Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <low-carb>
Title: Replacement for pasta that is natural and fairly low carb
Question: I'm looking for something with the physical properties of pasta (spaghetti or similar, not lasagne). Something that I can toss with a sauce or oil and serve in a large bowl for a weekday supper. Something grain-free and natural.  I've tried a large onion cut into thin strips (probably the most successful) and leeks (tend to be too floppy / wet).  Any other suggestions?

Answers:
sents: text: The classic example would be spaghetti squash .
text: It has the unique property that when you cook it, it can be pulled apart into long, thin, pasta-like strands.
text: You can then sauce it or use it in a manner analogous to pasta, but its nutritional profile is far more similar to squash, because, well, it is squash.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/14401/SAJ14SAJ
score: 14
sents: text: Have you tried spiralized zucchini, yellow squash or carrots?
text: I use this:
text: Once they're cut I just blanch them and then toss into any pasta recipe, like so:
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/14918/colejkeene
score: 14
sents: text: Shirataki noodles are quite the rage, although I've never actually tried them.
text: I understand that they smell fishy when you first open the package, but that goes away.
text: They claim to be made of naturally water soluble fiber with no fat, sugar, or starch.
text: Supposedly some varieties have zero net carbs and zero calories.
text: They have been recommended for Italian style and Asian style applications.
text: I need to place an Amazon order anyway, so I'm going to give them a try.
text: Miracle Noodles Look around at the reviews, that will give you some kind of idea what they are (besides expensive).
text: EDIT: Now that I've tried them, I can say that I kind of like them in Asian style applications (especially soup).
text: I can't even imagine them with a marinara type sauce, I think they'd be awful.
text: They'd probably be fine with any kind of seafood.
text: The packages are smaller than I realized, so they are even more expensive than I thought.
text: For me, they are pretty close to price prohibitive.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/20183/Jolenealaska
score: 5
sents: text: One that I've had a lot of success with is shredded cabbage.
text: You can easily and quickly cut it into strips of varying width depending on the pasta you are trying to mimic.
text: Lightly boiled in some salt, and served with the sauce of choice the top it comes out quite well.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 2
sents: text: In italy we have protein based pasta.
text: It's kinda tasty and it's low on carbs (percentage may change depending on brands).
text: http://www.produzioneintegratori.it/Alimenti/Pasta_proteica.html
text: http://www.nutriwellshop.it/pasta
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/12789/napolux
score: 1
sents: text: You could consider Miracle Noodle .
text: Contains Zero Net Carbohydrates, Zero Calories, No
text: Gluten Made of a Naturally dietary fiber called Glucomannan with no fat, sugar, or starch
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/9679/Chloe
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Spiralised squash, zucchini and carrots are popular options, as are shirataki noodles, miracle noodles or protein-based pasta. Shredded cabbage can also be used.
There are many options to use in place of traditional pasta. These include vegetables, miracle noodles and protein-based pasta