Mostaccioli vs Rigatoni: What’s the Difference?

What Is Mostaccioli?

Mostaccioli is a smooth-sided tube pasta with both ends sliced at an angle, which is the official mostaccioli definition you’ll find in most American dictionaries.

It hails from southern Italy, around Naples, Sorrento, and Capri, where it’s traditionally rolled without any texture on the outer wall.

Picture a penne noodle, but with the surface polished smooth instead of grooved — that’s exactly what mostaccioli noodles look like in a bowl.

In my kitchen, I’ve found that smooth pasta like this behaves almost like a straw: sauce slips off the outside, but the hollow center still fills up nicely.

That’s why I only reach for mostaccioli when I’m making something like a simple cannelloni vs mostaccioli style baked dish with a thinner sauce, not a heavy meat ragu.

Where the Name Mostaccioli Comes From

The name is thought to come from mostaccio, an old Italian word tied to mustache-shaped pastries, referencing the angled, pointed ends of the tube.

One thing that trips people up: mostaccioli is also the name of an Italian-American holiday cookie, which has nothing to do with the pasta at all.

You may also see the pasta called mostichelli in some regional or Italian-American grocery listings — it’s not a standardized name, but it refers to the same smooth, angle-cut tube. I’ve seen it printed on a few older imported boxes, and if you come across it, treat it exactly like mostaccioli in any recipe.

What Does Lisce Mean in Pasta Names

Lisce is simply Italian for smooth, which is why mostaccioli is labeled penne lisce on boxes imported from Italy.

If you spot lisce on a pasta bag, it’s telling you the tube has no ridges — the opposite of rigate, or ridged.

What Mostaccioli Noodles Actually Look Like

If you’re trying to picture mostaccioli noodles before buying a box, think of a drinking straw cut into two-inch pieces, with both ends sliced on a diagonal instead of straight across.

The wall is glassy and smooth to the touch, with no grooves catching the light the way rigatoni’s ridges do.

In a photo, the giveaway is always the ends: if they’re pointed and angled, you’re looking at mostaccioli; if they’re cut flat and straight, you’re looking at rigatoni or a plain penne rigate.

What Is Rigatoni?

Rigatoni is a wide, straight-cut tube pasta with pronounced ridges running down its outer wall, sometimes labeled penne rigate on Italian packaging.

Those ridges aren’t decorative — they’re functional, giving sauce something to physically grip instead of sliding right off.

I usually reach for rigatoni when I’m making a baked pasta dish, because the thicker walls hold up under oven heat without turning mushy.

For a full rundown on how it stacks up against another big tube shape, see paccheri vs rigatoni.

The National Pasta Association’s pasta shapes guide lists rigatoni among the classic ridged tube shapes best suited to chunky, robust sauces.

Where Rigatoni Really Comes From

You may see rigatoni linked to Liguria in some online sources, but most Italian culinary references trace its roots to central and southern Italy, especially Lazio and Campania.

Rigatoni became a staple of Roman-style cooking long before it spread nationwide, which is part of why it shows up in so many red-sauce classics today.

Liguria is better known for flatter, egg-based shapes like trofie and trenette that pair with pesto, not ridged tubes like rigatoni, so if you see that regional claim floating around, take it with a grain of salt.

Pennoni Lisci vs Penne Lisce: Are They the Same?

Short answer: not quite, though they’re closely related.

Penne lisce is the smooth, standard-size tube — essentially mostaccioli by another name.

Pennoni lisci is a larger-diameter version of the same smooth tube; pennoni simply means big quills, so it’s a scaled-up cousin rather than an identical shape.

Both share the same smooth exterior and angled cut, so they behave the same way with sauce — the difference is really just size, which affects how long each one needs to cook and how much filling or sauce it can hold per bite.

If a recipe calls for penne lisce and all you can find is pennoni lisci, it’ll work fine; just expect a slightly chunkier bite and a minute or two more in the pot.

Mostaccioli vs Rigatoni: Key Differences

Here’s the side-by-side breakdown I wish I’d had years ago, back when I grabbed rigatoni for a delicate lemon-butter sauce and watched it all pool at the bottom of the bowl.

Refer to the table below for a quick comparison.

What Mostaccioli and Rigatoni Have in Common

Despite the texture difference, these two pastas overlap more than most people expect.

Both are members of the penne family, and in some grocery stores they’re simply shelved under a generic ‘penne’ label.

Tube thickness is nearly identical between the two, varying more by brand than by shape.

Cooking time lands in the same 10-13 minute window for both, since they’re similar in wall thickness and length.

If you’re weighing rigatoni against other short shapes for a specific dish, it’s also worth reading fusilli vs rigatoni, since fusilli’s spirals grip sauce in a completely different way than ridges do.

Which Pasta Should You Use?

My rule of thumb: match the sauce weight to the pasta texture, not the other way around.

For mostaccioli, stick with pesto, a light marinara, or a butter-based sauce that doesn’t need to be gripped so much as scooped.

For rigatoni, go heavier — a slow-simmered ragu vs marinara style meat sauce, a baked casserole, or anything with big chunks of vegetable or sausage.

In my experience, rigatoni is also far more forgiving in a pinch, which is part of why it’s easier to find on shelves than mostaccioli.

If you’re hunting for a rigatoni equivalent because your store is sold out, tortiglioni (a twisted, ridged tube) is the closest match, with paccheri working well for anything baked.

Plain penne rigate, or even rigatoni vs rotini comparisons, can help you pick a backup shape that still holds a chunky sauce.

And if mostaccioli is what’s missing, standard penne lisce or even ziti will get you a similar smooth-tube texture without much adjustment to the recipe.

Common Mistakes to Avoid With These Two Shapes

I’ve made most of these mistakes myself, so consider this the shortcut version of learning them the hard way.

Rinsing the pasta after draining. That starchy film left on the surface is exactly what helps sauce cling, especially to mostaccioli’s already-slick sides. Rinsing washes it right down the drain.

Boiling rigatoni to full tenderness before baking. If it’s headed into the oven with sauce, pull it a minute or two before al dente — it’ll keep cooking in the dish and turn mushy if you don’t.

Using mostaccioli under a heavy ragu. The smooth walls just can’t hold onto a thick, meaty sauce the way rigatoni’s ridges can; you’ll end up with sauce at the bottom of the bowl and bare noodles on top.

Skipping the salted water. Both shapes have a fair amount of surface area on the outside but very little seasoning gets into that hollow center otherwise, so salt the pasta water like you mean it.

Forgetting to save pasta water. A splash of the starchy cooking water loosens up a sauce and helps it coat rigatoni’s ridges evenly instead of clumping.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Reheating Tips

Cooked mostaccioli or rigatoni keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, tossed lightly with a bit of olive oil so it doesn’t clump into a solid brick.

If you’re making a baked rigatoni dish ahead of time, assemble it unbaked and refrigerate for up to a day, or freeze it wrapped tightly for up to three months — just add 15-20 extra minutes in the oven if it’s going in cold from the freezer.

Mostaccioli doesn’t freeze quite as well on its own since the smooth texture turns slightly rubbery after thawing, so I usually only freeze it as part of a saucy, baked dish rather than plain.

To reheat either one, add a splash of water or extra sauce before microwaving or warming on the stove — both shapes dry out fast without a little added moisture.