Review: Banza chickpea pasta

I cannot stress enough how amazing this stuff is. If you like yummy food, then you like pasta. I don't discriminate; I love all shapes and sizes of noodles. However, when losing weight and eating healthy on a regular basis, we have to limit our processed carbs. So your white bread and pasta usually is the first thing people nix from their diet. I know that I have hardly ate it for several years, only for a cheat meal. So when this stuff came out I was skeptical. I do not like whole wheat pasta and I feel like most "substitutes" for your favorite foods end up being a bitter disappointment. Will it really taste like pasta? Will it satisfy my want for white starchy foods? Are the macro ratios really that much better than normal noodles?

These noodles have blown me out of the water. I am actually now subscribed to them so they send it every month to me so I don't even have to re-order it. First off, the texture is great. These babies are made from chickpeas and although it is a little more gritty than your standard white noodle, it has a significantly better texture than whole wheat noodles or anything else I have tried for that matter. I don't even feel there is enough of a difference to fret over. I also notice cooking them a little more than the suggested amount helps make them more tender and have a more standard pasta texture.

Let's talk nutrients! Your standard pasta at 2oz servings is 200 cal, 1 g fat, 42 g carbs (3 g fiber/1 g sugar), 7 g protein. The ratio of that is 84% carbs, 14% protein and 2% fat. If you have read my intro to macros post, you know that the amount of each of these nutrients you get every day from different foods has to have balance in order for you to see changes in your body. The closer all your foods are to your set macros percentages, the better your diet will be and the easier it is to eat more foods that are nutrient dense. If your macros are at 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat, having pasta as part of your meal can really throw off your macros and make it hard to turn it into a balanced meal. Banza pasta macro ratio is 65% carbs, 28% protein, and 7% fat. This means you can make a meal with these by adding more veggies, meat and cheese. I have been eating them every day in my soup for lunch and they include almost a third of my daily fiber intake.

This will be a staple in my pantry for a long time to come. Get your hands on some!

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