Confused about Pasta calories.

WAW26

Hi.

I think I have been calculating my pasta calories wrong.

I live in UK and I use dry fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of Tesco and on the packet it states that 100g = 160 calories

All my dieting life I have been assuming that this 100g is dry pasta measured then cooked, however now after reading other posts I am thinking that this 100g is actually referring to 100g COOKED pasta!!

Can someone help me...which is correct?? Does the 100g refer to cooked or uncooked pasta????

Please help me as this could be effecting my weight loss if Im doing it wrong :-(

Thanks

P.S When I did Scottish slimmers 80g uncooked/150g cooked pasta equalled 200 calories so this also makes me think the 100g refers to COOKED pasta.

yourpalsoap

that's 100g cooked pasta, 100g dry weight is around 300-350 calories. I use 60g wholewheat penne when I have pasta and that's 190 xo

4daluvof_candice

Hi.

I think I have been calculating my pasta calories wrong.

I live in UK and I use dry fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of Tesco and on the packet it states that 100g = 160 calories

All my dieting life I have been assuming that this 100g is dry pasta measured then cooked, however now after reading other posts I am thinking that this 100g is actually referring to 100g COOKED pasta!!

Can someone help me...which is correct?? Does the 100g refer to cooked or uncooked pasta????

Please help me as this could be effecting my weight loss if Im doing it wrong :-(

Thanks

P.S When I did Scottish slimmers 80g uncooked/150g cooked pasta equalled 200 calories so this also makes me think the 100g refers to COOKED pasta.

Here in the US pasta usually states 210 cal for how many grams DRY(since the package says grams serving DRY) and then cook. That is your serving.

WAW26

In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking,

The Scottish Slimmers book and other posts are what made me think it refers to COOKED pasta. I have been measuring 150g uncooked pasta and logging it as 240 cals but this is obviously wrong and too little cals.

So to get the 240 cals from 150g I should roughly be measuring out 80g UNCOOKED pasta which cooked with equal 150g cooked???

Is this correct??

The_WoIverine

I almost went crazy the first time I was going to add pasta to my meals. I cooked a whole box and then I realized the 4 oz I was supposed to eat, were 4 oz uncooked. How the hell I was supposed to know how many oz of cooked pasta equaled the 4 oz dry?

I figured if I was to cook one meal, I would cook exactly the portion I needed. If I was to eat two meals, and each were the same amount, I would divide in half the total amount cooked. But if one meal was more than the other, I would figure out which % was one meal of the total uncooked weight, and then calculate the weight of that % for the total cooked amount... Freaking nuts! But it works for me and now it has become easy for me.

The_WoIverine

By the way, cooked weight varies based on water absorption. I usually eat 4.1 oz of pasta (uncooked), and the cooked weight is always different. Sometimes it is 12 oz, sometimes 13 oz, and at times is over 14 oz. So whether it is grams or oz, cooked pasta is not consistent on the nutritional levels.

WAW26

100g/160 and I use 150g dry so using MFP 240 calories. However if using the Scottish Slimmers book 150g dry pasta (40g = 100 calories) equals over 300 calories, hence why i need to know if I need to half my dry weight measurement from now on.


So to get this 150g = 240 calories, Do I measure out the pasta BEFORE or AFTER cooking????

Im soooooo confused :-(

suej19

You say 'fresh dry' pasta from the refrigerated section - if it's in the fridge section it's not dry but is uncooked! That pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

The calories per gram are for pre-cooked , pasta, rice, couscous, etc.

suej19

Sorry forgot to add, you weigh before cooking.

bluetuesday5

That is cooked weight. I hate it when they give cooked weight, who the hells weighs their pasta after cooking it? Also I think Morrisons are lying because they claim their pasta has only 250kcal/100g dry.

ThisCanadian

It's based on weight before cooking.

WaterBunnie

You say 'fresh dry' pasta from the refrigerated section - if it's in the fridge section it's not dry but is uncooked! That pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

The calories per gram are for pre-cooked , pasta, rice, couscous, etc.

I'd say this too. If it was dried it wouldn't need to be refridgerated. If it's giving you 100g as cooked per instructions I'd say that was the cooked/drained weight calories per 100g before you've added anything to it.

sportegur1

personal trainer/nutritionist here:


BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

ThisCanadian

personal trainer/nutritionist here:


BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.

The_WoIverine

100g/160 and I use 150g dry so using MFP 240 calories. However if using the Scottish Slimmers book 150g dry pasta (40g = 100 calories) equals over 300 calories, hence why i need to know if I need to half my dry weight measurement from now on.


So to get this 150g = 240 calories, Do I measure out the pasta BEFORE or AFTER cooking????

Im soooooo confused :-(

Ok, so let's say you need to eat 300 calories, and you will scan (if you have the package of the pasta) the barcode and the information will show up. If the package says 40g = 100 calories, then you will weight 120g of uncooked pasta, cook it and eat the whole thing, no matter how much it weights after cooked. The extra weight after cooked is water. You only care about the uncooked weight

sportegur1

personal trainer/nutritionist here:


BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.

it also depends on how many servings of carbs you'd like to intake. a 28g serving = 1 carb serving a 56g seving = 2

Mr_Knight

...I use dry fresh pasta...

There is no such thing as "dry fresh" pasta - it's either dry, or fresh.

What exactly are you eating?

The_WoIverine

personal trainer/nutritionist here:


BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.

it also depends on how many servings of carbs you'd like to intake. a 28g serving = 1 carb serving a 56g seving = 2

Uh? Like mentioned before, that depends on the brand of pasta. A serving is not a unit of measurement, so while for one brand 1 serving might contain 28 grams of carbohydrates, for other brands a serving might be different.

WAW26

Its just confusing as:

150g pasta from refrigerated section (uncooked) according the way I log is 240 calories.

but

If I was to go by the Scottish slimmers book that states that 40g uncooked/75g cooked pasta = 100 calories then 150g fresh pasta uncooked would equal over 350 calories.

Thats why Im thinking the Tesco package should be taken as 100g cooked pasta (weighed after cooking)

WAW26

P.S its fresh pasta (packages from refrigerated section)

zyxst

In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking,

That means after cooking.

Pasta is pretty sneaky about which weight style it uses, so triple check the serving info. Unless it states specifically, I weight pasta dry/uncooked.

acheben

In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking

Based on this, it seems like the 100g serving size is based on the cooked weight of the pasta.

ThisCanadian

ignore me

Mr_Knight

100g of dry pasta is going to be in the 350-400 calorie range, and that's pretty consistent across brands etc. Wet/fresh/refrigerated pasta will be less than that, because it is carrying water. Cooked pasta will have even lower calories per 100g, as it absorbs even more water.

From this you should be able to figure out if the label is referring to uncooked or cooked. If possible, always use uncooked numbers/weights.

stealthq

In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking,

The Scottish Slimmers book and other posts are what made me think it refers to COOKED pasta. I have been measuring 150g uncooked pasta and logging it as 240 cals but this is obviously wrong and too little cals.

So to get the 240 cals from 150g I should roughly be measuring out 80g UNCOOKED pasta which cooked with equal 150g cooked???

Is this correct??

With this terminology on the box, the weight is for the cooked pasta.

We have this in the US, too, but it's usually on boxes of mac and cheese, cake mix, that sort of thing. I don't think I've ever seen it on plain pasta.

Mr_Knight

ignore me

Impossible.

suej19

WAW, you're mixing apples with pears here!

Fresh pasta will be heavier to start with as the moisture has not been dried out - you can't work out how many calories are in 100gm of the stuff by comparing it to dried pasta.

The calories for that fresh pasta will be as it says on the bag - 150gm/240 calories.

torizia

Are you sure it doesn't say anything about a standard portion size? Normally it gives calorie figures for 100g and also for what they deem to be one portion. I'm not sure which pasta you bought but if you look at this fresh pasta on the Tesco site - http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=275064883 - you can see that 100g is 160 calories, and half a pack (i.e. a suggested portion - 175g before cooking) is 440 calories. This proves that 100g/160 calories is based on the cooked weight

slomo22

There's an easy way figure out what the box is saying. First, If the box says there is 100 grams per serving multiply that by the number of servings per box (pretend there are 6 servings per box). So 100 grams x 6 servings/box = 600 grams/box. Now look at the front of the box and look for a package weight. If the box says it contains 600 grams total (about 21 oz.), then the serving size of 100 grams refers to dry weight. If the box says it contains significantly less than 600 grams total, then the serving size refers to cooked weight.

I think the serving should refer to dry weight. Using cooked weight without stating so doesn't make sense to me.

BadassSavageVix

Maybe this link will help you out a bit http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=275064883
It shows the nutritional values for uncooked and cooked, so should help you work out how much you need to have.

WaterBunnie

In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking

Based on this, it seems like the 100g serving size is based on the cooked weight of the pasta.

I agree. Checking similar cooked pastas in the database here should reassure you.