Casarecce substitute

Best substitute

Gemelli

Use the same amount by weight as the casarecce you are replacing

Best for pesto

Close match

Use gemelli or cavatappi in place of casarecce, or trofie if your shop carries it, all at 1:1 by weight and with no other changes. Casarecce brings no flavor to a dish; it is there for structure, and specifically for the open groove down its length, which traps pesto, crumbled sausage, and chopped vegetables that would slide off a smooth tube. Any short twisted or grooved shape does the same job.

Other casarecce substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cavatappi or Cellentani
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Ridged hollow corkscrews.
What changes
Grabs more sauce than casarecce rather than less, which makes it the safe choice when the sauce is thick or cheesy.
Best for
cream and cheese sauces, baked pasta, meat sauce, pasta salad
Because sauce collects inside the tube as well as in the ridges, the same amount of sauce reads as richer and the pan looks drier. The pieces are longer and springier, so the dish eats bouncier and less dense than casarecce, which has a satisfying chew that comes from its rolled double thickness. Cook a minute past the point it looks ready.
3Trofie
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Small hand-rolled Ligurian twists.
What changes
Made the same way as casarecce, by rolling dough around itself, just shorter and tighter, so it is the most authentic swap in spirit.
Best for
pesto, green bean and potato pesto dishes, olive oil based sauces
The chew is the closest of anything here, dense and slightly uneven, because it is the same rolled construction. The pieces are smaller, so a forkful has more of them and the sauce coats more evenly rather than pooling in one long groove. Trofie is also a specialty shape, so if you have it you probably had casarecce nearby too.
4Fusilli or Rotini
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Corkscrew spirals, on every supermarket shelf.
What changes
Not shaped like casarecce, but functionally it does the same sauce-catching work.
Best for
pesto, chunky vegetable sauces, pasta salad, feeding kids
Spirals hold sauce in many small pockets instead of one long channel, so the coating is more even and less concentrated. The real difference is the bite: fusilli is thin and springy where casarecce is thick and chewy, so the dish feels lighter and less rustic. If the recipe leans on casarecce's substance, such as a sauce of sausage and fennel, expect the pasta to recede a little into the background.
5Penne Rigate
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The pragmatic fallback.
What changes
It has ridges and a hollow and it will carry any sauce written for casarecce without complaint.
Best for
tomato sauces, baked pasta, meat sauces
The dish will taste right and look wrong, in the sense that penne is neat and industrial where casarecce is irregular and handmade-looking. Chunky solids in the sauce do not lodge on penne the way they do in a twist, so more of the sausage or vegetable ends up at the bottom of the bowl. Chop the solids smaller than the recipe says to compensate.
6Orecchiette
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Small thumbprint discs from Puglia.
What changes
A good choice specifically for the sausage and greens sauces casarecce is most often paired with in Sicilian cooking.
Best for
sausage and broccoli rabe, greens and anchovy sauces, ricotta based sauces
Orecchiette scoops sauce into a cup instead of catching it in a groove, so bites alternate between heavily loaded and lightly coated. It is also noticeably thicker at the center than at the rim, which gives a two-stage chew casarecce does not have. Many people prefer it with greens because the leaves nest inside the cup.

What is Casarecce?

Casarecce is a short Sicilian pasta made by rolling a flat strip of semolina dough loosely around itself, so each piece comes out a twisted scroll about an inch and a half long with an open groove running down the middle that catches sauce; it is also spelled casareccia.

Cooking tips

Casarecce is thick where the dough overlaps and thin at the edges, so it cooks unevenly by design. Taste the fattest part of a piece rather than the flap, and expect 9 to 12 minutes for dried casarecce. Whichever twisted shape you substitute, apply the same rule: bite the thickest point.
The shape is built for sauces with small solid pieces, which is why Sicilian recipes pair it with crumbled sausage, chopped anchovy, breadcrumbs, capers, and pine nuts. If you swap to a smooth shape like penne lisce or spaghetti, chop those solids finer or they will separate from the pasta entirely.
Save a cup of the starchy cooking water before draining, and finish the pasta in the pan with the sauce for a minute. This matters more with twisted shapes than with tubes, because the emulsified starch is what makes sauce cling in the groove instead of running out of it.
Casarecce is sturdy enough for pasta salad and holds its shape overnight in the fridge better than spirals do. If you are substituting for a cold dish, favour gemelli or cavatappi over thin fusilli, which softens as it sits.
You will see it labeled casarecce, casareccia, or described as rolled scroll pasta, and some brands cut it much longer than others. Length changes nothing about how it behaves; ignore the marketing and match the groove.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for casarecce?

Gemelli, at 1:1 by weight. It is the same idea, a short twisted shape with a channel that holds sauce, and it is stocked far more widely. Cavatappi is an equally good functional swap and slightly better with cheese sauces because sauce collects inside the tube. Trofie is the most authentic if your shop carries it, since it is made the same rolled way.

Can I use penne instead of casarecce?

Yes, at 1:1, and the dish will be perfectly good. What you lose is the way chunky bits of sausage or vegetable catch in the twist. With penne those solids slide off and gather at the bottom of the bowl, so chop them smaller and reduce your sauce slightly so it clings to the tube rather than pooling.

Can I just leave it out and use any pasta in the cupboard?

Yes. Casarecce adds no flavor, no thickening, and nothing the recipe structurally depends on, so any short pasta will make a good dinner. The only combinations to avoid are long thin pasta such as spaghetti or angel hair with a chunky sauce, because the solids will not stay on the strands, and very small pasta such as orzo or ditalini, which turns a sauced dish into a porridge.

How is casarecce different from gemelli or trofie?

All three are short twisted shapes, but the construction differs. Casarecce is one flat strip of dough rolled loosely so it has an open groove down the middle. Trofie is a shorter, tighter roll of the same idea. Gemelli looks twisted but is actually a single strand folded and twisted on itself. In the kitchen they behave close enough to be interchangeable at 1:1.

Where can I buy casarecce, and is it worth hunting down?

It shows up in Italian delis, better supermarkets, and online importers, and it turns up regularly in recipe media and meal kits, which is why so many people go looking for it. It is a genuinely good shape with a satisfying chew, but no recipe needs it. If it is not on the shelf, buy gemelli and move on with your evening.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Casarecce substitute

Other casarecce substitutes

2Cavatappi or Cellentani

3Trofie

4Fusilli or Rotini

5Penne Rigate

6Orecchiette