One of the questions that I get asked often is about gluten free pasta. Many people have emailed me, or left comments on the recipes on my main site, asking me what I like and what I suggest they try when it comes to gluten free pasta. So, I decided that it was time to share my thoughts on gluten free pasta.
I will be very honest here about gluten free pasta, in my opinion most of them are awful, or at least most of the ones that I tried when I first went gluten free. In fact, the first few brands that I bought had me quite discouraged because I thought that I would never be able to enjoy pasta again.
I got tired of buying and trying gluten free pasta only to have it end up in the trash because it was so bad. Gluten free pasta is expensive. I did not want to keep spending money trying different brands, so I totally understand the frustration with gluten free pastas.
Over the last two years though I have tried a lot of gluten free pastas and I can now say that I love pasta once again. No, none of them are quite the same, but there are several that I really do enjoy and buy often.
Early on in my gluten free life, when I was about to give up on gluten free pasta, my sister told me to try Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta
. I had trouble finding this brand at the time in my area, but once I found some we discovered we loved it. And it is still the gluten free pasta that I find I use the most.
Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta has become easier to find in my area, in fact I can usually find it in the small gluten free section of Wal-mart, but I do usually order it online because it is so much cheaper that way.
I recently also discovered Sam Mills Gluten Free Pasta ,thanks again to my sister who told me about it, and we have really enjoyed this one as well. The Sam Mills pasta seems to hold up pretty well when cooked in the oven. The texture of the Tinkyada pasta changes quite a bit when baked in something like a casserole or my taco pasta, so I am having fun using the the Sam Mills Gluten Free Pasta in some of my casserole type dinners.
Jovial Gluten Free pasta is another one that I tried recently and that we really enjoyed. I heard about Jovial Gluten Free pasta from both The Gluten Free Homemaker and my sister. I have not used this pasta much, but what I have used it for we have really enjoyed. I used it in macaroni and cheese recently and it worked great and I am looking forward to trying this one some more.
I have also tried Quinoa Pasta and I think it works well in pasta salad, but we don’t really like it for eating in spaghetti or casserole type meals.
Now, since I know there are quite a few gluten free pastas available and we all have different opinions, what are your favorite gluten free pastas to use?
Note: This post contains affiliate links, but I was not compensated in any way from these brands to write this post. I truly love and use these products and wanted to share my thoughts on them with you.
We LOVE Tinkyada, and it’s probably my “go-to” just because it’s so consistent. I will say that following the cooking instructions is SO important, especially with rinsing it after you drain it. I also use the “low-energy” option on the Tinkyada, just because otherwise I end up with a gross spillover and it’s hard to clean up.
We’ve also used the GF corn pasta from Trader Joe’s. I don’t think you can get it online, but it’s very good for people that have a store nearby. The boilover with corn pasta is really messy, though!
There was a corn/rice blend that WalMart carried for a while that was my favorite and made a good sub for egg noodles, but I haven’t seen it in a while. I think it was Heartland brand or something. In a pale blue and yellow bag that stood up.
I agree that rinsing the pasta does help a lot. I have heard good things about the Traders Joes GF pasta, but since I do not have one near me I hae not been able to try it.
I was also going to say I enjoy the brand Walmart has (Heartland sounds familiar) especially since it’s just over $2 for a box. I also enjoy Tinkyada but it is a little tricky to cook just the right amount. I didn’t know about the rinsing though, I will have to try it sometime! I had DeBoels (sp?) brand when I went to The Old Spaghetti Factory one time and loved it. It was no where near mushy, as close to “real” noodles as I have tried. I know you can get it on Amazon and I recently saw a coupon for them which lead me to Whole Foods, which I have never shopped at but heard they’re great for GF foods. Love this post, I might have to expand my noodle horizons.=)
I tried Heartland, but had a reaction to it. When I read the label, I found that it’s made in a facility that also processes wheat.
I never rinsed pasta, but we are new to gf. Had Tinkyada fetticini pasta this week and it was horrible! Guess I will be rinsing from now on… Thanks for the info!
Rinsing it does help, so does cooking it the right time. If you cook gluten free pasta too long it becomes very mushy, so it does take some time to learn the right time to cook it. I guess now I need to do a whole post on tips for cooking gluten free pasta. 🙂
My favorite is Tinkyada Organic Brown Rice Spirals. I’ve tried the elbow and penne, but the spirals cook up the most consistant. I liked, not loved, the spaghetti by Tinkyada. I found that by the time the inside of the noodle is al dente the outside it mushy. However, it does really well in baked spaghetti dishes, if you take it out of the water when it still has a little bite in the center (tad bit more than al dente), then bake in the sauce, etc. We tried the Ancient Harvest Quinoa/Corn spaghetti last week and liked it better. The noodles are firm and the taste is a little different, but in a good way. My kids and hubby liked it, so it’s a winner.
Oh, btw vitacost.com has good prices and great selection on all type of gluten-free products. With a $49 order shipping is free. Plus, if you go thru a discount website such as: mrrebates.com, shopathome.com or ebates.com you can save even more!
Currently we are not on a strict gf diet (we’re not celiac), but we still LOVE LOVE LOVE the quinoa pasta! My husband never could get used to whole wheat or whole grain pasta (just didn’t like the texture) and the quinoa is the closest in texture to white flour pastas. We actually like it more than regular white pasta now! We’ve used it in all kinds of dishes…mac and cheese, homemade hamburger helper, one pot spaghetti, etc. Only downside is that it’s hard to find. We live in Tulsa, OK and can find it at some Reasor’s, but haven’t really found it anywhere else (and the Reasor’s in Owasso has an abysmal gf selection).
My biggest issue with the quinoa pastas is that they are mostly made from corn (probably 90-95% corn in fact), so you do not get much of the nutritional benefits of quinoa…
Tinkyada is my go-to. It’s easy to find and tastes pretty good. I agree with Kira, though, I do not like their spaghetti noodles!!
I also recently tried Jovial spaghetti noodles and really, really liked them. I bought them at Whole Foods, which is out of town – I’m hoping to find it closer to home and it will probably become my new go-to for spaghetti!
I too went through the same experience and thought I would never eat pasta again…until I came across Trader Joes corn pasta. I was shocked to find that it taste just like wheat pasta plain straight from the pot. I was so happy.
I like Jovial, specially the shaped pastas, but Sam Mills is my favorite spaghetti noodle for sure. For some reason I think the corn or quinoa pastas hold up much better for baking, the rice just seems to turn mushy. I think it’s great there are so many gluten-free pasta options that taste great now! If only there were more affordable 🙂
I considered Tinkyada the absolute tops in g.f. pasta until I tried Bionaturae brand organic g.f. fusilli. It’s made with rice, potato and soy flours, and it’s now my hands-down favorite. There is a downside however – it’s quite expensive. I’ll have to try looking it up on line, as someone mentioned.
I tried some kind of gluten free lasagna noodles that were made of rice, and the lasagna tasted like rice. My husband hates rice. Do Tinkyada, Sam Mills, and Jovial taste like rice?
I would suggest the Sam Mills. Since it is corn he might like it better than a rice one.
I found a brown rice pasta named Goldbaum’s in my local store and its only $1.99 for a 16 oz bag and my son and I seem to enjoy it very much.
We recently tried Jovial pasta for the first time and really enjoyed it. The texture was more like whole wheat pasta but it tasted just like regular pasta. It’s the first gluten free pasta I actually enjoyed.
I forgot to mention, too, with the energy saver method on the Tinkyada, I’ve not been able to leave it as long as the package says too. I check it after 10 minutes, but it usually takes 12 minutes or less. Otherwise I’ve ended up with mush!
Tinkyada is hands down my favorite GF pasta. It is important to read the cooking instructions and follow them. I have never rinsed my past, not even the GF stuff and I find the Tinkyada still comes out great.
I have also tried Quinoa pasta which is pretty good. Again important to follow cooking instructions.
My favorite for eating hot is Tinkyada. I recently purchased the Hodgson Mills but have not tried it yet. It has been hard to find a pasta to use cold because they go back to being crunchy when chilled. I bought a brand from Dominick’s/Safeway called Eating Right that makes great pasta salad. It stays soft after chilled, but we noticed that it needed t be used within 3 days, or it starts getting a little gritty, and falling apart. I have only been able to find it in the penne and spaghetti shapes.
We recently tried Heartland brand gluten free pasta and it is a new favorite in our house as well. If you see it, you might enjoy trying it. I need to do an updated post about it because we really loved it.
Just a warning on the Heartland brand pasta that is sold at Walmart. It taste great but is made in a facility that processes wheat and the three times we ate it my husband had a reaction. We were not sure it was the pasta but now that i have switched to Sam Mills he has not had a reaction after eating pasta. It is a shame because it really does taste like real pasta and it held up great even in Lo Mein which is my husbands favorite. I recently tied Ancient Harvest quinoa/corn spaghetti and it also held up great in a LoMein dish.
I had a reaction to Heartland also.
Sam Mills is my favorite. It has a good flavor and it’s texture is consistent with regular pasta.
I LOVE Ancient Harvest Quinoa,Brand pasta.
I totally disagree with you. I find tinkyada disgusting and it doesn’t hold up at all. I much rather use cornita or La Venziene (sp) noodles. My father and nephew, who are not gluten free cannot tell the difference between these noodles and gluten noodles.
I have never heard of either of those brands, so I have never tried them. Are you able to find them in grocery stores? I have been enjoying Heartland gf pasta. It is a corn blend and I have been using it quite a bit lately.
I fully agree about the La Veneziane corn pasta. It is made in Italy, imported to Ontario, and it is by FAR the best GF pasta I’ve ever eaten. Word of caution : I have also had lots of really bad corn pasta (I never tried cornita though) – they’re not all he same. TinkYada is ~ OK if cooked right, but it is nowhere close to this one.
If you are not aware of almost all corn being GENETICALLY MODIFIED, you may want to research what it can do to you. It must say NON GMO on the package.
What about making your own? Any good recipes/methods?
Schar is our favorite, by far. It has both corn and rice and it doesn’t fall apart as much as the pure rice ones.
My favorite gf pasta is a penne pasta made by Nature’s Earthly Choice. It is imported from Italy and is a quinoa, corn and rice blend. It has 33% quinoa which is more than most. Costco used to carry it, but now I find it on Amazon. It is pricey, but goes a long way and it really, really good. I do under cook it. It says 11-13 mins but I try it at 9 mins and go from there. I order it by the case. I am looking for the best gf lasagna noodle that can be baked and not turn to mush. Any suggestions?
I have not tried that brand, but will have to. I am with you on the gf lasagna noodles, I have not found one that holds up well and does not get mushy.
Try ordering RP’s fresh gluten free pasta online – its not dry pasta so you keep it in the fridge, and when cooked it is indistinguishable from gluten-filled fresh pasta.
Thanks! I will have to give that one a try.
Thanks for all the ideas!
I do live near Trader Joe’s and have had a distressing reaction to their organic quinoa/brown rice GF fusilli pasta. I am OK with their regular organic brown rice GF pasta, but find it goo-y and not re-heatable. After the reaction, I wondered about the cross contamination, “shared manufacturing!” That had never been an issue for me before. I am GF and careful, so usually pretty non-reactive, -I was surprised. I enjoy Sharr’s and Tikyada with reliability!
I am looking for corn lasagne noodles. Anyone know where I can buy them?
Schar and recently Barilla’s gf version are my favorites! I’m very particular on texture and flavor of pasta and these two are most like regular wheat pasta to me. I enjoy Heartland as well but it’s possibly cross contaminated as it’s made in a factory that contains wheat.