Slim down with homemade pasta sauces

Unwanted pasta calories

There's almost nothing as comforting as a bowl of creamy pasta with a scrumptious tomato sauce – even in summertime.

But, no matter how you serve it – hot, cold, as a main meal or a salad, pasta with a sauce can quickly pile on those extra unwanted calories.

Make pasta sauces healthier

Just because you're on a diet or trying to lose weight, doesn't mean that you have to give up your favourite comfort food altogether.

It just means that you need to make it a little healthier. Here are a few ideas to slim down those yummy pasta sauces:

• Boil and fry tomatoes with onions for the sauce instead of using tinned tomatoes.

• Ignore those ready-made pasta sauces when you go shopping. They're full of preservatives, sugar and extra salt.

• Bulk up your tomato sauce with cubes of eggplant. Eggplant is great for soaking up whatever juices it comes into contact with.

• Add slivers of almonds to the sauce. Almonds are great for aiding weight loss.

• Mix in fresh chili or chili flakes; this helps rev up your metabolism to burn fat faster.

• Replace meat in your pasta sauce with kidney beans or brown lentils.

Recommended reading: Can eating pasta really help you lose weight?

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