How much macaroni do you cook per person? Macaroni is a popular type of pasta, but it can be quite difficult to determine the amount of macaroni per person. Of course, this also depends on several factors. In this blog, we’ll tell you more about the amount of macaroni per person.
How much macaroni to cook per person?
125 grams of uncooked macaroni is the amount of macaroni you should cook per person. This amount of macaroni is enough for an adult person and is used in a main course. The amount of macaroni per person for an appetizer is 100 grams.
The first question you should ask yourself is: what do I want to use macaroni for? Will you use it in an appetizer or main course? For a hearty sauce or a light one? By answering these questions, you’ll soon find out how much macaroni you should use
Quantity of macaroni as starter
In the Netherlands it may not be very common, but in Italy pasta is often eaten as an appetizer. Are you cooking several courses and want to eat pasta in an Italian way? Then you can choose to serve macaroni as a starter.
Make sure you don’t prepare too much macaroni, so there is enough room left for the main course. If you want to prepare macaroni as a starter, we recommend you to use 80 grams of macaroni per person. We are talking here about 80 grams of uncooked macaroni.
Quantity of macaroni as main course
Most people in the Netherlands choose to prepare macaroni as a main course. In that case use a little more pasta. To make it easy, we give you a guideline that we always use: 125 grams of macaroni per person.
By keeping this amount of macaroni per person, you can be sure you have enough pasta. But these are not the only factors that play into determining how much macaroni you need. Have you determined whether you want to make a starter or main course with macaroni? Then don’t forget to include the following points as well.
The type of pasta dish
As a pasta lover, we probably don’t need to tell you that you can really go all out with pasta. Let your imagination run wild and create dishes with meat, fish, vegetables, olive oil, tomato sauce, you name it! This also applies to macaroni of course. We see that macaroni is often combined with tomato sauce or cheese. We love that too. But for once, choose something different and use macaroni in a less obvious pasta dish. Get inspired and check out all the pasta recipes.
Have you chosen a hearty, well-filled sauce for your main course? Then we recommend using a little less macaroni. In that case, use 80 grams of macaroni per person. This way you make sure the sauce and pasta are in the right proportion.
Of course, the same applies the other way around. Are you using a light sauce, with olive oil for example? Then use a little more macaroni: 120 grams of macaroni per person. The amount of macaroni you use depends on the dish you want to make.
Large or small eater
How much macaroni you need to be full is personal to everyone. Some are full after the appetizer, where others can easily eat three courses. This shows whether you are a small or a big eater. Take this into account when determining the amount of macaroni per person.
Quantity of macaroni for a small eater
Are you a small eater? Then we recommend adjusting the amount of macaroni you cook accordingly. For a typical pasta dish, choose for example 80 grams of macaroni per person.
Quantity of macaroni for a big eater
Do you consider yourself a big eater? Then choose a bit more macaroni. For an average pasta dish, we recommend 120 grams of macaroni per person. If you have leftover pasta, that’s not a problem either. Pasta is still delicious the next day!
Quantity of macaroni for children
Macaroni is known to be very popular with children. The little pasta fans eat a little less and therefore need less macaroni. Depending on the age, adjust the number of grams accordingly. We always use a guideline of 80 grams of pasta per person for children.
Would you like to know more about the amount of pasta you need per person? Then take a look at our blog: how much pasta per person.
Quantities of macaroni summed up
In this overview you can see at a glance how many grams of macaroni you need per person. Pretty handy according to us! Of course it is a guideline that varies per person. But we think it’s very handy to keep in mind when cooking.
Macaroni as starter: 80 grams
Macaroni as main course: 125 grams
Macaroni for small eaters/children: 80 grams
Macaroni for big eaters: 125 grams
Next time when cooking macaroni, keep these amounts in mind. Is the number of grams not quite right for you? Then write this down so you’re sure to use the right amount next time.
How do you weigh macaroni?
Now that you know how much macaroni you will need for your pasta dish, you can get started. The only thing left to do is to weigh the macaroni. There’s nothing more annoying than finding out you didn’t put enough macaroni in the pan.
Avoid disappointed faces and make sure you use the right amount. We recommend always using a food scale. This way you can see exactly how many grams of macaroni you put in the pan.
A big advantage to a food scale is that you can weigh not only macaroni, but also all kinds of other foods. Once you’ve purchased one you won’t want to do anything else. A good food scale will give you years of pleasure!
How long do you cook macaroni?
In addition to how much macaroni, the cooking time of macaroni is an important factor that affects your cooking process. We understand that it can be quite difficult to determine the correct cooking time of macaroni. That’s why we’re happy to tell you more about it.
On average, macaroni is cooked in 9 minutes. We recommend always looking carefully at the packaging for the exact cooking time. You’ll see that you’ll cook the macaroni well if you stick to this cooking time.
To make sure macaroni is cooked in the perfect way, we have put down on paper a number of tips and tricks. You can read all about the cooking time of macaroni in our blog: the cooking time of macaroni.
How to cook macaroni.
Now that you know how much macaroni you have to use per person, you can really start cooking the macaroni. But how do you do this best? Cooking macaroni may seem simple, but there are some things to keep in mind.
Because the way of cooking macaroni has a big impact on your final dish, there is not enough space in this blog to tell all of them. That’s why we wrote a blog about it where you can read all about macaroni cooking. Based on 6 handy cooking tips, you can cook macaroni like a real chef. Read it in our blog: How to cook macaroni!
What kind of macaroni do you choose?
There are many different types of macaroni available. At first glance, it may seem like there is little difference in the types of macaroni. But nothing could be further from the truth!
There are a number of things that allow you to tell if you have a good quality or inferior quality macaroni. We will list the factors below that determine this below. Use these criteria to choose your macaroni and you will notice the difference!
The ingredients
Pasta usually consists of durum wheat and water and this is the case with macaroni as well. But it doesn’t stop there. There is in fact a big difference between hard durum wheat and soft durum wheat.
Soft wheat is a lot cheaper and is therefore often used. You’ll see this especially in pastas from the supermarket.
Durum wheat has to be imported from Italy. Hard wheat makes the pasta a lot firmer and it does not fall apart as easily. It contains more proteins of better quality and you can taste that!
In our pasta shop you will only find pastas made from durum wheat. Our macaroni also contains this ingredient and is therefore an excellent choice.
The production process
Most pasta is made in large quantities. Here, the pasta dough passes through a Teflon mold which makes the pasta smooth. The advantage of a teflon mold is that a lot of pasta can be made in a short time. Many producers choose this way of making pasta. You can recognize pasta made with a Teflon mold by its smooth exterior.
Pasta can also be made using a bronze mold. This takes more time but has great advantages. The bronze mold makes the pasta rougher in texture and the sauce sticks to it a lot better.
In addition to being made from durum wheat, our pastas are also only produced using a bronze mold. This is the Italian way of making pasta so quality is guaranteed.
Next time while purchasing pasta, pay attention to the texture. Is the pasta smooth? Chances are it was made with a Teflon mold and the sauce slides off easily. Our preference is always pasta that has gone through a bronze mold.
The drying process
Once the pasta dough has gone through a mold, all that’s left is to dry it. Simple isn’t it? There is more to it than meets the eye. The way the pasta dries plays a major role in the quality.
To save time and money, pasta is often dried at high temperatures. This affects the texture of the pasta. The outside becomes smoother and the pasta less firm.
Drying pasta slowly creates tiny indentations in the pasta shape. In addition to the rough texture, this ensures that the sauce adheres well to the pasta.
Sometimes a pasta package will state whether the pasta has been dried quickly or slowly. You can also recognize it by the cooking time of the pasta. Pasta that has been dried at a high temperature generally needs to be cooked for a shorter time.
In our pasta shop, we only sell pasta that has been slowly dried. The pasta meets these three criteria and therefore we dare to say with certainty that it is of the best quality. This also applies to our macaroni. Try it out for yourself and you will notice the difference!
