Smoky black bean burger
Charred at the edges, soft in the middle, with pickled beetroot and a lot of black pepper.
quick · weeknight
Green spaghetti
Blended herbs, garlic and toasted nuts, loosened with pasta water into a sauce that coats every strand.
About a sixth of the land of creamy carbonara.
One serving, against creamy carbonara
Computed from the ingredients we hold records for and one serving of what the dish stands in for. It is not a whole plate: rice, bread, oil and vegetables without records are not counted on either side.
| Measure | Green spaghetti | Creamy carbonara | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emissions | 0.017 | 0.72 | kg CO₂e per serving |
| Land | 0.52 | 2.6 | m² per serving |
| Water | 165 | 168 | litres per serving |
Once a week for a year, instead of creamy carbonara, saves: Roughly about 210 km of driving (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2024)
Once a week for a year, instead of creamy carbonara, saves: Roughly about 0.42 tennis courts (International Tennis Federation, 2024)
Once a week for a year, instead of creamy carbonara, saves: Roughly about 2.2 eight-minute showers (Energy Saving Trust, 2013)
Want to change the comparison? Put any two foods side by side, or read every factor behind these numbers.
What the figures count
- nuts, 40 g a serving
No recipe, no method and no quantities beyond these. We are not a recipe site, and pretending otherwise would be a worse version of one.
If this is useful
- Replacing common foodsStraightforward swaps for the foods people find hardest to replace, and honest notes on where the swap falls short.
More dishes
Golden dal with fried cumin
Soft split lentils finished with cumin seeds fried in oil until they crackle, poured over the top.
Chana masala
Chickpeas in a dark, sour-sweet tomato sauce, sharpened with a squeeze of lemon at the end.
Chilli peanut noodles
Twenty minutes, one pan, and a sauce of peanut butter, soy and chilli that clings to everything.