Nutritional information of spaghetti versus zucchini noodles, or, zoodles, made with a spiralizer.
There are many reasons why everyone should spiralize their veggies (actually, here are 9 reasons why!), and one of the main ones is that spiralized vegetables are nutritionally better than “regular” noodles.
We’re not saying to stop eating “regular” pasta and noodles, but if you’re focused on maintaining a healthy diet, spiralized vegetables offer you a bigger bang for your buck, nutritionally.
Let’s take a look at the nutritional profile of spaghetti versus zucchini noodles or, as many call them, zoodles. There are many different types of vegetables you can spiralize, but since zoodles are the most popular, we’ll start there!
A note on serving size
We recommend spiralizing just about 1 pound of zucchini per serving (for a large, lunch or dinner-sized meal) – that equates to about two medium sized zucchinis or 2 cups, cooked. With regular wheat spaghetti, the serving size is less than 1 cup cooked – actually, about 3/4 heaping cup. That’s a bummer, who wants to eat that little?! Already, you’re losing with regular spaghetti, because you can’t eat as much!
BUT, to keep it apples to apples, we’re comparing 1 cup cooked zucchini noodles to 1 cup cooked wheat spaghetti.
One serving of zucchini noodles
Serving size: 1 cup cooked zucchini noodles (about 1 medium zucchini)
Calories: 38.5 calories
Total fat: 0.68 g
Saturated fat: 0.23 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 18.12 mg
Carbohydrates: 7 g
Dietary fiber: 2.26 g
Sugars: 5.66 g
Protein: 2.72 g
One serving of wheat spaghetti
Serving size: about 1 cup cooked
Calories: 200 calories
Total fat: 1 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 42 g
Dietary fiber: 3 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 7 g
A true pasta serving
But, as I said, I would never just eat one spiralized zucchini — that would never satisfy me! For your information, here’s the comparative information behind a large, 2-cups cooked serving of zucchini noodles versus the same of wheat spaghetti (2 cups, cooked), which, is probably what you’d get at a restaurant or serve yourself to feel satiated:
One true serving of zucchini noodles
Serving size: 2 cups cooked zucchini noodles (about 2 medium zucchinis)
Calories: 77 calories
Total fat: 1.36 g
Saturated fat: 0.45 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 36.24 mg
Carbohydrates: 14.04 g
Dietary fiber: 4.53 g
Sugars: 11.33 g
Protein: 5.44 g
One large serving of wheat spaghetti
Serving size: about 2 cups, cooked
Calories: 400 calories
Total fat: 2 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 84 g
Dietary fiber: 6 g
Sugars: 2 g
Protein: 14 g
OR, if you’re a visual person:
Now let’s compare!
If you’re someone who likes to eat large portions, zucchini noodles (and spiralized veggies, in general!) are your friend. For the same two cups of noodles (pasta vs. zoodles), regular wheat spaghetti has over FIVE times as many calories, and almost SIX times as many carbohydrates!
Where regular spaghetti wins is in protein – it’s higher in protein than zucchini noodles, so, if you’re a vegetarian using wheat pasta as a protein source, keep that in mind! The differences in sugar and sodium can’t really be compared, because wheat spaghetti is processed and zucchini noodles are completely natural – the sugar and sodium amounts are a natural part of the vegetable, not added/processed.
Which one will you choose?
Hope this was a fun comparison and look into the countless benefits of spiralizing!
