Pasta so high in calories, any healthy ones?

If you don't want to do vegetable based pastas, I hear the brand Fiber Gourmet is very good and only 130 calories per serving. You can only order it online at netrition.com as far as I can see (no stores near me carry it). They have penne, spaghetti, and rotini. I plan to order it soon.

petrinaradford wrote: »

I knew pasta wasn’t the healthiest idea for weight loss. But just saw calories in “community co large shells pasta” for 125g which is the serving size (not sure if cooked or uncooked) but is 456 calories.

Any healthy pastas that anyone knows of?

Most pasta I've ever seen is 100 calories per ounce. I eat pasta at least 3x a week and I'm always satisfied for 400-500 calorie dinner.

As others have said, that's a lotta pasta! A serving per package is usually 56g. The first few times you make a single serving, it will seem tiny, but part of sustainable weight loss is reorienting our thinking about how much food we really need (spoiler alert, less than we normally eat, thus why we're overweight).

I tend to avoid pastas and breads, as they're lots of calories for not as much nutritional value as I'd like. I spiralized a lot a lot of zucchini and butternut squash and toss those in as noodle substitutes. They don't taste like noodles, but they do make a good dish. Spiralizing has been getting more popular and there are a lot of recipes online. I'm making something like this for dinner tomorrow, served alongside some kind of chicken.

When I'm craving actual pasta, I'll measure out a single serving of whole wheat pasta and fill up on other things.
Also, I've been trying noodles made from things other than wheat. Ones that I like include:

• Trader Joe's lentil and brown rice spaghetti - same calorie count as whole wheat pasta, but twice the protein (14g vs. 7g)
• Simply Nature soybean spaghetti - same calorie count as whole wheat pasta, but a whole lot more protein (24g vs. 7g). These don't really taste as much like "normal" pasta, but I've found works really well in homemade ramen and in more asian-ish recipes vs. italian recipes

just_Tomek wrote: »

LyndaBSS wrote: »

If you're up for a challenge, try shirataki noodles instead of regular pasta. Less than 10 calories per serving.

Warning, it's an acquired taste. 😁

Nothing to do with pasta. Completely different beast used for different meals.

I respectfully disagree. I use shirataki fettuccine instead of pasta fettuccine and also use a tomato based sauce with it.

Zero Noodle is bean base and actually is very high in fibre and will balance out the carb quantity. For each gram of fiber you minus that from the carb content. Shirataki makes me vomit as it feels like rubber, Zero Noodles has benefit nutritionally and the taste is easier to swallow.

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

I used to think like that about pasta, that only a big serving would do, but I’ve recently learned that my love for pasta can be satisfied with much much less, if I combine it with full flavoured veg and low calorie sauce.

My standard serving is now down to 35g, weighed raw, with lots of peppers, courgette, onion, a handful of olives etc in a home made tomato sauce which I cook without any oil (so basically just the tomatoes herbs and garlic)

I also don’t like spiralised veg as total pasta replacement but it’s fine to bump up volume as acpgee says above. Also, I very much like using thinly sliced griddled courgette or aubergine as ‘pasta’ sheets in lasagne.

I decided I’d rather eat some pasta, with adjustments rather than no pasta, ever!

Yes, I too now eat less pasta, with more veggies (and protein.)

When I eat pasta - I weigh it out dry and cook my portion apart from the family's. 2-3 oz dry (200-300 cals approximately) is plenty for a dinner portion. Factor in sauce, veggies on the side or a salad, and some protein: its a pretty big meal in terms of bulk so I don't feel like I'm restricting myself by only eating '2-3 oz'.

But lately I've been on a spaghetti squash kick. I'll buy the smallest one I can find, and it make 2 meals for me. I like spaghetti squash. It is a different texture than actual pasta but with sauce, crumbled turkey sausage, a very generous dash of garlic salt and some paremsan cheese: I am eating a big plate of yumminess for about 240 calories.

I enjoy chickpea or pea pasta in some uses, which has about twice as much protein as wheat pasta for the same calories. I find that it has a slightly flatter taste, so I prefer it with a hearty sauce. Someone here suggested cooked lentils mixed with powdered dried mushrooms (pulverize dehydrated mushrooms in a blender or food processor) plus tomato sauce and seasonings, as a vegetarian option. A hearty meat sauce would also be good.

There are also soy or edamame pastas. They tend to have 3-4 times as much protein as wheat pasta, for the same calories. To me, these have a chewier texture than wheat pasta, so I don't really enjoy them with tomato sauce or creamy sauces. However, I find them quite tasty in pseudo-Asian dishes. A favorite is one of these pastas plus stir-fried veggies with a peanut sauce made from peanut butter powder, chile paste, and rice vinegar plus other seasonings of choice (could add a suitable meat or seafood, of course). If you don't like spicy things, omit the chile paste, and use miso or soy sauce.

Miracle noodles... 0 calories pastas