The Key To Saving Overcooked Pasta Is A Little Bit Of Olive Oil

Nearly every busy cook has experienced juggling a variety of dishes in the kitchen only to suddenly realize they've made the mistake of leaving pasta in the boiling water too long. After the pasta has been drained, you're left with limp, somewhat mushy noodles instead of the perfect al dente texture you hoped to achieve. Don't despair and order out — there's a way to save that overcooked pasta. All you need to rescue your noodles is a bit of another Italian staple: olive oil.

The method is as simple as it gets. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add your overcooked pasta. Gently sauté over medium heat for a few minutes until the pasta's texture has firmed up. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes and you'll know it is done when the edges of the pasta have started to crisp and light browning has begun. Then, add sauce or toppings as usual. While the texture may not be exactly the same as correctly cooked pasta, this hack offers a great way to salvage what might otherwise be a limp, soggy disaster.

Sautéing overcooked pasta in olive oil is an easy fix, which is why it deserves its place among our top tips to fix cooking disasters in the kitchen. However, this isn't the only pasta cooking hack that is actually useful and can change your cooking process forever. It's also not the only one that uses trusty olive oil.

As an alternative to the olive oil sauté, you can pack slightly overcooked pasta into muffin tins and bake it, allowing you to create portable, snackable bites that transform the noodles from sad and soggy to crispy and delicious. Naturally, olive oil can also be used here to ensure the pasta bites don't stick to the pan while adding some additional flavor. Or you could take it a step further and deep fry the pasta to create a crunchy snack. 

If you'd rather just use your overcooked pasta as-is, you can still salvage the noodles by letting them cool and repurposing them. Depending on their shape, overcooked noodles are the key to perfect pasta salad, where olive oil still plays an integral part in the form of dressing. You can also add cheese to make mac and cheese where soft noodles aren't as undesirable. So don't give up on that overcooked pasta — give it a new life (and plenty of flavor) with a little bit of ingenuity and maybe a little olive oil.