You can also try simply subbing hearts of palm pasta into pretty much any pasta recipe. (Tomato sauce, vodka sauce, or pesto would all be excellent.) Another quick preparation would be tossing them with garlic sautéed in olive oil and a hefty sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Like the real deal, palm noodles are basically a blank canvas-lending themselves well to so many different meals.įor instance, Naar likes to use hearts of palm pasta as a shortcut to speedy and veggie-packed weeknight dinners by simply boiling it and tossing it with her favorite store-bought sauce. The easiest way to think about cooking with hearts of palm noodles is pretending like they’re regular pasta. How do you cook with hearts of palm noodles? Just check the back of the package for directions. “Some can be microwaved for just 30 to 60 seconds,” Geiger says. A few brands of hearts of palm noodles can be cooked in the microwave. “Taste them as they cook until you find the right doneness for you,” Naar says.įor an even more convenient cooking method, look no further than your microwave. “Hearts of palm hold together well, resisting breakdown when cooked.” Follow the package directions, erring on the side of less time and sampling them like you would regular pasta. They’re harder to overcook than super-soft zoodles. “Hearts of palm noodles can be easily softened by boiling them in water for about five to 10 minutes,” Naar explains.

Or, you can highlight the hearts of palm taste by pairing with certain seasonings, like a bright vinaigrette or light lemon-butter sauce that draws attention to the vegetable's naturally citrusy flavor. The flavor can easily be masked in a punchy, rich sauce where you want other ingredients to be the flavor focal point, and are looking for the noodles to serve more as a vehicle than anything. This mild, artichoke-reminiscent flavor pairs extremely well with a variety of different pasta sauces, Naar says.

Hearts of palm noodles have a mostly neutral flavor with citrusy notes that are similar to that of an artichoke heart, Olivia Roszkowski, a health-supportive culinary arts chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, tells SELF. What do hearts of palm noodles taste like? So much so that people sometimes say “Palmini noodles” to refer to generic hearts of palm pasta. Yes: Palmini is one of the better known brands of hearts of palm pasta and helped popularize the product early on. Is hearts of palm pasta the same as Palmini? Alternatively, you can rinse the noodles to remove as much salt as possible before cooking to ensure that neither the flavor nor sodium levels of your final dish are affected, Rachel Naar, RD, CDN, owner of Rachel Naar Nutrition LLC, tells SELF. If you’re trying to cut down on sodium-say, if you have high blood pressure, for instance, and your doctor recommended limiting it as part of a heart-healthy diet-Geiger recommends seeking out select brands that make their noodles with only hearts of palm (like Trader Joe’s). Some brands add citric acid as a preservative too. “Depending on the brand, hearts of palm noodles may have salt added, as well as water,” Geiger explains. In many cases, hearts of palm will be the only ingredient, but sometimes there are small amounts of other ingredients too.

Festival hearts of palm spaghetti