Measuring pasta? Help

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ChubbyPlayer1
ChubbyPlayer1 Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So tonight I made angel hair pasta. I don’t have a scale yet...(I know I know! Gonna get one!) but I’m so confused! Ok on the box it had a chart and I made 4 servings according to the cart... I divided into 4 and ate one portion of the 4... says on my pasta box 1 serving size is 200 calories. After I cooked it it ended up being 2 cups for that serving? I’m so confused! Sorry a little dyslexic and new to all of this. So did I eat 400 calories instead of 200?

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  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,008 Member
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    What do you mean when you say you made 4 servings according to the chart on the box? Were there only 4 servings in the box and you made the whole thing? If not, how do you know you only made 4 servings?
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    The nutritional info on the packaging is usually for dry pasta, not cooked pasta - if you cooked the whole lot and ate 1/4, work out how much you ate of the dry weight.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    One serving size of angel hair pasta is normally 56g dry and is 200 Calories.

    Can you post a pic of the label?

    Here is a representative label.

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  • ChubbyPlayer1
    ChubbyPlayer1 Posts: 13 Member
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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    So from the tips we've given you, how much do you think you should log?
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    edited April 2018
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    After googling for a while, (several weeks ago) it looks like pasta roughly doubles in weight with water, but does not double in calories, since it is just water and maybe a tiny bit of oil and salt. So if you cook just for you, measure before cooking, if you are cooking for several people, half the weight on your portion for calorie counting purposes.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,008 Member
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    @ChubbyPlayer1
    If you measured the pasta on end dry and it fit in the circle, I would trust that measure more than a volume measure of the cooked pasta being two cups. (I'm curious -- how did you determine that your cooked serving was 2 cups? Did you actually put it in a measuring cup? Did you chop it up so there wasn't a lot of wasted air space?)
  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
    edited April 2018
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    I’m confused as to why it being 2 cups makes you second guess the serving size you consumed? What’s making you think it should’ve been only 1 cup?

    Sounds to me like you ate approximately 1 serving, so about 200 calories. :)

    ETA: So I googled and saw that a serving of cooked pasta is often estimated as 1 cup. That can vary by pasta type and how packed it is though. One site I came across ran a test and found a serving was “a heaping cup,” which I could see easily being 2 loosely packed cups. I wouldn’t use volume measurements for something like pasta, way too easy not to get right. Better to divide the servings like you did (until the scale’s around!).
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,750 MFP Moderator
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    OP - The label you posted indicates the serving size is based on the dry weight. The manufacturer puts the circles on the box to help you estimate, but it's not very precise. You say you "measured" and cooked four servings and ate 1/4 of the prepared amount, but that it worked out to 2 cups once cooked.

    This is part of the problem when you're comparing weights to volumes when trying to accurately measure food intake.

    According to pasta maker Barilla, one serving of dry spaghetti (2 oz or 56 g) is roughly 1 cup cooked volume:
    https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/measuring-pasta

    Over time if you see your weight is not going down, this is the type of logging accuracy that can help get you on track.

    Personally, I'd log two servings to be on the safe side but that's just me. Actually, I'd eat at least two servings but that's also just me. I absolutely love spaghetti! :tongue:
  • cloudspirit55
    cloudspirit55 Posts: 36 Member
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    That's one of my problems!! Lol I love pasta specially spaghetti.
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
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    Honestly, pasta is one of those foods I don't try to estimate other than pre cook, with a scale. It can be so dramatically off.
  • MeteoraTitanium
    MeteoraTitanium Posts: 102 Member
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    Easily done with pasta, rice, lentils and cous cous, different brands vary. You have to keep an eye open on the dry weight or else it gets confusing.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,988 Member
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    Virtually all pasta is 100 cal/oz DRY, regardless of the type, and a typical serving is 2oz.

    2oz of dry pasta looks like an incredibly small portion when I weigh it out.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I recently was preparing to cook a lentil pasta that weighed precisely 1 gram per strand. That was awesome!
  • Liamsm0m
    Liamsm0m Posts: 102 Member
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    This was my issue last night and I ended up (unknowingly) going over my calorie count. Oops.
    I measured out in a 1 cup and that will be my go to from here on out. 1 cup of the pasta I had last night was huge for me. I should have stuck to that but miscounted. Live and learn.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    sgt1372 wrote: »
    Virtually all pasta is 100 cal/oz DRY, regardless of the type, and a typical serving is 2oz.

    2oz of dry pasta looks like an incredibly small portion when I weigh it out.

    100cal or 200cal - my standard box is 200cal and 56g serving
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    I buy the dried tagaliatelle which comes in little balls. Two balls = 50g
    If I buy other types of pasta the food scale comes out.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
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    Just to add that Angel Hair looks like a whole lot more when cooked than regular spaghetti. I have a family of five so when I cook pasta I make the entire (12-16oz depending on the brand) box of pasta. Same brand, same weight I always have at least half the box of Angel Hair left after dinner vs one, maybe two servings left of spaghetti. If you made four servings and divided by four then your serving was most likely correct.

    When you get your food scale, cook up 2oz (56g) of pasta according to the package directions then weigh the cooked serving in grams on your food scale. Enter that weight as your serving of cooked pasta with the stats from the box into your My Foods list. (I title mine Brand of Pasta/Type of Pasta/Cooked). It’s not perfect but if you cook it for the same time every time it’s about as close as you can get without having to weigh/measure/cook a single serving each time you cook for the whole family.
  • Drdebly
    Drdebly Posts: 2 Member
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    Speaking of this I've recently started eating Black Bean pasta. A serving size is 2 oz dry, but when cooked its a LOT of pasta! Is this STILL the serving size, or should you then measure out a cup of it? I'm always unsure when it comes to pasta.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    drdramatic wrote: »
    Speaking of this I've recently started eating Black Bean pasta. A serving size is 2 oz dry, but when cooked its a LOT of pasta! Is this STILL the serving size, or should you then measure out a cup of it? I'm always unsure when it comes to pasta.

    If you weigh out a serving size and cook it, it will still be the serving size calories regardless of the yield you get cooked.

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