How many cups of macaroni do you use If a recipe calls for 5oz cooked and drained?

You'll need about 1 cup of uncooked macaroni to yield 5 oz cooked and drained.

Here's why:

* Macaroni cooks down: When macaroni cooks, it absorbs water and expands. This means you'll start with less uncooked macaroni than you end up with cooked.

* General rule of thumb: A general rule is that 1 cup of uncooked macaroni will yield about 3 cups of cooked macaroni.

* Calculating for 5 oz: Since 5 oz is roughly 1/6th of 3 cups, you'll need about 1/6th of a cup of uncooked macaroni.

To be more precise: You could weigh out 1/6th of a cup of uncooked macaroni, but for practical purposes, using a full cup will be close enough.