Giada De Laurentiis's 2-Ingredient Pasta Recipe Is Leaving Fans Divided
Don't knock it 'til you try it.
Pasta is typically celebrated and served as a dinner entrée in America. But as recipes like Maple Syrup-Glazed Bacon Breakfast Carbonara and perfect-for-lunch Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup prove, there’s no wrong time of day to use your noodles.
Chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Giada De Laurentiis is on a mission to convince her fans and social media followers that pasta is perfect for dessert, too. (As folks who wholeheartedly approve of cherry preserve-filled Ravioli Dolci, we were intrigued by this concept from the get-go!)
Although she usually shares recipes for more classic Italian pasta sauces like pesto and pomodoro, De Laurentiis recently took to TikTok to introduce her followers to “a childhood favorite of mine,” she says, while showing a peek of a bowl to the camera. “When I was having a bad day: chocolate pasta.”
She invites her "team" to be her fellow taste-testers: “Ladies, want to try?” De Laurenttiis asks as she grabs a fun shape of shell-style pasta, gnochetti napoletani, covered in chocolate.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna feel about this,” one of them warned, as she approached the bowl with a spoon. But after all three women had reflected on their bites, they compared notes.
“It tastes like Nutella toast,” one De Laurentiis pal says, “or almost like a Nutella crepe,” the other counters. “Yum. That’s great!” the first friend says.
While De Laurentiis and her taste-testing duo all approved of the concept, the comment section on the video was full of mixed feelings.
Feedback ranged from “yuck” and “double deep nooo” to “it’s absolutely delicious; I’ve been making this since my children were little” and “you can’t argue with tradition!”
A few chimed in with thoughts like, “It’s giving ‘Elf’ 🍝🍫🎄;” comparing chocolate pasta to the unique spaghetti recipe Buddy the Elf tosses together in the iconic 2003 Christmas movie. (That super-sweet creation features maple syrup, chocolate syrup, M&Ms, marshmallows, sprinkles, and a Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tart.)
How to Make Giada’s Chocolate Pasta Recipe
Most of the commenters were attracted enough to beg for the recipe, and De Laurentiis delivered about a month later via a follow-up video on TikTok and Instagram. Introducing the video in the caption, De Laurentiis asks, “Who is brave enough to try my fav childhood snack, chocolate pasta?!? 🍫”
“Bowl of pasta, topped with a little chocolate. Honestly, nothing is more comforting and more of a hug,” De Laurentiis says as she stirs a bowl of her now-famous chocolate pasta in the video. “Listen, it’s not the sexiest of dishes, but it’s dang good,” she admits as she dives into the demo.
If you, too, are feeling inspired to give this a try, carve out 10 minutes, round up your favorite dried small- or medium-cut pasta, such as shells, and grab a jar of Nutella or De Laurentiis’ preferred spread, Pariani Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.
Then to recreate this easy chocolate pasta recipe, add your desired amount of dried pasta to a pot of boiling water. Once the noodles are cooked, drain the pasta (De Laurentiis uses a spider strainer to scoop the cooked shells out of the water), then combine it with a few spoonfuls of chocolate-hazelnut spread. Stir to combine. If you’re feeling fancy, garnish with shaved chocolate, which can act “like your Parmesan cheese” for this dish, according to the chef.
“This started when I was a kid. My mom used to do it with Nutella or chocolate chips,” De Laurentiis explains as she takes a bite. “But I’m also the kid who had chocolate sandwiches for breakfast, so I don’t think it’s that weird.”
Chocolate Pop-Tarts or even Pain au Chocolate are essentially that. Perhaps chocolate pasta will grow to become one of 2025’s biggest food trends?
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