My favourite vegetarian low carb go-to pasta

My favourite vegetarian low carb go-to pasta

There are days when I like to cook a nice dinner in good company. And there are days when I’m alone and just want something to eat without too much effort. On such days, I often choose to have one of my go-to meals: a meal that is ready in a flash and that I can prepare with my eyes closed. The repertoire of my go-to meals regularly changes. First it was yellow rice with chicken, or wok noodles with vegetables, and now it is a vegetarian pasta, which is also low in carbs!

Vegetarian/vegan and low carb

These days, I get a lot of pleasure out of perfecting recipes based on my own preferences. This way, you can turn a complicated recipe that may initially seem unhealthy or full of carbs into a healthy and quick meal. The nice thing about this is that you learn a lot about the different ingredients during this process. And of course it is fun to experiment.

One of the things I do is try to ‘veganise’ the meal, as it is called these days. This means replacing all animal products with animal-free products. Think of replacing minced meat with a meat substitute, or replacing milk with almond milk. The next step is to make the meal as low carb as possible. I have noticed that this has become a lot harder since I started eating more animal-free products. Animal products are quite low in carbs, or sometimes even carb-free, and the animal-free substitutes sometimes contain quite a lot of carbs. For example, if you replace cheese and meat with vegan cheese and a meat substitute, you may end up adding 20 grams of carbs to your meal.

Needed ingredients for low carb pasta

Ingredients: this is what you need

If there is something I can eat every day, it is pasta. And if it is vegan or vegetarian, low in carbs and can be made in 15 minutes, chances are it will be on my list of favourite recipes; like this vegetarian low carb go-to pasta. Normally, a pasta with a red sauce quickly adds up to around 60-70 grams of carbs per meal. This one, using low carb pasta and making the sauce yourself, is around 30 grams of carbs per meal. All you need are a few ingredients.

For about 3-4 persons.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.

  • 250 grams low carb fusilli from Tasty Basics (contains egg)
  • 2 finely chopped onions (± 140 grams)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (± 12 grams)
  • 400 grams canned peeled tomatoes
  • Seasoning: pepper, salt and chilli flakes

The preparation: how to make the pasta

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the pasta as soon as the water boils. Cook the pasta al dente in 10 minutes. Chop the onion into small bits and fry in a wok or frying pan with a little olive oil. Chop the garlic cloves and add them to the wok. Fry over medium heat until both the onion and garlic turn nicely light brown.

Onion and garlic with a nice light brown colour

Add the peeled tomatoes and their juice to the wok. Simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has a thickness that makes you happy. Some people like a more watery sauce and others like a more compact sauce. While the sauce is simmering, add some pepper, salt and chilli flakes to taste. When the pasta is ready, drain the water and put the pasta in the wok with the sauce. Then give everything a quick stir and it’s ready!

Peeled tomatoes and their juice in a wok

As this meal is prepared as a one-pan meal, it is quite easy to calculate the amount of carbs per 100g using a simple formula. If you want to know more about this, read my article about one-pan meals and how these meals (which are often also quite quick to make) make counting carbs a lot easier.

Et voilà! This way, you can have a simple, vegetarian low carb pasta on the table within 15 minutes! Enjoy your meal! 😉