When recipe says 3 cups cooked pasta does that mean of or dry pasta?

3 cups cooked pasta refers to the volume of pasta after it has been cooked and absorbed water. Dry pasta typically has a much smaller volume than cooked pasta, so the amount of dry pasta needed to produce 3 cups of cooked pasta will be less. To determine how much dry pasta to use, you can refer to the package instructions for the specific pasta you are using. Generally, you will need to start with a smaller amount of dry pasta than the amount of cooked pasta specified in the recipe.