How do you pasta?
Does the plethora of alternative “healthy” options in the pasta aisle befuddle you? Well, be befuddled no longer, for here is my list of go-to metabolically healthier pastas, organized in carb-ascending order.
(photos are screenshots from respective websites and link to them)
Palmini (hearts of palm, gluten-free, as seen on Shark Tank) - This variety of pasta is basically a vegetable, made from hearts of palm and requires just a little heating in the pan to be ready. Trader Joe’s also makes a version. The taste is fairly innocuous. I like to use the Palmini lasagna noodles as the taste just gets dominated by the rich sauce in the dish. Try it with the Saag Lasagna in my cookbook in place of zucchini!
Kaizen (lupini bean, gluten-free) - An excellent low-carb, HIGH-protein pasta at 20g protein per 56g serving from the creator of shredhappens on Instagram. It works very well as a sub in just about any dish. Try also the Kaizen ‘rice’.
Zenb (yellow pea, gluten-free) - my vote for a moderately low carb legume-based pasta. Made with a single ingredient, yellow peas, the taste is mellow and I truly enjoy this a couple of times a week. They also have some ready-to-eat bowls and recently introduced lasagna.
Side note - Chickpea pasta is not my favorite because of it’s strong flavor, but there have also been recent revelations regarding the glyphosate content in chickpea-products. If that matters to you, try to purchase organic if buying chickpea pasta.
Brami (wheat + lupini bean) - I tried Brami last week and thought it was really good. It has a moderately low carb count and protein count similar to legume-based pasta and tastes more like ‘regular’ pasta as it still has wheat.
Jovial (Einkorn wheat - may work for gluten-sensitive) - My vote hands down in the regular and whole wheat pasta line-up. This (as the company says) is ancient “wheat as nature intended” and has never been genetically modified. While it tastes just the same, I feel nice and light after a pasta meal when I use Jovial, and I’ve switched over my pantry staples to this brand.
Did you like this list? You get a detailed shopping list with all my brand recommendations for breads, grains, pastas, protein powders, condiments and more in The Vegetarian Reset Lab, which is coming back better than ever in January 2025. Plus, I get into how I navigate the grocery aisle and read nutritional labels.