Everybody loves pasta. It is a popular dish around the world. You can make it with veggies, animal proteins, vegetable-based proteins, and so many other ingredients, making it one of the most versatile foods on the planet. Noodles have been around for four thousand years, and humans can’t seem to get enough of them. If you are looking for low carb noodle recipes, keep reading!
The only problem with noodles is that they are so starchy, and many varieties of traditional noodles are so high in carbohydrates that they are not easy to fit into many of our diets, since so many of us are now watching our carb intake. Noodles mean carbs, and that means you have to cut out dessert or eat a very small portion of the noodles if you want to enjoy another high-carb part of the meal like dessert.
Luckily, since there are so many people looking for lower-carb noodle options, the law of supply and demand has produced a wide variety of noodles that are low carb and actually taste good. You can now have a pasta dish without having to stress about the number of carbs in the dish. There are now noodles made from vegetables, and noodles made from other ingredients besides high-carb wheat and white flour that are actually good for you!
Check out these excellent low-carb noodle recipes and see if you can fit them into your meal plan this week!
Table of Contents
Thai Vegan Noodles with Tasty Peanut Sauce
This is a fast and simple vegan noodle-based dish that is spicy and creamy. It is a low-carb recipe that is made with vegetable-based noodles and crispy tofu which helps make the dish filling and satisfying. It is a perfect dish for lunch or to serve with any main course in place of a salad.
If you have a craving for pasta, using vegetable-based noodles can satisfy your noodle craving while keeping your carbohydrate intake to a minimum. Adding veggies and a protein source like tofu will help to make the dish filling and tasty without being heavy or slowing you down afterward as a pasta meal would do.
The key to this dish is the creamy peanut sauce. It is a bit spicy, so if you are not a fan of spicy noodle dishes, you can back off some of the curry paste, or avoid this spicy dish (but it is delicious)! It uses algae noodles which have no real taste of their own, but when combined with the rest of the dish they taste amazing and have very few carbs. You may even be surprised at how easy this dish is to make.
Ingredients
- 2-3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce (you can use low sodium if you are watching salt)
- 1 small piece of ginger root
- 3 garlic cloves
- 7oz tofu
- ½ tsp kukuma
- 3 tbsp peanut oil
- 5 oz algae noodles (or other noodles you prefer)
- 10 oz mushrooms
- 2 zucchinis
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
Garnish
- Limes
- Sesame seeds
- Basil or mint
- Roasted peanuts
How to Make it
- Using a spiral slicer, cut the zucchini and carrots into spaghetti. Peel and chop the garlic into fine chunks. Cut the mushrooms and onions into thin slices, and peel and chop the ginger into fine chunks.
- Prepare the tofu by draining and patting with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. When it is dry, cut it into small cubes and marinate with your choice of spice (turmeric is recommended).
- In a large frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. Quickly saute the onions, ginger, and garlic.
- In the same pan, heat an additional tablespoon of oil and fry the tofu until it is crispy on 4 sides.
- Using the same pan and oil, heat the mushrooms for 4 minutes. Add the tofu and add some soy sauce and stir until everything is coated and brown.
- Add in the carrot and zucchini noodles, stir until softer but still a little crunchy.
- Drain the noodles and add into the veggies with the garlic, ginger, and onions mix, stir and combine all the ingredients.
- Now, create the peanut sauce using your favorite recipe, or you can use the recipe below. Add the sauce to your dish and stir until it covers all the ingredients.
- Serve and garnish with lime wedges, peanuts, and fresh herbs.
Creamy Peanut Sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Peanut butter
- Fresh ginger and garlic
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Fresh lime juice
- Sriracha sauce
- Water
Using a blender, blend until creamy.
Low Carb Pasta Alfredo- Vegan & Gluten-Free
This dish is paleo-friendly, vegan, and low carb. It is just as satisfying as a traditional high-carb pasta dinner, without all the extra starch and carbs. It is just as easy to make as normal pasta alfredo, and you won’t have to feel guilty after eating it. It uses kohlrabi noodles, which is a type of cabbage, and it tastes very much like traditional pasta.
This does not make enough food to satisfy as a full meal, but if you pair it with some roasted vegetables or sauteed tofu, it can create quite a filling and tasty meal. If you are not vegan, you could add this to any protein dish for a well-rounded healthy alternative to high-carb rice or noodles.
The key to this dish staying so low carb is the Mann’s Kohlrabi Linguine, which has only the following nutrition information:
- Sodium- 15mg
- Cholesterol- 0mg
- Total Carbohydrate- 5g
- Dietary Fiber- 3g
- Total Sugars- 2g
- Protein- 1g
- Calcium- 20mg
- Potassium- 298mg
With only 5 grams of carbs per serving, these noodles are an excellent way to keep the overall carbohydrates in your dish down. Normal traditional linguine noodles have between 20-40 carbs per serving (depending on the noodles, some may be a bit less.). This is significantly lower in carbs than normal noodles!
Ingredients
- 1 bag of Mann’s Kohlrabi Linguine
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 ½ cups almond milk
- 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 ½ cups soaked cashews
- 1 bag of Mann’s cauliflower rice
- Minced parsley
- Salt and pepper
How to Make it
- Heat the Mann’s cauliflower rice in the microwave and set it off to the side.
- Sauté the garlic in a pan with medium heat until the garlic is a soft golden brown color.
- In a blender, add the almond milk, cauliflower rice, yeast, soaked cashews, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the pan back on the heat and pour in the bag of Mann’s Kohlrabi Linguine. Stir until the noodles are soft for about 6 to 8 minutes. Add in the sauce and stir until the noodles are totally covered in the sauce.
- Place on plates and garnish with some dried parsley.
Quick Tofurkey Low Carb Vegan Pasta
This recipe is low carb, full of fiber, gluten-free, vegan, and dairy-free. It is composed of mostly vegetables and of course some tofu turkey or ‘tofurky’. It is also quite simple to make and will not take too much time at all. Most of the time it takes to make it is just cooking in the pan with you stopping by to stir it every so often.
If you are short on time and in the mood for a filling low-carb meat-based pasta dish, this may be a good one to check out. It makes 4 servings and will leave some great leftovers for the next day or a couple of days later in the week. It only takes 5 minutes of prep time and takes 45 minutes to cook. The total time from start to plate is 50 minutes. It is a lean recipe with no meat or dairy and it feels like you are filling up on starchy pasta, but you are actually eating vegetables. It is the perfect recipe for when you feel like loading up on spaghetti or pasta but don’t want to feel that terrible carb crash after eating.
Ingredients:
- 2-4 Tbsp Tofutti Cream Cheese (not completely necessary but recommended).
- 3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast (nutritional yeast has several health benefits).
- 1 Bottle Organic Tomato Sauce (should be 500 ml)
- 5 Cups Broccoli Slaw
- Dash of Sea Salt (you could use normal table salt if you have to, but sea salt is better).
- 4 Sun-Dried Tomato Tofurky Sausages
How to Make it:
- First, cut the tofurky sausages into small bite-size chunks. The chunks should be about ¼ to ½ “per piece.
- Place the broccoli slaw into a large skillet and add in the organic tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, Tofutti cream cheese, sea salt, and a dash of sea salt on low heat.
- Cover the skillet with all the ingredients and let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring the mixture occasionally to make sure it all gets heated evenly.
- After 45 minutes, remove from heat and plate the dish. Feel free to experiment with garnishes and sides. It goes well with a small side salad.
Notes:
You can substitute the broccoli slaw here with your own broccoli if you prefer. You can just shred the broccoli yourself if you are comfortable doing it that way. You don’t need to use the same brand I recommend, as long as it is broccoli slaw it should work just fine.
The tomato sauce does not have to be the exact same brand, but I find that this particular brand works exceptionally well. I find the spices in this sauce work very well with the tofurky.
The tofurky can be replaced by real turkey sausage If you are a meat-eater, try to find turkey sausage that contains sun-dried tomatoes.
You can get creative and add more ingredients to make it even more delicious. Adding mushrooms, nuts, or some other tasty plant-based ingredients is a fun way to customize the dish to your specific taste. Have fun with it.
Low Carb Lemon Chicken Angel Hair Pasta with Shirataki Noodles
This recipe is a tasty lemony chicken pasta dish that uses shirataki noodles in place of high-carb pasta noodles. It is not a vegan recipe since it uses chicken, but it is a very low-carb dish, especially for a pasta dish. It has only 2 net carbs per serving (crazy for a pasta dish!). In fact, it contains potassium, and vitamins A & C.
Nutrition Information:
- Sugar- 0g
- Carbs- 3g
- Total calories- 325
- Fiber- 1g
- Protein- 39g
- Net Carbs- 2g
- Total Fat- 16g
- Monosaturated fat- 2g
- Saturated fat- 9g
- Polyunsaturated fat- 1g
- Trans Fat- 0g
- Vitamin C- 10%
- Calcium- 0%
- Iron- 0%
- Potassium- 18mg
- Vitamin A- 7%
- Sodium- 347mg
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound chicken breast
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp collagelatin
- 1 lemon
- 2 7 ounce packs angel hair shirataki noodles
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano for finishing
How to Make it:
- Make the noodles- Boil for two minutes until soft. Next, drain the noodles put them in a skillet with no oil, and heat them on medium for about one minute. Set aside when done.
- Prepare the skillet- heat a cast-iron skillet (large) on medium-high heat and add the cooking oil.
- Add the salt, chick breast, and dried oregano to the oiled cast iron skillet and allow to cook for about 10 minutes. Stir the skillet occasionally to allow for even cooking. Remove the chicken breast and set it aside.
- Change the heat to medium on the skillet and squeeze some of the lemon juice into the pan. Add the butter and stir it until it is completely melted. Add the gelatin with a whisk.
- Add the chicken breast and noodles into the skillet and toss, combining all the ingredients.
- Serve, adding some zest of lemon on top and some of the fresh oregano as a final garnish.
