wheat catelli pasta and it was not mashed into the cup so it was probably less than a cup but still used what was in the data base for that entry - guess I am going to have to start weighing it raw but that's a pain as I am not cooking just for myself and I am not going to subject my 23 yr old fit son to my limitations.
  • AHack3
    AHack3 Posts: 173 Member
    I cook it and eat 1/2 cup. It's about 100 calories.
  • ReinasWrath
    ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
    I just got a scale a few weeks ago so now I use that (and I just want to say wow at how much I was accidentally overeating before cuz I couldn't properly weigh it out) but before I'd just measure it in a cup after it was cooked. Most of the boxes of noodles I get say 1 cup cooked = approx 2 oz anyway. It isn't perfect but is better than nothing. :ohwell:
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