The Best Gluten-Free Pasta Recipe, According to a Chef (2024)

FAQs

What's the trick to cooking gluten-free pasta? ›

Cook pasta in an extra-large saucepan, for best results use 1lt of salted water per 100g pasta. Allow the pasta to boil uncovered while it cooks. There is no need to add oil to the cooking water. Boil for 5 minutes then carefully taste the pasta every minute until it is 'al dente'

Don't forget to salt the water.

On its own, gluten-free pasta is really pretty tasteless. It needs seasoning, in the form of salt, just like regular pasta. After the water comes to a boil, add enough salt to make the water taste like the ocean (about 1/4 cup for a large pot of water), before adding the pasta.

Chickpea Pasta

Chickpea pasta is a newer type of gluten-free pasta that has recently garnered a good deal of attention among health-conscious consumers. It's very similar to regular pasta but with a hint of chickpea flavor and a slightly more chewy texture.

For the best results, never rinse the pasta after cooking, and add a generous amount of salt to the water before boiling. It tastes bad.

Once you've added the pasta to the pot of boiling water, stir every 30 seconds for the first five minutes of cooking to move the olive oil around and keep the pasta loose. Gluten-free pasta requires more stirring in the initial cooking stage than regular pasta so that it doesn't (surprise!) stick together.

Avoid "convenience" ingredients such as gravy mixes, soup mixes, bottled sauces, salad dressings, condiments, and seasoning mixes, since these may contain gluten-based ingredients. Check a list of gluten-free foods for safer ingredients.

Many gluten free foods contain refined starches like corn, potato and tapioca starch as well as soy, oat or rice flour. All of these can cause issues, especially symptoms of gas and bloating.

Gluten free pasta tends to absorb more sauce than normal pasta. This means you might need to add more water to the sauce as you mix it through the pasta. Don't rinse your pasta.

To halt the cooking process and avoid mushy pasta, give that pasta an ice bath! To make an ice water bath, add ice and water to a medium-sized bowl. I prefer to use Jovial or Tinkyada gluten free pasta brands, but Barilla is also delicious.

The demand for gluten-free products, including pasta, has been steadily increasing due to a growing awareness of gluten intolerance and celiac disease. Historically, the gluten-free pasta market has shown a considerable upward trend of 2.1% between 2018 to 2022, with sales consistently rising over time.

Which has more carbs gluten-free pasta or regular pasta? ›

Let's cut to the chase: “gluten-free” doesn't necessarily mean low carb. Gluten-free pasta options can often have a similar or even higher carbohydrate content compared to standard pasta. Often, gluten-free flours are filled with starches and other high-carb flours like rice or corn.

If you're looking for a low FODMAP alternative, you'll want to start by checking the ingredients. Pasta made with gluten-free types of flour, for example, may be a low-FODMAP choice. Gluten-free pasta made from rice, corn, quinoa, or chickpeas is generally low-FODMAP in moderate servings.

Unfortunately, it is not advisable to reheat gluten-free pasta because it is made of corn and rice, both of which break down more quickly and easily than wheat. As a result, gluten-free pasta tends to become mushy and tasteless when cooked a second time.

Store-bought gluten free pasta has come a long way and there's even fresh gluten free egg noodles available at my grocery store these days. That said they are extremely expensive. Making gluten free egg noodles at home is not only easy, but economical too.

Yes, pure, uncontaminated oats are gluten-free. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration considers oats a gluten-free grain under its gluten-free labeling regulations and only requires that packaged products with oats as an ingredient contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten overall.

Because of the starch, gluten-free pasta noodles tend to cling together. Add a glug of olive oil to the water and make sure to run a spoon through it to redistribute every 30 seconds during the first few minutes of cooking. Once the pasta has begun to plump you don't have to worry about it as much.

According to Sarah Schmalbruch's INSIDER article Here's the Real Reason You're Adding Olive Oil to Boil Pasta – And It's Not Sticky Noodles, the real reason to add olive oil is to prevent the pasta water from boiling over the pot itself rather than to prevent noodles from sticking.

even plain pasta should be fine as long as you keep it covered. if it's uncovered, it'll dry out. also, it will help if you butter it before you put it up for leftovers. in combination with keeping it covered, that should work well.