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Oops!
You took the pasta off of the stove before tasting it to figure out if the pasta is done (or maybe you cooked your pasta in the microwave).
Now you need to learn how to fix undercooked pasta before dinner is ruined and everyone revolts over the much-too-crunchy pasta noodles.
Is it fixable?
Do you need to start over?
What do you do?
Fear not! Fixing undercooked pasta is not only possible, but it’s actually really easy.
In this guide, we’ll run through the most common ways to fix undercooked pasta so you can finish cooking those noodles until they’re perfectly al dente or however you like them done.
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How Do You Know if it’s Undercooked?
Undercooked noodles are easy to taste once you bite into them because they’ll be too crunchy, chewy, and have way too much of a “bite” to them.
You can learn more about how to tell if pasta noodles are done here.
Can You Eat Undercooked Pasta?
Yes, you can eat undercooked pasta if it was dry pasta to begin with.
It won’t harm you, as there is not really anything in it that needs to be cooked (this is also why dry pasta doesn’t really go bad).
It just tastes gross, chewy, and has a bad texture if you don’t cook it all the way.
If it’s fresh pasta, then no, you shouldn’t eat undercooked fresh pasta as it has eggs in it and you want it to be fully cooked (which really only takes a few minutes, so you shouldn’t usually have undercooked fresh pasta anyway).
How to Fix Undercooked Pasta
Here are some of the easiest ways to fix undercooked pasta, including some very obvious ones and things you might not have thought of.
Quick tip: if you want tips for the future so you don’t make this mistake again, here’s how long to cook dry pasta and here’s how long to cook fresh pasta.
Reboil the Pasta
Yes, you can reboil pasta if you didn’t get it right the first time!
It sounds simple, and it is.
Not finished cooking?
Keep cooking it!
For this to work the best, you really should let the noodles cool off before throwing them back in a pot of boiling water, unless you just recently took the noodles out.
This will make sure they don’t get too clumpy and starchy.
You can actually use the same exact water you used to boil them the first time, but if you threw that out, then feel free to start again.
Make sure to add copious amounts of salt (every time you boil pasta, reboil or not) and choose a pot big enough for all of the pasta.
You want the water completely covering the pasta with a good margin – don’t make your pasta noodles fight for a space as they expand because it’ll make it harder to cook them properly.
Bake the Pasta in the Oven
Yes!
You can bake pasta in the oven!
Some people swear by putting pasta with water over it in an oven-proof dish, covering with foil, and then baking it in the oven to finish it.
We would recommend making more of a pasta casserole, adding some sauce and cheese and turning it into a “pasta bake.”
The pasta will soak up the sauce and moisture from the other ingredients and finish cooking if you do it this way.
This does require you to change your menu up a little bit, so if you want to carry on with your original recipe, read on.
Keep Cooking the Pasta in a Sauce
Most of the time, you’re going to be serving pasta with some kind of sauce.
Whether it’s homemade or a can of Preggo, this sauce is going to be the key to helping you turn your undercooked pasta into perfectly cooked pasta.
Simply heat up the sauce in a sauce pan or pot and add the pasta noodles.
As it cooks, the pasta will absorb some of the moisture and the sauce and will no longer be undercooked.
However, be aware that if your pasta goes in undercooked, you will end up with less sauce overall in the dish, so either add more sauce than you normally would or add some of the leftover pasta water from the boil (or just regular water if that’s all you have) so that you don’t end up drying everything out too much.
Microwave the Pasta with Water
If you just want to save the noodles, but don’t have a sauce to cook them in, put the undercooked pasta noodles in a microwave safe dish and cover with water.
Put it in the microwave for 45- 1 minute at a time, and microwave!
This is our least preferred way of fixing undercooked pasta noodles because it won’t be as good if you finish cooking on the stove, but it can work in a pinch if you need to make your pasta edible.
