The best ways to reheat pasta

Making pasta for dinner over a glass of great wine is an excellent ritual most people refer to as a privilege. You can make it with just about anything since it's versatile, and have fun testing out the delicious recipes that come with it.

 

But if you're here, you might have made too much pasta last night, and you might have experienced pasta turning gooey and getting clumpy when you tried to reheat it in the microwave.

 

We get it; the microwave tends to dry out the pasta making it extraordinarily distasteful and making you want to throw out any leftover pasta. But you can say goodbye to your pasta reheating nightmares with our guide.

 

This article guides you through different methods or the best ways to reheat your leftover pasta.

The best ways to reheat your leftover pasta

Reheating your leftover pasta in an oven 

The most popular technique to reheat your leftover pasta if it has been coated in any sauce before is throwing it in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place your pasta on a tray. 

 

Cover it with aluminum foil to ensure it is evenly cooked and reheated on all sides. Also, covering it up with foil makes it faster to reheat.

 

It usually takes around 20-30 minutes to get the pasta reheated properly, but the secret to it not getting burned or overcooked is checking on it every 5-10 minutes. 

 

If you are concerned that your soup might not be able to handle the reheating process, a tip is to add a little water or thicken your sauce to ensure that the pasta doesn't get dried out.

 

Reheating your leftover pasta by boiling it

This method only works if you have stored separate un-sauced pasta from last night's cooking show. Or the trick is to wash off the portion of pasta you want to store with cold water to keep it from becoming mushy.

 

Once you're ready to cook it again, dip the pasta in boiling water for about 40-60 seconds, drain them out, and voila, you have your pasta ready to go. Ensure you reheat your sauce in the microwave before adding it to your hot pasta.

Reheating your leftover pasta on the stove

A fancy and one of the most effective methods to reheat your already sauced-up pasta is doing this magic on the stove. This method involves a pan and your favorite cooking oil.

Depending on how much pasta you're trying to reheat, you need to add your favorite cooking oil to a pan over medium-high and sauté for at least five minutes to get the heat through evenly. 

 

This method is pretty great since you can taste the pasta as you cook it. You can also add a generous amount of parmesan cheese to it to tweak the flavors even more. Stirring is necessary not to overcook it or burn it.

Reheating your leftover pasta in the microwave

For some of us, we are not so lucky with kitchen equipment. If you have faced gooey or clumped-up pasta from reheating it in a microwave, you might not have done it correctly. 

 

 Not the ideal way to reheat your pasta, but if this is the only way you know how to, make sure you put the pasta on a microwave-safe dish and add a little water or sauce to make sure that the pasta does not dry out or stick together.

 

Once you're done, loosely cover the pasta, place it inside the microwave for about a minute, and check if it has thoroughly been heated. If not, put it back in for 14-16 seconds until it is heated evenly. The trick is to stir the pasta during the heating process to avoid clumping.

 

How do you store leftover pasta, and how long does it last?

 

You can store the leftover pasta in an airtight container, ensuring it is tightly sealed and placed inside the fridge. Both the plain cooked and sauced pasta is good to go for at least five days. For a longer pasta lifespan, freezing and defrosting it when it's time to cook might give you a more extended period.

 

It is important to note that consuming food stored for too long is dangerous to health, so make sure you check on it before consuming anything if it has been kept for too long.