Gluten-Free Pasta

April 2, 2019 1:43 PM

I don't eat gluten-free or feed anyone who is, but still I'm curious just in case, which gluten-free pasta is least offensive to those who don't eat it regularly (either type of pasta such as chickpea or rice, or a specific brand)? I have had chickpea pasta and really hated the texture but maybe it was just that brand.
posted by Aranquis to Food & Drink (31 answers total)

I find brown rice pasta to be acceptable. Although zucchini noodles currently rule my GF pasta world.
posted by ananci at 1:49 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

My husband is celiac and I am not, so I eat GF pasta and regular pasta. I think all the bean-based pastas are disgusting. Corn and rice pastas are often good. I like the Trader Joe’s store brand. Baked pasta dishes are usually better than noodles and sauce situations. My opinion only, I’m sure others have different opinions/experiences.
posted by mskyle at 1:50 PM on April 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

I like rotinni shaped (spiral type) as it seems to cook better. Trader Joe brand with quinoa. Barilla or ronzoni brand GF are good for various types/styles.

Recently got lotus foods rice ramen noodles and we're good.
Vermicelli/Rice noodles are gf naturally and are cheap too - at Chinese groceries
posted by PistachioRoux at 1:50 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

I've made the Barilla gluten-free pasta for the non-gluten-eaters in my life, and it was totally fine. OTOH I also know a bunch of non-gluten-eaters who've just switched to things that aren't pasta at all (i.e. "zoodles", spaghetti squash).
posted by goodbyewaffles at 1:51 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Our family is only recently gluten free (like mskyle, I don't need to be gluten free but my husband has celiac disease), and we have not found a good pasta yet. Barilla (corn and rice) is not terrible, but it’s so bland it seems like it sucks the flavor out of all other elements of the dish (red sauce, pesto, even for mac and cheese). It’s fine in a lasagna, though. Tinkyada (brown rice) has a slightly nicer texture and is even more bland.

My husband had some chickpea pasta in a fancy restaurant once that was actually good… but none of the chickpea pastas we’ve tried from the store so far live up to that. They've been pretty terrible... but we have a couple of brands in the pantry that we've yet to try. Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta was quite bad, both flavor and texture.
posted by Kriesa at 1:54 PM on April 2, 2019

Thirding Barilla. It’s close enough that my wife doesn’t usually bother to make her own regular noodles.
posted by restless_nomad at 2:00 PM on April 2, 2019

Another vote for Barilla.
posted by carolr at 2:14 PM on April 2, 2019

I've bought and cooked gluten free pasta made from corn. I got it at Aldi. It was fine.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:16 PM on April 2, 2019

Tinkyada brown rice pasta is what we use, most often the penne shape. I find the rotini to be perennially undercooked in the middle. Rice pasta is usually stickier than wheat pasta, so it’s not so hot for pasta salad or any cold dish. Fine for baked noodle casseroles and general pasta uses.
posted by expialidocious at 2:17 PM on April 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

I love the taste of this red lentil pasta. Lentil flour is the only ingredient! The only downside is that it's a bit stickier than regular pasta so you need to sauce it right away.
posted by rada at 2:31 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

I think the Banza brand chickpea penne (I’ve only seen it for sale at Target) is as good as regular penne.
posted by coppermoss at 2:32 PM on April 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

I love GoGo Quinoa pasta, it's delicious! I can handle gluten but genuinely prefer this to regular pasta. I usually buy the red and white quinoa macaroni. The only caveat to my recommendation is that if you overcook them, the noodles will be slightly mushy. Otherwise, delicious.
posted by DTMFA at 2:33 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Lundberg brown rice pasta tastes really good to me, but it cooks fast and you have to pay close attention to the cooking time to keep it al dente.
posted by jamjam at 2:52 PM on April 2, 2019

My wife is GF, so I eat what she eats sometimes and conventional pasta other times.

We both agree that pastas that use a mix of grains (rice, corn, etc) are the best approximation of conventional pasta. Taste will still be somewhat different, and texture will be notably different (especially if you let it get cold, it tends to congeal—toss some olive oil before you let it get cold). I don't care for the garbanzo pasta or lentil pasta myself.
posted by adamrice at 3:08 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Barilla also makes their version of red lentil penne and theiy are amazing. Much rather have red lentil pasta over regular pasta.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 3:11 PM on April 2, 2019

We use Garofalo corn, rice and quinoa pasta.

My partner is GF-intolerant, but I am not, so you can trust me to be picky. It’s so good.
posted by thejoshu at 3:48 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

I find buckwheat pasta quite good.
posted by kitten magic at 3:59 PM on April 2, 2019

Celiac here, gluten-free for 7.5 years now. The only gluten-free pasta I eat is Le Veneziane Fettucce. The other shapes taste like corn so don’t bother.
I learned of this brand and type on a trip to Italy. Practically every higher end place that served GF noodles had this exact kind.
posted by Neekee at 4:04 PM on April 2, 2019

Tinkyada is far and away the best rice spaghetti according to me and the non-gluten free pasta eaters in the family. I am allergic to wheat, all its relatives and to corn, which makes some of the gluten-free pastas unavailable to me, but they may be more palatable to those that can have them.
posted by faineant at 4:41 PM on April 2, 2019

Out of left field, but another one to try might be shirataki noodles, (one brand that you can find at Walmart and other grocery chains is Miracle Noodles) They don't really have any taste, but I think the texture is good - kind of al dente. They're a traditional Japanese food that's gaining some steam since they're basically nothing but non-digestible fiber made from konjak root.

So it's low carb, low calorie and gluten free/grain free. They have versions with a little tofu in them to give them the same color as traditional pasta, but I think the traditional version is also soy free. So you know, if you need to deal with a crowd with a lot of restrictions, this covers a lot of bases.

The only downside is that they're not smell-free, the konjak root is kind of stinky. But that can be taken care of pretty easily. Just make sure to rinse well, or parboil briefly and they're fine.
posted by Caravantea at 5:24 PM on April 2, 2019

I find the Trader Joe's stuff okay and the Tinkyada stuff good. I've had some corn and quinoa pasta that was fine. I've been off gluten since 2011, so I have no idea what will taste best to someone who still eats it.
posted by bile and syntax at 5:59 PM on April 2, 2019

We've switched over to rice or corn to fill that role, and my fussy mother hasn't complained yet.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 6:48 PM on April 2, 2019

+1 Barilla (I haven't tried the red lentil types yet).
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 7:32 PM on April 2, 2019

Red lentil pasta!
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:42 PM on April 2, 2019

Ancient Grains quinoa blend, in my experience, is most similar to regular semolina pasta as far as blending with sauce and not getting sticky, the way other gluten-free pastas can tend to after draining.
posted by caveatz at 7:44 AM on April 3, 2019

Pure buckwheat soba noodles are delicious. I use a brand called Clearspring. They are not spaghetti, but I'd happily use them with Italian sauces if needed.
posted by mumimor at 8:12 AM on April 3, 2019

I love pasta, love gluten, and can't imagine anything being a perfect replacement in Italian (American) cuisine. That said, I'll endorse rice noodles and konjac noodles for almost any Asian-styled noodle dish (e.g., lo mein) you wish to prepare.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:36 PM on April 3, 2019

Ultimately, I think it depends on preference. I've found, for Italian applications, the best gluten free pastas have been the ones from Italy - Rummo is my favourite but Garfalo and Veneziane Fettucce are good. Barilla is decent. The various pastas made from legumes and the like taste like it, which depending on the kind of person you are, you either like or don't. I've never had it but Jovial often rates highly on taste tests I've seen (Cooks Illustrated rates their gluten free spaghetti as the best). In my experience, and I've tried most of the ones I can find, most domestic brands tend to be adequate to terrible, depending on your tolerance.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:41 PM on April 3, 2019

Pretty happy with Catelli brand
posted by backwards guitar at 2:51 AM on April 4, 2019

Short answer: Another vote for Barilla gluten-free, here.

Longer answer: My fiancée is avoiding Gluten at the moment, whereas I have no problem with it. I'm half Italian and I eat a fair bit of pasta, so of late we've been doing two pots, with me sticking to regular pasta while she has GF varieties. I've tried tasting a couple of different brands of chickpea based varieties that she has, but I've not been a huge fan. This week we did a single pot and I tried the Barilla GF Spaghetti, which I believe is a Rice/Corn mix, and I thought it was pretty good. The long, thin strands held together perfectly (none of that breakdown you see with some other GF pastas). The biggest difference to me was the outer texture of the strands - they were a little rougher, which isn't in itself a bad thing - it helps the sauce to stick to the pasta a little better. Overall I enjoyed it; I thought it was definitely different to regular pasta, but not notably worse in any way.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 8:35 AM on April 4, 2019

Annie Chun's brown rice mai fun noodles are a really good angel hair substitute.
posted by TheCoug at 8:37 AM on April 4, 2019