What Is Elbow macaroni and How Can I Use It?

Elbow macaroni is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 270 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

Elbow macaroni is a short curved tube; the bend and hollow trap sauce in every bite.
It is the default shape for baked mac and cheese, cold macaroni salad, and chunky soups.
For salad, cook softer than al dente and rinse cold; pasta firms up as it chills.
For hot cheese dishes do not rinse; the surface starch helps the sauce cling and thicken.
Closest swaps are small shells, cavatappi, or ditalini; dried elbows keep one to two years.

What is elbow macaroni?

Elbow macaroni is a short, curved tube of pasta, bent into a C and usually no more than an inch long. The shape is the whole point: the curve and the hollow center trap sauce, while the small size makes it easy to eat with a spoon or fork.

That hollow, spoon-sized shape is why elbows became the default pasta for two American classics, macaroni and cheese and macaroni salad. Most boxes are plain durum semolina, the same dough as spaghetti, just cut and curved differently.

What the Shape Is Good For

Elbows earn their keep where a sauce needs to coat every piece evenly. In a baked macaroni and cheese, the tubes fill with cheese sauce and the ridged ones hold even more, so every forkful is the same.

The same trait makes elbows the standard for cold macaroni salad. Their size matches diced celery, onion, and pickle, so nothing slides off the spoon.

They also belong in brothy, chunky soups. A bowl of macaroni and bean soup uses elbows the way Italians use ditalini, small enough to ride alongside the beans.

Cooking Notes and Pitfalls

Boxed elbows cook in about 7 to 9 minutes.

For mac and cheese, drain them a minute early, since they keep cooking in the hot sauce and again in the oven.

The biggest mistake is treating salad macaroni like dinner macaroni. For a cold salad, cook the elbows a touch softer than al dente, because pasta firms up as it chills and stiff elbows make a stodgy salad.

Rinse salad elbows under cold water to stop the cooking and wash off the starch that would otherwise glue them together.

For hot dishes, do the opposite: do not rinse. That surface starch is what helps a cheese sauce grab on. A no-bake mac and cheese leans on it to thicken the sauce right in the pot.

Substitutes

Almost any small, sauce-grabbing shape stands in for elbows. Small shells (conchiglie) are the closest, with a similar scoop that holds sauce. Cavatappi is elbow macaroni with a corkscrew twist and works beautifully in mac and cheese.

Ditalini, those little tubes, are a fine swap in soup and salad. Small penne or rotini will do for a baked dish, though their larger size changes the bite. Avoid long pasta like spaghetti here; it cannot do what the elbow does.

Buying and Storing

Dried elbow macaroni keeps for a year or two in a sealed container in a cool, dry spot. Bronze-die or ridged (rigati) elbows have a rougher surface that grips sauce better and is worth seeking out for mac and cheese.

Once a box is open, pour it into a jar so it does not go stale or pick up cabinet odors. Cooked macaroni keeps three or four days in the fridge; for salad, dress it while still slightly warm so it absorbs the flavor before it firms up.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup elbow shaped (105g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 389Calories from Fat 14

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 1.6g 2%

Saturated Fat 0.3g 1%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 6mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 78.4g 26%

Dietary Fiber 3g 13%

Sugars 2.8

Protein 13.7g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 2% • Iron 8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find elbow macaroni: Elbow macaroni is usually found in the pasta section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Pasta, elbow macaroni is a member of the Cereal Grains and Pasta US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 意大利面，通心粉肘
British (UK) term: Pasta, elbow macaroni
en français: coude macaroni
en español: La pasta de macarrones codo

How much does elbow macaroni weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup elbow shaped	105 grams
2 ounce	57 grams

Cereal Grains and Pasta

Amaranth flour 28 Arrowroot flour 91 Pearl barley 219 Buckwheat flour 37 Cracked wheat (bulgur) 179 Cornmeal 811 Cornstarch 2554 Couscous 155 Millet 62 Quinoa 111

Recipes using elbow macaroni

There are 270 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Macaroni Supper Casserole

A hearty, layered casserole combining tender macaroni, savory tomato sauce, creamy spinach-cheese filling, and melted cheddar. Perfect for family dinners or meal prep. Much easier than a lasagna with just as much punch.

Greek Mac & Cheese Salad

Add feta cheese, sun-dried tomates, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, olives, fresh cucumber, onions and bell peppers into cooked macaroni. Serve it over a bed of mixed greens, super tasty and refreshing.

Vegetarian Mac & “Cheese”

Your family will be none the wiser when you offer up this vegetarian creamy “mac and cheese”.

Lucia's Broccoli & Macaroni

Definitely a quick and easy dish. A very clean taste, cooked bacon bits added some nice smokiness and broccoli lightened up the whole dish with lots of goodness. We used whole grain macaroni that added extra fibre to the dish. This is the kind of dish that kids and grown-ups all enjoy.

Mama Delilah's Minestrone

A very hearty version of my favorite soup. Add crushed red pepper to turn up the heat. It's delicious!! Perfect comfort food for a cold winter's day!

Cheesy Pizza Casserole

A cheesy baked pasta casserole with minced beef and some Italian flair.

Pasta with Broccoli & Garlic

I used a whole wheat blend of pasta/spaghetti. I cut back some on the olive oil and used smart balance blend instead of butter. I also only used 1 tsp of the crushed red pepper for my children's palate and it seemed fine.

Stove-Top Macaroni & Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes

Three words for this recipe ... yum, yum and YUM! Very easy to make and great flavor.

Mac Skillet Dinner

Mac skillet dinner is homemade hamburger helper: ground beef, mushrooms, and corn in a chili-spiced tomato sauce tossed with macaroni. One skillet, budget-friendly, and on the table fast. The weeknight dinner kids actually finish.

Stove Top Broccoli Mac & Cheese

This stove top mac and cheese is easy to put together. Broccoli provides lots of essential nutrients, and it's a cheesy and delicious way to combine some veggies into your kid's dish as well.

Chili Mac 'N Cheddar

Definitely give this recipe 5 stars. We really had no idea how it would come out before we made it, and the result was outstanding...

Artichoke Pasta Salad

A scrumptious pasta salad that's both healthy and easy to make!

Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Broccoli & Cauliflower

a Weight Watchers recipe Prep: 15 min. Cook: 45 min. 7 PointsPlus

Green Bean Pasta Bake

Really enjoyed this dish. Quite easy to make, and it was cheesy and delicious. A hearty and tasty meal. Will be making this recipe again.

Old-Fashioned Macaroni & Cheese

Classic and easy to prepare old fashioned baked macaroni and cheese baked until bubbly with a crispy top.

Better than Macaroni & Cheese

Much better than classic Macaroni and Cheese. This version still has lots of cheesy flavor but is baked with juicy tomatoes and lots of mushrooms. Serve with a simple salad and make with whole wheat macaroni for a serious boost to the health value that's packed with flavor. A great family casserole.

Cheesy Ham Casserole

I used my left over smoked ham for this recipe and it came out awesome. I made it exactly has the recipe described and my family actually loved it. I will make it again!

Beefy Pasta Casserole

Affectionately dubbed "Papa's Ground Beef Casserole." This ground beef casserole with pasta is super easy to make using your slow cooker or Crockpot. A staple in our home and didn't last very long.

Three Cheese Baked Macaroni

This cheesy and delicious baked macaroni is packed with yumminess. Three cheeses together deliver the ultimate flavor. Make it ahead, reheat it for a quick and yummy dinner.

Kielbasa-Mustard Macaroni & Cheese

Give your mac and cheese a new taste by adding kielbasa and mustard. The cheddar and mozzarella cheeses make this mac and cheese taste ultimately delicious and cheesy with plenty of cheesy sauce to go around.

Cheesy Macaroni & Cheese with Spinach & Feta

One of the best homemade mac n' cheese I've ever had. The flavor of the sauce was excellent. Instead of provolone I use asiago cheese. The bits of feta and spinach made for nice variety. Bread crumb topping added another layer of crunchy texture.

Arizona Skillet Dinner

This recipe is easy to scale down. A filling, tasty yet wholesome one pot meal that's perfect for busy week days.

Broccoli & Macaroni with Lots of Garlic

What an easy recipe! If you are a garlic lover, you will love this scrumptious pasta dish that will have you scooping out a second helping for yourself.

Three Cheese Crockpot Macaroni & Cheese

Easy three cheese macaroni and cheese for your slow cooker.

BLT Pasta Salad

Always a hit and it's quick and easy to make. Tastes just like a BLT sandwich in the form of a pasta salad.

American Chop Suey

Somewhat similar to chili mac and American goulash found in other areas of the country, this American dish is most prevalent in New England.

Easy Macaroni Salad

Quick, easy and delicious salad, and everyone loves it.

Mix & Match Casserole

An easy yet delicious recipe. I followed the recipe, and used whatever I had on hand. Then just mixed them up, and baked in the oven until the cheese was nicely browned. I let the casserole rest for about 10 minutes, then served it. Overall a great dish.

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