---
title: Do You Have to Cook the Pasta Separately in a Glorious One-Pot Meal?
date: 2013-12-07T18:03:06Z
modified: 2013-12-07T18:03:06Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/do-you-have-to-cook-the-pasta-separately-in-a-glorious-one-pot-meal/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 3643
categories:
  - Glorious One-Pot Meals
tags:
  - Glorious One-Pot Meals
  - one-pot pasta meals
author: Elizabeth
---

_Reader question: Quick and probably stupid question on the mac and cheese recipe on pp 176-177…is the macaroni cooked or raw for the recipe? Don’t really want to waste the cheese trying it wrong. Thanks. ~Matt, Maryland_

Hi Matt! This is a great question because I can emphasize that Glorious One-Pot Meals never require pasta or rice to be cooked separately. You always put it in the pot raw.

When I was researching one-pot meal cookbooks, before I published Glorious One-Pot Meals, I noticed that most recipes included something along the lines of:

- Serve with pasta cooked according to package directions.

or

- Serve with a side salad or loaf of bread.

To me, these recipes were no longer “one-pot meals” because now you needed a second pot to boil water in and cook the pasta, or a second bowl to hold a salad, etc.

I designed Glorious One-Pot Meals to be TRUELY one pot by providing a complete and wholesome meal in a single pot.