Question

Do you have to rinse pasta after cooking it?

Answer 1

You do not have to rinse pasta after cooking it.

In fact you should never rinse pasta after cooking it because when you rinse pasta after cooking it the starch is removed.

When that starch is removed it prevents the pasta sauce from adhering to and sticking to the pasta properly so the pasta sauce can run off the pasta.

You want to leave that starch in the pasta so that the sauce adheres and sticks to it.

If you're making a cold pasta dish without pasta sauce such as making pasta salad then you can rinse the pasta.

But for warm pasta dishes the pasta should only be drained and not rinsed as you do want the starch in the pasta.

I found that out after I asked my mother why my pasta sauce was not sticking to the pasta and hers always did.

She said it was because I was rinsing the starch off the pasta.

Answer 2

Pasta should never, ever be rinsed for a warm dish.

The starch in the water is what helps the sauce adhere to your pasta.

The only time you should ever rinse your pasta is when you are going to use it in a cold dish like a pasta salad or when you are not going to use it immediately.