How to Measure the Correct Serving Size for Pasta

One of the best parts about gearing up for any sort of race is the pre-starting line pasta party. Part of the grain food group, pasta takes its place among other carb-heavy favorites such as bread, rice and oatmeal. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that women should get six ounce equivalents of grains in a day, while men should get eight.

Half of those should be whole grains, per the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Most Americans have little difficulty eating enough grains according one March 2014 study published in ​Nutrition Research​, but rather it's eating whole grains can be a game-changer. According to a June 2016 review published in the ​British Medical Journal​, three-servings of whole grains can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and premature mortality.

So how do you know how much is the right amount? When it comes to pasta, measuring out your serving size before you cook it is a pretty foolproof way to prevent overeating. Measure it out after it's cooked, and it will be a little harder to handle and you may find you made a little too much.

​Read more:​ 7 Tricks to Adjust to Smaller Portions of Food

Proper portion control can be tricky when you're dealing with packaged foods. While most boxes of pastas show a serving size as two ounces of dry pasta (or one cup of cooked pasta), the USDA recommends preparing one ounce of uncooked pasta (or a half-cup cooked) as an "ounce equivalent." Here's how to get that portion size right.

Use a digital or spring scale to measure your pasta. Add dry pasta to the scale a little at a time to get the Goldilocks amount.

Stop adding pasta when the scale reads 1 ounce (or 30 grams) if you want to adhere to the USDA's serving size recommendation.

Use the 1/8 cup to ration out a one ounce serving size of pasta and a 1/4 cup size for a two ounce serving.

Cook for more than one person and multiply your serving sizes by 1/8 or 1/4 cups.

Measure long strand pasta with your hands. The small grouping should measure roughly an inch-and-a-half in diameter. This equals eight ounces of dry pasta.

Divide the pasta into eight equal sections to get the USDA serving size recommendation. Use one section per serving. Go with four equal sections if you want to adhere to the two ounce serving size recommendation.

The pale pasta options we grew up with has plenty of competition on the shelves now. With everything from whole wheat to lentil and chickpea varieties available, the general assumption is that you can eat larger amounts of these "better for you" pastas. While they may be healthier picks, they shouldn't be considered "all you can eat" options.

​Read more:​ 10 Must-Try Noodle Alternatives

"Chickpea or lentil pasta can be a great alternative due to their higher protein and fiber content," says registered dietitian Hailey Crean, a certified diabetes educator in Connecticut, who adds swapping in lentil and chickpea pasta may make you feel fuller for longer thanks to their fiber content. "However, I still recommend sticking to the same portion size goal, as their total calorie content is very similar [to traditional pasta], approximately 200 calories in 2 ounces. "