How come pasta has soooo many calories?

I made some pasta the other day...I forget the brand, but 2 oz, was about 210 calories....so if I wanted to make a cup of pasta (measured dry) I would be at 840 calories! Is that right?

Why is it so high? And do you measure wet or dry? Obviously I may not have been able to eat a whole cup of say elbows...but if you make rigatoni or something larger, a cup is not many noodles.

Help with my pasta predicament! I love it too much not to eat it!

A cup of dry pasta makes more than enough when cooked for 4 people. Are you sure you've got the measuring out right?


It's basically just white flour, which is obviously a very refined carbohydrate. It's like asking why does sugar or fat have lots of calories - because it is what it is.

Measure out 2oz of dry pasta - use a scale, not a measuring cup.

I actually think that 2oz of dry pasta makes a fairly good amount of food. Paired with some sauce and chicken, it usually makes a pretty decent sized plate of food. I normally have a salad on the side and I'm filled up pretty well from that meal.

Granted, you're not getting an Olive Garden sized portion of food, but for 200 calories, it's actually not too bad.

2oz dry is way more volume when cooked, and carries on more water, making it more than 2oz after cooking. So if you want to track the calories, then u measure out your 2oz by weight, cook it, and eat the resulting 4-5oz of cooked pasta.

But all noodles are extremely calorie dense. Since unlike bread or rice, you basically take the flour/grain and compress it into strands that allow no air bubbles/pockets. There is no yeast to leaven the dough, or displace any density. So, it's not very hard a plate of pasta to be 800+ calories. Even if it's low on fat. My weekly bowl of pho is like 165 grams of carbs per bowl. Totaling 660 calories in just rice noodles. Pasta made from semolina is generally even more dense.