How many carbs are in pasta?

One cup of cooked pasta has about 43g of carbs. Spaghetti, penne, whole wheat, lasagna, and chickpea pasta compared.

Written by

Carb Lens Editorial

Nutrition writers & product team

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Alicia Nguyen, RD, CDCES

Registered Dietitian · Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist · 12+ years clinical experience

Published June 8, 2026 4 min readEditorial policy

A cup of cooked regular spaghetti has 43g of carbs. Most wheat pasta shapes land between 40-45g per cup cooked. Restaurant portions are typically 2-3 cups.

By shape (1 cup cooked, ~140g)

Pasta	Carbs	Fiber
Spaghetti	43g	3g
Penne	43g	2g
Fettuccine	44g	2g
Rigatoni	43g	2g
Angel hair	43g	2g
Lasagna noodles	41g	2g
Whole wheat spaghetti	37g	6g
Gluten-free corn pasta	47g	3g
Chickpea pasta (Banza)	32g	8g
Lentil pasta	30g	7g
Edamame pasta	20g	13g

Real-world serving sizes

Olive Garden plain spaghetti (lunch portion): ~85g carbs
Olive Garden dinner pasta: ~130g carbs
Frozen pasta meal (Stouffer's): 40-60g
Pasta salad side at a deli (1 cup): 35-50g

Lower-carb pasta swaps

**Zucchini noodles**: 4g per cup
**Spaghetti squash**: 10g per cup
**Shirataki noodles**: 1g per serving
**Hearts of palm pasta (Palmini)**: 4g per cup
**Kelp noodles**: 1g per cup

The al dente trick

Pasta cooked al dente has a meaningfully lower glycemic index (~45) than soft-cooked pasta (~65). Same carbs, slower curve.

About the author

Carb Lens Editorial — Nutrition writers & product team. The Carb Lens editorial team writes practical, source-checked guides on carbs, blood sugar, and everyday nutrition. Every article is drafted by our writers and cross-referenced against USDA FoodData Central and peer-reviewed clinical guidelines.

How we source and review this article

Nutrition figures come from the USDA FoodData Central database. Blood-sugar and glycemic-load framing follows guidance from the American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization healthy-diet recommendations. Every article is medically reviewed by Dr. Alicia Nguyen, RD, CDCES before publishing and re-checked on a rolling basis. See our full editorial & medical review policy.

This article is for general information and is not a substitute for medical advice. If you're managing diabetes or another condition, always defer to your care team.