The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Healthy Noodles: Dietitian's Picks (2024)

FAQs

What's the healthiest pasta to eat? ›

Whole-Wheat Pasta

Also called whole-grain pasta, this type of pasta keeps the bran, endosperm, and germ of the grain together. It's filled with fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This helps you feel full longer and keeps your blood sugar from spiking. It also has a little over 8 grams of protein per cup cooked.

The Bottom Line. In moderation, including instant noodles in your diet likely won't come with any negative health effects. However, they are low in nutrients, so don't use them as a staple in your diet. What's more, frequent consumption is linked to poor diet quality and an increased risk of metabolic syndrome.

A hundred grams of egg noodles has around 20 fewer calories than an equal amount of spaghetti. Protein. Despite having eggs in them, egg noodles have less protein than pasta. Egg noodles have about 1.3 fewer grams of protein than pasta (per 100 grams).

Rice noodles are lower in calories, fat, and protein than egg noodles. They also have more carbohydrates. One cup of cooked rice noodles made with white rice has about 193 calories, 0.4 grams of fat, 43.8 grams of carbohydrates, 1.8 grams of fiber, and 1.6 grams of protein.

Shirataki Noodles

Shirataki noodles are long, white noodles also known as konjac or miracle noodles. They're a popular, low-carb alternative to pasta because they're very filling yet have few calories. They're made from a type of fiber known as glucomannan, which comes from the konjac plant.

They're often enriched with vitamins and minerals and contain nutrients like manganese, selenium, and B vitamins. However, they are also high in carbs, contain gluten, and could contribute to weight gain if consumed in high amounts.

Pasta is made from grain, one of the basic food groups in a healthy diet that also can include vegetables, fruits, fish, and poultry. It's a good source of energy and can give you fiber, too, if it's made from whole grain. That can help with stomach problems and may help lower cholesterol.

The same amount of calories can be found in 50 grams of noodles (dry, uncooked). So for the same amount (eg: 100 grams) noodles will contribute higher calories. But when you ask which one is healthier, then the noodle or rice that you usually consume is more or less the same.

Of rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread, potatoes are the healthiest of these starchy and complex carbohydrate foods. This is because potatoes are dense in nutrients, containing essential minerals, vitamins, and other micronutrients.

Is rice healthier than pasta? ›

In conclusion, both pasta and rice can be healthy options when consumed in moderation and paired with nutrient-dense ingredients. However, if we were to compare the two, whole-grain pasta is generally considered a healthier option than white rice due to its higher fiber content and lower glycemic index.

Egg noodles' nutritional content is similar to that of regular pasta but slightly lower in calories, carbs, and protein ( 1 , 2 ). They're also often enriched, meaning that certain vitamins and minerals have been added, increasing their nutritional value.

Glass noodles are lower in calories and GI.

This is because they can absorb a lot more water than rice and wheat noodles; so a plate of cooked glass noodles actually contains less carbs because there's more water in it. They are also lower in glycemic index than rice or wheat noodles.

Notably, rice noodles have fewer calories and significantly less fat than wheat noodles. Compared with spaghetti squash noodles, rice noodles offer similar amounts of fiber and fat — but many more calories and carbs.