What to use instead of quinoa?!

ChampagneLaughter495
ChampagneLaughter495 Posts: 166 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm makes stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner with shallots, cauliflower, garlic, and red peppers and supposed to be quinoa. I just checked into how many calories and carbs quinoa had and its crazy. Over 600 calories in 1 cup and over 100g of carbs.
What are some better low calorie lower carb options?!

Replies

  • jennamae102
    jennamae102 Posts: 179 Member
    Does your recipe call for 1 cup of cooked quinoa? 1 cup of dry quinoa is about 600 calories, but that will make approximately 3 cups of cooked quinoa, so it isn't as calorie dense as you might think. But, you could always use brown rice, millet, bulgur etc in place of the quinoa.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited January 2016
    nicoleburchinal5 wrote: »
    I'm makes stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner with shallots, cauliflower, garlic, and red peppers and supposed to be quinoa. I just checked into how many calories and carbs quinoa had and its crazy. Over 600 calories in 1 cup and over 100g of carbs.
    What are some better low calorie lower carb options?!

    that would be for a cup of uncooked, dry quinoa which is the equivalent of 4 servings of quinoa.

    one serving of quinoa is generally 1/4 cup dry (which will obviously expand when cooked) and is around 160 calories. quinoa is a seed and one of the better sources of veggie protein...and yes, it is also a carbohydrate which is not evil or anything like that. any substitute that would give you similar consistency in the dish is likely to be a carbohydrate...rice comes to mind...probably be good with lentils too, but i'm partial to them...millett, bulgur, faro, etc...but again, these things are primarily carbohydrates...which again, isn't a bad thing.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    How much of the quinoa will you be eating per serving though? The 600 calories is for uncooked quinoa, so the calorie counts are close to those of grains. So, not particularly crazy. And with quinoa, you're getting a good amount of protein, iron, fiber, and magnesium.

    That said, if you have a reason to want to limit your carbohydrates you can probably just use more vegetables to replace it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Maybe crumbled firm tofu? It's not going to taste anything like quinoa but other grains are going to have similar carbs, though many are lower in calories.
  • incarnadineflower21
    incarnadineflower21 Posts: 1 Member
    If you are up to it try oatmeal (rolled oats)
    It has only 300 calories and 54 grams of carbs per cup. I know that oats are considered a breakfast food but you really can eat them with salt and herbs just like rice or quinoa. Hope this helps! :)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    jennamae102 wrote: »
    Does your recipe call for 1 cup of cooked quinoa? 1 cup of dry quinoa is about 600 calories, but that will make approximately 3 cups of cooked quinoa, so it isn't as calorie dense as you might think. But, you could always use brown rice, millet, bulgur etc in place of the quinoa.

    Millet in stuffed mushrooms is divine. But 1 cup of millet is 756 calories, so it has even more than the quinoa (I wouldn't avoid it for that reason, but it's important to the OP).
  • ChampagneLaughter495
    ChampagneLaughter495 Posts: 166 Member
    Oh! Totally did not know that was for uncooked quinoa! Now I feel like a dummy
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I like Kaniwa. It's something new to the market.
  • ChampagneLaughter495
    ChampagneLaughter495 Posts: 166 Member
    MostlyWater wrote: »
    I like Kaniwa. It's something new to the market.
    I'll look into that:) thanks
  • PiSquared
    PiSquared Posts: 148 Member
    Freekeh is also good. It's on par with quinoa calorie-wise, and also protein. I believe it has more fiber, but I may be wrong on that. I've added it to my rotation of various grains.

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