Eating pasta for most of us means finding a delicious sauce to make the perfect pasta dish. When you need to lose weight however, it’s important to know how many calories your favorite sauce has in it. Whether tomato sauce, alfredo or simple lemon juice; knowing pasta sauce nutrition facts will making eating the things you love a lot less stressful.
{Enjoy a healthy serving of red pasta sauce with your spaghetti…but hold the bread!}
Since red pasta sauce is the most popular we’ll start there. Keep reading to find out how many calories are in red pasta sauce.
Major Nutrients Found In Red Pasta Sauce
Contrary to what most of us think, red pasta sauce nutrition facts aren’t quite bad. When properly measured for accurate portions the calories in red pasta sauce are fairly diet friendly. With just 93 calories per serving, you can add this to whole wheat pasta without making a calorie-busting meal.
Red pasta sauce has no cholesterol, which can’t be said for creamy pasta sauces. The one thing you want to look out for is the sodium content of red pasta sauce. In order to lengthen the shelf life of pasta sauce, too much salt is added. You can remedy this by pureeing fresh tomatoes and herbs for homemade red pasta sauce.
You will get a significant amount of beta carotene thanks to the abundance of tomatoes, and this is particularly true if you make your own red pasta sauce as most store-bought pasta sauce is made from tomato paste or sauce.
Selecting/Storing
Because most red pasta sauce comes in jars choosing one basically comes down to your flavor preference. There are a wide variety with different herbs, cheeses and spices so choose the flavors that you want. However you should look at nutrition labels and choose a red pasta sauce that is low in calories and sodium.
Store unopened red pasta sauce on the shelf, keeping the expiration date in mind. Once the pasta sauce has been opened, store it in the refrigerator but make sure it is sealed tightly. Discard an opened jar of red pasta sauce if you notice a thick black coating around the jar opening, as this is a sign of mold or exposed sauce.
Eat It With:
Although commonly used to top pastas like spaghetti and lasagna, red pasta sauce can be used for a variety of dishes. Add roasted garlic to red pasta sauce for a delicious marinara sauce that goes great with bread sticks or calamari.
{Use red pasta sauce for low calorie dipping sauces.}
Add coconut milk and curry to your red pasta sauce for an easy tikka masala recipe. Or scrap the pasta and add tomato sauce to your favorite chicken and rice dish.
Burn Off Calories In Red Pasta Sauce
To burn off the calories in red pasta sauce, you would have to do:
- 19 minutes of general housework.
- 6 minutes playing water polo.
- 7 minutes of cross country running.