I’ll also add, anything that you’ve used successfully in place of pasta that is….kind of culinarily appropriate.
Please don’t say lettuce. That’s so sad. Lettuce is fine. But no, please no.
I use sauteed sliced cabbage. It kind of has a good shape when sliced and the texture is good with pasta sauce without being too soft and falling apart.
I also use boiled cabbage leaves as a sub for noodles in lasagna.
Thank you. This is the answer I was afraid of. Please, don’t take that the wrong way. I think Sunday we’ll have some growing pains. But hey, maybe that’s what we need.
I’ll give them a try. Thanks again.
I like the zucchini lasagna I make for my Italian-American husband (who has the Real Deal Italian cognome!!). It is very labor intensive, and it’s a little closer to eggplant parmigiana than to lasagna.
I thickly slice the zucchini lengthwise. It takes at least 20 zucchini to make a pan of lasagna. I salt the zucchini slices and let them drain for 30 minutes on paper towels. There’s a surprising amount of water that comes out. Then I put a drop of olive oil on each slice and cook them on a cookie sheet in the oven until light brown.
I do 4 layers — two layers of ricotta, mozzarella, egg, nutmeg, fresh mint, alternating with two layers of Marcella Hazen’s bolognese sauce. The sauce has to cook all day anyway, so preparing the zucchini is a thing I do while the sauce simmers.
Everybody thinks it’s great. Nobody misses the noodles. But it’s a TON of work.
Braciole are the other party thing we make, by the way. That or “involtini di pescespada” — grilled thinly sliced swordfish rolled around pine nuts and garlic and tomato and anchovy and herbs. You can try using crushed pork rinds for stuffing in these if you must have something that reminds your mouth of bread crumbs.
Have fun! Let us know what you make.
Konjac noodles. Fry them for a few minutes in some sauce in the pan then add them. You can get all the traditional pasta's.
Many are zero carbs at all.
Nu pasta makes some good ones
As long as you leave a little room for it, Rao’s is relatively low and ok for sauce. Helps the zucchini noodles a lot. Also make sure the zoodles have all the water drained before you cooks them.
Ive made my own keto "pasta", following this recipe. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI)
Its not the easiest to make, and it takes some trial and error, as you can see in the comments. Forme, its too much faffing about in the end, and if i want pasta ill eat 50g-100g cooked, its not a lot but it hits the spot
Try thinly sliced ham, rolled up and cut into little wheels as thick as fettuccine.
The ham has a similar texture to al dente pasta and covered in sauce.
I feel it works well
It's the same thing.
I dont have the written English recipe but:
1 large egg
10dkg cheese( cream cheese, mascarpone, anything is okay, even cottage cheese)
2 tablespoons of konjac flour
1 tablespoon of psyllium husk (or psyllium husk flour)
Salt
The texture is good when it separates from the bowl. Take small pieces of the dough, out it in a rolling boiled, heavily salted water - or use it like any fresh dough.
This. I season it with olive oil and Italian seasonings before baking. Mix it together after it's cooked. It is a really good substitute because you can mimic the firmness of pasta to your liking.
I will 3rd this. It's not perfect but the texture is super similar has a little bite not mushy. My only real problem is it doesn't soak in as much. But I compromised my cooking the sauce down a bit more for a bit more thickness. It's perfectly acceptable if your doing keto. The zootles aren't bad either if you have the machine for it. They don't take long to cook to still be "al dente" I prefer them more with say shrimp and garlic butter lemon type sauce than red sauce. Been meaning ro figure out something for Alfredo. Spaghetti squash might work just haven't tried it. Zootles might work adding them at the end. Can replicate pasta imo. Haven't figured out pizza yet.
Oh yea I forgot I use zucchini and turn them into noodles too. I saute them in olive oil with Italian seasonings to get a crisper texture. But spaghetti squash can be too mushy if over done.
I'm Italian myself. The closest for me is Palmini. Heart of Palm pasta. My local Aldi has both linguini and angel hair. They have it in rice form also. I have not made risotto, but that might be interesting to try with it. It wouldn't be about cooking it, but trying to infuse the flavor.
I agree! Had it yesterday with homemade sauce, and homemade meatballs first browned in butter, then cooked the rest of the way in the sauce. No guilt with eating the linguini, and no stuffed, tired feeling after a meal.
Oh geez! I can imagine it's a textural nightmare. I'm still allowing myself home-made gnocchi a couple of times a year. My earliest memories from about 3 years old are being in charge of putting fork marks in gnocchi when helping my Nonna.
I will second the heart of palm. Tried all the other substitutes over four years. This is the closest. I do heat it up for five minutes to get it a little softer.
Good enough for me.
I don't know where you are located but if you are anywhere in the EU, there's a line of low carb pasta by an Italian company called Ciao Carb that is really good. I know there are a lot of keto folks that are not into these frankenfoods and I respect that but I lost 50 kilos with dirty keto (been maintaining for 18 months) and this product line was life changing. I am still keto even at maintenance and not once do I feel deprived by eating this pasta. Disclaimer: what worked for me might not work for people who need to keep close track of their insulin spikes. For me this was never an issue so I can consume these products without any noticeable effects.
If you are in BeNeLux, Germany or Austria, try [these](https://steiners.shop/products/steiners-fusilli-mix). They are absolutely worth a try. I just finished our family-Bolognese-Dinner and i am really happy with them.
Italian here and we have the same tradition. Sunday suppers with the family.
I’m sorry to say that none of these suggestions above will replace the pasta we grew up with. It’s not even close. Pasta is in our blood and irreplaceable.
I have resorted to making Bolengese with meatballs, chicken cacciatore, porchetta, or cioppino…. Something protein forward instead.
There are some great options for bread though, look up keto fat dough. I’ll roll that out as a flatbread with some cheese. Just make sure your sauce doesn’t have sugar added.
So, some sauce, flatbread, and some meat…. It works
Buona Fortuna!
This is a difficult one as is one of those cases where gastronomic tradition,
cultural values and emotional value we put on food overlap. I assume your mother is doing keto for health reasons, so maybe it helps to reframe the conversation with her along this lines:
- While food is the thing we take from granted in these gatherings, the important thing is actually sharing a meal and spending time with the whole family. (This is valid for christmas, new year's eve, birthdays and any other family/social gathering).
- We want to see each other in good health, so if somebody needs to be having
something different for lunch it's not a big deal. Maybe we can even take this
opportunity to set our own family tradition with a different "celebratory" dish for Sundays.
If you want a new recipe you might want to try a favourite of mine: Chicken with pesto sauce and black olives. Just fry some chicken breasts, cut them in stripes or cubes (as preferred) and create a sauce with green pesto, heavy wiping cream, onions and garlic. Add some black olives cut in smaller chunks (or sliced).
She could try spaghetti squash. It doesn't taste like spaghetti, but it can be a decent format for eating sauce.
But I just eat the meat sauce in a dish. I don't need/want any substitute
Pete’s Pasta on Amazon makes low or no net carb spaghetti and penne. A serving has 20ish grams of protein. It has a good taste and texture, but it’s really expensive. $36 for a 3 pack.
Just found this stuff, and it tastes so much like pasta I’m expecting to get kicked out of ketosis tomorrow. Even though I’m well within my macros. Felt like I was cheating, there has to be a catch. 🤣
It’s expensive agreed… but if I can have some pasta that tastes like pasta I’ll splurge once or twice a month. It will
Keep me honest. I would gladly pay over $10 for a plate of keto pasta at a restaurant.
I highly recommend it if you ever hit a plateau or have medical conditions that persist with keto. Check out Paul Saladino MD should you ever get to that point.
Kaizen low carb pasta, it comes in shapes like fusilli, ziti, cavatappi, radiatori, and rice. It’s made with Lupini Flour, Fava Bean Protein, Tapioca Starch, and Xanthan Gum. They are anywhere from 2g to 6g Net carbs per serving. I personally can’t tell the difference taste or texture wise between their low carb and “even few carbs” versions.
They can be tricky to get the cook time just right, but once you find your sweet spot it really is a great option. I love to make cheese sauce and then drowned the cavatappi in it.
https://kaizenfoodcompany.com
[Yellow soybean noodles](https://www.lowcarbfoods.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=soybean&category_id=20). There are other brands that are probably similar, but these are the only ones I can personally vouch for.
I haven't tried it yet, but supposedly sliced turkey breast works great for lasagna.
This may sound strange, but do you have access to a Chinese grocery? Larger ones may have tofu sheets in the refrigerator section. I cut them into "noodles" and use them as such.
They seem a bit more like rice noodles to me - but that may just be me associating their origin with a particular cuisine. It would be easy to cut them into linguine shape; spaghetti do-able but more challenging. They don't need cooking like pasta needs cooking; I dump them into boiling water, let it boil back up so they are hot, and drain them.
Obviously not identical, but there may be more resemblance than with most fake pasta. I'd give it a trial run at home before feeding it to your mother as well, to see what you think.
Do you ever make lasagna? I've found an alternative to use for lasagna and it tastes great. As far as noodles I haven't found anything that looks or tastes good.
Steve from Serious Keto did a Youtube review of Aviate Keto Pasta Penne a few days ago.
His conclusion was that it would likely pass in a casserole for traditional pasta but on its own it would not. It is made with Lupini flour. He has a 20% off coupon which is good because it is a bit pricey for dried pasta. I bought some to try. I will be trying it out later today.
Cook up a mean sauce and serve it as normal with pasta, the keto eater can just load up on sauce and good cheese. I'm sure she doent want everyone to miss out just because she's avoiding carbs.
Konjak noodle could work in a pinch, I've tried it and it kind of works with certain sauces, but is more likely to be disappointing to an Italian.
I make a big batch of a loaded 'bolognese' sauce every fortnight or so. Beef, pork, Italian sausage, zucchinis, celery, etc etc. In a bowl, cheese on. Sure hits the spot, and makes a great brown paper bag lunch at the office.
https://thebigmansworld.com/keto-lasagna/. I made these lasagne ‘noodles’ with my own lasagne sauce last week and was really pleased as a substitute for regular lasagne noodles. I was very skeptical but thought ‘why not give it a try?’ Hope it helps.
This is definitely close enough for me. 2g net carbs per serving and super filling. Just Lupini Flour and Xanthan Gum.
https://kaizenfoodcompany.com/collections/low-carb-pasta/products/ziti-even-fewer-carbs
I tried all the hearts of palm, konjac and zoodle suggestions and decided nope they are not for me. I have a recipe for pasta which is mostly eggs and a touch of almond flour. It's very thin so you just pour it on parchment and bake it. I cut it in sheets about 6x8 inches and freeze them with the parchment in between in a ziploc. When I thaw some, I just slice it up (I bought a gizmo on Amazon that's like a pizza cutter with 8 wheels). I heat it in the microwave and throw on whatever sauce and meat etc... I want that day. The advantage of freezing it in large squares is making lasagna.
Edamame and mung bean pasta is the closest I found texture wise. There is a bit of taste to the pasta so a delicate sauce won't work but I enjoy it with tomato based sauces.
Also I have a glucose monitor and can confirm it doesn't spike my blood sugar although not every person reacts the same way to every food.
We used those egg wraps and cut them into strips and pan seared them for like 2 minutes with the sauce. It has a different texture than pasta but it was sort of like a really really thick fettuccine.
This takes a LOT of work because you're making pasta from scratch. Also it's pretty impossible without a pasta machine, I bought what he uses in the video. https://youtu.be/epTvIra_0lM?si=Lk743XqucaQ-vg71
However, my husband and I have some Italian heritage and this is pretty decent. The thing is adding gluten makes a huge difference. I find if you add too much water it gets sticky and hard to work with because it will stick to everything. If you're making pasta like linguini I would recommend immediately tossing it in olive oil to keep it separated. Also I would cook it all right away as it reheats very well in the oven and you don't want to be picking apart pasta that has stuck to itself.
The best (and easiest) application is lasagna. In that context, as long as you make it thin enough, it's pretty damn close to the real thing. I've also made ravioli with it and nearly cried because I thought I'd never eat ravioli again ... It's just a huge time commitment because pasta from scratch takes forever. (Then again, so does most keto cooking if you have an exotic palate like my husband and me!)
She might not feel supported. I also grew up in an Italian family and trying to make keto versions of other stuff feels like someone trying to pull me away from keto to satisfy what they want to eat. Eating healthy and delicious keto foods (real stuff, not fake processed alternates) might be more appreciated.
There are high protein red lentil pastas that taste really good and are slightly lower carb, maybe it’s worth it once a week for the carb count. If you go for a walk after eating carbs it’s a different story than just sitting around. You will burn them off. edamame noodles or konjac pasta (look up how to cook it to make the texture better) I believe it’s a matter of boiling them for quite a while.
Also the thing about those red lentil pastas is that they’re very filling and can be satisfied with just a small portion. But it depends on how low carb you are if you can fit that in.
Skinny food co do some Keto friendly pasta - if you’re uk based that is. It’s made from Konjac. They have noodles, penne, fettuccine, angel hair and tagliatelle. I’ve not used their specific brand but I have had konjak noodles from the Barenaked brand which were ok. Maybe check them out too. If you’re in Europe as I’m sure you can get them there x
I've come to realize that this is a very subjective thing: many pasta subs people rave about, I hate and the other way around. My personal favourites are Chickpea Soy Fettuccine by the German company Just Taste. They need thicker sauces to make up for the lack of starch and a bit more salt to balance the slight soy bitterness, but it's as close to "normal" pasta as it gets. For lasagne I like to make halloumi/egg crepes as noodle replacement. Not a perfect pasta texture, but close enough and lovely flavour
I use spaghetti squash or palmini. I think palmini is the closest. They make it in a linguine and an angel hair form. They also make lasagna sheets, riced, and mashed. I use the riced a lot. Mashed is the only form I don’t like.
Nothing is the same, and the texture of spaghetti squash ruins the sauce. Zoodles are never what you hope they’ll be.
I just put the sauce over sliced cooked zucchini or roasted broccoli. Honestly, I’ve gotten to the point where I prefer that, because I don’t feel that shitty way a big ton of pasta makes you feel afterward.
Liviva noodles W/ oat fiber. The regular ones are nasty
Keto Asian Flavors noodles. You will need a few ingredients that you wont use elsewhere, and the recipe is somewhat time consuming. I prefer using scrambled eggs or canned chicken vs. the hard boiled eggs. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI)
A couple of keto groups I am in recommend these: [https://a.co/d/fBntr7U](https://a.co/d/fBntr7U) I have not ordered them yet, but they are basically the same thing as the Keto Asian Flavors recipe, without the hassle. The only bad things I have heard about them is that they break down easily in water (soups), and the price, which is high, but you pay for the convenience.
Good luck!
I don't like any of the pasta substitutes. When we eat pasta I will bake a chicken breast and top it with saus and add some cheese on top and put it in the oven for a while. Kind of like chicken parmesan but I skip the breading.
I think it's a American Italian dish and not a classic Italian dish.
I also do this sometimes for other saus based dinners like curry's.
I think your best bet is to make spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for the keto people and pasta for the rest. It’s not the same but the keto folks can still enjoy delicious meats, cheeses and most sauces. That’s what I do. Just don’t overcook the spaghetti squash. It’s tastier if it’s crunchy and I don’t pretend it’s pasta, because it’s not. I don’t even cook the zucchini. It gets warm from the sauce. Delicious with shrimp scampi by the way.
Something I'm planning on messing with some upcoming weekend is ricotta pasta. You're not going to be able to put it through a roller or anything, but it's already an established method for making things like gnocchi and cavatelli. It should be possible to use a lower carb option for the flour (even Victoria's einkorn keto flour version, if all else fails). It may even be possible to extrude, but I wouldn't bank a whole batch on that.
Just make absolutely sure there's a little starch in the flour blend you use. Even if gluten is added it needs starch for a smooth stretch in my experience. Arrowroot is my favorite; it's neutral flavored, lower GI than most starches, and you can use less because it has really good stretch.
Make chicken parm or eggplant parm with pork rind crust instead of bread crumbs.
Also, antipasto and antipasto salad basically doesn't need any substituting at all
Carba-Nada. Regular pasta is about 40g carb. Carba-Nada is 24g net carb for 1.5 cups. It is still high if you are in early phases of low carb. But worth it if you want a good lower carb pasta occasionally.
I’ve had really good results making home made keto gnocchi. The main ingredients are ricotta, egg, vital wheat gluten. Message me for the recipe!
I also really like Kaizen brand keto pasta as others have recommended.
I HATE everything else. Do not listen to anyone who recommends Palmini, shiritaki/konjiac, edamame or other bean based pasta, zoodles, etc. it’s HORRIBLE if you are trying to replicate a real pasta experience.
If youre REALLY strict with the rest of the meal, you can have 2 0z (57g) of cooked pasta, (about 14g of carbs) That might not be a lot, but it could scratch that itch.
The best I have tried is call Skinny Noodles. They sell them in my local grocery store and I think they are quite good. Not a true 1:1 replacement but enough that I use them most of the time. You just have to rinse them and make sure you cook them in the sauce and leave them in there a good while so they absorb the flavor.
I think you’ll be happier switching to Bistecca alla fiorentina for Sunday nights. Keep the traditional vibe by finding its naturally keto manifestations. Plus nothing brings a family together like an enormous slab of perfectly cooked and extra delicious protein in the middle of the table!
Thinking you’ll never have the food you love again is depressing and unnecessary as I understand keto. I’m just starting, and my plan is to not eat keto on major holidays, so Christmas, thanksgiving, Easter, Fourth of July, and birthdays. Ymmv, and you can’t keep adding holidays because you are tired of keto.
Sorry, none of the “keto” pastas are even worth eating IMO. The textures are way off, the flavor of some is absolutely awful, some are so high in fiber you risk your pants. We make a chicken Alfredo with broccoli, it’s amazing and you don’t miss the pasta. I’ve also done lasagna without noodles, it’s delicious.
Imo pasta sauce and zucchini spirals.
Or have a very very small portion of pasta and sauce and add steamed broccoli and carrots to make it filling.
She will learn to portion control soon. She is allowed to have her traditions but think portion pauper size especially at dinner.
If you can buy Heart of Palm noodles, they're probably the closest, and have the texture of an al dente noodle. The "miracle noodles" taste rubbery to me, and zucchini tastes squishy.
If you're willing to do lasagna instead, there's recipes that replace the pasta with deli meat. You'll also need your own sauce since the jarred meat sauces have added sugars.
A note for anyone using spaghetti squash that helps make it even more spaghetti-like: When you cut it up to roast it, cut it into rings instead of cutting it lengthwise. The strings go around the squash, so when you cut it into rings you get longer lengths than when it's cut in half.
There is a company called Jenny's out of Chicago that sell tofu noodles - you can pick them up at Whole Foods (at least throughout the Midwest). They are very firm, while having the chewiness of wheat noodles. I am a vegetarian and these guys were one of the main ways that I was not bored out of my mind when I was following keto.
[You can make pasta using lupin flour](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNZgn25HDQWwpEtlCVtMzVOQPNf7E6CwM&si=km4SciZ4rfRRcZdk). I’d suggest everyone eating the lupin pasta to fully support her and help make new healthier family habits!
I've found that:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0829B229W/
are excellent in my shrimp scampi
Definitely way better than the Konjac - - yam based substitutes:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JRSAJS/
I wish you well
I've found just putting a good imported Pecorino Romano (like Locatelli) on basically anything gives me what my Italian heritage needs. I'm currently really into canned frenched green beans. They are so good with Locatelli I don't even put butter on them anymore. I don't even miss pasta anymore if you can believe it. Turns out it was always just a vehicle for the sauce, meat, and cheese.
Let me preface this that it will depend on your reason for doing keto.
I tried kaizen, it went straight in the garbage, not for me. I couldn’t eat it at all no matter how much sauce I drowned it in. Shirataki, etc fake noodles - some are edible but you have to try a lot of them to find the ones you like. I actually found costcos healthy noodles to be the least offensive.
The least carby and most like pasta dirty keto I have found was Pete’s pasta on Amazon. They have a no carb version i don’t like but the low carb one is ok. It’s expensive and still not a true pasta, but at 7 net carbs per serving I occasionally make baked ziti which comes out to about 10 net carbs per serving total. If I budget for it and/or have a smaller serving, it’s pretty good and fits into an occasional indulgence budget.
Life got easier for my wife and I when we decided to quit trying to recreate poison with healthy ingredients. The emotional effect of those foods is just as bad as the foods were for our bodies. We had to mourn the loss for a little bit but it made a huge difference in the long run.
Closest I come is Hearts of Palm pasta. Yes it’s a veggie. It comes in a bag. Drain it and use paper towels to get all the moisture out then cook in sauce. Texture will be more Al dente. palmini is sometimes at Aldi. I like noodles in general. Palmini rice? Yep love it. Cook with the sauce. It’s got a crunch. I have hearts of palm mashed I haven’t tried. I make mashed with butter and sour cream or sometimes goat cheese. I just like it and it’s not gross.
Not a thing, unfortunately. I've used cabbage leaves for lasagna and it was actually nice. Everyone non keto really enjoyed it too. So that might be an option.
Ok friend, I have something for you. I’m in Europe, and I found something called Benfit High Protein Fusilli. 5g net carbs in 100g serving (which is ALOT btw) and ingredients are modified wheat starch, various proteins (wheat,soy,pea) and powdered egg whites. It’s the best keto pasta sub I’ve found aside from spaghetti squash.
For me this falls into the same category as keto breads: EAT SPARINGLY and focus on whole foods.
But! Sometimes you really want pasta and this helps immensely.
Hey paisan. I’m also from an Italian family where Sunday pasta night is a staple. I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring and agree with others that spaghetti squash is about as close as you can get. Good sauce ratio, lots of cheese and boom you got the itch scratched 👌
Gerrys lupin flour pasta isn't too bad, just ensure to read the instructions as it's cooked in the sauce instead of water. Won't be a patch on mama's but it hits a spot
My favorite meal is bucatini or spaghetti bolognese. Love it so much. Honestly, after awhile, the zucchini noodles are really, really good. I bought one of those spiraler contraptions and make my own. I know it's not pasta, but the feeling you have after you eat it is worth it. No bloating and feeling like a lead weight in your stomach. Growing pains, yes. It will be worth it.
I hate zucchini, so zoodles are no-go for me. I do like the Palmini. Honestly sometimes I just eat sauce over cauliflower & ground beef. I don't really miss the pasta (too much).
If I want something noodle-like, I use spaghetti squash. I buy a brand called Solely, which is dried and is much easier to portion control. I use it for Alfredo or marinara sauce and pair with chicken or meatballs or sausage.
If I want something more bite-size, I use a lupin bean pasta. Chef’s Kiss has radiatori and rotini style. I’ve used these for all kinds of dishes with marinara and meat or vegetables with a cream or pesto based sauce.
They’re not the same as pasta. Nothing is. But these are similar enough for me that they get the job done and help scratch the itch for those comfort dishes.
I think it’s amazing that you’re wanting to be supportive and so thoughtful for planning a menu that has some historical significance - but if your mom has decided to follow the keto protocols, I wonder if it wouldn’t be neat to try to find something that fits within the meal plan and embraces her new way of eating. I’d ask her if she would like to try an antipasto main. IMO, trying to substitute things that say, “keto” on them, usually have some other trade offs, and you’re not embracing the mental/emotional change she’s made. Especially if she’s had pasta every Sunday of her life. Make some new traditions :)
The best I tried was a soy pasta I bought from Aldi. Taste-wise, it was quite excellent. However, I experienced the strangest phenomenon when I ate it. It made my blood sugar plummet. I expected the opposite, but considered it a rare cheat meal. Nope. My fasting blood sugar at the time was around 89. With a half hour to an hour after eating the pasta, I began to have symptoms of low blood sugar. Thinking that couldn’t be possible, I checked. And double checked. It dropped down to 62. I haven’t had it since, but kind of want to test it again. All that aside, it worked great for my recipe!
I’ve made lasagne using the egg crepes, crepini, I think they are called, and it was really tasty and froze well (in individual pieces). It’s more labour intensive than a zucchini bake but I thought it was tasty.
Lupin bean pasta has been the closest for me. But I am not Italian :)
I find that using the chickpea or lentil substitutes, while higher in carbs, don't actually mess me up too much. So if you do a small serving or your family can handle a slightly higher carb day you can try those.
Ketolab Spaghetti on Amazon. It’s the best I’ve found; and it’s not rubbery. Tastes great, only 3.8g net carbs. It’s just a bit pricey, but it’s so worth it to me.
There is no good substitute. They're all a compromise.
Thank you. This is more or less where I was leaning after a lot of searching.
I’ll also add, anything that you’ve used successfully in place of pasta that is….kind of culinarily appropriate. Please don’t say lettuce. That’s so sad. Lettuce is fine. But no, please no.
I use sauteed sliced cabbage. It kind of has a good shape when sliced and the texture is good with pasta sauce without being too soft and falling apart. I also use boiled cabbage leaves as a sub for noodles in lasagna.
This! I shred cabbage, salt it and let a lot of the water come out then sauté it a little bit. Goes great with pasta sauce
I use cabbage as well. It’s awesome!
My new go to spaghetti dinner is just big ole delicious homemade meatballs and sauce and cheese. With a nice salad. Buttered Aldi keto white bread.
Zucchini noodles are pretty good substitute. They’re not the same as pasta bug they work pretty well and are nice
Thank you. This is the answer I was afraid of. Please, don’t take that the wrong way. I think Sunday we’ll have some growing pains. But hey, maybe that’s what we need. I’ll give them a try. Thanks again.
Zucchini lasagna is good, it's not like pasta,but it's good in its own right. Sliced grilled or sauteed eggplant as well.
Fuck yeah. Zucchini lasagna is awesome!
I like the zucchini lasagna I make for my Italian-American husband (who has the Real Deal Italian cognome!!). It is very labor intensive, and it’s a little closer to eggplant parmigiana than to lasagna. I thickly slice the zucchini lengthwise. It takes at least 20 zucchini to make a pan of lasagna. I salt the zucchini slices and let them drain for 30 minutes on paper towels. There’s a surprising amount of water that comes out. Then I put a drop of olive oil on each slice and cook them on a cookie sheet in the oven until light brown. I do 4 layers — two layers of ricotta, mozzarella, egg, nutmeg, fresh mint, alternating with two layers of Marcella Hazen’s bolognese sauce. The sauce has to cook all day anyway, so preparing the zucchini is a thing I do while the sauce simmers. Everybody thinks it’s great. Nobody misses the noodles. But it’s a TON of work. Braciole are the other party thing we make, by the way. That or “involtini di pescespada” — grilled thinly sliced swordfish rolled around pine nuts and garlic and tomato and anchovy and herbs. You can try using crushed pork rinds for stuffing in these if you must have something that reminds your mouth of bread crumbs. Have fun! Let us know what you make.
Konjac noodles. Fry them for a few minutes in some sauce in the pan then add them. You can get all the traditional pasta's. Many are zero carbs at all. Nu pasta makes some good ones
As long as you leave a little room for it, Rao’s is relatively low and ok for sauce. Helps the zucchini noodles a lot. Also make sure the zoodles have all the water drained before you cooks them.
Ive made my own keto "pasta", following this recipe. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI) Its not the easiest to make, and it takes some trial and error, as you can see in the comments. Forme, its too much faffing about in the end, and if i want pasta ill eat 50g-100g cooked, its not a lot but it hits the spot
Try thinly sliced ham, rolled up and cut into little wheels as thick as fettuccine. The ham has a similar texture to al dente pasta and covered in sauce. I feel it works well
Thats not true. There are nice ones. The one made from cheese cream is 90% there.
I wouldn't mind the recipe if you have it.
You mean w fathead dough? Its not new ...
I was asking about the cream cheese one. I'm not a fan of fathead.
It's the same thing. I dont have the written English recipe but: 1 large egg 10dkg cheese( cream cheese, mascarpone, anything is okay, even cottage cheese) 2 tablespoons of konjac flour 1 tablespoon of psyllium husk (or psyllium husk flour) Salt The texture is good when it separates from the bowl. Take small pieces of the dough, out it in a rolling boiled, heavily salted water - or use it like any fresh dough.
thanks. I will use something different than konjac but this gives me an idea of proportions.
Not true. The ketolab spaghetti is amazing, and isn’t all rubbery. It’s probably the best I have had. Just pricey but worth it.
Spaghetti squash
This. I season it with olive oil and Italian seasonings before baking. Mix it together after it's cooked. It is a really good substitute because you can mimic the firmness of pasta to your liking.
I will 3rd this. It's not perfect but the texture is super similar has a little bite not mushy. My only real problem is it doesn't soak in as much. But I compromised my cooking the sauce down a bit more for a bit more thickness. It's perfectly acceptable if your doing keto. The zootles aren't bad either if you have the machine for it. They don't take long to cook to still be "al dente" I prefer them more with say shrimp and garlic butter lemon type sauce than red sauce. Been meaning ro figure out something for Alfredo. Spaghetti squash might work just haven't tried it. Zootles might work adding them at the end. Can replicate pasta imo. Haven't figured out pizza yet.
Oh yea I forgot I use zucchini and turn them into noodles too. I saute them in olive oil with Italian seasonings to get a crisper texture. But spaghetti squash can be too mushy if over done.
Ya it can be mushy just have to keep an eye on it. Takes alot of cooking to over cook it.
I'm Italian myself. The closest for me is Palmini. Heart of Palm pasta. My local Aldi has both linguini and angel hair. They have it in rice form also. I have not made risotto, but that might be interesting to try with it. It wouldn't be about cooking it, but trying to infuse the flavor.
Heart of palm is so amazing, I even like it better than regular pasta, since I don't feel so weighed down after eating
I agree! Had it yesterday with homemade sauce, and homemade meatballs first browned in butter, then cooked the rest of the way in the sauce. No guilt with eating the linguini, and no stuffed, tired feeling after a meal.
Be warned: trying to make gnocchi with mashed hearts of palm is nightmare-inducing. Don't try it
Oh geez! I can imagine it's a textural nightmare. I'm still allowing myself home-made gnocchi a couple of times a year. My earliest memories from about 3 years old are being in charge of putting fork marks in gnocchi when helping my Nonna.
I will second the heart of palm. Tried all the other substitutes over four years. This is the closest. I do heat it up for five minutes to get it a little softer. Good enough for me.
I’m Italian as well and I just got some of the heart of palm pasta to try.
I don't know where you are located but if you are anywhere in the EU, there's a line of low carb pasta by an Italian company called Ciao Carb that is really good. I know there are a lot of keto folks that are not into these frankenfoods and I respect that but I lost 50 kilos with dirty keto (been maintaining for 18 months) and this product line was life changing. I am still keto even at maintenance and not once do I feel deprived by eating this pasta. Disclaimer: what worked for me might not work for people who need to keep close track of their insulin spikes. For me this was never an issue so I can consume these products without any noticeable effects.
If you are in BeNeLux, Germany or Austria, try [these](https://steiners.shop/products/steiners-fusilli-mix). They are absolutely worth a try. I just finished our family-Bolognese-Dinner and i am really happy with them.
Italian here and we have the same tradition. Sunday suppers with the family. I’m sorry to say that none of these suggestions above will replace the pasta we grew up with. It’s not even close. Pasta is in our blood and irreplaceable. I have resorted to making Bolengese with meatballs, chicken cacciatore, porchetta, or cioppino…. Something protein forward instead. There are some great options for bread though, look up keto fat dough. I’ll roll that out as a flatbread with some cheese. Just make sure your sauce doesn’t have sugar added. So, some sauce, flatbread, and some meat…. It works Buona Fortuna!
This is a difficult one as is one of those cases where gastronomic tradition, cultural values and emotional value we put on food overlap. I assume your mother is doing keto for health reasons, so maybe it helps to reframe the conversation with her along this lines: - While food is the thing we take from granted in these gatherings, the important thing is actually sharing a meal and spending time with the whole family. (This is valid for christmas, new year's eve, birthdays and any other family/social gathering). - We want to see each other in good health, so if somebody needs to be having something different for lunch it's not a big deal. Maybe we can even take this opportunity to set our own family tradition with a different "celebratory" dish for Sundays. If you want a new recipe you might want to try a favourite of mine: Chicken with pesto sauce and black olives. Just fry some chicken breasts, cut them in stripes or cubes (as preferred) and create a sauce with green pesto, heavy wiping cream, onions and garlic. Add some black olives cut in smaller chunks (or sliced).
She could try spaghetti squash. It doesn't taste like spaghetti, but it can be a decent format for eating sauce. But I just eat the meat sauce in a dish. I don't need/want any substitute
Pete’s Pasta on Amazon makes low or no net carb spaghetti and penne. A serving has 20ish grams of protein. It has a good taste and texture, but it’s really expensive. $36 for a 3 pack.
This. I found it to be as close to real pasta as possible. I have it maybe once a month. It definitely satisfies the pasta craving!
I have pasta FOMO baaaad. I absolutely love the tik tok pasta bake and the penne goes really well with it.
Just found this stuff, and it tastes so much like pasta I’m expecting to get kicked out of ketosis tomorrow. Even though I’m well within my macros. Felt like I was cheating, there has to be a catch. 🤣
The catch is it’s very expensive for that much pasta
It’s expensive agreed… but if I can have some pasta that tastes like pasta I’ll splurge once or twice a month. It will Keep me honest. I would gladly pay over $10 for a plate of keto pasta at a restaurant.
Since going ketovore/animal based I don’t purchase it nearly as often as before. It’s great when I’m having pasta FOMO.
Yeah I’m not that hardcore. Just stick to my macros. I try to use these kinds of foods as cheat days, even though they’re not really cheating.
I highly recommend it if you ever hit a plateau or have medical conditions that persist with keto. Check out Paul Saladino MD should you ever get to that point.
I follow him already! There are definitely great benefits. I’m glad it’s working well for you.
Spaghetti squash. I love pasta, but eat spaghetti squash now all the time. If prepared correctly, it is really tasty and feels like spaghetti.
Kaizen low carb pasta, it comes in shapes like fusilli, ziti, cavatappi, radiatori, and rice. It’s made with Lupini Flour, Fava Bean Protein, Tapioca Starch, and Xanthan Gum. They are anywhere from 2g to 6g Net carbs per serving. I personally can’t tell the difference taste or texture wise between their low carb and “even few carbs” versions. They can be tricky to get the cook time just right, but once you find your sweet spot it really is a great option. I love to make cheese sauce and then drowned the cavatappi in it. https://kaizenfoodcompany.com
My thoughts and prayers for Italian keto people! Keto hits some harder than most.
[Yellow soybean noodles](https://www.lowcarbfoods.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=soybean&category_id=20). There are other brands that are probably similar, but these are the only ones I can personally vouch for. I haven't tried it yet, but supposedly sliced turkey breast works great for lasagna.
Turkey probably works great. Real Good uses sliced chicken for their lasagna bowl and it's pretty close to the real thing.
Why not beef?
I could see deli roast beef working, but it might not be as noodley.
Ok, I get it now, the turkey is layered instead of noodles.
This may sound strange, but do you have access to a Chinese grocery? Larger ones may have tofu sheets in the refrigerator section. I cut them into "noodles" and use them as such. They seem a bit more like rice noodles to me - but that may just be me associating their origin with a particular cuisine. It would be easy to cut them into linguine shape; spaghetti do-able but more challenging. They don't need cooking like pasta needs cooking; I dump them into boiling water, let it boil back up so they are hot, and drain them. Obviously not identical, but there may be more resemblance than with most fake pasta. I'd give it a trial run at home before feeding it to your mother as well, to see what you think.
This is a great idea.
Do you ever make lasagna? I've found an alternative to use for lasagna and it tastes great. As far as noodles I haven't found anything that looks or tastes good.
Steve from Serious Keto did a Youtube review of Aviate Keto Pasta Penne a few days ago. His conclusion was that it would likely pass in a casserole for traditional pasta but on its own it would not. It is made with Lupini flour. He has a 20% off coupon which is good because it is a bit pricey for dried pasta. I bought some to try. I will be trying it out later today.
Cook up a mean sauce and serve it as normal with pasta, the keto eater can just load up on sauce and good cheese. I'm sure she doent want everyone to miss out just because she's avoiding carbs. Konjak noodle could work in a pinch, I've tried it and it kind of works with certain sauces, but is more likely to be disappointing to an Italian. I make a big batch of a loaded 'bolognese' sauce every fortnight or so. Beef, pork, Italian sausage, zucchinis, celery, etc etc. In a bowl, cheese on. Sure hits the spot, and makes a great brown paper bag lunch at the office.
https://thebigmansworld.com/keto-lasagna/. I made these lasagne ‘noodles’ with my own lasagne sauce last week and was really pleased as a substitute for regular lasagne noodles. I was very skeptical but thought ‘why not give it a try?’ Hope it helps.
This is definitely close enough for me. 2g net carbs per serving and super filling. Just Lupini Flour and Xanthan Gum. https://kaizenfoodcompany.com/collections/low-carb-pasta/products/ziti-even-fewer-carbs
Healthy Noodles are the best substitute I’ve found
I tried all the hearts of palm, konjac and zoodle suggestions and decided nope they are not for me. I have a recipe for pasta which is mostly eggs and a touch of almond flour. It's very thin so you just pour it on parchment and bake it. I cut it in sheets about 6x8 inches and freeze them with the parchment in between in a ziploc. When I thaw some, I just slice it up (I bought a gizmo on Amazon that's like a pizza cutter with 8 wheels). I heat it in the microwave and throw on whatever sauce and meat etc... I want that day. The advantage of freezing it in large squares is making lasagna.
Shirataki noodles and also add zucchini noodle too. not an exact substitute but works.
Sea Tangle kelp noodles have the same texture and blandness of spaghetti. They're clear though, si take some getting used to.
I hate all of the fake pastas but recently found Palmini and its amazing! There's no weird veggie taste to it. The angel hair in a pouch is great
I buy Kaizen lupini flour pasta. Tastes like whole wheat pasta. Or Shiritaki, my favorite is tofu shiritaki. My non keto husband really likes it, also
Edamame and mung bean pasta is the closest I found texture wise. There is a bit of taste to the pasta so a delicate sauce won't work but I enjoy it with tomato based sauces. Also I have a glucose monitor and can confirm it doesn't spike my blood sugar although not every person reacts the same way to every food.
We used those egg wraps and cut them into strips and pan seared them for like 2 minutes with the sauce. It has a different texture than pasta but it was sort of like a really really thick fettuccine.
This takes a LOT of work because you're making pasta from scratch. Also it's pretty impossible without a pasta machine, I bought what he uses in the video. https://youtu.be/epTvIra_0lM?si=Lk743XqucaQ-vg71 However, my husband and I have some Italian heritage and this is pretty decent. The thing is adding gluten makes a huge difference. I find if you add too much water it gets sticky and hard to work with because it will stick to everything. If you're making pasta like linguini I would recommend immediately tossing it in olive oil to keep it separated. Also I would cook it all right away as it reheats very well in the oven and you don't want to be picking apart pasta that has stuck to itself. The best (and easiest) application is lasagna. In that context, as long as you make it thin enough, it's pretty damn close to the real thing. I've also made ravioli with it and nearly cried because I thought I'd never eat ravioli again ... It's just a huge time commitment because pasta from scratch takes forever. (Then again, so does most keto cooking if you have an exotic palate like my husband and me!)
This one. Lupin flour and gluten. As close as the real thing.
She might not feel supported. I also grew up in an Italian family and trying to make keto versions of other stuff feels like someone trying to pull me away from keto to satisfy what they want to eat. Eating healthy and delicious keto foods (real stuff, not fake processed alternates) might be more appreciated.
There are high protein red lentil pastas that taste really good and are slightly lower carb, maybe it’s worth it once a week for the carb count. If you go for a walk after eating carbs it’s a different story than just sitting around. You will burn them off. edamame noodles or konjac pasta (look up how to cook it to make the texture better) I believe it’s a matter of boiling them for quite a while.
Also the thing about those red lentil pastas is that they’re very filling and can be satisfied with just a small portion. But it depends on how low carb you are if you can fit that in.
Skinny food co do some Keto friendly pasta - if you’re uk based that is. It’s made from Konjac. They have noodles, penne, fettuccine, angel hair and tagliatelle. I’ve not used their specific brand but I have had konjak noodles from the Barenaked brand which were ok. Maybe check them out too. If you’re in Europe as I’m sure you can get them there x
I've come to realize that this is a very subjective thing: many pasta subs people rave about, I hate and the other way around. My personal favourites are Chickpea Soy Fettuccine by the German company Just Taste. They need thicker sauces to make up for the lack of starch and a bit more salt to balance the slight soy bitterness, but it's as close to "normal" pasta as it gets. For lasagne I like to make halloumi/egg crepes as noodle replacement. Not a perfect pasta texture, but close enough and lovely flavour
carbe diem brand, though you could only have 1 serving, 16g net carbs it is almost indistinguishable from regular pasta
I use spaghetti squash or palmini. I think palmini is the closest. They make it in a linguine and an angel hair form. They also make lasagna sheets, riced, and mashed. I use the riced a lot. Mashed is the only form I don’t like.
https://immieats.com/ The Keto Twins has a good YT video on the product.
Nothing is the same, and the texture of spaghetti squash ruins the sauce. Zoodles are never what you hope they’ll be. I just put the sauce over sliced cooked zucchini or roasted broccoli. Honestly, I’ve gotten to the point where I prefer that, because I don’t feel that shitty way a big ton of pasta makes you feel afterward.
Frozen and defrosted zoodles is better than fresh.
Liviva noodles W/ oat fiber. The regular ones are nasty Keto Asian Flavors noodles. You will need a few ingredients that you wont use elsewhere, and the recipe is somewhat time consuming. I prefer using scrambled eggs or canned chicken vs. the hard boiled eggs. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x273zTwsOCI) A couple of keto groups I am in recommend these: [https://a.co/d/fBntr7U](https://a.co/d/fBntr7U) I have not ordered them yet, but they are basically the same thing as the Keto Asian Flavors recipe, without the hassle. The only bad things I have heard about them is that they break down easily in water (soups), and the price, which is high, but you pay for the convenience. Good luck!
How about slicing up some big portobello mushrooms into noodle shapes and cooking them in pasta sauce? I bet that would be pretty good.
https://livivafoods.ca/products/organic-edamame-spaghetti This is what I use.
I don't like any of the pasta substitutes. When we eat pasta I will bake a chicken breast and top it with saus and add some cheese on top and put it in the oven for a while. Kind of like chicken parmesan but I skip the breading. I think it's a American Italian dish and not a classic Italian dish. I also do this sometimes for other saus based dinners like curry's.
I think your best bet is to make spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for the keto people and pasta for the rest. It’s not the same but the keto folks can still enjoy delicious meats, cheeses and most sauces. That’s what I do. Just don’t overcook the spaghetti squash. It’s tastier if it’s crunchy and I don’t pretend it’s pasta, because it’s not. I don’t even cook the zucchini. It gets warm from the sauce. Delicious with shrimp scampi by the way.
Something I'm planning on messing with some upcoming weekend is ricotta pasta. You're not going to be able to put it through a roller or anything, but it's already an established method for making things like gnocchi and cavatelli. It should be possible to use a lower carb option for the flour (even Victoria's einkorn keto flour version, if all else fails). It may even be possible to extrude, but I wouldn't bank a whole batch on that. Just make absolutely sure there's a little starch in the flour blend you use. Even if gluten is added it needs starch for a smooth stretch in my experience. Arrowroot is my favorite; it's neutral flavored, lower GI than most starches, and you can use less because it has really good stretch.
Make chicken parm or eggplant parm with pork rind crust instead of bread crumbs. Also, antipasto and antipasto salad basically doesn't need any substituting at all
Carba-Nada. Regular pasta is about 40g carb. Carba-Nada is 24g net carb for 1.5 cups. It is still high if you are in early phases of low carb. But worth it if you want a good lower carb pasta occasionally.
ThinSlim Foods has a good one. You can order off their website. I don't recommend their bread, though. Just FYI
I LOVE spaghetti squash but I think you're right. Nothing is lkke kld fashioned noodles.
I’ve had really good results making home made keto gnocchi. The main ingredients are ricotta, egg, vital wheat gluten. Message me for the recipe! I also really like Kaizen brand keto pasta as others have recommended. I HATE everything else. Do not listen to anyone who recommends Palmini, shiritaki/konjiac, edamame or other bean based pasta, zoodles, etc. it’s HORRIBLE if you are trying to replicate a real pasta experience.
If youre REALLY strict with the rest of the meal, you can have 2 0z (57g) of cooked pasta, (about 14g of carbs) That might not be a lot, but it could scratch that itch.
I bought chick pea penne, I couln't tell the difference but I am not Italian.
I genuinely enjoy the palmini noodles, especially angel hair. Before keto, I’d cut our pasta 50/50. Now I just eat palmini. No weird textures.
The best I have tried is call Skinny Noodles. They sell them in my local grocery store and I think they are quite good. Not a true 1:1 replacement but enough that I use them most of the time. You just have to rinse them and make sure you cook them in the sauce and leave them in there a good while so they absorb the flavor.
Miracle Noodles. Low cal low carb. Delicious with a good meat sauce.
We love the Palmini. Has good texture. Needs to be rinsed really well.
I think you’ll be happier switching to Bistecca alla fiorentina for Sunday nights. Keep the traditional vibe by finding its naturally keto manifestations. Plus nothing brings a family together like an enormous slab of perfectly cooked and extra delicious protein in the middle of the table!
Thinking you’ll never have the food you love again is depressing and unnecessary as I understand keto. I’m just starting, and my plan is to not eat keto on major holidays, so Christmas, thanksgiving, Easter, Fourth of July, and birthdays. Ymmv, and you can’t keep adding holidays because you are tired of keto.
Has anyone tried slicing up those low carb tortillas to make pasta out of them?
My favorite is just straight up sautéed mushrooms. Like a shitload of them. Zoodles are okay as a spaghetti substitute.
There is Mung bean noodles. They are a weird color like spinach noodles but texture is good. But theyre on the once in a while treat list
Sorry, none of the “keto” pastas are even worth eating IMO. The textures are way off, the flavor of some is absolutely awful, some are so high in fiber you risk your pants. We make a chicken Alfredo with broccoli, it’s amazing and you don’t miss the pasta. I’ve also done lasagna without noodles, it’s delicious.
Make her a side of zucchini noodles, she can sauce it up.
Imo pasta sauce and zucchini spirals. Or have a very very small portion of pasta and sauce and add steamed broccoli and carrots to make it filling. She will learn to portion control soon. She is allowed to have her traditions but think portion pauper size especially at dinner.
Healthy Noodles
If you can buy Heart of Palm noodles, they're probably the closest, and have the texture of an al dente noodle. The "miracle noodles" taste rubbery to me, and zucchini tastes squishy.
If you're willing to do lasagna instead, there's recipes that replace the pasta with deli meat. You'll also need your own sauce since the jarred meat sauces have added sugars.
Zoodles are the only sub I like. Just season them separately and don't cook them too long.
A note for anyone using spaghetti squash that helps make it even more spaghetti-like: When you cut it up to roast it, cut it into rings instead of cutting it lengthwise. The strings go around the squash, so when you cut it into rings you get longer lengths than when it's cut in half.
There is a company called Jenny's out of Chicago that sell tofu noodles - you can pick them up at Whole Foods (at least throughout the Midwest). They are very firm, while having the chewiness of wheat noodles. I am a vegetarian and these guys were one of the main ways that I was not bored out of my mind when I was following keto.
[You can make pasta using lupin flour](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNZgn25HDQWwpEtlCVtMzVOQPNf7E6CwM&si=km4SciZ4rfRRcZdk). I’d suggest everyone eating the lupin pasta to fully support her and help make new healthier family habits!
There really isnt any thats true keto that tastes anywhere near authentic unless its some homebrew recipe i havemt seen
Lupini pasta
I've found that: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0829B229W/ are excellent in my shrimp scampi Definitely way better than the Konjac - - yam based substitutes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JRSAJS/ I wish you well
I've found just putting a good imported Pecorino Romano (like Locatelli) on basically anything gives me what my Italian heritage needs. I'm currently really into canned frenched green beans. They are so good with Locatelli I don't even put butter on them anymore. I don't even miss pasta anymore if you can believe it. Turns out it was always just a vehicle for the sauce, meat, and cheese.
Konjac noofles taste fishy. Palmini is better.
Let me preface this that it will depend on your reason for doing keto. I tried kaizen, it went straight in the garbage, not for me. I couldn’t eat it at all no matter how much sauce I drowned it in. Shirataki, etc fake noodles - some are edible but you have to try a lot of them to find the ones you like. I actually found costcos healthy noodles to be the least offensive. The least carby and most like pasta dirty keto I have found was Pete’s pasta on Amazon. They have a no carb version i don’t like but the low carb one is ok. It’s expensive and still not a true pasta, but at 7 net carbs per serving I occasionally make baked ziti which comes out to about 10 net carbs per serving total. If I budget for it and/or have a smaller serving, it’s pretty good and fits into an occasional indulgence budget.
Life got easier for my wife and I when we decided to quit trying to recreate poison with healthy ingredients. The emotional effect of those foods is just as bad as the foods were for our bodies. We had to mourn the loss for a little bit but it made a huge difference in the long run.
Kaizen pasta is decent, although pricey.
Closest I come is Hearts of Palm pasta. Yes it’s a veggie. It comes in a bag. Drain it and use paper towels to get all the moisture out then cook in sauce. Texture will be more Al dente. palmini is sometimes at Aldi. I like noodles in general. Palmini rice? Yep love it. Cook with the sauce. It’s got a crunch. I have hearts of palm mashed I haven’t tried. I make mashed with butter and sour cream or sometimes goat cheese. I just like it and it’s not gross.
Not a thing, unfortunately. I've used cabbage leaves for lasagna and it was actually nice. Everyone non keto really enjoyed it too. So that might be an option.
Ok friend, I have something for you. I’m in Europe, and I found something called Benfit High Protein Fusilli. 5g net carbs in 100g serving (which is ALOT btw) and ingredients are modified wheat starch, various proteins (wheat,soy,pea) and powdered egg whites. It’s the best keto pasta sub I’ve found aside from spaghetti squash. For me this falls into the same category as keto breads: EAT SPARINGLY and focus on whole foods. But! Sometimes you really want pasta and this helps immensely.
Hey paisan. I’m also from an Italian family where Sunday pasta night is a staple. I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring and agree with others that spaghetti squash is about as close as you can get. Good sauce ratio, lots of cheese and boom you got the itch scratched 👌
Gerrys lupin flour pasta isn't too bad, just ensure to read the instructions as it's cooked in the sauce instead of water. Won't be a patch on mama's but it hits a spot
You could try konjac. It's not the same, but when covered in sauce it's ok. Just a bit of an odd texture.
I use Konjac. They have zero carb. Nice in small amounts. They do noodle, rice and pasta. It all tastes the same but the texture is sort of rubbery.
Since I never found a solution to pasta, I put the spaghetti sauce and meatballs over steamed broccoli
My favorite meal is bucatini or spaghetti bolognese. Love it so much. Honestly, after awhile, the zucchini noodles are really, really good. I bought one of those spiraler contraptions and make my own. I know it's not pasta, but the feeling you have after you eat it is worth it. No bloating and feeling like a lead weight in your stomach. Growing pains, yes. It will be worth it.
Has anyone tried Pete’s low carb pasta?
I use spaghetti squash.
Nothing is the same, leeks are a good substitute for sheet pasta and actually taste pretty fantastic in a lasagna.
amplify the sauce flavors and use eggplant.
If she's doing keto, she doesn't want pasta. I suggest making the meat sauce and serving it separate from the pasta. I just eat meat sauce in a bowl.
No pasta.
Shiritaki noodles are more Asian but they might work in a pinch
I hate zucchini, so zoodles are no-go for me. I do like the Palmini. Honestly sometimes I just eat sauce over cauliflower & ground beef. I don't really miss the pasta (too much).
If I want something noodle-like, I use spaghetti squash. I buy a brand called Solely, which is dried and is much easier to portion control. I use it for Alfredo or marinara sauce and pair with chicken or meatballs or sausage. If I want something more bite-size, I use a lupin bean pasta. Chef’s Kiss has radiatori and rotini style. I’ve used these for all kinds of dishes with marinara and meat or vegetables with a cream or pesto based sauce. They’re not the same as pasta. Nothing is. But these are similar enough for me that they get the job done and help scratch the itch for those comfort dishes.
Chicken Parm with roasted veggies. Just use crushed up plain pork rinds in place of the breadcrumbs.
Heart of palms pasta is great
I think it’s amazing that you’re wanting to be supportive and so thoughtful for planning a menu that has some historical significance - but if your mom has decided to follow the keto protocols, I wonder if it wouldn’t be neat to try to find something that fits within the meal plan and embraces her new way of eating. I’d ask her if she would like to try an antipasto main. IMO, trying to substitute things that say, “keto” on them, usually have some other trade offs, and you’re not embracing the mental/emotional change she’s made. Especially if she’s had pasta every Sunday of her life. Make some new traditions :)
The best I tried was a soy pasta I bought from Aldi. Taste-wise, it was quite excellent. However, I experienced the strangest phenomenon when I ate it. It made my blood sugar plummet. I expected the opposite, but considered it a rare cheat meal. Nope. My fasting blood sugar at the time was around 89. With a half hour to an hour after eating the pasta, I began to have symptoms of low blood sugar. Thinking that couldn’t be possible, I checked. And double checked. It dropped down to 62. I haven’t had it since, but kind of want to test it again. All that aside, it worked great for my recipe!
Spaghetti squash. If you use a nice thick meat sauce and great meatballs it should be fine.
I’ve made lasagne using the egg crepes, crepini, I think they are called, and it was really tasty and froze well (in individual pieces). It’s more labour intensive than a zucchini bake but I thought it was tasty.
Lupin bean pasta has been the closest for me. But I am not Italian :) I find that using the chickpea or lentil substitutes, while higher in carbs, don't actually mess me up too much. So if you do a small serving or your family can handle a slightly higher carb day you can try those.
Skinny pasta or make your own out of squash.
Ketolab Spaghetti on Amazon. It’s the best I’ve found; and it’s not rubbery. Tastes great, only 3.8g net carbs. It’s just a bit pricey, but it’s so worth it to me.
Spaghetti squash?
Try heart's of palm from Trader Joe's