Gemelli substitute

Best substitute

Cavatappi

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

Best for pasta salad

Close match

Cavatappi is the closest substitute for gemelli, one for one by weight, and fusilli or rotini are the next best. Gemelli brings no flavour to the dish; its job is to give sauce somewhere to hold on, and it does that through the deep seam that spirals between the two twisted halves. That seam is why gemelli holds a vinaigrette or pesto far better than penne does, and why penne, though perfectly usable, will make the same dish taste drier. If you swap to a smooth shape, dress it a little more generously and toss it in the pan with a splash of pasta water.

Other gemelli substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fusilli or rotini
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Solid corkscrew spirals with grooves along the twist.
What changes
Best for
pasta salad, pesto, chunky vegetable sauce, baked pasta
The most available swap and a good one, since continuous grooves grip a thin dressing at least as well as the gemelli seam. Spirals are thinner than a twisted gemelli, so they cook faster and go soft sooner: in a pasta salad left overnight or a long bake, fusilli loses its bite where gemelli holds firm.
3Casarecce
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Short rolled Sicilian pasta shaped like a narrow scroll with a groove down its length.
What changes
Best for
pesto, meat sauce, vegetable sauces, olive oil sauces
The closest match for how gemelli feels to eat: dense, chewy, with a channel that funnels sauce. It is shorter and straighter without the twist, so it looks quite different in a bowl and catches slightly fewer small solids such as herbs and crumbled cheese, but the bite and the sauce-holding are very close.
4Trofie
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Small hand-rolled Ligurian twists, traditionally eaten with pesto.
What changes
Best for
pesto, olive oil sauces, green bean and potato pasta, pasta salad
Also a twisted solid shape, so the chew is very close to gemelli, dense and satisfying. The pieces are smaller and tighter, which means more of them per forkful and less capacity for a heavy cream or meat sauce, and the thick rolled centre takes longer to cook all the way through than you expect.
5Farfalle
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Bow ties, thin at the wings and firm in the pinched middle.
What changes
Best for
cold pasta salad, cream sauce, peas and ham, buffet dishes
Works and looks good in a salad bowl, but the eating is different in two ways: the bite is uneven, soft at the edges and chewy in the centre, and the flat wings shed oil-based dressings so the salad tastes less seasoned. Creamy dressings cling much better. The wings also tear if you toss a heavy salad hard.
6Penne rigate
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Ridged tubes; the everyday fallback rather than a good match.
What changes
Best for
tomato sauce, baked pasta, meat sauce
Honest answer: it will feed you, but it changes the dish. Penne is hollow with mostly straight walls, so sauce collects inside instead of being gripped on the outside, and a thin vinaigrette or oily pesto runs straight off. It is least noticeable in a heavily sauced bake and most noticeable in a cold pasta salad, where a penne version tastes distinctly plainer.

What is Gemelli?

Gemelli is Gemelli is a short pasta made from a single strand of dough folded in half and twisted, so it looks like a hollow tube but is solid all the way through.

Cooking tips

Gemelli means twins, and the name describes what looks like two strands wound together; in fact it is one strand folded and twisted. That solid twist is why it is denser and chewier than a spiral of the same size and why it usually needs a minute or two longer in the water than fusilli.
This is one of the best shapes in the cupboard for pasta salad, because the seam that runs down the twist holds dressing rather than letting it drain to the bottom of the bowl, and the dense body keeps its bite for two or three days in the fridge.
For cold salads, cook gemelli about a minute past al dente and rinse it under cold water. Pasta firms up considerably as it chills, and rinsing removes the surface starch that would otherwise turn gluey once cold. For hot dishes, never rinse.
Gemelli holds up in a baked dish better than thin spirals do, but still drain it two minutes early. The twist opens up slightly as it absorbs sauce, which is exactly what you want, and fully boiled gemelli goes past that into softness.
Because the twists are compact and heavy, the same weight looks like less pasta than tubes do in a measuring cup. Weigh it rather than measuring by volume, or you will end up short.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for gemelli?

Cavatappi, one for one by weight, because it is the closest shape and behaves nearly identically. Fusilli or rotini is the easiest to find and works well for pesto and pasta salad, while casarecce and trofie match gemelli's dense chew most closely if your shop carries them.

Is gemelli the same as fusilli?

No. Fusilli is a spiral of dough twisted like a spring, while gemelli is one strand folded in half and wound around itself, so it is solid and denser. They swap one for one, but gemelli is chewier, holds its texture longer in salads and bakes, and takes slightly longer to cook.

Can I use penne instead of gemelli?

Yes, but expect a drier-tasting dish. Penne is a hollow tube with mostly smooth walls, so a thin dressing or oily sauce slides off rather than lodging in a groove. Use ridged penne rigate rather than smooth penne lisce, and toss it in the pan with a little pasta water or extra dressing.

Can I just leave the pasta out?

No, since the pasta is the substance of the dish rather than a seasoning. If you have none at all, cooked and cooled orzo, farro, chickpeas or cubed boiled potatoes will carry a pasta salad dressing, and any sauce meant for gemelli works over rice, gnocchi or polenta.

Does gemelli work in baked pasta?

It is one of the better short shapes for it. The solid twist resists going mushy over half an hour in the oven in a way thin spirals do not, and the seam fills with sauce. Undercook it by about two minutes and make sure everything is coated before it goes in.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Gemelli substitute

Other gemelli substitutes

2Fusilli or rotini

3Casarecce

4Trofie

5Farfalle

6Penne rigate