Mafaldine substitute

Best substitute

Curly-edged lasagna sheets, cut into strips

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

Best for meat ragu

Close match

Curly-edged lasagna sheets snapped lengthwise into strips about three quarters of an inch wide are the closest substitute for mafaldine, because they are the only easy option that keeps the ruffled edge. Otherwise use pappardelle or fettuccine, one for one by weight. The ruffle is not decoration: those wavy edges are extra surface that catches a thick meat ragu or a cream sauce and holds it, which is why a smooth ribbon in the same dish tastes under-sauced. If you swap to a plain ribbon, reduce your sauce a little further so it clings instead of pooling.

Other mafaldine substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Pappardelle
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Wide flat ribbons roughly an inch across with plain straight edges.
What changes
Best for
beef and pork ragu, braised meat sauce, mushroom cream sauce
The best choice for the sauces mafaldine is usually served with, and arguably a more elegant dish. The wide sheets carry a chunky braise beautifully, but they are silkier and slipperier, so the sauce slides rather than being gripped, and the eating experience is softer and less lively without the frilled edges to bite through.
3Fettuccine or tagliatelle
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Flat ribbons about a quarter of an inch wide, the most widely available long flat pasta.
What changes
Best for
cream sauces, ragu, butter and cheese sauces, mushroom sauce
Reliable and easy to find. Being narrower and plain-edged, each strand carries appreciably less sauce, so a bowl made with the same quantity of ragu tastes lighter and more restrained than the mafaldine version. Egg tagliatelle is a little richer and more tender, which partly compensates. Cook time is usually a minute or two shorter.
4Lasagnette or mafalda corta
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Short versions of the same ruffled ribbon, sold in a few Italian brands.
What changes
Best for
meat ragu, baked pasta, chunky vegetable sauce
The same pasta in a shorter cut, so the ruffles and the sauce-holding are identical and no adjustment is needed. Because the pieces are short you eat them with a fork rather than twirling, which turns a plated pasta course into something more like a bowl of short pasta, and it works better in a baked dish than long mafaldine does.
5Linguine or spaghetti
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The least-bad option when nothing wide or ruffled is available.
What changes
Best for
smooth tomato sauce, cream sauce, garlic and oil
Honest answer: this misses the point of mafaldine entirely. Narrow strands have neither the width nor the frills to hold a thick ragu, so the meat slides off and gathers at the bottom of the bowl. If it is all you have, reduce the sauce until it is quite thick, finish the drained pasta in the pan with a ladle of pasta water, and grate over more cheese than usual.

What is Mafaldine?

Mafaldine is a long flat pasta ribbon with rippled, frilly edges running down both sides, also sold as mafalda, mafalde or reginette, and those ruffles are the whole point, since they catch and hold a cream sauce or a ragu far better than a smooth ribbon does.

Cooking tips

Mafaldine, mafalda, mafalde and reginette all name the same ruffled ribbon, and generic packaging sometimes calls it ruffled or curly ribbon pasta. Any recipe naming one will work with the others.
The ruffles are fragile. Boil mafaldine in a wide pot with plenty of water, stir with tongs rather than a spoon, and do not let it sit in a colander under its own weight, or you will find the frills snapped off in the bottom of the pan.
Cook it a shade firmer than you think. The thin wavy edges cook faster than the flat centre of the ribbon, so by the time the middle is properly soft the frills have already gone limp and lost their grip on the sauce.
This shape was made for rich Neapolitan-style ragu, oxtail, short rib and mushroom cream sauces. Thin oil-and-garlic sauces are wasted on it, because the ruffles have nothing substantial to catch.
Sauce it in the pan and serve immediately. Ruffled ribbons clump together into a solid mass faster than any other long pasta as they cool, and reheated mafaldine loses its texture completely.

Frequently asked questions

Is mafaldine the same as reginette?

Yes. Reginette means little queens and mafaldine is named after an Italian princess; both refer to the same long flat ribbon with ruffled edges, as do mafalda and mafalde. Buy whichever name is on the box and follow your recipe unchanged.

What is the best substitute for mafaldine?

Curly-edged lasagna sheets cut lengthwise into narrow strips, because they are the only easy option that preserves the ruffle. If that is not possible, pappardelle is the best plain-edged ribbon for rich meat sauces and fettuccine is the best everyday choice.

Can I use fettuccine instead of mafaldine?

Yes, at the same weight, and it is the most common real-world swap. The dish will simply taste less sauced, because a plain quarter-inch ribbon has much less surface than a ruffled one. Reduce the sauce until it is thick enough to coat and toss the pasta in the pan rather than ladling sauce on top.

Can I just leave the pasta out?

No, since it is the body of the meal. What you can do is put the sauce to another use: a rich ragu that was destined for mafaldine is excellent over polenta, mashed potato or gnocchi, and it makes a very good filling for a baked pasta with whatever short shape you have.

Why did my mafaldine stick together in one lump?

The ruffles interlock as the pasta cools and the surface starch sets, which happens faster than with round strands. Use plenty of water, do not rinse it, drain it while it is still just firm, and get it straight into the hot sauce and onto plates within a minute or two.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Mafaldine substitute

Other mafaldine substitutes

2Pappardelle

3Fettuccine or tagliatelle

4Lasagnette or mafalda corta

5Linguine or spaghetti