Pasta vs Rice nutrition

Cooked pasta has more sugar, fiber and protein than Cooked white rice.

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Compare Per 100 gPer servingSame calories

Cooked pasta100 g
Cooked white rice100 g

Calories1.2× more158 kcal130 kcal

Protein2.2× more5.8 g2.7 g

Carbs1.10× more30.9 g28.2 g

Sugar11× more0.56 g0.05 g

Fat3.3× more0.93 g0.28 g

Fiber4.5× more1.8 g0.4 g

Each row is scaled on its own: the larger amount fills the bar. The numbers on the right are the real amounts.

Each food is weighed the same: 100 grams of each. The longer bar has more.

Show all 15 nutrients

Saturated fat2.3× more0.18 g0.08 g

Cholesterolnone in either0 mg0 mg

Salt (sodium)about the same1 mg1 mg

Potassium1.3× more44 mg35 mg

Calcium1.4× more7 mg10 mg

Iron1.07× more1.3 mg1.2 mg

Magnesium1.5× more18 mg12 mg

Vitamin Anone in either0 µg0 µg

Vitamin Cnone in either0 mg0 mg

Exact amounts and % Daily Value

Exact amounts per 100 g, with each one's share of the FDA Daily Value — bold marks the larger amount
Nutrient	Cooked pasta	Cooked white rice	Daily Value
Calories	158 kcal (8%)	130 kcal (7%)	2,000 kcal
Protein	5.8 g (12%)	2.7 g (5%)	50 g
Fat	0.93 g (1%)	0.28 g (<1%)	78 g
Saturated fat	0.18 g (<1%)	0.08 g (<1%)	20 g
Carbs	30.9 g (11%)	28.2 g (10%)	275 g
Fiber	1.8 g (6%)	0.4 g (1%)	28 g
Sugar	0.56 g	0.05 g	none set
Cholesterol	0 mg (0%)	0 mg (0%)	300 mg
Salt (sodium)	1 mg (<1%)	1 mg (<1%)	2,300 mg
Potassium	44 mg (<1%)	35 mg (<1%)	4,700 mg
Calcium	7 mg (<1%)	10 mg (<1%)	1,300 mg
Iron	1.3 mg (7%)	1.2 mg (7%)	18 mg
Magnesium	18 mg (4%)	12 mg (3%)	420 mg
Vitamin A	0 µg (0%)	0 µg (0%)	900 µg
Vitamin C	0 mg (0%)	0 mg (0%)	90 mg

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How the numbers are taken. Amounts are per 100 g of the edible part, from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, public domain), in the state named — raw, boiled, roasted and so on. Percentages use the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; your own needs can be different. This site compares amounts — it does not give diet or medical advice. Sources and limits.

What is being compared

This page compares cooked pasta and cooked white rice as USDA FoodData Central lists them: “Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt” (FDC 169737) and “Rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked” (FDC 168878). All figures start from 100 grams of the edible part. A search for “pasta” is taken here as cooked pasta; dry pasta and cooked whole-wheat pasta are in the comparer above. A search for “rice” is taken here as cooked white rice; cooked brown rice, dry white rice, dry brown rice and cooked wild rice are in the comparer above.

Per 100 grams

Per 100 grams, cooked pasta has more calories (158 vs 130 kcal), protein (5.8 vs 2.7 g, 2.2 times as much), fat (0.93 vs 0.28 g, 3.3 times as much), saturated fat (0.18 vs 0.08 g, 2.3 times as much), carbohydrate (30.9 vs 28.2 g), fiber (1.8 vs 0.4 g, 4.5 times as much), sugars (0.56 vs 0.05 g, about 11 times as much), potassium (44 vs 35 mg), iron (1.3 vs 1.2 mg) and magnesium (18 vs 12 mg, 1.5 times as much). Cooked white rice has more calcium (10 vs 7 mg). They are within 3% of each other for cholesterol, sodium, vitamin A and vitamin C.

Read the rest — 4 more sections

Per serving

A serving as USDA measures it is 1 cup spaghetti not packed of cooked pasta (124 g) and 1 cup of cooked white rice (158 g). The cooked white rice serving is 1.3 times as heavy, so per serving its numbers grow relative to the other. Switching to servings changes the leader for calories (now cooked white rice), carbohydrate (now cooked white rice) and iron (now cooked white rice). One serving is 196 kcal of cooked pasta against 205 kcal of cooked white rice.

For the same calories

To get 100 kcal you would eat 63.3 g of cooked pasta or 76.9 g of cooked white rice. At that equal energy, cooked pasta carries 3.7 g of protein and cooked white rice 2.1 g. Fiber per 100 kcal is 1.1 g against 0.31 g. Measured per 100 kcal instead of per 100 g, the larger amount moves for carbohydrate (to cooked white rice) and iron (to cooked white rice).

Where the calories come from

Roughly, 15% of the energy in cooked pasta comes from protein, 5% from fat and 80% from carbohydrate; for cooked white rice it is 9%, 2% and 89%. These shares use the general 4, 9 and 4 kcal per gram and can differ slightly from USDA's own energy factors.

Against the Daily Value

1 cup spaghetti not packed of cooked pasta reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in protein (14%), carbohydrate (14%) and iron (9%); 1 cup of cooked white rice reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in carbohydrate (16%), iron (11%) and protein (9%). Daily Values are the FDA label reference amounts for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; they are a yardstick for reading labels, not a target for any one person.

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