Tagliatelle vs. Fettuccine: Comparing Fettuccine and Tagliatelle

Tagliatelle is a type of pasta with wide, flat noodles made with wheat flour and egg. Tagliatelle is popular in the Emilia Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. Tagliatelle comes from the Italian word “tagliare,” which means "to cut." It is classically served with bolognese sauce, a meat sauce. Other popular tagliatelle pasta dishes include uova e formaggio (with eggs and cheese—similar to a carbonara) and simply pomodoro e basilico (a basic tomato sauce with basil). There's a version of tagliatelle called tagliolini, which is cylindrical in shape instead of flat.

Fettuccine is a type of pasta that means "little ribbons" in Italian. This flat pasta is popular in Rome and Tuscany in Southern Italy. Fettuccine pasta is commonly served with alfredo sauce in fettuccine alfredo, a Roman dish with a creamy sauce. It also pairs well with ragù, or tomato sauce with meat. A Tuscan-style pasta is an easy weeknight pasta recipe, where meat and veggies are cooked in olive oil and tossed with fettuccine and Parmesan.This type of noodle does not work as well in recipes that require short pasta shapes, such as recipes for pasta salads or macaroni dishes. For macaroni or pasta salads, other pasta types—like penne, rigatoni, rotini, farfalle, or orecchiette—are better options.

Tagliatelle and fettuccine are both flat, long pastas made from wheat flour and egg, but there are a few differences:

• Width: Tagliatelle is slightly wider than fettuccine.
• Thickness: Tagliatelle is thinner than fettuccine at approximately a quarter-inch thick.
• Length: There are many different types of pasta with varying pasta shapes, such as penne, fusilli, ziti, rotini, and lasagna. Tagliatelle and fettuccine belong to the category of long pasta. Other pastas with long strands include linguine, spaghetti, and bucatini.
• Availability: Fettuccine is easier to find in dried form at the grocery store, while tagliatelle is usually sold as fresh pasta.

Tagliatelle and fettuccine are long, thin pastas, and you can use them interchangeably. Another suitable substitute for either tagliatelle or fettuccine is linguine, which is thin but not as flat, or pappardelle, which is thin but wider than tagliatelle or fettuccine. (Pappardelle works best if you are pairing it with a meaty pasta sauce.)

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