Who doesn’t love pasta? While I had a massive amount to say about bread in my previous post, the pasta options below are a little more straight forward. Not for a lack of variety or availability, but moreso that homemade low carb pasta can be quite the challenge compared to bread – especially if you don’t possess some of the tools or ingredients necessary to truly mimic the traditional taste and texture.
While making proper noodles at home is 100% possible and we mention some recipes below, the focus here will be predominantly on easily available substitutions or premade pasta you can find in-store or online. Let’s get started!
Pasta Options: 10g net carbs or less!
You may have noticed a few more colorful options gracing the pasta shelves at your local grocery store – veggie, lentil, chickpea, and so on. These are healthier options but still rather high in overall carbohydrates. Keep in mind – just because something isn’t made with flour, doesn’t mean its carb count will be substantially lower than traditional pasta; however, its carbs are likely far more nutritious than white flour pasta (double check the label).
That said – our list below only covers options that are at least 10g net carbs or LESS per serving, which omits some of those very colorful options mentioned above. I try to keep my daily net carbs fairly low (between 15g and 30g per day) and this list reflects that, but if you’re not keto there are tons of other fun pasta options, like lentil, that are completely viable for those simply on a lower carb diet (under 130g per day).
Zucchini Noodles
Did you know just about any sturdy vegetable can be spiralized into some kinda pasta? My family’s favorite pasta substitution has to be zucchini – easy to make, easy to find, easy on the carbs. One medium zucchini contains about 3g net carbs and in zoodle form, creates 2 hefty sized servings.
When I first met my husband, he used to think of zucchini as a rather “blah” option for any meal and would always ask for the sweeter yellow squash instead. Fast forward to present day and he absolutely loves zoodles and zucchini lasagna, and not because zucchini has evolved into something tastier, but because the way we make it has become more creative.
If you don’t overcook freshly spiralized zucchini, you’ll have a crisp, colorful side dish with subtle hints of sweet notes. We have a tiny, cheap spiralizer bought off Amazon that’s basically a giant vegetable pencil sharpener. Nicer, larger tools exist with lots of variations in the spiral’s size and shape.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, we’ve seen our local grocer offer in-house made zoodles in the produce section, as well as big brands selling zoodles in the freezer section. If you have access to a mandolin or possess some awesome knife skills, thinly sliced zucchini can be used in many different ways like ravioli or lasagna noodles.
Tip: Sprinkle a little salt on freshly cut zucchini and let is sweat out some excess moisture – be sure to pat them dry before cooking. Also, cut your zoodles with scissors before cooking! While you can spin them around your fork, it’s not as easy to cut or slurp as regular pasta – shorter is better. If you make zucchini lasagna, cut the casserole into sections with a serrated knife.
Pasta by The Great Low Carb Bread Co.
Browse Their Selection
We recently tried out a few different types of pasta from this California based company and we’re pretty happy with the texture and how easy it is to add to any meal. We prefer the elbows and fettuccine but they also offer rotini and what might be considered a penne (we weren’t fans).
It’s predominantly made out of pea protein, oat fiber, and wheat fiber, which is a common low carb combo for those with soy and/or nut allergies. It also contains vital wheat gluten, a protein very low in carbs, and that’s providing some of the structure and elasticity of the noodles. The serving size for all four of their pasta options is listed as 2 oz – but this particular brand more than DOUBLES in size when cooked, so 2 oz could easily feed 2 or more people, assuming pasta is just a side dish rather than a main course. Suffice to say, each bag lasts us quite a while.
Tip: On its own, the pasta is rather bland and when not cooked long enough, there can be a slight chalky aftertaste. To combat this, we highly suggest cooking the pasta in a sauce or broth rather than water alone, and increase the cook time listed in the directions from 10 to around 20 minutes. Drain away any excess liquid, then cook in more sauce for another 5 minutes.
Homemade Almond Flour Noodles
This was a bit of a failure to be honest. We followed a pasta recipe over at Gnom Gnom as best we could; definitely intended more toward bow-ties and gnocchi rather than fettuccine. The flavors were awesome, especially with our bolognese sauce, but the texture was all wrong and reminded us, VERY STRANGELY, of homemade french fries. Crispy outside, soft inside. I’m not sure how we managed that, but it made for an interesting meal, that’s for sure. This could have been completely user error, so if you’re in the mood for some homemade, gluten free, low carb pasta – give this a try and tell us how it goes!
More Low Carb or Zero Carb Pasta Options
- Explore Cuisine Bean Pastas | View Their Site
Edamame & black bean, found in some super markets or buy online - Shirataki Noodles | Read Bulletproof Article
Pure fiber made from konjac yam, found in most supermarkets or buy online - Lowcarb-ology’s Baked Egg Noodles | View Recipe
Cream cheese, eggs, & wheat gluten, handmade at home - Palmini Noodles | View Their Site
Hearts of palm, found in some supermarkets or buy online - ThinSlim Foods Impastable | Browse Their Selection
Oat fiber & wheat fiber, buy online - Spaghetti Squash | Recipe 1 | Recipe 2 | Recipe 3
A non-spiralized vegetable that mimics the look of spaghetti - Fathead Noodles | Watch Recipe on Black Sheep Keto
Mozzarella-based dough, handmade at home - bZoodles | View Their Site
Egg noodle alternative, carnivore approved, recipe available to purchase
Homemade Noms by Cate 
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