Agnolotti substitutes

The obvious and best substitute. Ravioli is the same construction, thin egg pasta sealed around a filling, and comes in the same size range as agnolotti.

Best for

butter and sage, roast meat pan juices, light cream sauces, broth

Cook time is nearly identical at four to six minutes fresh. The differences are edges and filling. Ravioli has flat sealed borders that stay slightly thicker and firmer, whereas agnolotti is folded so the dough is more even and the seam is tucked under. If the recipe expects a meat filling, a ricotta ravioli will taste distinctly milder and sweeter; a spoonful of the sauce's pan juices or a little grated parmesan and black pepper at the finish restores the savouriness.

The most widely stocked filled pasta there is, fresh, frozen, or dried, and often filled with pork or prosciutto, which is closer to a traditional agnolotti filling than plain cheese.

Best for

butter and sage, broth, cream and parmesan, light tomato sauce

Tortellini are smaller and folded into a ring, so there is more pasta and proportionally less filling in each bite and the dish tastes a shade less rich. The rolled seam also gives a chewier point at the fold, which agnolotti does not have. Meat-filled tortellini is the better choice for a Piedmontese recipe; the pork and prosciutto filling reads as genuinely close to a braised-meat agnolotti. Cook three to five minutes fresh.

Small filled pasta from Emilia-Romagna, cappelletti folded into little hats and anolini stamped into small rounds or half-moons. Both appear in Italian delis and both are near relatives of agnolotti.

Best for

broth, butter and parmesan, cream sauces

In the mouth these are the closest of anything on this list, since the dough, the scale, and the savoury meat or cheese fillings all line up. They are usually smaller, so a portion is more pieces and the pasta-to-filling ratio tips slightly toward pasta. Both are traditionally served in broth, which is exactly where a delicate filled pasta shines, so if your agnolotti recipe is a brothy one this swap needs no adjustment at all.

Half-moon filled pasta, common in refrigerated cases and usually stuffed with ricotta, mushroom, squash, or cheese.

Best for

butter and sage, cream sauces, mushroom sauces

Same thin egg wrapper and similar size, so the eating experience is close. The wrapper on most mezzelune is thinner and more fragile than agnolotti's folded dough, which means they tear more easily if you toss them in a pan; spoon the sauce over instead. Fillings skew vegetarian and sweeter, especially squash, so a savoury braised-meat recipe will taste noticeably rounder and less meaty.

The most useful improvisation on this page. Wonton wrappers are thin wheat sheets that fold and seal like fresh pasta, and agnolotti's filling is traditionally leftover braised meat, which makes this closer to the original spirit than any box.

Best for

using up leftover braised beef, pork, or short rib, butter and sage, broth

Chop leftover braise finely, bind it with a little parmesan and its own reduced juices, put a teaspoon in each wrapper, wet the edges, and fold. The flavour can be better than anything you buy, because the filling is real braise rather than a paste. The wrapper is the compromise: it is thinner and slipperier than egg pasta, so simmer gently for two to three minutes and lift the parcels out with a slotted spoon rather than draining them.

Whatever the freezer case has, ravioli or tortellini. The weeknight answer when nothing fresh is available.

Best for

quick dinners, butter or tomato sauces

Frozen filled pasta has a much thicker, sturdier wrapper than agnolotti's tissue-thin egg dough, so the bite is chewier and doughier and the filling reads as a smaller share of each mouthful. That works against a delicate butter and sage sauce and matters less with a robust tomato or meat sauce. Cook straight from frozen, eight to ten minutes, and never thaw first or the parcels stick and split.