35 Protein Packed Vegetarian Pasta Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What vegetarian protein sources to add to pasta? ›

And if you want extra plant protein (good news: pasta already contains around 5 to 8 grams of protein per cup!), then look no further than beans, nuts, and seeds, like cashews, pistachios, white beans, and pumpkin seeds. Plus, not only do these ingredients add extra protein, they also improve flavor and texture.

The best pasta dishes for vegetarians focus on vegetables such as pasta primavera, ravioli, tortellini, or pasta with plain tomato sauce, which are all Italian dishes that are vegetarian.

Vegetarians – Fill up on protein by adding in protein-rich plant foods. Some of the best sources in the plant world include beans, legumes, lentils, soy like tofu or edamame, seeds and nuts and some whole grains like quinoa.

Whole-wheat pasta

Whole-grain foods contain fiber and health-protecting antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Durum flour is derived from prime hard semolina wheat and is the Protein King of wheat flours with about 14g of protein per 100g of flour. It makes a strong and balanced pasta dough, characterised by it's bright, golden colour and robust nature.

Among the highest protein vegetables are chickpeas, corn, spinach, artichoke hearts, and edamame. To get all of the amino acids your body needs, aim to eat a variety of foods, such as legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables throughout the day.

Cheese is an excellent way to add flavor to your pasta without having to rely on sauce. Try mixing your angel hair pasta with goat cheese, and toss in sun-dried tomatoes to make an amazing meal with just a few ingredients. Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles.

If you want to make a vegetarian version of this hidden vegetable pasta sauce, I suggest mincing an 8oz. container of mushrooms and sautéing them with the onions and garlic. The minced texture will mimic the ground meat and mushrooms have that umami flavor that is similar to ground meat.

How to get 40 grams of protein without meat? ›

Regular consumprion of nuts and seeds, such as almonds, cashews, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc., is a good way to top up your protein intake. 100 grams of nuts seeds contain around 20-30 grams of protein.

Mixing cannellini beans or chickpeas, or any type of bean for that matter, into your noodle dishes can help add 6 to 8 grams of protein per 1/2-cup serving. Not only are you getting plant-based protein by embracing beans, but you're also getting a dose of fiber and important vitamins like folate.

For lower calorie and carbohydrate content, rice comes out top. But if protein and fibre is your aim, pasta wins over rice. That said, both can play a part in a healthy diet - and as the nutritional differences are quite small, it often comes down to which you would prefer.

Protein. Despite having eggs in them, egg noodles have less protein than pasta. Egg noodles have about 1.3 fewer grams of protein than pasta (per 100 grams).

Compared to pasta, rice—brown and white—contains far less protein (roughly 2 grams per serving compared to pasta's 8 grams) and fiber (1 gram for brown rice, . 5 gram for white compared to 2.5 grams in white pasta, 7 grams in whole-wheat).

Meaning pasta actually has enough protein to balance with the carbohydrates. This isn't just because of the eggs in pasta either. Wheat is another source of protein, making up about 20% of the proteins eaten globally. If you are worried about the calorie levels and weight gain, that's not so simple either.