What can I use instead of Bucatini pasta? First, Spaghetti offers the closest resemblance to Bucatini and is perfect for sopping up creamy, buttery, or tomato-based sauces. Next, you can use Spaghettoni and Fettuccini for heavier, meat-based sauces. Lastly, use Linguini and Capellini for lighter fare olive oil-based sauces, pesto, and seafood.
Bucatini, or Perciatelli pasta, is an Italian pasta made of durum wheat flour. It is shaped like long, narrow tubes that resemble thick, hollow Spaghetti.
Bucatini is available fresh or dried and is excellent at sopping up silky tomato sauces, creamy and buttery sauces, or seafood-based sauces. Consider the following substitutes if you can’t find bucatini pasta.
Best Bucatini Pasta Substitutes
Spaghetti
Bucatini is often mistaken for the quintessential Italian pasta – Spaghetti.
Spaghetti is long, like a string, and round in cross-section. The only distinguishing factor between Spaghetti and Bucatini is that the latter is slightly thicker and has a hole in the center.
Serve Spaghetti with creamy carbonara, classic ragù, crowd-pleasing Bolognese, seafood, Pomodoro, and fresh vegetarian dishes.
Spaghetti has a similar cooking time to Bucatini. Boil fresh Spaghetti for 3 minutes and dried Spaghetti for 8 to 14 minutes in boiling water. Then, top with your preferred sauce.
Spaghettoni
Spaghettoni is simply the wider version of the old-time Spaghetti favorite. This pasta features long and round strings of pasta thicker than regular Spaghetti.
Spaghettoni’s thick strands are perfect for thicker sauces and meat-based toppings. Think meatballs, Bolognese, chicken carbonara, vegetables, and turkey ragù.
Spaghettoni can take slightly longer to cook than Bucatini. Boil fresh Spaghettoni for 4 to 5 minutes and dry Spaghettoni for 10 to 14 minutes in boiling water. Then, toss it in a thick, creamy sauce and your preferred toppings.
Fettuccine
In Italian, Fettuccini refers to “small ribbons,” which is exactly what the pasta is – long, flat ribbons of fresh or dried pasta. You can find Fettuccini in long strands or curled up into nests.
Fettuccini is thicker than Bucatini. So, serve it with meat-based sauces, creamy prosciutto, Fettuccini alfredo, and carbonara.
Fresh Fettuccini takes around 5 to 6 minutes to cook compared to 8 to 13 minutes of dry Fettuccini. Next, toss the pasta in your preferred sauce and toppings.
Linguine
Linguine is another Italian classic, translating to “little tongues.” Its fun-name meaning comes from the ever-so-slightly oval section.
Linguini is otherwise a long, flat, and thin noodle that you can use to replace Bucatini.
Linguine is available in fresh and dried. We recommend serving it the traditional way – with lighter fare like seafood or olive oil, butter, pesto, or tomato-based sauce.
Fresh Linguine takes around 1 to 4 minutes to cook compared to 9 to 13 minutes for dried Linguine. Once ready, toss the pasta in a light, thinner sauce.
Capellini
Capellini, meaning “little hairs,” is an Italian pasta with a similar shape to Spaghetti but a third of the thickness.
Also known as Angel hair pasta, Capellini is extremely fragile. It requires a close eye to prevent the delicate strands from overcooking. You can replace Bucatini with Capellini for a lighter dish.
Due to its fragile nature, Capellini is traditionally served with lighter fare sauces and foods. So, consider using Capellini with light, olive oil-based sauces, pesto, simplistic tomato sauce, and seafood.
Capellini’s ultra-thin strands only take 2 to 6 minutes to cook. Boil the Capellini in boiling water and salt to taste. Then, top it up with a light, creamy sauce.