How Long To Cook Spaghetti Until Al Dente

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Al Dente is Italian for 'to the teeth' and it refers to pasta that is cooked just long enough that it is neither crunchy nor too soft, and its texture appeals to the teeth. Al Dente pasta is simply delicious!

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1

Know the basics . You will be cooking pasta as normal; only the time will vary. You can follow directions on boxed pasta, or you can visit the wikiHow article.
2
Prepare the pasta as normal. Add salt to the water if desired.
- Some boxes of pasta have directions for al dente. Because the directions aren't always perfect, you will have to taste the pasta as it is being cooked to know when it is al dente.
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3

Begin tasting the pasta after about six or seven minutes. At this point, it should still be somewhat crunchy. Remember to blow on the pasta to cool it before tasting.
4

Continue tasting the pasta every 30 seconds to a minute. Al dente pasta will feel firm, not crunchy, when you bite down with your front teeth. You can also break a piece of pasta in half and look at the cross section—al dente pasta is mostly cooked with a small core of uncooked pasta running through the middle.
5

Drain the pasta as soon as it is done. Getting the timing right will take some practice, but eventually you'll be preparing al dente pasta like a pro!

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Question

What is the opposite of al dente called?

I don't think there is exactly an opposite. If you think of al dente as "just right," then you could contrast it with "poco cotta" (undercooked) and "stracotto" (overcooked).
Question

How do you keep pasta from sticking after it is done?

After you drain the pasta, drizzle a bit of olive oil into the pasta and stir it up a little.
Question

How do I stop my pasta from sticking together?

If you're making your own pasta, adding a bit of olive oil to the dough before the pasta is made will help. If you're cooking store-bought pasta, adding a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil to the cooking water and then stirring the pasta during cooking will go a long way to making pasta non-stick.

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If you pinch al dente pasta in between your thumb and finger it won't break very easily. Pasta cooked past al dente will break more easily.

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Remember to be careful around boiling water and a heat source. Use pot holders when you drain the pasta.

Things You'll Need

Box directions if cooking boxed pasta
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Pot holders and the utensils needed to cook the pasta

About This Article

Article SummaryX

To cook pasta al dente, start by bringing a pot of water to a boil and adding the pasta to it. Then, after the pasta has been cooking for 6 or 7 minutes, try tasting a piece of it. If it's still crunchy, keep cooking it in 30-second intervals until it's firm but no longer crunchy. To learn how to tell if pasta is al dente by breaking it in half, scroll down!

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