We’ve always wanted to make our own fresh pasta, even low carb pasta, but it’s definitely a labor of love despite the simplicity of every recipe we’ve tried. That’s why we’re focusing the majority of this post on using the the easiest-to-make or buy low carb pasta that we thoroughly enjoy in place of your average high carb pasta.
Jump to: Low Carb Fettuccine Noodle Options | Alfredo Sauce | Homemade Low Carb Fettuccine Noodles | Other Low Carb Pastas
This Ketofy My Favs post is all about low carb fettuccine noodles and other pasta options as well as our favorite Alfredo sauce recipes and ready made brands. Find a quick review of the homemade fettuccine we recently made at the end along with a link to the recipe video we followed from a well known keto chef.
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Low Carb Fettuccine Noodle Options
All of the serving sizes below are basically the same as most high carb pastas – 2oz dry. For comparison – traditional fettuccine will be OVER 40g net carbs per serving. Even if you eat 1 oz dry, that’s over 20g. That’s significant.
The one thing to keep in mind with any of the premade options listed here is that, much like traditional pastas, most of them are seriously overestimating how large a serving should be since the pasta expands exponentially once rehydrated. One box of our edamame pasta should only make 4 servings and the price point for only 4 servings can seem absurd, but unless you’re eating an entire bowlful of pasta all by itself (not judging here, it’s just rare for most folks), then one box lasts us at least 7-8 servings.
Very few low carb pastas, that can effectively mimic the real deal, will be as cost effective as their carby competitors. They just don’t have the market for it and need to price accordingly to stay in business. On the bright side, there are extremely low carb, economical options that are just as delicious.
So, with all of this in mind, our recommendation for most of these is to start off with a half batch or less unless you plan on refrigerating the rest to use again within a few days. Invest in a single package or box to begin with if you’re interested, and if you really like them, buy in bulk the next time to save a bit.
Our Favorite:
Fettuccine Noodles by The Great Low Carb Bread Company | Net Crabs Per Serving: 7g
Ingredients: Pea Protein Isolate, Oat Fiber, Wheat Fiber, Egg Whites, Wheat Gluten, Semolina
When cooked correctly (NOT according to directions), these low carb noodles can mimic both the look and texture of legit high carb pasta. 2 things to note: 1) You absolutely must boil these for longer than directions indicate, boil at least 15-20 minutes. Then let the noodles boil 5-10 minutes longer in a tasty sauce. 2) These noodles do not absorb salt while boiling the way regular pasta does. If it absorbs any, it’ll be mild. Most of the flavor comes from whatever sauce/oil/seasoning added once it’s done cooking to your desired texture so be sure to taste test and add an appropriate amount of salt to make up where the pasta might be lacking.
We typically buy these fettuccine noodles as part of a variety 4-pack on Amazon from resellers whenever the prices come down below $30. The 4 pack usually lasts our small family quite a few months since each one makes about 8 servings and we don’t have pasta every single week. You can also buy them directly from Great Low Carb Bread Co.
Most Economical:
Zucchini – spiraled into thin or wide ribbons (aka Zoodles) | Net Carbs Per Serving: About 1g
Zucchini on its own is rather plain. Zucchini made into thin, wide ribbons and doused in delicious creamy alfredo or hearty bolognese sauce? That definitely kicks it up a few notches.
Our recommendation here is to buy the zucchini fresh (not already spiraled) and peel/slice/spiral these at home. It takes a few minutes and the dinky “pencil sharpener” style spiralizer we use was extremely affordable and works great.
We usually prepare the noodles just before we start cooking. Lightly salt the freshly spiraled zucchini then gently wrap it in a paper towel (if you’re making a huge batch, you can layer piles between paper towels) and let them sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes while your sauce/other food is cooking.
The combo of salt/paper towel/dry fridge air absorbs some of the excess water from the zucchini. Take them out just before you’re ready to serve and quickly warm up the zoodles with the sauce in the pan or lightly (and quickly) pan fry with oil and seasoning – DO NOT overcook or these will become kinda mushy. Zoodles are best when they still have a bit of bite to them. And the thicker ribbon zoodles aren’t just beautiful (yes, food can be effortlessly pretty!), but the twists and turns and wider cuts kinda form cups around your sauce and tastes as good as it looks.
Most Nutritious:
Edamame & Mung Bean Dried Fettuccine by Explore Cuisine | Net Carbs Per Serving: 6g
Ingredients: Edamame bean flour (green soybeans), Organic mung bean flour
We also like the spaghetti version which only contains edamame.
Sounds strange but this makes for a very convincing pasta substitute. Plus – are you low in potassium? You likely won’t be after eating edamame (young, green soybeans). We try to keep to about 1/2 a serving, which still comes out to 635mg potassium! It also contains a decent amount of protein, fiber, iron, and calcium as well. The best part? It cooks just like traditional pasta and the taste is bland enough to become a blank palette for whatever dish you’re cooking.
We recommend boiling it a bit longer (check the texture after 10 minutes) and definitely don’t sniff the dried edamame right after opening the bag. If you’ve ever made anything with nori (sushi wrap) or dried kelp, you’ll understand. This natural, mild oceanic scent completely disappears while cooking. We also recommend being selective with the brands you choose here. Organic, non-gmo definitely yields better results for dried edamame pasta in terms of taste, scent, and texture. We like Explore Cuisine, usually purchased though Amazon but can be found in some grocery stores too.
Note: It is our understanding that large amounts of soy should not be consumed very often (like daily), so if you’re already eating lots of soy products – add extra soy cautiously. Why? Large quantities of soy may impact hormones due to containing a high amount of phytoestrogen [1]. This is another reason to opt for the organic/non-gmo varieties because this is one of the few types of foods that has real potential for poking at your hormones, so the last thing you want is something even jankier messing with them. We enjoy this pasta quite a lot because it’s very nutrient dense and so easy to cook, but we don’t have it every day and we don’t consume other soy products on a regular basis. That makes it an ideal addition to some of our meals.
Interesting Finds – Low Carb Fettuccine Pasta we haven’t tried yet:
Thinslim Impastable Fettuccine Noodles | Net Carbs Per Serving: 8g
Ingredients: Oat Fiber, Wheat Protein Isolate, Egg Whites, Durum Flour.
Shirataki Fettuccine Noodles (several brands) | Net Carbs Per Serving: 0g
These are made from the root of the Konjac plant (aka glucomannan), a well known Asian herb. They are pure fiber. Sometimes they are also combined with other types of fiber, such as oat fiber.
Alfredo Sauce
Did you know? Alfredo sauce is usually already very low in carbs. If you’re choosing to use anything premade, be sure to check out the label and be sure you’re happy with the nutrition info and ingredients. We’ve tried out Bertolli, Classico, and Rao’s Alfredo Sauce and all were very low carb per serving. Simple Alfredo is also incredibly easy to make at home.
Homemade Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1-2 tbsp Unsalted Butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup Dry Grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder or Italian Seasoning Blend
- 1/8 tsp Salt, to taste
Directions
1. Heat up a saucepan over medium heat and add the butter or olive oil.
2. Add the heavy whipping cream and bring it to a soft boil.
3. Stir in the parmesan, garlic powder, and salt. Continue stirring until well combined.
4. Turn the heat down to medium-low and allow sauce to reduce slightly.
5. Add whatever you’d like to the sauce such as noodles, cooked Italian sausage, chicken, etc.
This makes a good amount for around 3-4 servings. Most of the time I wing this recipe and add/reduce depending on the amount of pasta or other food involved. The net carbs for the WHOLE sauce is usually around 7-8g based on the brands and amounts you choose to use.
Homemade Low Carb Fettuccine Noodles
We’ve tried a lot of different pastas and pasta recipes – you can check out one of our older posts on Pasta over here to see some of those adventures. This week is the first time we actually had the chance to use a pasta machine to make something and it was kinda fun. But as we said before, despite the simplicity of the recipes, it’s still a labor of love – especially rolling the dough and dividing the individual strands. EVEN IF you have a basic machine to help with this, the process IMO was a bit tedious.
If you love FRESH pasta without suspect ingredients, it’s a great route to go. Busy folks who get a bit frustrated when their patience is tested? Perhaps not so much. It’s 100% up to you whether this is worth your time and effort – for myself, most days, I’d much rather grab one of the options listed above. Once in a while though, especially if we can find a way to successfully dry these out for later use, might be a nice low carb pasta project to make with my almost-4-year-old.
ALRIGHTY. On to our results…
For this at-home trial, we followed a keto pasta recipe by the Keto King on Youtube. He includes ingredients, amounts, macros in the description as well as a step-by-step video.
Basically, we made the dough in the mixer, let it rest for 30 minutes, rolled it out relatively flat, and then put it through the pasta machine. We made it as thin as possible, then put it through the cutting side of the machine to make fettuccine. After separating the strands, we placed them in heavily salted boiling water for about 3 minutes then strained. I think they could’ve gone for a minute longer for my tastes. The hubs thought it was the best pasta we’ve ever made.
Other Low Carb Pastas
We love fettuccine alfredo, but we love mac and cheese even and spaghetti bolognese even more – that means we’ve made a LOT of different types of low carb pasta dishes over the last several years, focusing mainly on very simple low carb pasta solutions. Check out this excerpt from our Easy Low Carb Substitutions about quick and easy noodle alternatives:
Spaghetti: Edamame Pasta (dried), Protein Pasta (dried), Zucchini Noodles, Spaghetti Squash, Shirataki Noodles (great for ramen too), Heart of Palm Noodles
We love having low carb bolognaise with edamame spaghetti pasta but runner ups zucchini noodles and protein pasta (Low Carb Bread Co.) seriously satisfy that craving – when cooked properly. Zoodles need to be fresh, pat dry, and very lightly pan fried with some seasoning while protein pasta needs to be boiled much longer than directions indicate and drenched in a tasty low carb sauce. Learn more about a variety of Low Carb & Keto Friendly Pasta options on my Low Carb Pasta Page ⇨
| BRANDS TO LOOK FOR: |
|---|
| Explore Cuisine |
| Low Carb Bread Co. |
| Palmini |
| Nasoya Pasta Zero |
| Miracle Noodles |
| Thin Slim Impastable |
Macaroni (elbows, rotini, penne): Roasted Cauliflower, Protein Pasta
Protein pasta wins hands down for texture, but roasted cauliflower (or any roasted veg), especially when roasted with bacon, makes for a great (and cheap) low carb mac & cheese alternative.
| BRANDS TO LOOK FOR: |
|---|
| Low Carb Bread Co. |
| Thin Slim Impastable |
Lasagna: Zucchini, Heart of Palm, Fathead Noodles
Not interested in a noodle-less lasagna? No problem, just slice zucchini length-wise and thinly and voila! Lasagna noodles. Certain brands of heart of palm offer pre-sliced noodles in a variety of shapes including lasagna sheets. Our recent favorite is creating a very thin sheet of fathead (with an extra egg) then slicing it into noodle sheets and it honestly tastes very close to the real thing. See our Low Carb Lasagna with Fathead Noodles Recipe here.
| BRANDS TO LOOK FOR: |
|---|
| Palmini |
| Natural Heaven |
| Thin Slim Impastable |
Homemade Noms by Cate 