Can Vegans Eat Pasta?
When we define that veganism is the way of life, it is a teaching that all human beings must live in such a way that they avoid any cruelty to animals. This is a very wide area – when you live such life, it must be according to your beliefs, and it means that you cannot use or consume anything that comes from an animal, but you should avoid using for wear, makeup, etc.
In this sense, it is very clear that you must be very educated, well informed, but most of all you must be the one who decides what is comfortable for you and your family if you are vegans.
Now, the most “challenging” issue is the one that is related to the food, as it is something that we consume daily, and it is our integral need.
When you are vegan, the most important thing is to keep your food in the pantry in addition to the obligation to carry food for longer periods outside your home. One of the pantry essentials is certainly pasta – you can eat it for every meal, it is filling, there are millions of versions of how you can prepare it. It goes great in with any type of sauce, topping, it can be eaten cold, or hot; and there are so many versions of pasta.
The majority of us know the simplest recipe for pasta – flour, water, salt!
If you look at it from this information, there is no reason why vegans could not consume it. But we need to look into some other aspects.
History of Pasta and its variations
The pasta is made very easily, and it needs some ingredients: flour, some salt, oil, and water. Many eggs are also added to the egg, which gives it a golden yellow color and helps keep the pasta in shape when cooked. Right from the start, a red flag for vegans – an egg is out of the question for vegans.
You can find on the market so many kinds, short and long, round and straight – pasta is available in many variants:
Long and straight strips – tagliatelle and fettuccine
thin and round – spaghetti
Hollow – macaroni, penne
Spirals, machines – fusilli, farfalle
Bigger hollow pasta – cannelloni
Lasagna pasta sheets – lasagna.
There are two main types of pasta, and they can be dried and fresh. Dried pasta can stand longer, and it is prepared quickly. Since it can be increased by up to three times during cooking, a larger pot and amount of water are used.
The tip is to put a bit of olive oil and a lot of salt into the water before cooking. Fresh pasta has a higher liquid content, and cannot stay fresh for long. But it is very delicious.
According to Italian ways (and they know how to do it with style), the dried pasta is made exclusively from durum wheat flour, water, and salt. It is gluten-rich durum wheat, which gives it a stretch and amazing taste.
As we have said, the main recipe is water, salt, a bit of vegetable oil, and water. In this case, vegans can eat it without any problem, and we believe that high-quality pasta with some fresh vegetables or sauce should be on everyone’s menu at least a couple times a week. This is important because you must not allow yourself to eat poorly just because you have no choice – not even if that food is vegan.
What kind of pasta vegans can eat?
Many compare pasta with bread or liqueur, in a sense that there are some types of it that you, as a vegan, can consume.
There are some types that are out of the question – in the case of pasta, in some cases, the mandatory ingredient, for the taste, color, and structure, eggs are added.
In those cases, it is out of the question for vegans. Specifically, we are talking about cannelloni and most of the lasagna sheets.
Do not be sad; on the market, there are some versions of vegan cannelloni and lasagna that you can consume.
In the majority of cases (this does not mean that you do not look for the ingredient box, just to be sure), vegan consumers can eat tagliatelle; fusilli; spaghetti; bucatini and penne.
Some of the most known brands that you can buy are Mueller’s, Ronzoni, and of course, Barilla – all of them have vegan pasta in their offer.
Be careful; most commonly, as we have said, the fresh pasta has eggs.
Nowadays you can find so many kinds of pasta that are made out of yams, rice, sweet potatoes, beans and many more.
Not just that they are vegan friendly, they can be very healthy, since they do not have any gluten, and have additions like proteins, minerals, and vitamins.
Is pasta healthy?
Same as its vegan status, pasta can be healthy, eaten in some reasonable quantities, and eaten with some good other ingredients. But be careful!
The essence of pasta is that it is an energy-intensive food, high in calories per gram, and therefore food that is easy to exceed the calorie limit, and therefore you will often hear these tips that you should avoid pasta and bread at all when you are on a diet “.
If you were to perfectly control the amount of food eaten, there would be no need to throw out this group of foods if you like it.
The pasta has the lowest glycemic index and, therefore, maybe the best option for those on a fat reduction regimen. Of course, the most important thing is the calorie intake, to be in deficit, and the control of blood sugar can have some effect on the weight loss process, fat reduction. You can eat pasta and lose weight!
But until you rush into the kitchen to prepare the paste, it is important to differentiate between a full plate of pasta and a meal of pasta.
Pasta is not supposed to be the majority of food in one meal, but as a side dish, it is perfectly fine. This is the most common mistake many make in black or white. What is important is the amount of food, not the particular food. One serving is one cup of cooked pasta.
An additional tip is to always eat the paste in combination with example. meat, fish, or egg and vegetables so that they would be served as a supplement. Of course, in the case of vegans, vegetables are fine and enough, both sauce or in some fresh state. You can make your own vegan dressing if you like.
Here we would like to tell you one more thing – most industrial pasta sauces are very calorie and unhealthy, they have a ton of sugar, refined oil, thickeners, colors, flavors… It is best to make the sauce yourself at home, which is essentially the most delicious. Or to choose some brand that is well known.
The amount of food we bring in is crucial for feeling satiated, so a cup of paste would not make you satiated for a long time, so you might be tempted to eat some more snacks, this way if you spread over some meat, some vegetables, some salad, and some paste, you will undoubtedly feel fuller for longer. Think about this before you eat.
Summary and Recipe
Unhealthy food is, unfortunately, all around us, and our job is to “arm ourselves” with healthy food, to be equally available, and always at your fingertips. At least 70 percent of what you eat should fall under this category.
It is not only important to adhere to our ethical principles, but also to feel and look good, or to strive to be a good “display” for the lifestyle you have chosen with your psycho-physical appearance. All of this truly matters and for vegans even more.
Pasta is a mandatory element in every pantry, even vegan pantry – easy to eat, easy to make, and it can last so long on shelves. When you do not know what to make for lunch, this may be the perfect option.
Pasta is one of the international dishes prepared in a 1001 way, and there are many varieties of sauces and ingredients that you can eat with it (and we cannot think of anything that does not go with pasta, to be honest).
These are full-fat and strong sauces that can add a huge amount of calories to a serving of paste so that the plate of paste is up to 900 kcal – this is just one part of the story, most of these sauces are not vegan (cheeses, milk, and eggs are so common in them).
The best recipe for the paste is: cook preferably homemade paste, drizzle with olive oil, chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, salt, beat, and it’s perfect.
Pastes are a favorite meal for most people, and they are especially convenient because they can be eaten during any season.
Here we want to give you one interesting recipe that is vegan. It is meat-delicious healthy pasta, a great choice for lunch or dinner.
The sauce used in the recipe consists not of dairy products but of tomatoes and various vegetables, and instead of white pasta, we recommend you to use whole grain-rich pasta that has a lot of fiber and nutrients.
Ingredients that you will need for this vegan pasta dish are:
150 g of integral pasta per person (you can opt some other vegan pasta, whatever you prefer)
1 cup chopped baked nuts of your choice
3 cups of broccoli (very healthy, and this may be a good way for your kids to eat it)
1 ½ cup cooked green lentils
One chopped pepper (red or green, which you prefer)
One tablespoon of the chili powder diluted in 1 dl of water
1 ½ cup tomato juice
Three tablespoons olive oil + 1 tablespoon olive oil
One clove of garlic, squashed
1 ½ teaspoon nod
2-4 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper in the amount that is suitable for you
Now for preparation, you may need a bit of extra time, but the results are great in any case. It does not take too much time, and you can store this dish in a fridge for tomorrow, and eat it cold.
First, cook pasta and green lentils separately according to package directions. In a large saucepan over medium heat bake the chopped nuts, frequently stirring, for 5-8 minutes. When the nuts become yellow-brownish, add the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
Separately, fry broccoli over medium heat with one tablespoon olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped peppers and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the peppers are soft.
Then, the next step is to add some tomato juice, cashews, olive oil, cumin, chili, and two tablespoons of water to the cashew nuts. Cook together for about 3 minutes.
Then add the broccoli, peppers, green lentils and pasta, and cook for a few more minutes together with frequent stirring. One additional tip is if the sauce you have made is too thick. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining two tablespoons of water.
As you can see, and pasta could become the main star for lunch or dinner, it takes no time to make, and what is even better, it can be extremely nutritious.