Best Penne Pasta Guide: How to buy Penne Pasta from your supermarket

If you are shopping for the best penne pasta, but don’t know where to start, this is the guide for you. Penne rigate are one of those short pasta shapes that seem to have become increasingly popular recently likely because they are easy to cook and can be paired with almost any sauce.

Penne rigate have outer ridges, for a specific reason. These help the sauce cling to every bite which makes them perfect for thick sauces or even something quite simple.

But the issue is, when you go to the supermarket there are penne rigate available from every brand under the sun. Some are expensive and others can be disappointing, leaving you with a bowl of sad, slippery pasta.

So how do you know which one is actually worth buying? Let me help!

I taste tested 7 popular penne rigate brands to help you make an informed decision next time you are in the supermarket. I cooked each one the same way, boiling it in a large pot until al dente. The only thing I added was a little extra virgin olive oil, because if the pasta is good, just a simple taste should be enough, no sauces no seasoning, nothing. Because if you can’t eat it plain, it’s likely no amount of sauce can save it.

Watch: Test Tasting Penne Pasta Brands

What Makes Great Penne Pasta?

It’s important to remember that there is a big difference between dry pasta and fresh pasta.

Dry pasta is traditionally made with just semolina durum wheat and water. Fresh pastas, on the other hand, can be made in several ways, using combinations like egg and flour, semolina and egg, semolina and water, or flour and water. They behave very differently when cooked, and I have a previous video where I’ve explained this in more detail if you want to go deeper into it.

For this taste test, I focused only on dry penne rigate, made from semolina and water, and this is where one of the most important details comes in, the drying process.

Why the Drying Process Matters

Cheaper dry pasta is usually dried at very high temperatures for a short amount of time. This speeds up production, but it can damage the structure of the pasta, almost like burning it which results in a pasta that lacks strength, flavour, and proper texture.

Higher-quality dry pasta is dried slowly at lower temperatures. This takes longer, but it preserves the pasta’s structure, protein content, and fibre. That is one of the main reasons why better pasta costs a little more, and why it behaves so differently in the pot. If your pasta breaks or turns mushy during the cooking process before it even reaches al-dente, that is a major red flag.

Another detail that really matters is how the pasta is cut.

How Penne Pasta Is Cut and Why It Matters

Most commercial brands use Teflon die cutting, which produces very smooth pasta. There’s nothing wrong with it, but smooth pasta doesn’t hold sauce as well.

Premium brands often use bronze die cutting, where the pasta is pushed through bronze molds. This creates a slightly rough surface, and that roughness helps sauce cling to the pasta much better. These small details make a big difference once the pasta hits the plate.

One interesting thing I noticed during testing is that cheaper pasta often takes longer to cook. Premium brands like Liguori, Rummo, and La Molisana usually cook al dente within about 11 to 12 minutes. With cheaper brands, the timing can be unpredictable, and the texture is often inconsistent.

The Search for the Best Penne Pasta

Barilla – $3.50 AUD / $2.29 USD

Hands down, Barilla had some of the best packaging on the shelf. It looked professional and did a great job of selling the product. However, once I moved past the box, the pasta itself told a different story.

The colour of the penne was not very appealing with a dark orange tone, which is not what I look for in good-quality dry pasta. When I looked more closely at the cut, I could tell the manufacturer did not use bronze-die cutting. The surface was quite smooth, which usually means the pasta does not hold sauce as well.

The packaging recommended 11 minutes to reach al dente, which proved accurate in my test. I did like how the pasta expanded in size while cooking and held its shape without breaking. That said, the flavour and texture were fairly average. It was fine, but there were definitely better options available at a similar price point.

Score: 6/10

La Molisana – $4.00 AUD / $2.61 USD

La Molisana had clean, attractive packaging and was easy to find in many supermarkets. The penne immediately stood out thanks to its lighter colour and beautifully rough cut, a clear sign of quality production.

The recommended cooking time was 12 minutes, which worked well. Once boiled and mixed with extra virgin olive oil, the pasta expanded slightly, though not as much as Barilla pasta. Importantly, it did not turn pale or chalky once cooked and reached al dente with a firm, satisfying bite.

One detail that really impressed me was how well this penne pasta held the olive oil. It absorbed it evenly rather than letting it slide off, which is exactly what you want from good penne and a strong indication that it will hold sauce beautifully. The texture was delicate yet solid, and the flavour was clean and enjoyable.

Considering it only cost about 50 cents more than Barilla, La Molisana offered noticeably better quality and performance.

Score: 7.5/10

Rummo 

Rummo is proudly made in Naples and slowly dried using bronze die cutting, and that quality showed immediately. The colour of the penne was beautiful, and the rough cut was excellent, giving the pasta a very traditional look and feel.

The recommended cooking time was 11 minutes, and the penne grew noticeably in size while cooking, becoming slightly longer than some of the other brands tested. It reached al dente with a firm bite, although it could have benefited from another minute for my personal taste.

The texture was rich and solid, and it absorbed olive oil very well, which is always a good sign that it will hold sauce properly. Overall, this was a really enjoyable pasta and one I genuinely liked.

Score: 7.5/10

Remano

Remano is an Aldi pasta brand, and visually it shared some similarities with Barilla. The colour was quite similar, and it appeared to be made using Teflon die cutting, giving it a smooth surface.

The pasta grew in size while cooking and looked reasonably good once drained. The recommended cooking time was 12 minutes, but at that point it was already overcooked and mushy. I would have cooked this pasta 2 to 3 minutes less to avoid losing its structure.

Once mixed with extra virgin olive oil, the pasta felt dry and did not absorb the oil well. The texture was disappointing, and it did not combine nicely with the oil at all. Overall, it was but not a pasta I would choose again.

Score: 5/10

Liguori

Liguori immediately stood out thanks to its long drying process of around 9 hours, which clearly showed in the quality of the pasta. The colour was beautiful, and the rough cut was excellent, an important detail when it comes to holding sauce.

Although the penne was slightly shorter in size compared to some of the other brands, it grew nicely during cooking. The sides cooked evenly, and the pasta reached a very satisfying al dente texture.

Once mixed with extra virgin olive oil, Liguori absorbed it extremely well. It held the oil beautifully, which suggests it would perform just as well with sauce. This pasta could easily be cooked an extra minute or two without losing its structure, and it would still absorb sauce properly.

Overall, it felt more refined and consistent than both Rummo and La Molisana. At this stage of the test, this was the most solid and impressive penne I tried.

Score: 8/10

Divella – $3.50 AUD / $2.61 USD

Divella is a pasta brand that used to be very good in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, but over time I feel like the quality has noticeably declined. The packaging did not state the drying time, and at this price point it sits in the same range as Barilla.

The penne were quite skinny and clearly made using Teflon die cutting, which resulted in a smooth surface. The colour was darker than I would expect from good-quality pasta and not particularly appealing to me. The recommended cooking time was 9 to 11 minutes, and the pasta was slightly longer than most of the other brands tested.

After cooking, the pasta grew in size, but even at 11 minutes I could still see white lines through the centre, showing it did not cook evenly all the way through. Although it was edible, the difference in craftsmanship and overall quality was noticeable when compared to some of the other options I tasted.

Once mixed with extra virgin olive oil, Divella did not absorb it very well. It combined poorly and lacked the texture needed to hold oil or sauce properly. Overall, it was passable, similar to Aldi and Barilla, but clearly behind the higher-quality options.

Score: 6/10

Delverde

Delverde is a pasta brand from Abruzzo and one I expected to perform well. I had originally wanted to include De Cecco in this test but could not source it, and Delverde was the closest comparison available.

The recommended cooking time was 9 minutes, and while the packaging did not specify the drying duration, the pasta showed good quality from the start. The colour was appealing, and the bronze cut was clearly visible. Once cooked, the pasta looked excellent and held its shape well.

When mixed with extra virgin olive oil, Delverde penne pasta absorbed it very well, resulting in a solid, satisfying texture. One detail that really stood out was how well this pasta performed as leftovers. When reheated, it actually tasted better than it did the first day, something you rarely see with lower-quality pasta. Cheaper pasta varieties often break when you reheat them the next day, but Delverde held up beautifully even after warming it again.

Overall, this was a reliable, well-made pasta that performed consistently well.

Score: 7.5/10

My Verdict on the Best Penne Pasta

Before wrapping up, there was one more pasta worth mentioning. Aldi here in Australia sell an excellent Italian pasta called Armando, priced around AUD$3.99. It’s an Italian-made pasta that delivers fantastic quality for the price. I would easily score it between 7 and 7.5 out of 10, and I highly recommend trying it if you see it on the shelf.

What really matters when choosing the best penne pasta is how it performs after cooking. You want pasta that can absorb and hold sauce properly, not pasta where the sauce simply slides off.

Penne brands like Barilla, Remano, and Divella were edible, but didn’t absorb sauce very well and lacked depth in texture. The difference becomes even more obvious the next day. Lower-quality pasta tends to break apart when reheated, while higher-quality pasta holds its structure much better. Even if a few pieces break, good pasta will still carry sauce and taste satisfying when reheated.

If you want to take things further, there are artisan pasta brands like Rustichella d’Abruzzo, Mancini, and Pasta Cocco  that operate on another level entirely. These producers focus on quality rather than quantity. When you eat artisan pasta, the sauce truly connects with the pasta, and the aroma and flavour are on a different level. For me, these easily deserve a 10/10.

In the end, spending just one extra dollar on a good commercial penne pasta makes a noticeable difference and for a special occasion, spending even gives you artisan pasta. Either way, that small upgrade is always worth it compared to buying the cheapest option on the shelf, for not only the way it acts on the plate, but the way it is absorbed by your body.

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