Have you ever heard such a thing? Noodles with no calories. Yes, I said ZERO calories — No Fat. No Net Carbs. No Soy. No Gluten!! How can this be? Have I lost my mind? Is there such a thing as a food with NO Calories?
Well, I’m putting my faith in the packaging and it says ZERO. From what I’ve read, it is fact. These calorie free noodles from the No Oodles company are made from yam fiber have no nutritional value other than a negligible 1g of carbohydrates.
I spotted these noodles on a trip to Whole Foods and as soon as the NO calorie label caught my eye, I knew a package was coming home with me. When I opened the package and took a look, my initial reaction was that they looked just like rice noodles or as they’re also called, Glass or Cellophane Noodles.
Actually, my first impression was that they were a little yammy Asian unfamiliar smelling, but I read the package and followed the directions which said to rinse them in cold water for a minute and it quickly dissipated and smelled like … well … absolutely nothing and frankly, tasted like nothing. But that’s not a bad thing when the sauce takes center stage.
I didn’t know what to do with them. The noodles are bright white and rather flimsy and in an already cooked state, but hold up to handling. It left me a little at a loss for what kind of preparation to use. I couldn’t imagine them in a Western style dish so I did what came to mind … Noodles in Peanut Sauce. Yes, these no calorie noodles suddenly ended up costing me some Weight Watchers Points, but it was well worth it. Here’s how it stacks up:
- 1 Package of NO 0odles = 0 Points Plus
- Sauce = 4 Points Plus
A couple of ounces of Udon noodles in place of the NO oodles would have cost an additional 5 Points Plus making the dish 9 Points+. That said, this dish has won me over and I’ll be heading to the market to pick up another package of No Calorie NO 0odles on Saturday. During my search for information on No Oodles, I found a site that offers No Calorie Rice as well! I can’t wait to try it, although I don’t know what to think about the texture. I’ll keep an open mind.
If you were to try No Calorie Noodles, what would you do with them?
| No Calorie NO oodle Recipe |
- 1 Package NO oodles, rinsed according to package directions
- 1 tablespoon Peanut Butter — creamy or chunky
- 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar — if you don’t have Rice Vinegar, any White Vinegar will work
- 1 teaspoon fresh, minced Ginger
- 1 teaspoon fresh, minced Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce — or according to heat preference
- 1 Green Onion, sliced
- While the noodles are draining, heat a small saucepan on the stove.
- Add all other ingredients and stir to combine
- When the peanut butter is “melted” remove from the heat
- Let sit for 2 minutes
- Pour over noodles and combine
- Serve
These delicious noodles will cost you 4 Weight Watchers Points +
That’s absolutely ridic! Neat. Do they satisfy though? Or does it just feel like eating a bunch of skinny water balloons….
Christina, they don’t really have any taste. They are basically sauce delivery vehicles.
Sounds like shirataki. Unless the 1g carb is insoluble fiber, then they technically have ~4 calories… negligible, of course, but I hate the USDA’s iffy nutritional labeling guidelines.
Thanks for the detail and yes, it appears to be Shirataki.
These are also known as Shirataki Noodles (Japanese)
Thanks Saffron … looks like I’ve been out of the loop for a very long time. Just glad I finally caught on.
They’re Shirataki noodles, among the same vein as Konnyaku (except they’re cut into noodle shapes.) Konnyaku is yummy with some wasabi and soy sauce. :9 You can eat it guilt free!
@Gazel. Thank you for the recommendation! I can’t wait to try that combo. Looks like a Whole Foods stop for me tomorrow.
Do you think this is something Gary could eat? I guess you can’t really load them up with ingredients?
Oh man, I have been trying to find these noodles! I want to try these pad thai style. I am hoping that would be low in points. Beautiful photo Fran!
I’ve always eaten these growing up (I’m Korean) and we call them “dakmyun”, but I had no idea they were that low in calories!
Amazing, isn’t it Carolyn and such good news too!
Not to hate, but what’s the point of eating something with no nutritional value? Are they satisfying? Filling? It’s kind of a cool idea, but food is supposed to supply you with energy.
Good question, Katie. Since I’m trying to stay within a certain about of food and carbs are one of my downfalls, these noodles give me the opportunity to have an Asian noodle texture without sacrificing points for carbs. The noodles have no real flavor, but they take on whatever you put over them. While I could eat a semolina noodle with nothing more than butter on it, that would be a real waste of calories/points for me so this is a good alternative. I can “spend” the calories/points on sauce — if that makes sense?
Mmm that does make sense – satisfying a craving without going overboard. Glad you can enjoy them!
Thanks so much for a recipe! I also found the No oodles (Meijers…gluten free section) but have yet to use them. I will be trying these tomorrow, yum!
If you want to decrease the calorie/fat count even more, use peanut flour mixed with water to peanut butter consistency in place of the peanut butter. 1/4 cup of peanut flour has 100 calories, 3g fat and 3 g fiber. I use the Peanut Flour Dark12% from http://www.byrdmill.com. I make a recipe really similar to this with lots of veggies and sometimes add shrimp or chicken as well. Love No Oodles!!!
Thanks Lisa! I had my first experience with peanut flour last week. One of my friends in the office is a runner and he’s been dieting and he made me a peanut butter sandwich with it. It was pretty good, although I told him I’d have really liked it with preserves spread on it.
Thanks for the tip!
I like to sautee them with beets, radishes, cabbage, chicken, garlic, ginger, wasabi, leeks, rice vinegar, and soy sauce….made it for friends and it was a huge hit, plus very colorful and packed full of nutrients!
Mac, sounds delicoius! And full of texture too. Thanks for the suggestion.
I made no-oodles for the first time last night, using pad thai sauce, shrimp, and eggs, which is the way I make pad thai. I found them to be good. No taste. The smell wasn’t overpowering, and it does go away. My only issue is the excess water retention. I drained the nooodles and used a paper towel to pat them dry. Unfortunately, there was still excess water, which made the sauce a little more runny than I would like (watered down the flavor). Do you have any suggestions for removing the excess water? Thanks!
Hi Ashley,
Did you try to drain them in a wire mesh strainer for a few minutes? The are so slippery that a colander won’t work, you’ll need a wire mesh strainer to ensure they don’t slip away down the drain.
I hope this helps!
Fran
I found this article at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/536767-let-s-talk-about-shirataki-noodles
She basically says “Simply spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray and cook them, on high, until they’re bone dry. (about 8 minutes) By cooking them in this fashion the end result is much closer to wheat or rice noodles.”
Hope this works for you.
Debbie
Dry saute them after you’ve rinsed them. You can use some Pam so they don’t stick.
The directions that came in the case ( yes, I bought a whole case) that my No oodles arrived with say after you wash them and drain them in a colander you should “dry fry” them.
Basically put them in a dry skillet over moderately high heat until all the moisture evaporates. I did this and it worked very well.
I tried the No Oodles from a Groupon offer. These are awesome and a really good way to cut down your calorie intake. I’m a chef by trade so it’s been somewhat easy to create recipes to try with them but there are hundreds of recipes all over the Internet to suit your taste. So far I’ve lost 10 pounds in two weeks but that also included exercise 3X a week and eating the noodles two meals out of three a day. (You can make several meals at once since the noodles don’t expand and stay fresh tasting) I’ve also noticed I don’t get that “low” or dragging feeling by afternoon since I’m not being weighed down with the extra carbs. Well worth the price
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