How to Make Easy Rainbow Colored Pasta

Today we are learning how to dye pasta that you can eat that are every color of the rainbow…rainbow pasta! Kids of all ages will love this dying pasta project because the result is yummy rainbow pasta colored noodles!

Easy Rainbow Pasta Noodles

Who knew that once I learned how to dye spaghetti noodles, my food worries would be over!  That’s a win for mom. This colored pasta recipe was so helpful with my picky eater. Colored spaghetti pasta can be used so many ways:

• Dyed pasta is a fun meal topped with favorite sauces or butter/olive oil
• Colored pasta makes a great sensory bin filler for the coolest feeling sensory bins for the perfect sensory play activity
• Dyed spaghetti noodles are great for craft projects

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How to Make Colored Pasta that You can eat

How to dye pasta to eat seems way more complicated than it actually is, but we have an easy way!

We used spaghetti noodles, but using pasta of different shapes can be fun too. The pasta shapes take the color in many ways making it even more fun to explore. I like the rainbow rotini or colorful macaroni or dying noodles for a pasta salad!

Ingredients You Need to Dye Pasta Noodles

Watch Our Quick Video How to Make Rainbow Pasta

Directions How to Dye Spaghetti Noodles

Step 1

Start with uncooked pasta. Cook the spaghetti noodles al dente, according to package directions and strain to drain pasta.

Step 2

You’ll need one large Ziploc bag for each color of pasta you want to make.

Add two tablespoons of warm water to each plastic baggie and add about 20 drops of food dye or coloring to the water. You can add extra dye if you aren’t getting the vibrant desired color.

Related: If you would prefer to use natural food dyes <–check out Kids Activities Blog’s article about 15 ways to make food coloring that is organic & natural. 

Step 3

Divide pasta into sections – one for each color. Put the strained noodles into the bags, and mix the colored water all around. We made:

• Yellow pasta noodles
• Green spaghetti
• Blue colored pasta
• Purple pasta
• Red that turned kinda hot pink pasta

Step 4

Strain each bag individually, and rinse with cold water to remove excess food coloring.

Step 5

Once all the colors are dyed separately…

Mix all the noodles together to get a colorful bowl of rainbow pasta. You will have a plate rainbow of colors!

Dyed noodle toppings Ideas

Your kids will be so excited to try these colorful noodles. And wouldn’t this make a fun way to serve pasta salad?

Because you want the colors to show through, it is best to top with a little butter or olive oil instead of a sauce like tomatoes.  Pesto works great too.

Dyed Pasta Noodles for Crafts & Sensory Activities

This is the same way we dye pasta for crafts and sensory bins & sensory tables — so make extra and have some fun for little hands.

Related: How to dye rice for sensory bins

Sensory bins can help kids explore the way the world looks, feels, smells, (sometime) tastes and sounds within a safe environment. It can help develop fine motor skills and be a very tactile part of your sensory activities. It is a staple of fun preschool activities lists!

More Rainbow Ideas from Kids Activities Blog

More Pasta Recipes from Kids Activities Blog

Did you make this rainbow pasta recipe? What are you going to do with the colorful pasta?