Wheat-free Pasta Types: from Ancient Grains, Legumes, Vegetables

Cinzia Cuneo July 11, 2023 Eat Well, FODMAP, gluten

The different kinds of pasta have diversified considerably in recent years, as many are in the search for a substitute for traditional durum wheat. Let’s look at the various types of wheat-free pasta!

Pasta made from grains other than wheat

Fortunately today we are far from the first gluten-free pastas that were available, exclusively based on rice and corn, which were often disappointing because of their bland flavor and floury texture. Manufacturers have improved their recipes and now wheat-free pasta has a much better cooking resistance. The choice of cereals is vast because in addition to rice and/or corn we now also have quinoa, soy, amaranth and buckwheat. Everyone can therefore find pasta to their liking.

From a practical point of view, this pasta is cooked like durum wheat pasta, in boiling salted water. The cooking time depends on the shape of the pasta and its composition. However, cooking is often tricky. It is advisable to taste it because the recommended cooking time on the packaging does not always give the best result. It should also be noted that none of these pastas tolerate being reheated very well.

From a nutritional point of view, if we want to compare these gluten-free pastas to those of wheat, we notice that at serving parity they contain a similar amount of carbohydrates and fiber and also provide as many calories, but less protein (for a serving of 100 g of product this value is 12 g for wheat pasta and 7 g on average for those without wheat). So those who say they prefer wheat-free pasta because it is less caloric have no reason to make this choice.

The discourse is different for those who choose this pasta because of celiac disease, because in this case it is really necessary to avoid gluten. Another reason to choose this pasta is fructan intolerance (a family of FODMAPs*), because there is none in pasta that is made from rice, corn, quinoa or buckwheat.

See this wheat-free pasta recipe >>

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Author

Cinzia Cuneo

Cinzia Cuneo, founder of SOSCuisine.com, never wanted to neglect the quality of her food. She shares her special expertise to make good food quickly and without complications!