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How Many Calories in Pasta? Dry vs Cooked, by USDA Data

Cooked spaghetti is 158 calories per 100g and about 196 per cup; 2 oz dry is about 211, by USDA data. Dry vs cooked, sauces, oil, and a worked plate.

AJ
Alain Jacks
October 3, 2026

Cooked enriched pasta is 158 calories per 100 grams, so a loosely filled cup of cooked spaghetti (124g in USDA's portion data) is about 196 calories with 7g of protein. The serving on the box, 2 ounces dry, is about 211 calories. Those two numbers describe different states of the same food, and mixing them up is the most common pasta logging mistake.

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Official USDA numbers

Per 100 grams, by state and type:

Pasta (per 100g) Calories Protein Fat Carbs Fiber
Enriched pasta, dry 371 13.0g 1.5g 74.7g 3.2g
Enriched pasta, cooked 158 5.8g 0.9g 30.9g 1.8g
Whole-wheat pasta, cooked 149 6.0g 1.7g 30.1g 3.9g
Egg noodles, enriched, cooked 138 4.5g 2.1g 25.2g 1.2g

At USDA's own portion weights:

Portion Weight Calories Protein Carbs
Dry pasta, 2 oz (the box serving) 57g 211 7.4g 42.6g
Cooked spaghetti, 1 cup, not packed 124g 196 7.2g 38.3g
Cooked spaghetti, 1 cup, packed 151g 239 8.8g 46.7g
Cooked penne, 1 cup 107g 169 6.2g 33.1g
Cooked elbows, 1 cup, not packed 120g 190 7.0g 37.1g
Whole-wheat spaghetti, cooked, 1 cup, not packed 117g 174 7.0g 35.2g
Egg noodles, cooked, 1 cup 160g 221 7.3g 40.3g

Two things stand out. The cup is a loose unit: the same cooked spaghetti is 196 calories loosely filled and 239 packed, a 43-calorie swing from how hard you press. And shape matters by the cup, not by the gram. Penne and elbows are the same food as spaghetti per 100 grams, but a cup of penne holds less pasta because the tubes leave air gaps.

Dry versus cooked: the number one pasta mistake

Pasta roughly absorbs its own weight and more in water as it boils. Per 100 grams, dry pasta is 371 calories and cooked pasta is 158. Nothing was lost in the pot. The same calories are simply spread across a heavier, wetter food.

The trap is weighing one state and logging the other:

By calories, the 2-ounce dry serving matches about 134 grams of cooked enriched pasta, a little more than one loosely filled cup. That is the honest conversion for people who measure with a cup instead of a scale. A whole 1-pound box of dry pasta is about 1,683 calories, which is useful when you cook the box and split it four ways: about 421 calories of plain pasta each.

Whole wheat and egg noodles, compared honestly

Whole-wheat pasta is 149 calories per 100 grams cooked against 158 for enriched, a small difference. The real gain is fiber: 3.9 grams per 100 grams against 1.8. Per cup, whole-wheat spaghetti comes in at 174 against 196, partly because USDA's cup of whole-wheat spaghetti weighs a little less.

Egg noodles are the opposite case. They are lower per 100 grams at 138, but USDA's cup of cooked egg noodles weighs 160 grams, so a cup is 221 calories, more than a cup of spaghetti. Lower density per gram, more grams per cup. If you log egg noodles by the cup, use the egg noodle number, not a generic pasta entry.

What sauce, oil, and cheese add

The pasta itself is rarely where a pasta dinner gets expensive. At USDA's household measures:

Addition Portion Calories Fat
Marinara, ready-to-serve 1/2 cup (132g) 66 2.1g
Olive oil 1 tbsp (13.5g) 119 13.5g
Olive oil 1 tsp (4.5g) 40 4.5g
Parmesan, grated 1 tbsp (5g) 21 1.4g
Parmesan, hard 1 oz (28g) 111 7.1g
Butter, salted 1 tbsp (14.2g) 102 11.5g
Heavy whipping cream 1 tbsp (15g) 51 5.4g

A half cup of jarred marinara costs less than one tablespoon of olive oil. That is the whole lesson of this table. Tomato sauce is cheap. Fat is not.

USDA's SR Legacy data does not include a ready-made alfredo sauce, so the honest way to count it is by what goes in it: butter, cream, and parmesan, each from the rows above. For more on cheese by type, see our cheese calorie guide.

A worked plate, step by step

A restaurant-style home plate: two loosely filled cups of cooked spaghetti, a half cup of marinara, a tablespoon of olive oil tossed through, and two tablespoons of grated parmesan.

Component Calories
Spaghetti, cooked, 2 cups (248g) 392
Marinara, 1/2 cup 66
Olive oil, 1 tbsp 119
Parmesan, grated, 2 tbsp 42
Total 619

392 + 66 + 119 + 42 = 619 calories, with about 19g of protein, 21g of fat, and 88g of carbs. The oil is 19% of the plate and invisible on it.

The lighter version, one cup of spaghetti, the same marinara, and one tablespoon of parmesan, is 196 + 66 + 21 = 283 calories. A cream sauce version, two cups of spaghetti with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan, is 392 + 204 + 202 + 84 = 882 calories. Same pasta, three meals, a 599-calorie spread.

Adding 3 ounces of browned 85/15 ground beef to the marinara plate for a quick bolognese adds 218 calories, for 837 total. The ground beef guide covers every lean percentage.

How I log pasta in Nouri

Pasta is the food where I stopped trusting a single number. With MyFitnessPal the numbers were fine; the problem was the minutes it took to log a normal dinner, and pasta adds a puzzle on top: the box says 2 ounces dry, the plate holds cooked pasta, and you have to work out which entry matches. Then I tried photo trackers. A photo of spaghetti cannot tell a loose cup from a packed one, and it cannot see the tablespoon of oil that is a fifth of the plate in the example above.

So I describe the plate the way I would tell a friend: "two cups of cooked spaghetti with marinara, tossed in a tablespoon of olive oil, parmesan on top." Nouri breaks that into items and shows its reasoning for each one, so I can see whether it counted the pasta as cooked and whether the oil made it in. If I cooked half the box, I say "half a 1-pound box, dry weight," and it works from there. Nouri is iPhone (iOS only), and you can try it free.

When the bowl is already on the table, a photo works too: Nouri writes out what it sees as a sentence first, and that is where I add "cooked in olive oil." With my hands full draining a pot, I say "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri" from the lock screen and get the calories and what is left for the day right away. Pasta nights then show up in the weekly Nouri Report, where average carbs sit next to your target and one clear focus tells you what to change next week.

Numbers are good. Answers are better.Log on 3 days and Nouri builds your first personal report: your Health Score, days on target, wins, slips, and one clear focus.Get your first Nouri Report

FAQ

How many calories in a cup of cooked pasta?

About 196 for a loosely filled cup of cooked spaghetti (124g), and 239 if the cup is packed (151g), per USDA. Penne is about 169 per cup and elbows about 190, because the shapes pack differently.

How many calories in 2 oz of dry pasta?

About 211, from USDA's 371 calories per 100 grams of dry enriched pasta. That matches about 134 grams of cooked pasta, a little more than a loose cup.

Should I weigh pasta dry or cooked?

Either works if the entry matches the state you weighed. Dry is more consistent because cooked weight changes with cooking time and how well it was drained. The error comes from weighing one state and logging the other.

How many calories in 100g of cooked pasta?

158 for enriched pasta cooked without salt, with 5.8g of protein and 30.9g of carbs. Whole-wheat is 149 and egg noodles are 138 per 100 grams cooked.

Is whole wheat pasta lower in calories?

Slightly: 149 per 100 grams cooked against 158 for enriched. The bigger difference is fiber, 3.9 grams against 1.8. Choose it for fiber, not for a calorie cut.

How many calories in egg noodles?

About 221 per cooked cup (160g), per USDA. They are lower per gram than spaghetti but a cup holds more, so a cup of egg noodles is more than a cup of spaghetti.

How many calories in a box of pasta?

About 1,683 for a 1-pound box of dry enriched pasta. Split four ways, that is about 421 calories of plain pasta per person before any sauce.

How many calories in spaghetti with marinara?

One cup of cooked spaghetti plus half a cup of jarred marinara is 196 + 66 = 262 calories. Most people serve closer to two cups, which makes it 458 before oil or cheese.

How many calories does olive oil add to pasta?

About 119 per tablespoon and 40 per teaspoon. One tablespoon tossed through a pasta dinner adds more than a half cup of marinara does.

How many calories in parmesan cheese on pasta?

About 21 per tablespoon of grated parmesan. A generous quarter cup is about 84, which starts to count.

Is pasta bad for weight loss?

No. Plain cooked pasta is 158 calories per 100 grams, a little above cooked white rice. The portion and the fat added decide whether a pasta dinner is 283 calories or 882, as the plates above show.

What is the easiest way to track calories in pasta?

Say the pasta, the amount, and the fat together in one sentence, like "two cups of cooked penne with pesto," by typing it, saying it to Siri, or snapping the bowl and adding the oil. Nouri lists each part with its own number, and the Sunday Nouri Report puts your pasta nights in the context of the whole week.

Ready to see what your week actually looks like?Try Nouri free for 3 days. Then $39.99/year or $9.99/month.Download Nouri on the App Store

Weigh in one state, log in that state, and always name the oil. One honest sentence in Nouri covers all three, and if you would rather not weigh at all, How to Track Calories Without Weighing Food shows how to estimate a cup by eye. Eating out instead? Our Olive Garden calorie guide has the restaurant numbers.

Sources

An easier way to log food

Like Apple Notes, but for calories.

Write what you ate the way you would jot a note, snap a photo of the plate, or say "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri" with your phone still locked. Nouri works out the calories and macros, shows you every item it counted, and lets you change anything that looks off.

Try Nouri free for 3 days

iPhone (iOS only). Then $9.99/month or $39.99/year.

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