Not ready to part ways with pasta? If you thought eating low carb or keto meant sacrificing comfort foods like spaghetti, then prepared to be amazed! Turns out, there are many different substitutes for you to choose. Any dish that requires noodles can still be made with the following replacements I’ll be listing today! So, use this as your go-to guide the next time those cravings creep up!

Zucchini

With the right cookware (i.e., spiralizers and peelers), you can take anything and turn it into noodles; flat like pappardelle or stringy like angel hair. The go-to food of choice is typically zucchini. It’s a favorite even amongst vegans (especially raw vegans) and paleo folk. They love the neutral flavor and versatility, as well as the fact that it’s also another way to increase their veggie intake. While zucchini noodles are best served warm, some people opt to eat them raw.

Cookbook author and creator of the internet sensation Inspiralized Ali Maffucci provides a handy macro comparison between zucchini noodles (aka “zoodles”) and regular whole wheat spaghetti:

2 cups (or 2 medium) cooked zoodles is just 77 calories, 14.04g carbs, 4.5g fiber (net carb 9.8g), and 5.44g protein

VS

2 cups cooked whole wheat spaghetti (just the noodles- no sauce, condiments or other foods) is about 400 calories, 84g carbs, 6g fiber (net carb 78g), and 14g protein

[1]

I think we all know the winner here!

Other Noodles:

I’d like to give a few honorable mentions to other plants that can be turned into noodles. Carrot, beet, parsnip, potato/sweet potato, and butternut squash all give a soft texture. The only downside is that they’re a little high carb, which may not work for very low carbohydrate diets like keto. But regular low carb diets can include them!

If you’re tired of zucchini, there are other options, such as cabbage, daikon radish, cucumbers (very refreshing!), summer squash (the “yellow” zucchini), and bell peppers. All work for the very low carb and keto diets!

Kelp

Don’t have a spiralizer or peeler? Not to worry! This type of noodle is already perfectly shaped.

Kelp noodles are another neutral-flavored substitute that can be used in almost any dish. They’re absolutely free of all allergens (gluten, dairy, soy, shellfish, nuts, wheat, etc.) and made 100% of the white inner flesh of kelp.

A 4 oz serving of kelp noodles contains 54.8 mcg of iodine (an essential nutrient for thyroid function; the RDA recommends an intake of 150 mcg, so the risk of overdosing is highly unlikely unless you’re inhaling an entire bag!), 15% calcium, 4% iron, 14 calories, 1 gram of carbs, and 1 gram of fiber (a total of zero net carbs!). [2] [3]

Be forewarned, it does have a faint seaweed smell and a tad bit of a salty aftertaste, which you can quickly get rid of just by soaking them. Another cool part about kelp noodles is that they act like a sponge and are even more delicious after marinating overnight. (It’s also great to eat the day after cooking. Who said leftovers had to be boring?). In fact, you don’t necessarily need to cook them! Raw vegans figured this out years ago and have made tons of mouthwatering no-cook dishes with them like pad thai and chow mein.

Spaghetti Squash

Another plant-based food that already comes in noodle form is spaghetti squash. You just need to cook it and scoop out the stringy bits with a fork. And voila! You have your noodles. I’ve used spaghetti squash in a few recipes over the years (check out my Cheesy Spaghetti Squash with Broccoli or Skinny Spaghetti Recipe for Fat Loss). It’s a dense but soft ingredient with more bite to it compared to most substitutes. It adds richness to recipes and turns them into comfort meals without the extra carbs! Spaghetti squash is also very nutritious and is a good source of Vitamins A, C, E, K, and a few B vitamins. One 3.5 oz serving is about 41.9 calories, 10g carbs, and 2.2g fiber (7.8g net carb). It’s borderline keto if you happen to be eating very low carb. So if you do decide to have it, make sure that you’re consuming a sensible serving size and are managing the rest of your total carb intake for the day. [4] 

Hearts of Palm (Palmini)

Introducing the new kid on the low carb block, Palmini! What’s Palmini? It’s a low carb, keto-friendly pasta substitute made out of just one ingredient- hearts of palm! Even though it’s pre-cooked, it’s recommended that you soak the noodles for 15-30 minutes to give it a milder flavor (What I typically do is let them sit in macadamia milk for close to an hour before cooking, but any milk or milk substitute will do). Palmini noodles are naturally free of all allergens (exactly like kelp noodles) and soak up any seasonings or condiments you add to them. Each serving yields 20 calories, 4g carbs, 2g fiber (2g net carb), and 2g protein. [5] For those of you on my Keto Meal Plan, you’ll know how tasty this is after eating the Caprese Keto Pasta!

Miracle Noodles

Probably one of the first pasta substitutes to have ever hit the market, Miracle Noodles are the original low carb (and keto-friendly) noodle. They’ve been a common food in Japan for well over 1,400 years! You may also know them as shirataki or konjac noodles. They’re high in a type of soluble fiber known as glucomannan. Glucomannan absorbs twice its weight in water, which is why it’s been studied for its ability to increase satiety (fullness), relieve constipation, and feed the beneficial bacteria down in the gut (acting as a prebiotic). [6]

The noodles themselves may have a slight fishy smell depending on the brand. However, no matter the source, it’s always recommended that you rinse them thoroughly and let them cook without any added fat for a few minutes. This not only gets rid of the smell but makes it more “noodle-like” in texture. If you skip this step, they’ll end up being too mushy.

A 3 oz serving of konjac/shirataki (or Miracle) noodles is zero calories, less than a gram of carbs (which is all fiber). It may not seem like a huge amount of fiber, either. But it’s known to be very filling! [7]

There you have it, everyone! The top low carb and keto-friendly pasta alternatives that are currently on the market. If I missed any, please share them down in the comments! I hope this shows that you can still have your spaghetti and eat it too even when eating low carb!

Sources:

[1] https://inspiralized.com/spaghetti-vs-zoodles/
[2] https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-HealthProfessional/#h2
[3] https://s3.images-iherb.com/sea/sea00644/l/3.jpg
[4] https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2655/2
[5] https://oa-foods.myshopify.com/collections/palmini/products/palmini-vegetable-pasta-6-unit-case-8-oz-net-per-can-smaller-can-reduced-acid
[6] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/shirataki-noodles-101#viscous-fiber
[7] https://miraclenoodle.com/products/fettuccini