New from Annie Chun's: Brown Rice Noodles

When we first saw these whole grain and gluten-free brown rice noodles from Annie Chun’s, we were mighty curious. It’s taken us a while to get over our assumptions and learn to love whole wheat pasta, after all. How would noodles made with brown rice stack up?

Quite well, it turns out! They cooked up just the same as regular noodles and showed that familiar slippery, chewy texture. We tried them on their own with a little sesame oil for seasoning and then again in pad thai, and we found the brown rice noodles indistinguishable from regular rice noodles.

Here’s what’s confusing to us, though: it seems like a big part of the advertising for these noodles are that they’re gluten-free, but aren’t rice noodles already gluten-free? We checked the nutrition information on the Annie Chun website and both regular and brown rice noodles are indeed listed as gluten-free.

And if more nutritious whole grain noodles are your goal, these noodles seem about equal. Both products have about the same calories, carbs, and protein per serving. The brown rice noodles actually end up with a gram of fat, while the regular noodles are fat free. The biggest difference is in the fiber - the brown rice noodles have four grams of it compared to one gram in regular noodles.

Is this really enough to make a difference? Or are we missing something? What do you think?

• More Information: Annie Chun's Brown Rice Noodles

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (12)

The fiber is counted in the carb total, but doesn't get absorbed by the body. So these will actually be slightly lower-carb than the regular rice noodles. And besides, who couldn't use an easy way to get more fiber in their diet?

Good Question! I am always curious to find out how the "healthier" alternatives stack up against traditional products. I know that earlier this year, the Harvard School of Public Health found that replacing white rice with brown rice may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. I would think the brown rice products have a lower GI.

Skeptical me thinks that it's just a way to push a product. People see brown rice and automatically think it's healthier. Labeling of food can be tricky that way.

Not only had I not seen these in stores, but I probably would have been too skeptical to try them - thanks for the review, I'll definitely be purchasing these this week! I can't get over my prejudice against whole grain pasta, so this is a great way to get some fiber without sacrificing taste or texture.

I think they might have put Gluten Free on the label because they wanted people to know that. There are quite a few people who just look for the boxes that say gluten free without doing any further research, so I would guess that they just wanted shoppers to know about that feature to get them to try a new product that they might have passed by.

I love noodles made with brown rice or whole wheat. They're definitely more dense and chewy, but I don't mind.

Whole Foods has a really wide selection of noodles made with whole grains, and you can find brown rice pasta in many forms there.

I actually really like chewy and dense pasta, so this is right up my alley.

Coming from someone with celiac, the gluten-free label is helpful considering many "whole grain" products incorporate other grains (such as barley) that are not gluten-free. For instance, corn chips are generally safe yet "multigrain" corn chips are not, and this has been the cause of much confusion among my friends and family. I end up checking a lot of labels for things that really should be gluten-free and aren't.

But yes, most brown rice pasta is naturally gluten-free.

I just purchased these this week. I was at a Whole Foods for a specialty item and could not find plain old rice noodles, so I settled on these. I'm not anticipating converting to these full-time, but I'm also not anticipating much of a taste difference.

Interesting. I would be willing to try them. We don't use whole wheat pasta all the time but the kids do. We like the private label elbows from WF and the De Cecco spirals. Those specific shapes/brands seem to offer the best taste profile.

I begun a gluten-free diet months ago and feel great. In doing so, I've been experimenting with alternative pastas. I have yet to try Annie Chun's but absolutely love Tinkyada brown rice pasta as well as Quinoa pasta. I prefer the texture and taste of quinoa. http://www.quinoa.net/145/index.html

I have to say, I am a HUGE fan of Annie Chun's Tom Thai Yum soup, it's delish!

So... everyone is aware that "Made with Whole Grain" is grossly different from you actually consuming "Whole Grain" right? Especially with something like the rice --> rice noodle process...