When is spaghetti or other form of pasta cooked al dente? The easiest thing is to just taste it - it should be soft on the most outside part with just a slight chewiness in the middle. You can also break the pasta into two pieces and see how the inner core looks like. If you see a tiny white spot there then it is al dente. If you don't see it - it's overcooked! If the spot is big, it's not ready yet.