Mamma Mia! There’s nothing as comforting as a big bowl of spaghetti and homemade meatballs with tomato sauce.
Analyzing Nutrition
A typical serving of white spaghetti (2 cups) with 8 meatballs (6 ounces), sauce (3/4 cup) and Parmesan cheese (2 tablespoons), garlic bread, and iceberg lettuce salad has, on average, a whopping 1,495 calories, 70 fat grams, and more than a day’s worth of sodium, yet it’s shy in vitamins, minerals and other good things, such as antioxidants.
Fortunately, it’s possible to indulge in this Italian favorite without wrecking your waistline or your health. If prepared healthfully, spaghetti is packed with fiber and nutrients to help you feel full quickly and can be low in calories per serving. In fact, almost all foods can be made healthy or unhealthy depending on how they are prepared. For example, vegetables are good for you unless they are breaded and fried.
Simple Switches
Instead of going for the classic pasta, take the healthier route and try one — or all — of these ingredient swaps for a still-tasty-but-guilt-free version of spaghetti and meatballs.
Spaghetti
To prepare a healthy spaghetti dish, use whole-wheat pasta. Whole-wheat pasta has twice the fiber of white-flour pasta. It also retains trace minerals not added back during the enrichment process.
If you’ve tried whole wheat spaghetti but aren’t so much a fan, try whole grain angel hair pasta – the thinner noodles tend to be less chewy or gritty. In addition, to help ease the transition of white to whole grain pasta, try a combination of whole wheat and white pasta (cook separately, then combine), gradually increasing the ratio of whole grain to white.
Just keep in mind that while whole grain pasta helps to boost the fiber content, the carbs, and calories are essentially the same as white pasta, about 220 calories and 40 grams of carbs per cup. The same goes for gluten-free spaghetti. Often made with refined carbs like white rice flour and potato starch, some have even more carbs and calories than traditional white pasta.
Your best bet is to use veggies instead of spaghetti. Not only will it immediately slash calories and boost nutritional value, but vegetable-based pasta substitutes are naturally gluten-free and low in carbs.
Spaghetti squash is an easy pasta swap and has 80 percent fewer calories than regular pasta. Zucchini is another low-calorie spaghetti alternative. Use a mandolin or even a cheese grater to create skinny “ribbons,” then just cook in the skillet with a little olive oil and seasonings.
Other low-carb, low-calorie pasta substitutes include shirataki noodles (a blend of soybeans and yam flour with just 20 calories per cup), found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores and health food stores.
Meatballs
Reduce saturated fat and calories by trading out ground chuck in favor of extra-lean (93 percent) ground beef, bison, turkey, or chicken breast for 40 percent fewer calories and 65 percent less saturated fat. Silken tofu can be included, which adds healthy protein, moistness, and, most importantly, tenderness to the meatballs. Finely chopped cooked mushrooms have a texture similar to ground beef and can be mixed with ground beef to add nutrients and cut calories. Or make vegetarian “meatballs” with veggie ground meat substitute crumbles.
If the recipe calls for bread crumbs, reduce the amount in half without compromising quality. Moreover, try whole grain bread crumbs for a little boost of fiber. For those who really need to minimize their sodium intake, look for crumbs with no sodium. You can also substitute quick oats for breadcrumbs.
Pasta Sauce
A half-cup serving of pasta sauce can pack in as much as 140 calories and 700 mg of sodium, not to mention several spoonfuls of added sugar. Boost nutritional value by mixing in pureed veggies such as carrots, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, and bell pepper. Alternatively, make your own sauce from scratch with fresh herbs, tomatoes, and cold-pressed olive oil to avoid any added preservatives, sugar, and sodium.
Salad
Iceberg lettuce adds a great crunch to the salad but few nutrients. Mesclun greens with carrots, tomatoes, and red peppers now make the salad rich in folate and vitamins A and C. Chopped nuts add crunch along with iron and magnesium, all for 145 calories.
Salad Dressing
Two tablespoons of vinaigrette dressing provides plenty of flavor without drowning the salad. Homemade salad dressings have much less sodium and often more flavor than commercial versions.
Bread
Store-bought garlic bread, typically made with margarine and flavored salt, adds 320 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 500 mg of sodium to an already-laden meal. Broil a slice of whole-wheat bread with 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese for great flavor for a fraction of the fat, sodium, and calories of the original.
Vegetable
A ½ cup serving of broccoli adds fiber, folate, and vitamins A and C.
Take Aways
If you truly love traditional spaghetti and meatballs and it’s something that brings you happiness, then by all means, indulge on occasion. Almost any food can become unhealthy if you eat too much of it. Your best bet is to control portion size — consider having it as a side dish, not the main feature — and prepare it at home so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. Eat slowly so that you will feel full while eating less.
Written by Vicki Hayman, MS, University of Wyoming Extension Nutrition and Food Safety Educator
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