Cooking Spaghetti Ahead of Time: How to Keep it Warm

This post contains affiliate links.

Are you planning on cooking your spaghetti ahead of time, but you are worried about how you will keep it warm? If so, the techniques listed below will remove any stress you may have about keeping your spaghetti warm. These methods will ensure the spaghetti is kept warm throughout the duration of the event.

I like to make my pasta noodles in advance when I have lots of guests coming over and I’ve tried these ways with great success. However, there are different circumstances that may make one way work better than the other. Keep reading on to figure out which warming option is best for you.

Technique 1. Use an Oven

When cooking your spaghetti ahead of time, using an oven to keep the cooked pasta warm is a great option. There are a few different techniques when it comes to warming spaghetti noodles in the oven. These techniques include using a warming drawer, using the “warming” option, or heating the oven manually.

Using a warming drawer is ideal when it comes to keeping pre-cooked spaghetti warm. Warming drawers permit you to cook other foods while simultaneously maintaining the warmth of the pre-cooked spaghetti. Using a warming drawer allows you to keep either just the spaghetti noodles warm, or keeping the sauce warm as well.

Depending on how warm you wish to keep your spaghetti, place the setting on 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure you are using oven-safe dishes while using a warming drawer.

In addition to a warming drawer, many ovens have a “warming” option. This option will automatically set the oven to a low temperature and has a similar purpose to that of a warming drawer. The “warming” option will typically set the oven to about two hundred degrees Fahrenheit or slightly less. This will allow the spaghetti to be at the perfect temperature when serving it.

If your oven does not possess a warming drawer or a “warming” option, then heating the oven manually is an alternative option. When you are setting the oven manually, do no set it above two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. If you set the oven too high, then the noodles will likely get cooked more, rather than simply keeping them warm.

Technique 2. Use Aluminum Foil

Using aluminum foil is extremely common to keep your food warm. Using an aluminum foil pan and lid is great for keeping your pre-cooked spaghetti warm as it is a cheap method and requires no preparation time.

Using aluminum foil will keep your spaghetti warm as it blocks the air from reaching the food.

The only downside to aluminum foil pans and lids is it will only keep your spaghetti warm for 30 minutes. Although it does not keep your food warm for an extended amount of time, it is perfect to use if the spaghetti is being served soon.

If you are planning on leaving the spaghetti out for a long period of time, ensure it does not get left out for longer than two hours.

After this time period, bacteria can start to grow on the spaghetti as aluminum foil is unable to keep the spaghetti warm for such great lengths of time. Leaving your spaghetti out for longer than this in aluminum pans can be a risk factor for your guests.

Technique 3. Warm the Plates

Warming the plates your spaghetti will be served on is a quick and simple solution to keep your spaghetti warm. There are two techniques for warming plates: placing the plates in the oven or placing the plates in the microwave.

If you choose to warm your plates in the oven, heat the oven to no higher than 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the oven-safe plates in the oven and allow them to heat for fifteen minutes. After the fifteen minutes is up, place the spaghetti directly onto the heated plates.

If you choose to warm your plates in the microwave, place your microwave-safe plates into the microwave for two minutes. After the two minutes is up, place the spaghetti directly onto the heated plates.

Using warm plates for spaghetti is great as it requires very minimal effort, as it is simple to do. However, similar to using aluminum foil pans and lids, warming your plates will not keep the spaghetti warm for as long as techniques such as using a slow cooker or a chafing dish.

Despite this downside, warming your plates can be very beneficial if you are serving your spaghetti shortly after it has been cooked.

Technique 4. Use a Slow Cooker

Using a slow cooker is perfect while cooking spaghetti and while making sure it stays warm. A slow cooker can be used to make delicious spaghetti, or it can be used just to keep it warm.

When using a slow cooker to keep the spaghetti noodles warm, make sure to add sauce. By adding the sauce, it will allow for your noodles to stay moist rather than drying out in the heat.

After the pre-cooked spaghetti noodles and the sauce have been added to the slow cooker, place the dish on low-heat and cover with a lid.

Stir the spaghetti in thirty-minute increments. In addition to stirring, ensure there is enough sauce to keep the noodles moist after the thirty-minute increments. The longer the spaghetti needs to be kept warm, the more sauce that will be needed to achieve the perfect texture and consistency.

Technique 5. Use a Chafing Dish

Using a chafing dish is one of the most popular ways to keep food warm. It is most likely to be needed at events such as parties where there are large amounts of food being cooked and served.

In order to use a chafing dish to keep your spaghetti warm, pour water into the water pan. After the water has been added, heat the water using chafer fuel. Place the heated water pan underneath the chafing dish and this will keep the spaghetti warm.

If the spaghetti needs to be kept warm for an extended amount of time, initially cook it slightly less than needed.

If the spaghetti noodles are left in the chafing dish for a long period of time, then the noodles may start to slightly cook. If you are aware of the amount of time the spaghetti will need to be kept warm, plan accordingly so your noodles do not get overcooked.

Although chafing dishes are commonly used in restaurants such as buffets, they can also be used within households.

They can be purchased for as little as $20, and they are great for keeping foods such as spaghetti warm for the duration of any event.

Technique 6. Use Boiling Water

One common technique used to warm your spaghetti noodles after they have been pre-cooked is boiling water.

If the pasta has been cooled or even has been stored in the refrigerator, an efficient way to warm it is by placing it into a pot of boiling water.

Using boiling water is commonly used as it does not negatively impact the texture, unlike other methods such as microwaving spaghetti noodles. In addition, this technique is quick and requires very little preparation.

When the pre-cooked spaghetti is added to the pot of boiling water, only allow it to cook for 30 seconds. This is plenty of time to warm the noodles. However, the time can be adjusted depending on the exact texture you are looking for.

You can also slightly undercook the noodles initially, and then leave the noodles in for 1 minute when rewarming them to achieve a fully-cooked noodle.

There’s plenty of ways to make sure your spaghetti meal is hot and fresh for your guest, so pick the way that works best for you. Good luck!