If you've never had a pasta bar party, you're missing out! A pasta bar is one of the best things ever. Multiple choices of different sizes and shapes of pasta with multiple sauces to choose from and all the Parmesan cheese to top it with? Pure pasta heaven.
This pasta bar is an inexpensive way to serve a LARGE crowd! It can feed 20-100 people with the right equipment! You can make it super fancy or casual, add chicken, meatballs, sausage, seafood, anything you want to top your pasta!
You can start with this chips and salsa bar or this Mashed Potato Bar and then finish with a chocolate fountain bar for dessert to realllly impress your guests.
Jump to:
- Pasta Bar
- What To Include On A Pasta Bar?
- The Best Pastas For A Pasta Bar
- Additional Pasta Bar Ideas
- ? Pasta Tip!
- How To Prevent Your Pasta From Sticking
- Tips For Setting Up Your Pasta Bar
- Add The Pasta Sauces To Mini Crock Pots
- Final Pasta Bar Tips
- Pasta Bar Items
- Drink pitchers to serve with your pasta bar!
- Recent Recipe Posts
- Pasta Bar Ideas For A Party
Pasta Bar
I love pasta in any form.
It's such a comforting food that is hard to pass up. And coming from someone who hosts parties a lot, it's CHEAP as heck and hard to mess up!
Those two boxes are what us hostesses look to check off when throwing parties home.
This entire pasta bar cost me less than $30 and can feed at least 16 people!
A pasta bar is such a great buffet idea especially if you need to serve a larger crowd for get-together like game day tailgating, birthday parties, holiday parties, or evene graduation parties.
Best of all, both kids AND adults love pasta!! A win for all!
What To Include On A Pasta Bar?
The PASTA-bilities are endless!!
See what I did there? 🙂
All jokes aside, it's very simple! Pasta, sauces, toppings. Done.
Here are the must haves!
- Pasta (at least two types)
- Sauces (at least two types)- Offer one that is dairy free!
- Garlic bread or a sliced baguette
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil
The Best Pastas For A Pasta Bar
You can add any type of pasta to your pasta bar. I suggest polling your guests to find out if they have any gluten allergies first. If you have kids, I highly recommend offering kid-friend pasta like spaghetti and elbow macaroni.
Best Pastas For Your Pasta Bar:
- Penne- this is a very popular type of pasta that's used in blush sauces and penne vodka (hence the name). It holds it shape well and has little grooves in the pasta to hold sauces.
- Rigatoni- This pasta is thicker but also has ridges so it's another great option.
- Spaghetti- Spaghetti is not a terrible choice but I will say you will need to add oil or butter to the noodles to prevent it from sticking.
- Ziti- Ziti pasta is most commonly used in Baked Ziti. The shape is similar to penne but without the ridges.
- Rotini- I love rotini because of it's corkscrew-shaped pasta. It holds red and meat sauces well and comes in multiple colors.
- Orecchiette- This is an underused pasta that's best for cheesy sauces since it has a little cavity to hold deliciousness.
- Farfalle- This is the bowtie pasta kids love to eat. It can go well with any sauce.
- Cavatappi- This fun, tube-shaped pasta holds sauces incredibly well especially cheese sauces.
❌ Pastas that are NOT pasta bar friendly:
- Angel hair- It's too thin and has a high chance of sticking together.
- Orzo- This pasta is not great for topping with sauces after-the-fact. Plus, it will clump together as it sits.
- Linguini- Because of it's shape, it will definitely stick to one another as it sits.
- Tagliatelle- This is similar to linguini but it's more delicate so has a higher chance of breaking or sticking together.
Additional Pasta Bar Ideas
You can make your pasta bar extra special by adding an assortment of pastas, sauces and toppings for your guests to choose from.
Some other items to add to your pasta bar are:
? Pasta Tip!
Using reserved pasta water and a splash of olive oil or butter will prevent your pasta from sticking together in the warming dishes.
How To Prevent Your Pasta From Sticking
Once you drain your pasta, add a touch of butter or olive oil and toss well. This will prevent it from sticking as it cools inside the pans.
Adding a cup of pasta water to each chafing dish or bowl afterwards will also keep the pasta moist. Dry pasta is not very appealing. Make sure to serve with slotted spoons!
Tips For Setting Up Your Pasta Bar
Chafing dishes, warming plates and/or mini crock pots are a MUST have when entertaining! They help to keep the food warm while taking the stress of the host so you are not running around last minute reheating pasta or sauces.
All of these tools are meant to be placed on buffet tables and and are for serving larger crowds.
I bought this chalkboard sign off of Amazon! It's awesome. It comes with chalk markers AND a stand to place it on. I find it to be the perfect size to placing on tables when entertaining.
A true pasta bar party will need to be set up on a large table with something to keep the pasta and sauces warm.
I used electric warming dishes instead of chafing dishes. Electric warming dishes are great because they do not need Sterno cans or fire. Just plug them in and you're set! You can also easily control the temperature.
If you don't have these, the next best option is chafing dishes. You can use disposable ones which are pretty inexpensive.
Large bowls are a third option but your pasta will not stay cold so make sure your sauces are super hot if going this route!
I split each warming dish into two and added ONE POUND of pasta to each side. Make sure to add a large serving spoon for each or a spaghetti spoon for each.
Add The Pasta Sauces To Mini Crock Pots
For the sauces, I used mini crock pots! I got this triple crock pot from Amazon! It's amazing and much larger than I thought it would be. It really is perfect for serving sauces, dips, meatballs, or even side dishes!
If you do not have crock pots or don't want to purchase mini crocks, you can serve your sauces in bowls but make sure they are really hot when adding them to your bar. You don't want cold pasta or cold sauces.
Any toppings should be placed at the end of the pasta bar after guests add the pasta and sauce to their plates. Utencils and napkins should also be placed at the end.
Make sure to add mini spoons to each bowl. I love these mini gold spoons.
Final Pasta Bar Tips
- Make sure you serve your pasta and sauces in warmers! This will allow you to set everything up at least an hour in advance and forget about it. No reheating or running around last minute.
- Add a sign! Signs go a long way and add a decorative touch to any bar.
- Add some flowers to decorate your table!
- Add mini chalkboard signs to indication which sauce is which.
- Purchase store-bought marinara, alfredo, vodka and pesto sauce if you're short on time! Garlic toast too!
But what about drinks?! Serve this with my Mimosa Bar, Bloody Mary Bar or Mojito Bar!
Pasta Bar Items
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Buy Now → Drink pitchers to serve with your pasta bar!
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Recent Recipe Posts
Pasta Bar Ideas For A Party
Equipment
Ingredients
Alfredo Sauce
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 24 oz heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
Marinara Sauce
- 24 oz storebought marinara sauce
Blush Sauce
- 12 oz marinara sauce
- 12 oz alfredo sauce (storebought or from above)
- 1 bunch chopped basil
Instructions
Alfredo Sauce
- Simmer onions with butter and garlic over low medium-low heat.
- Add flour and saute until brown.
- Add in your heavy cream and whisk together.
- Simmer for 10 minutes or so until it thickens.
- Mix in your Parmesan cheese and turn off heat. Add salt if you prefer a saltier alfredo sauce.
- Serve over pasta of choice!
Blush Sauce
- Combine alfredo sauce with marinara sauce of choice and chopped basil and mix well.
Victoria
do you think you could cook the pasta ahead of time and warm up in the dishes?
Aleka Shunk
Yes you can, it just will take some time to warm up! I suggest saving some of the pasta water and adding that to the pan as well.
TB
Can I use a crockpot I already have for keeping the pasta warm?
Aleka Shunk
Yes you can!! 🙂
Rosa Ramirez
what toppings can I use for the pasta,trying to do this for my daughter's graduation party with her friends
Aleka Shunk
That depends your budget and guest list! Here are some popular topping options: Grilled chicken, meatballs, marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, sautéed mushrooms, bolognese sauce, ground sausage, sauteed spinach, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, shredded mozzarella, grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil.
You can also do a blush sauce!