How long can you leave cooked pasta out of the refrigerator?

Cooked pasta should not be left unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours. If the ambient temperature is very warm, make that 1 hour. Less time is better. At that point, the pasta should be refrigerated or re-heated. Since cooked pasta has been hydrated, it is considered potentially hazardous and could grow pathogenic bacteria if such bacteria are present and the food is held in the temperature danger zone (135°F - 40°F) too long.