Serving size of spaghetti

denisemares1212
denisemares1212 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Apparently I have been underselling myself when counting calories for my pasta portions. I have a big family, which can sometimes make it difficult to measure portion sizes when cooking. When I make spaghetti, I have weighed the noodles after cooking. I have generally weighed 3 oz of noodles and added a 1/2 cup of sauce. I thought the 3 oz of spaghetti noodles was 300 calories (box says 2 oz is 200 calories). In reading articles, it seems that the 2 oz serving size should be dry noodles, not cooked ones. Can someone please tell me about how much the 3 oz of cooked noodles is in dry noodles? Or about how many calories the 3 oz of cooked noodles would be?

Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    The reason pasta is listed as dry for weight is because during cooking it absorbs water weight. Someone may cook their pasta "al dente" which is chewy, and someone may cook it much longer where it will absorb even more water. I make pasta almost everyday--I live in Italy (check out the thread "What do your meals look like? Show me pictures" for examples). Since I make pasta for everyone, I weigh it dry before cooking. I know what my portion looks like--usually 50 grams. So I'm eyeballing. Weigh out your portion just once and cook it separately to get an idea of what it looks like.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,839 Member
    I would weigh the total amount of uncooked pasta and then weigh it again after cooking and draining. That way you know the ratio of cooked to uncooked. When you weigh your individual portion of cooked pasta, you can then calculate the dry weight equivalent and log that.
  • EmilyEnough
    EmilyEnough Posts: 67 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    I would weigh the total amount of uncooked pasta and then weigh it again after cooking and draining. That way you know the ratio of cooked to uncooked. When you weigh your individual portion of cooked pasta, you can then calculate the dry weight equivalent and log that.

    good suggestion

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