The best fettuccine noodles have a toothsome bite and a coarse texture. They should pick up sauce, and they should be made with high quality ingredients. The best Fettuccine noodles are long, ribbon-like noodles that nest well in a bowl or on a plate. What are the best fettuccine brands to buy? Read on to find out.
If you read our best spaghetti ranking, then you know exactly what we’re looking for in a good store-bought pasta: Quality ingredients, coarse texture, and a chewy bite. But what about fettuccine? Well, let’s start with the basics—what is fettuccine? Fettuccine is iconically long, flat, and wavy. Though, you’d be surprised at how many variations of fettuccine there are out there that deviate from this structure. Personally, I think fettuccine is best as long and lovely ribbons. It can be made fresh with eggs and refrigerated, or it can be made with semolina and kept in dry storage. But here’s a spoiler: Most fresh egg pasta available at the grocery store sucks. You’re much better off making your own or going to a restaurant for that. However, bronze-cut and air-dried fettuccine is sturdy, reliable, and ideal for meat sauce and marinara and meatballs. Having good fettuccine on hand at home also means that you’re only a few minutes away from fattening, comforting fettuccine alfredo. And what’s better than a dirty, American alfredo? All hail fettuccine—the perfect noodle vessel for some of the most comforting pasta dishes.
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- La Molisana Bronze Died Fettuccine No. 5
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La Molisana took down the number one spaghetti, and here they are taking the top fettuccine spot as well. La Molisana is just a perfect pantry pasta—it’s delightfully coarse, porous, bitey, and substantial. It’s artisanal and high quality without costing an absurd amount, either. My favorite part: As soon as you put the fettuccine in the water it immediately makes the water murky with starch. That’s important, as that pasta water acts as the perfect thickening agent for butter based sauces like alfredo. La Molisana fettuccine also picks up sauce very well because it’s bronze died (TK EXPLAIN THIS TO PEOPLE), and the chewy bite is unmatched. Also, it has eight grams of protein per serving, which is higher than other pastas on this list. That tells me this is made with quality semolina flour. This is the best fettuccine and, honestly, my new favorite brand of pasta.
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- Rustichella d’abruzzo
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Rustichella d’Abruzzo makes giant, thick, chewy, and floppy fettuccine noodles. They also have a firm bite and a wonderful durum wheat flavor. Semolina tastes slightly nutty and sweet, and while it makes for a less rich pasta than egg noodles, it’s still quite delicious. I ran into Mythical Kitchen’s Nicole Enayati in the kitchen who said these were her fettuccine noodles of choice. I can see why! They’re so dense, thick, and chewy that I think they are the perfect fettuccine for a bolognese. Though not as wide, they have a real pappardelle quality to them. For that reason, this is the best fettuccine for meat sauce.
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- De Cecco Fettuccine No. 6
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You know I love De Cecco; they’re just totally reliable, appropriately priced, and steadily available. De Cecco fettuccine are made with cold mountain water and slow dried. These are beautiful little ribbons of pasta that actually taste kind of eggy. They have a soft, rich texture that I often associate with a yolk rich pappardelle. Mostly, though, I buy De Cecco because it’s reliable. It’s a sturdy, coarse pasta that can withstand a lot of cooking and won’t break in the pot or pan. Don’t overcook it, but if you do, it’ll still hold its shape well.
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- Rao’s Homemade Fettuccine
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Rao’s fettuccine is a quality store-bought pasta that’s chewy, coarse, and delicious. It says “may contain egg” on the back of the package, though the ingredients don’t explicitly list eggs. So, be careful of that if you’re a vegan. Regardless, this fettuccine does have a very rich quality, and as a result these little fettuccine ribbons are quite decadent. It’s Rao’s, so you know you’re getting a wonderful bronze died, porous texture that’s excellent for picking up sauce. It’s like egg pasta without the eggs!
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- Pasta Deliziosa Spinach Fettuccine
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I really like these little spinach fettuccine hooks. The end of each noodle is curved, almost like a cane, and the taste is earthy and vegetal like spinach. These are actually vegan noodles made in an egg-free facility. They’re thin and not as long as some of the other noodles on this list, but still quite good. The earthy spinach flavor is the reason to buy these, though, and they would make for a great spinach fettuccine alfredo or a pasta primavera. There’s something very appetizing about a pasta that has color to it, and these starkly green noodles implore you to eat with your eyes.
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Best of the Best
Best for Bolognese
Best Reliable
Best Richness
Best Spinach
Other products we tried: Whole Foods Egg Fettuccine, Al Dente Spinach Fettuccine, Buitoni, Garofalo.
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