Gnocchi is a dish that is not quite popular when compared to pasta.
It’s an Italian dish made with the combination of potato, semolina or flour and sauce to add more depth to the taste.
Even in the Italy it’s not popular than pasta. Pasta wins the race in every part of the world.
But in this post, we’re not talking about the popularity instead we’ll talk about is gnocchi healthier than pasta and if so than how?
Is Gnocchi Healthier Than Pasta?
First let’s talk about the ingredients that each dish is made up of before we even compare if one dish is healthier than the other. We talked about only the basic ingredients.
Best Pasta Pick…
Gnocchi Ingredients
- Potato
- Semolina OR Flour
- Water
- Sauce
- Salt
Pasta Ingredients
- Semolina OR Flour
- Eggs
- Salt
- Water
The only common items between the 2 are salt and water. Keeping those aside the remaining items are:
1. Potato
Potato is an starchy vegetable used to maintain or add more weight to your body. So if you’re looking to lose weight this might not be a better choice.
2. Semolina
Both the gnocchi or pasta can include either flour or semolina. We prefer semolina because it’s a much healthier option and contain more protein than the regular flour. Other healthy minerals found in the the semolina are:
- Zinc
- Iron
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
3. Sauce
There are many types of sauces and each one can be healthy or bad for you depending on the ingredients used in them.
Because this all boils down to the personal preference we’ll not take sauce in to consideration but will list some of the healthier sauces that you can try with semolina:
Here are 3:
4. Eggs
Eggs are a superfood and there’s no doubt about it. It’s a food in itself that contains virtually everything that a person require to function properly on a daily basis.
That’s why you’ll see most of the people that do gym or are athletic they consume way more eggs on a daily basis than an average person.
Why?
Because it’s the best source of protein along with some essential minerals the human body need.
5. Flour
We’re not counting on flour because semolina is a better alternative to that. So we assume both the dishes (pasta and gnocchi) contain semolina instead of flour.
Final Showdown
By now you should have got your answer already. And that is…
No, gnocchi is not healthier than the pasta. Pasta is a much better option when it comes to your health.
Obviously, if you’re using semolina in pasta otherwise it’s the other way around.
Wrapping It Up
In short, both the pasta and semolina can become healthy or unhealthy based on what you put in them. If you’re making gnocchi without potato and using something else instead. And making one of the healthiest sauces for it than both the dishes will tie up.
But, because gnocchi can’t be made without the use of potato it’s almost impossible and will change the taste completely, we’ll consider it a less healthy option.
Also, one more thing you need to consider is that it’s all based on preference. Potato can be good for you especially if you want your weight to grow. But, in most cases consuming potato is not good for health in today’s day and age because potato contains a lot of carbs which we’re already consuming in other sources of food.