Cut carbs without giving up any of the foods you love! These healthy carb swaps can help you reduce carbs and calories in your diet while helping to increase your protein and fibre intake without sacrificing any of the flavour.
- Swap Zucchini Noodles for Spaghetti Noodles
Invest in a spiral slicer for your kitchen. Trust us! It will open a whole new world of low-carb options. One of our favourites? Replacing spaghetti noodles with spiral-cut zucchini when making Spaghetti With Chapli Meat Balls. Traditional spaghetti has 43 grams of carbs per cup. Zucchini spirals only have four grams of carbs per cup. Just make sure not to overcook your zucchini noodles: they taste best when they still have a little bite to them. To achieve the perfect texture, pan fry your noodles with some oil for one to two minutes.
- Quinoa for White Rice
While quinoa has a similar texture as rice, it’s an absolute superstar when it comes to health: quinoa has two times more protein and five times more fibre and yet 15 times fewer carbs than rice. Next time you make National Bombay Biryani, try serving it on a fluffy bed of tasty, healthy and low carb quinoa. Just a warning: quinoa has a slightly nutty taste, so while it doesn’t taste exactly the same as white rice, when you’re serving it with bold flavours like National Bombay Biryani Recipe Mix, you probably won’t even notice much of a difference.
- Banana-Egg Pancakes for Regular Pancake Mix
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why fill your body with flour and sugar? If you’re craving pancakes, there’s an easy way to cut the carbs while maintaining the taste and texture you love: try making banana-egg pancakes instead of using a traditional pancake mix. All you need to do is mix eggs and bananas (in a ratio of two to one) in a bowl and then cook in a pan, the same way you would cook a pancake. It seems like it shouldn’t work but it just does. Banana-egg pancakes are light and fluffy and surprisingly sweet. Instead of maple syrup, try topping your pancakes with National Mango Spread for a sweet and tangy twist on the traditional.
- Cauliflower Crust for Regular Pizza Dough
Pizza has a lot working in its favour. It has cheese, it has a tangy sauce and it often has meat. With so many tasty ways to top your pizza, you can often get away with swapping regular pizza dough with cauliflower crust — it tastes great (surprisingly) has 70 percent fewer carbs. So how do you make cauliflower crust? Pulse your cauliflower florets in a food processor until fine, steam and then dry on a kitchen towel. Once dry, combine in a bowl with half a cup of shredded mozzarella, half a teaspoon of salt, two beaten eggs and a pinch of some spices of your choosing (we suggest garlic powder and oregano). Spread out the mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. Top your cauliflower crust with pizza sauce, cheese and chicken tandoori (made with National Chicken Tandoori Recipe Mix) and cook for another 10 minutes.
There you have it: four healthy carb swaps that are as easy as they are tasty.