Is Spaghetti Pasta Keto Friendly? A Keto Alternative For Spaghetti


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Spaghetti noodles are generally made of milled wheat. Therefore, traditional spaghetti contains around 30 grams of net carbs per 100 grams serving.

Traditional grain-based spaghetti is not keto-friendly because depending on the brand spaghetti can have up to 45 net carbs per 1.5 cup serving which makes it not keto-friendly.

That is enough to tell us that that it is definitely not keto-friendly as you will reach your daily allotted carb intake with less than 3 ounces of spaghetti and without the sauce.

P.S. If you want a more complete understanding of how grain pasta fits into a ketogenic diet, click here to read an article about keto pasta.

Image of Spaghetti for pinterest

Is Spaghetti Sauce Keto Friendly?

There are countless brands of spaghetti sauce, and the carbs in each varies wildly.

I did a quick search on Amazon to find the most popular brand and took a look at the nutritional labels on that brand.

BARILLA Tomato & Basil and Traditional Premium Pasta Sauce is the most popular Spaghetti Sauce on Amazon. A 1/2 cup serving of this sauce contains 10 grams net carbs, which means it is too carb-heavy for keto dieters. 

{Click Here to see this sauce on Amazon. >>> }

Is There Sugar In Spaghetti Sauce?

First, let’s consider how many carbs are in the base ingredient of spaghetti sauce, tomatoes.

According to the USDA Food Database, one cup of fresh tomato (180 grams) contains about 5 grams of net carbs.

As you can see, the carbs from the tomatoes don’t come anywhere near accounting for the carbs in most brands of spaghetti sauce.

So where do those carbohydrates in spaghetti sauce come from?

Most spaghetti sauces include sugar as a primary ingredient to balance the natural acidic flavor of the tomatoes. This added sugar makes most commercial brands of spaghetti sauce not allowed on a ketogenic diet.

However, there are some keto friendly spaghetti sauce brands.

Best Keto Spaghetti Sauce Brand

Nowadays you can find many low carb sauces in the market. Your best options are one that contains 5 or fewer grams of sugar and approximately equal amounts of carbs.

Choose ones that have minimal ingredients. Making your own spaghetti sauce is also an excellent option to determine what and how much of each ingredient is in the sauce.

One of the best keto spaghetti sauce brands is “Yo Mama’s” which has just 4 net carbs per 1/2 cup serving and it’s really good.

{ Click Here to see it on Amazon >>> }

A Keto Alternative For Spaghetti? Spaghetti Squash Is Low Carb

Winter is coming, and everyone loves to eat comfort foods like a nice warm pasta dish.

For keto dieters and spaghetti lovers, spaghetti squash is a perfect alternative for traditional spaghetti. This variety of squash is low in carbs, which makes it ideal for the keto diet.

Keto diet requires a menu that is low in carbs and high in good fat. You need to bring your body into a state of ketosis by consuming a low carb diet.

To achieve this state, your daily carb intake must not exceed 50 grams. If the carb intake is more than the daily allotted amount, the body will be kicked out of ketosis.

Regular spaghetti is high in carbs and therefore is not allowed on the keto diet, but you do not have to miss out on your favorite dish; replace it with spaghetti squash.

CARBS IN SPAGHETTI SQUASH

One cup of cooked spaghetti squash has 9.7 grams of total carbs. The amount of fiber is a little over 2 grams, making the net carb count 7.53 grams.

You can enjoy it in low carb recipes as a delicious substitute for regular spaghetti. It contains much lower carbs than the other winter squashes.

Spaghetti squash is an excellent keto replacement for spaghetti as it is fantastic comfort food.

You can use it for all the recipes that are usually made with wheat spaghetti; you can enjoy the same dishes with fewer carbs, more fiber, and a boost of veggies. 

How To Cook Spaghetti Squash

Cooking spaghetti squash is super easy.

Step 1 – First I cut the squash down the middle lengthwise, which is the hardest part of this process. Use a big, sharp chef knife, and be careful!

Spaghetti squash are hard!

Step 2 – Once cut in half, remove the seeds found in the center using a kitchen spoon.

Step 3 – Then I sit the halves cut-side up on a pan sheet that has edges (not the flat cookie sheets). It’s important that the sheet has edges because…

Step 4 – Finally, I put a few tablespoons of butter in the now-empty seed pockets of each half of the squash.

Step 5 – Then with generous salt and pepper, the squash goes in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the strands of the spaghetti squash easily separate with the scratch of a fork into what looks like traditional spaghetti.

Step 6 – Then I pull it out of the oven and let it cook for at least 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, I scrape out the spaghetti and feast.

This is really easy and super good.

Enjoy!

~Angela

Angela Davis

I'm Angela Davis, Co-Founder of Advantage Meals. I have a Bachelors in Anthropology and Masters in Holistic Nutrition. My passion is Ancestral Nutrition and for over a decade I've been helping Keto Diet beginners and those looking for their Primal Diet. "There is no one right way." Below are the most recent articles I've written for AdvantageMeals.com.

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