Farfalle substitute

Best substitute

Rotini or fusilli

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

Best for pasta salad

Different texture

Short corkscrews with deep grooves. They hold dressing and small chopped ingredients better than almost any other shape, which is exactly what farfalle is prized for.

Other farfalle substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Penne or ziti
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Short tubes that fill with sauce internally rather than catching it on the surface.
What changes
Best for
tomato sauces, baked pasta, sausage and greens, vodka sauce
The mouthfeel changes noticeably: you get a hollow tube that bursts with sauce instead of a chewy pinched knot. It is worse than farfalle for a mayonnaise-based pasta salad, where the smooth outside sheds dressing, and better than farfalle for a loose tomato sauce.
3Medium shells (conchiglie)
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Cupped shells that scoop up peas, corn, bacon bits and small vegetable dice.
What changes
Best for
pasta salad, cheese sauces, soups, peas and ham, macaroni salad
Shells trap even more small ingredients than farfalle, sometimes too well, and they hold hot water inside so drain them thoroughly or a creamy sauce will thin out. Texture is closest of any shape to the soft-wing part of farfalle.
4Wide egg noodles
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Flat, tender, eggy ribbons.
What changes
For kasha varnishkes, where bow ties are the classic pairing, egg noodles are the other traditional shape and arguably the older one.
Best for
kasha varnishkes, noodle kugel, buttered noodles, beef stroganoff, chicken soup
They are richer and softer because of the egg, and they clump more, so toss with fat immediately after draining. In varnishkes this reads as more tender and less chewy, which most people like. In a cold pasta salad they turn gummy, so do not use them there.
5Orecchiette or campanelle
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Small cupped or fluted shapes about the same size as a bow tie.
What changes
Best for
broccoli rabe, sausage sauces, pesto, chunky sauces
Orecchiette are noticeably chewier and denser than farfalle, closer to the pinched knot than the wings, and they take a couple of minutes longer to cook. Campanelle's ruffled edges are the nearest visual match to farfalle wings.
6Homemade squares pinched from fresh pasta or lasagna sheets
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Cut fresh pasta sheets or dried lasagna noodles into rough one-inch squares.
What changes
For real bow ties, pinch each square hard in the middle with a wet fingertip.
Best for
kasha varnishkes, when you want the actual shape, soups, buttered noodles
This is genuinely the shape rather than an approximation, and it is what varnishkes originally were. Fresh squares cook in two to three minutes and are much more tender; dried lasagna squares cook in about 10 and hold a firmer bite. Unpinched squares slide against each other and feel silkier than farfalle.
7Elbow macaroni
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The pantry fallback.
What changes
Small, cheap, and in nearly every kitchen.
Best for
macaroni salad, cheese sauce, soups, feeding children
Much smaller than farfalle, so a bowl reads as a different dish entirely, and the pieces get lost against big chunks of vegetable or meat. Perfectly fine, clearly not the same. Cut other ingredients smaller to match.

What is Farfalle?

Farfalle is Farfalle, sold in English as bow tie pasta or bow-tie noodles, is a short dried pasta made by pinching a small rectangle of dough in the middle, which leaves a dense chewy knot in the center and two thin ruffled wings that cook softer.

Cooking tips

Farfalle cooks unevenly by design, so taste the pinched center and not a wing. If the wings are perfect the middle is still raw. Most substitutes cook evenly, which means you can trust the box time again.
For kasha varnishkes, toast the buckwheat groats in schmaltz or oil with a beaten egg until the grains separate and smell nutty before adding liquid. That step matters far more to the finished dish than which pasta shape you use.
For cold pasta salad, dress any substitute while it is still warm. Warm pasta absorbs dressing and cold pasta just wears it, and this is doubly true for smooth shapes like penne that have less surface grip than farfalle.
If you are cooking for young children or anyone who dislikes uneven textures, a substitute is an upgrade. Farfalle's soft wings and hard knot are the single most common complaint about the shape.
Do not mix two shapes in the same pot to make up the weight. Cook times differ by minutes and you will end up with some pieces blown out and others chalky. Cook them separately and combine after draining if you must.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest substitute for farfalle?

Rotini or fusilli, at 1:1 by weight. They are the same size, cook in the same time, and their grooves grab sauce and dressing at least as well as farfalle's ruffled wings. Medium shells are a close second.

Can I leave the pasta out entirely?

In kasha varnishkes, yes, and you will just have kasha, which is a perfectly good side dish. In a pasta salad or a pasta main, no, the pasta is the dish. If you are avoiding wheat, use a gluten-free short shape or swap in cooked rice or barley and treat it as a grain salad instead.

Is farfalle the same as bow tie pasta?

Yes. Farfalle is the Italian name, meaning butterflies, and bow tie pasta is what it is sold as in most English-speaking supermarkets. In Ashkenazi Jewish cooking the same shape appears as varnishkes, most famously with toasted buckwheat in kasha varnishkes.

Can I use farfalle instead of penne, or the other way around?

Yes, freely, 1:1 by weight. The only real difference is that tubes trap sauce inside and farfalle catches it on the surface, so a very thin sauce clings slightly better to farfalle and a rich meat sauce works slightly better in penne.

Why does my farfalle come out mushy at the edges?

Because the wings are a single layer of dough and the pinched middle is three or four layers thick, so the wings are always done first. Cook to the middle and accept soft edges, or switch to a shape of even thickness like rotini or penne.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Farfalle substitute

Other farfalle substitutes

2Penne or ziti

3Medium shells (conchiglie)

4Wide egg noodles

5Orecchiette or campanelle

6Homemade squares pinched from fresh pasta or lasagna sheets

7Elbow macaroni