Logging in pasta - confused about uncooked/cooked! calories
adampierce142
Posts: 27 Member
Hi i've been logging pasta on MFP by using the values that is stated on the pasta packet itself.
Now i'm not sure if this means cooked or uncooked pasta. For example, 100g of fusilli pasta is around 156calories
I'm not sure if i've been underestimating my calories whenever i've been consuming pasta, same goes for rice, cous cous, quinoa etc.
Can someone reassure me or correct me if i am wrong? I've become obsessed with trying to figure out the answer but there have been loads of conflicting answers.
cheers.
Now i'm not sure if this means cooked or uncooked pasta. For example, 100g of fusilli pasta is around 156calories
I'm not sure if i've been underestimating my calories whenever i've been consuming pasta, same goes for rice, cous cous, quinoa etc.
Can someone reassure me or correct me if i am wrong? I've become obsessed with trying to figure out the answer but there have been loads of conflicting answers.
cheers.
0
Replies
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Usually, the numbers in the nutrition label are for dry pasta. A common serving size is 56g dry pasta. How much it is when cooked hinges on how much water it absorbs which can be affected by the ingredients in the pasta, the shape, and how long you cook it. I find weighing out servings of pasta before throwing it in the water is an easy way to make the right amount of pasta.5
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Most packaged products have nutritional information based on what is in the box. If you look at the box it will say something like 1 serving = 56g, approx. servings per package 6. Then look at the total weight printed on the front of the packaged food: 340g. You can confirm if the info is uncooked by weighing the food contents in the package (assume a little weight for the box) and you should find it conforms that dry weight = nutritional info.
Some items will have nutrition according to the box contents and a second listing for 'as prepared'. Such as I've noticed this on mac n cheese, which factors in 'as prepared' with milk, butter.
For meat, it varies a bit more. The labeling requirements may be different for meat?2 -
the pasta bag is a 500g bag, and recommends 100g per serving!
There are cooking instructions displayed on the back - cook pasta on the hob for around 10-12mins.
the values that are displayed on the bag states "cooked as directed" - this led me to believe that the value displayed is for cooked pasta.
im so confused, and its driving me nuts!0 -
If the package states the nutrition values are for "cooked as directed," then there's you answer--cooked. The package usually states it one way or another.2
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thanks for your answer.
i've been logging with this 'viewpoint' for weeks now, but what's made me question it is looking at different brands of pasta which states values such as 357 calories per 100g.0 -
100g is a big serving if you are talking about dry pasta -- not so big for fresh.
Anyway, I often go to the USDA's National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference to check up on the accuracy of things. Most pastas are pretty much the same in calories since they are made from the same dough. All that changes is the shape. So, looking up the numbers for "Spaghetti, dry, enriched," 100g is 371 kcal of energy -- what we call calories. So, if the label says 371 calories for 100g of pasta, they are talking dry.
I keep the USDA database bookmarked. It's http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/
Most food manufacturers, worldwide, tend to use this database to guesstimate their nutrition label calories.0 -
It is confusing. The calories probably refer to 'cooked as directed' but the weight to raw. Since all that's added in cooking is water, no calories are added. They don't know for sure your cooked weight because some cooks might have more water absorbed than others.
If it helps, my spaghetti is 370 calories for 100g raw. A portion is 56g but they also give the N.I. for 100g.
I just noticed the database entry I've been using for micro popcorn is way off, or its my own user error. That's another tough one. A bag is 2.5 servings so the calories are per serving, not per bag.
All the attention given to the importance of food scales here, I think there's probably as much or more logging error from interpreting the labels and database entries wrong, doing the math wrong, or simply forgetting to log some items entirely.0 -
Pasta should be around 200 calories per 56 grams dry.1
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what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.0
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what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.
Definitely weigh pasta, at least the first few times you make it. It's calorie dense and difficult to estimate.0 -
i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.
why am i still confused??1 -
Dun. Dun. DUNNNNN!what i mean by 100g is that i estimate and guess around 100g of dry pasta before cooking it.
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Yeah, estimating pasta is courting disaster for sure. Weigh it or the calorie count won't be anything like accurate.0 -
i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.
why am i still confused??
Because the cooked pasta contains a lot of water. It's less pasta for the same weight, and so less calories. Does that make sense?
If you took 2 oz of dry pasta and then cooked it, then let's say it absorbs 2 oz of water (just for the sake of argument). Now you've got the same number of calories, but 4 oz of food. See? And that's why people will tell you to weigh before cooking whenever possible. Because if you cook your pasta for 8 minutes it might absorb 3 3/4 oz water. If you cook it for 10 minutes it might absorb 4 oz water.2 -
I'm not sure. If you were to weigh out 100 grams of dry pasta, that will be 370 calories (or whatever). When you cook that pasta, it's going to absorb a crap-ton (metric, that is, so crap-tonne?) of water and the pasta after cooking will weigh something like 300-400 g.i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.
why am i still confused??
Conversely, that 100 grams of cooked pasta probably only weighed 35 grams or so when it was dry.
Make sense now?0 -
That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.0
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like this ^
I'm not sure. If you were to weigh out 100 grams of dry pasta, that will be 370 calories (or whatever). When you cook that pasta, it's going to absorb a crap-ton (metric, that is, so crap-tonne?) of water and the pasta after cooking will weigh something like 300-400 g.i have had a look at the website link you provided me, and even on there it states that 100g of cooked pasta is 126calories, while 100g of dry pasta equates to 357calories.
why am i still confused??
Conversely, that 100 grams of cooked pasta probably only weighed 35 grams or so when it was dry.
Make sense now?0 -
Correct me if I'm wrong... but if dry pasta is boiled in water, then wouldn't the nutrition information be the same regardless of if it's cooked or not? I mean, 56g of dry pasta obviously weighs less than after that same 56g is cooked due to water absorption. But the two would have the same nutritional information, given you didn't add anything to the water (salt or a little oil).2
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That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.1 -
This site is great because it will give you calories based on type of pasta in both the dry and cooked versions. It's too much or a pain to cook a serving of dry pasta separate from the rest of the families just to determine the calories for my serving.
http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/food/pasta0 -
Correct me if I'm wrong... but if dry pasta is boiled in water, then wouldn't the nutrition information be the same regardless of if it's cooked or not? I mean, 56g of dry pasta obviously weighs less than after that same 56g is cooked due to water absorption. But the two would have the same nutritional information, given you didn't add anything to the water (salt or a little oil).
Not by weight it wouldn't. Because 56 grams of dry pasta will no longer weigh 56 grams once it's cooked.
eta: nevermind I think I misread-- yes it would still have the same calorie count. Only the weight would change.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
Mine does too but OP said his says "cooked according to instructions." And also there's not a whole lot of variety in the calorie count for pasta. Some, but not that much.0 -
"Correct me if I'm wrong... but if dry pasta is boiled in water, then wouldn't the nutrition information be the same regardless of if it's cooked or not?"
You are correct... if you know the calories in the dry pasta it will not increase in the cooked pasta. The problem lies with cooking more than one serving of pasta at the same time... you don't know how much is a serving once it is cooked.0 -
Right. And the weight on the front is the dry weight. My box says 411g total on the front. The nutrition info box says a serving is 56g or around 1/7 of the box. I pulled it out and weighed it. Those are dry weights.That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
I think it says "cooked as directed" to signify that if you boil it in vodka sauce, it's going to have more calories than boiled in water, as directed, even if you rinse the vodka sauce off. "Prepared as directed" is more useful on a package of dry pudding mix or something you mix with a caloric ingredient in order to eat it.0 -
I cook up a package of pasta and then weigh it after it is cooked. I then divide the cooked weight by the number of servings the box says it should be to come up with how much I should put on my plate per the recommended serving.
I may also take the total amount of calories in the box and divide it by the number of grams the cooked pasta totals. This gives me the calories per gram on the cooked pasta. It is interesting how much it can vary each time I cook pasta.0 -
Right. And the weight on the front is the dry weight. My box says 411g total on the front. The nutrition info box says a serving is 56g or around 1/7 of the box. I pulled it out and weighed it. Those are dry weights.That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
I think it says "cooked as directed" to signify that if you boil it in vodka sauce, it's going to have more calories than boiled in water, as directed, even if you rinse the vodka sauce off. "Prepared as directed" is more useful on a package of dry pudding mix or something you mix with a caloric ingredient in order to eat it.
I understand all that and it makes sense but I've never seen any kind of pasta that 156 calories for 100 grams dry. Mine would be more like 400 calories for 100 grams dry. Unless maybe it's the kind that isn't dried pasta but comes from the refrigerator section? I haven't bought that kind so I'm not sure how it compares.0 -
Oh you're right, I didn't notice that '156 calories for 100g' in the original post. That does sound like cooked weight, which would imply the pasta was sold cooked.
Right. And the weight on the front is the dry weight. My box says 411g total on the front. The nutrition info box says a serving is 56g or around 1/7 of the box. I pulled it out and weighed it. Those are dry weights.That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
I think it says "cooked as directed" to signify that if you boil it in vodka sauce, it's going to have more calories than boiled in water, as directed, even if you rinse the vodka sauce off. "Prepared as directed" is more useful on a package of dry pudding mix or something you mix with a caloric ingredient in order to eat it.
I understand all that and it makes sense but I've never seen any kind of pasta that 156 calories for 100 grams dry. Mine would be more like 400 calories for 100 grams dry. Unless maybe it's the kind that isn't dried pasta but comes from the refrigerator section? I haven't bought that kind so I'm not sure how it compares.0 -
Oh you're right, I didn't notice that '156 calories for 100g' in the original post. That does sound like cooked weight, which would imply the pasta was sold cooked.
Right. And the weight on the front is the dry weight. My box says 411g total on the front. The nutrition info box says a serving is 56g or around 1/7 of the box. I pulled it out and weighed it. Those are dry weights.That weight on the box is for cooked pasta. Simple. It says so and the numbers are not even close to correct if it was dry weight.
I don't know where you buy yours at, but every box I've ever bought says the serving weight is for dry pasta.
I think it says "cooked as directed" to signify that if you boil it in vodka sauce, it's going to have more calories than boiled in water, as directed, even if you rinse the vodka sauce off. "Prepared as directed" is more useful on a package of dry pudding mix or something you mix with a caloric ingredient in order to eat it.
I understand all that and it makes sense but I've never seen any kind of pasta that 156 calories for 100 grams dry. Mine would be more like 400 calories for 100 grams dry. Unless maybe it's the kind that isn't dried pasta but comes from the refrigerator section? I haven't bought that kind so I'm not sure how it compares.
I was just sitting here thinking you're right and it's for fresh. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
OP can we get a picture of the packaging?0 -
I think we're saying the same thing. By "cooked" I mean non-dehydrated, which is aka "fresh". The package says to cook it 10-12 minutes. So "fresh" is probably the better word than "cooked". :happy:
So, yeah, if it's non-dried pasta, the weight is the weight, right? :indifferent:0 -
I think we're saying the same thing. By "cooked" I mean non-dehydrated, which is aka "fresh". The package says to cook it 10-12 minutes. So "fresh" is probably the better word than "cooked". :happy:
So, yeah, if it's non-dried pasta, the weight is the weight, right? :indifferent:
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
:laugh:0 -
So one packet of 500g of fusilli pasta states;
(as directly cooked)(on hob) 100g per serving gives around 156 calories
Another packet of fusili pasta 500g states;
as sold per 75g gives around 270calories
Why is this the case? Obviously the second case refers to dry pasta. so when i log pasta into my diary do i log it as dry/raw pasta or cooked pasta?0 -
here is a link to the pasta fusilli packet that i've been speaking about
http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore/landing/home.shtml#/product/374840
This discussion has been closed.
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