Portion guide: Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods

You should eat some starchy foods every day as part of a healthy, balanced diet.  They are a good source of energy and the main source for a range of nutrients in our diet.

Choose wholegrain options such as whole wheat pasta and brown rice where possible as they contain more fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Scroll down, or click to view:

• Potatoes
• Bread
• Rice
• Pasta
• Other starchy foods

How much is one portion of potatoes?

• Nine oven chips.

• One fist-sized baked/jacket potato

• One plantain

• Three tablespoons of mash

• Two egg-sized new or boiled potatoes

How much is one portion of bread?

• One small brown roll

• Brown bread

• Half a brown pitta bread

• Three crackers

• Half a wrap

• One whole crumpet

• A piece of baguette the length of a hand

• Half an English muffin

• Half a bagel

• Two crispbreads

How much is one portion of rice?

• Two heaped tablespoons of rice

• Two tablespoons of cous cous

How much is one portion of pasta?

• Two tablespoons of cooked pasta

• Or one handful of uncooked pasta

• One handful of spaghetti

• Half a pack of egg noodles

Other starchy foods

One portion is...

• Three rice cakes

• One Weetabix

• One tablespoon of granola

• Two tablespoons of muesli

• Three tablespoons of cornflakes

• Three tablespoons of porridge, or 27g of uncooked porridge oats

Watch out for large plates

Using larger plates can make a serving of food appear smaller, encouraging us to eat more than we need.

• Watch our three videos and get recipes for healthy comfort food.
• Find out how to keep a low-carbohydrate diet balanced.