Don’t tell your nonna, but this is a better way to cook pasta

May 13, 2026 by
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True or false: to make pasta you need to have a large kettle of boiling water, about 6 quarts per pound of pasta. For decades most people would have said “true”, but people are turning to a newer way of cooking pasta that uses much less water. There are several advantages to the low water method, as Serious Eats’ Leah Colins explains.

Pasta al limone from Serious Eats

The first advantage is that it takes less time as you don’t need to wait for a cauldron of water to come to a boil. Although you might worry that the temperature drop in a smaller amount of water would be problematic, exhaustive testing shows that for home cooks the difference is negligible. Since there is less water to heat, it can return to the boil faster.

This is where I (along with America’s Test Kitchen and others) disagree with the Serious Eats article: you don’t have to wait for the water to come to a boil at all. You can start the pasta in cold water – but do stir it frequently for the first minute or two to prevent it from sticking together. As America’s Test Kitchen shows, putting the pasta in before the water heats can cut the cooking time by 45% and reduce the water needed by 75%. Both ATK and Serious Eats agree that for long pasta shapes, a skillet is better than a saucepan because you don’t have to fuss with getting the pasta to bend (or heavens forfend, break the pasta).

While the time and water savings are valuable, perhaps the greatest benefit is the higher starch concentration in the lesser amount of water. This will help sauces emulsify, especially butter and cream-based sauces. Say hello to silky smooth pasta al limone. Have you converted to the cold water, less water pasta cooking method?

Category: Cooking Tips

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8 Comments

  • Sloober  on  May 14, 2026

    I started using less water when the original article from Kenji Lopez appeared on Serious Eats years ago, never tried tried the cold water method though.

  • vickster  on  May 14, 2026

    I have used it in several one-pan recipes when it was recommended. It definitely worked. I have not made it a general rule but maybe I will.

  • anya_sf  on  May 14, 2026

    If you start the pasta in cold water, how do you time it? Normally I use the minimum time shown on the package, which works reliably for me with DeCecco and Barilla pastas.

    • Darcie  on  May 14, 2026

      I have to admit that I don’t time it, I just test it and pull it when it’s to my liking.

  • stahl_amy  on  May 14, 2026

    I tried this with GF pasta and it was a disaster.

  • okmosa  on  May 15, 2026

    I’ve tried this a few times, but find that the pasta is just too starchy for me, and I don’t rinse my pasta. For me, I don’t need to cook pasta speedy-fast because I am prepping my sauce as the pasta is cooking – maybe because of my Italian heritage, but probably more as I’ve been doing deeper dives on Italian cooking overall. However, when I know I’ll be reaching for starchy pasta cooking water, I will use a little less water for pasta boiling for it to definitely be ‘starchy.’
    One thing that has reduced my boiling water time overall is using induction. I picked up a single countertop induction burner to help with Thanksgiving a few years ago, and I now use it almost daily, as I’m hoping/considering having a full induction range someday.

  • FJT  on  May 16, 2026

    I have used a small pan of water ever since I read Kenji’s article. Works just fine with gluten free pasta. I’ve not tried starting pasta in cold water and, as I have a Quooker tap and always have boiling water on hand, I’m not likely to try it.

  • sanfrannative  on  May 16, 2026

    I’ve never had the patience to wait for a massive amount of water to boil, plus for a long time I lived in a place with water use restrictions. So I’ve always gone easy on the water and I’m not sure there has been anything wrong with my pasta.
    I think Marcella Hazan said pasta would be “gummy” without massive amounts of water but I’ve never noticed this.

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