How to Cook Spaghetti Noodles

5 from 2 votes

Make the perfect pot of spaghetti noodles that’s not too mushy, not too firm … just right. Every. Time.

Prep Time5

Cook Time8

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 210kcal

Fill a 6-8 quart pot with 4 quarts of cold water. Turn your stove on high, place a lid on the pot, and bring the water to a rolling boil.
Add 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of kosher salt or sea salt to the boiling water.
Use tongs to submerge the pasta into the boiling water. Let the water come back up to a rolling boil, and stir the pasta so it doesn’t clump or stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep the lid off of the pot.
For al dente spaghetti, boil the pasta about two minutes less than the cook time on the package.
Carefully remove one piece of pasta and check it for doneness. If it’s not mushy, not crunchy, but slightly firm when you bite into it, it’s perfectly al dente! If you like it softer, cook it for a bit longer.
Before draining the pasta, ladle 1-2 cups of pasta water from the pot.
Use the reserved starchy water to flavor and thicken your sauce or loosen up stuck-together pasta.
Drain the pasta. Toss hot pasta with your favorite sauce. Serve, and enjoy!

Have the sauce warming while you boil the spaghetti so you can immediately toss your freshly cooked pasta with the sauce.
If the water starts to boil over, slightly reduce the heat, but keep the water at a rolling boil. Also, resting a wooden spoon across the top of the pot keeps the water from boiling over.
Do not rinse it with water. Rinsing will remove the starch, which helps the sauce stick to the pasta.
Do not coat the noodles in olive oil before adding sauce, it will just make them slippery and keep the sauce from adhering.