Wagon Wheel Pasta substitute

Best substitute

Farfalle (Bow Ties)

Use the same amount by weight as the wagon wheel pasta you are replacing

Best for pasta salad

Different texture

Farfalle is the best all-round substitute at 1:1 by weight, with fusilli or rotini a close second and small shells excellent if the sauce has peas, corn, or ground meat in it. Wagon wheels contribute no flavor at all. They are doing two jobs: the gaps between the spokes trap small pieces of sauce, and the shape itself is the reason a child agrees to eat the dish. Pick a substitute for whichever of those matters in your kitchen.

Other wagon wheel pasta substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fusilli or Rotini
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Short corkscrews, cheap and everywhere.
What changes
Better than wheels at holding onto sauce and just as fun on a fork.
Best for
tomato and meat sauce, pasta salad, cheese sauces, pesto
Spirals hold more sauce than a flat wheel does, so the same quantity of sauce coats the pasta more heavily and the pan looks drier. The bite changes from the slightly crisp snap of a thin wheel rim to a springy chew. If the recipe was chosen for the wheel shape rather than for how it behaves, this swap works perfectly but loses the novelty.
3Small or Medium Shells (Conchiglie)
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Ridged cupped shells.
What changes
The best choice specifically when the sauce contains small solid pieces, which most wagon-wheel recipes do.
Best for
sauces with peas, corn, or ground beef, tuna pasta salad, cheese sauces, baked pasta
Shells scoop peas, corn, and small crumbles of meat right inside the cup, so the solids stay with the pasta far better than they do with wheels. That makes bites uneven in a good way: some are loaded and some lightly coated. Shells also hold cooking water, so drain them tilted and shake the colander, or a cold pasta salad will turn watery in the fridge.
4Cavatappi or Cellentani
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Ridged hollow corkscrews.
What changes
The sturdiest option on this list and the best pick for anything cheesy or baked.
Best for
macaroni and cheese, baked pasta, thick tomato sauce, pasta salad
Sauce collects in the ridges and inside the tube, so a cheese sauce clings dramatically better than it does to a flat wheel, where it simply coats the surface. The pieces are much longer and bouncier, so the dish takes up more volume in the bowl and eats less delicately. Cook it a minute past the point it looks done or the thick wall stays chalky at the center.
5Radiatori
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Short ruffled shapes, sometimes called radiator pasta.
What changes
A specialty item, but if your shop stocked wheels it may well stock these too.
Best for
thick sauces, pasta salad, pesto, cheese sauces
The deep fins hold far more sauce than a wheel's spokes do, so the dish tastes more strongly sauced for the same amount. Radiatori is also solid and stubby where a wheel is flat and thin, so the pasta becomes a chewy component rather than a light one. Needs a couple of minutes longer than wheels because the core is thick.
6Elbow Macaroni
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The cupboard fallback.
What changes
Smaller and plainer, but it does the job and children eat it.
Best for
macaroni and cheese, baked pasta, cold pasta salad, soups
Elbows are noticeably smaller and thinner-walled than wheels, so they absorb more sauce and cook softer, and a dish made with them eats denser and more casserole-like. Because the pieces are small, the same weight looks like a lot more pasta in the pan. Undercook by a minute if the dish will be baked, and hold back some of the sauce at first, since small pasta soaks up more than you expect.

What is Wagon Wheel Pasta?

Wagon Wheel Pasta is a small flat pasta disc about half an inch across, cut with an outer rim and spokes radiating from a hub so that it looks like a cart wheel, with gaps between the spokes that trap small bits of sauce; Italian brands label it rotelle, ruote or ruote di carro.

Cooking tips

Wagon wheels are thin at the spokes and thicker at the rim and hub, so the spokes soften well before the rim does. Bite through the rim of a piece to judge doneness, and expect 9 to 11 minutes for dried wheels.
The spokes are also fragile. Stir gently with a wooden spoon rather than tongs, and fold rather than stir once the sauce is on, or you will end up with a pan of broken half-wheels and loose hubs, which is a disappointment mainly to whoever was promised wheels.
This shape is at its best with sauces containing small round solids: peas, corn, diced carrot, ground beef, tuna. Those pieces lodge in the gaps between spokes, which is the whole trick. If you swap to a solid shape such as farfalle, chop the solids finer or accept that they will collect at the bottom of the bowl.
For a cold pasta salad, dress the wheels while still warm so they absorb the vinaigrette, then toss again just before serving. Wheels have a lot of surface area and shed water as they cool, which is how a salad ends up sitting in a puddle.
There are two very different sizes on the market. The small rotelle used in pasta salads and kids' dinners is what most recipes mean, but some brands sell a large ruote di carro two inches across meant for chunky sauces. If your box looks oversized, treat it like a big shape such as rigatoni or paccheri and give it two or three extra minutes.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of wagon wheel pasta?

Farfalle at 1:1 by weight is the closest substitute in size, look, and kid appeal. Fusilli or rotini works just as well and holds sauce better. If the sauce has peas, corn, or ground meat in it, small shells are the smartest choice because those pieces nest inside the cup instead of falling to the bottom of the bowl.

Is wagon wheel pasta the same as rotelle or ruote?

Yes. Rotelle and ruote are the Italian names for the same shape, ruote di carro meaning cart wheels, and English-language recipes and packets usually just say wagon wheels. All three refer to the small spoked disc, and everything on this page applies whichever name your recipe uses. The one thing to check is size, since a few brands make a much larger version intended for heavy sauces.

Can I just leave the shape out and use whatever pasta I have?

Yes. Wagon wheels contribute no flavor, no thickening, and nothing the recipe structurally depends on, so any short shape gives you the same dinner. The only two real cautions are long thin pasta such as spaghetti with a chunky sauce, where the solids slide off the strands, and very small shapes such as orzo, which turn a sauced dish into a porridge.

Why can I never find wagon wheel pasta in the shop?

It is a novelty shape rather than a staple, so most supermarkets stock it seasonally or not at all, and it disappears and returns without notice. That is exactly why the substitute matters more than the hunt: nothing in a recipe depends on the shape, and farfalle or fusilli sitting on the same shelf will produce the same dish. Specialty Italian shops and online sellers carry rotelle year round if you want the real thing.

Is radiatori the same as wagon wheels?

No, though recipe write-ups sometimes conflate them because both are small novelty shapes. Wheels are flat discs with spokes; radiatori are chunky solid rolls wrapped in deep ruffled fins. They swap 1:1 without any adjustment, but radiatori holds much more sauce and has a substantially chewier bite, so a thin sauce that suited wheels will taste more concentrated on radiatori.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Wagon Wheel Pasta substitute

Other wagon wheel pasta substitutes

2Fusilli or Rotini

3Small or Medium Shells (Conchiglie)

4Cavatappi or Cellentani

5Radiatori

6Elbow Macaroni