NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — White rice is such staple in our everyday cooking, serving as the foundation for dishes like red beans and rice, jambalaya, and shrimp creole. But white rice gives us very little nutritional benefit, and packs 200 calories and 45 carbs into every cup.
And then there’s brown rice, black rice, even red rice – but are these really any better? In today’s Love it, Like it, Hate it, we’re Getting the Skinny with Molly on her top picks and worst bets for this southern favorite.
{Nutrition Facts below are for one cup cooked. ORAC (total antioxidant content) is per 100 mg raw.}
LOVE IT!
Cauliflower Rice: e.g. Homemade, Whole Foods 365 Riced Cauliflower, Trader Joe’s Riced Cauliflower
- 37 calories – 37 mg sodium – 6 grams carb – 3 grams fiber – 3 grams sugar – 3 grams protein
- Cup-for-cup, riced cauliflower has about 80% fewer carbs than cooked rice
- ORAC: 870
- Per cup: 0 calories – 0 sodium – <1 gram carb – 0 fiber – 0 sugar – 0 protein
- Ingredients: water, konjac flour (soluble fiber from the Japanese plant konnyaku imo)
LIKE IT!
Black rice | Purple Rice | Forbidden Rice
- 200 calories – 0 sodium – 43 grams carb – 3 grams fiber – 1 gram sugar – 6 grams protein
- ORAC: 2125
Red rice
- 226 calories – 0 sodium – 50 grams carb – 2.6 grams fiber – 0 sugar – 5 grams protein
- ORAC: 3598
HATE IT!
Brown rice
- Per cup: 216 calories – 10 mg sodium – 45 grams carb – 4 grams fiber – 1 gram sugar – 5 grams protein
- ORAC: 330
White rice
- Per cup: 205 calories – 2 mg sodium – 45 grams carb – 1 gram fiber – 0 sugar – 4 grams sugar
- ORAC: <30
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