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by Todd + Diane
Craving chicken pad thai without all the calories? Low carb chicken zucchini noodle pad thai is a reader favorite. The spiralized zucchini is fantastic.
Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai Recipe
Last week was busy, creative and satisfying.Because it was such a busy week, we turned to some leftover ingredients we had at the studio after our photo shoots. Zucchini was one of them and we automatically thought of zucchini noodles again. We were craving something light, flavorful and quick. Salads are usually our go-to, but when you’re wanting to really bite and chew into something substantial that was healthier, salads can often get a little boring. Making zucchini noodle pad thai, one of our most popular blog recipes, was a no-brainer. This chicken zucchini noodle pad thai was an automatic dinner idea because adding chicken was definitely a no-brainer adaptation to the original recipe.
Video: Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai Recipe
How to Make Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai
This time, we just added chicken instead of shrimp and it was fantastic. Voila,chicken zucchini noodle pad thai was created! As many times as we’ve made this, we don’t ever get tired of it. And best of all, we can always make adjustments for it and each bite tastes like a brand new dish. Here’s some tips for making this dish:
- Pre-sprialize the zucchini: To save time, serialize your zucchini first and store it in an airtight container for up to 5 days. We love prepping the zucchini first so half the meal is complete. Best of all, the zucchini lasts so long in the fridge.
- Buy pre-cut zucchini noodles: if you don’t have time to Spiralize the zucchini first, you can buy the zucchini noodles at the market. Most large markets will have a section that sells pre-spirlized zucchini and other vegetables.
- Prep the sauce: Make a double or triple batch of the sauce! It lasts at least 10 days in the fridge and it’s great on so many other vegetables and stir fries.
- Use roast chicken! You can pick one up already roasted at your market and add that to the pad thai. The flavor of roast chicken to the zucchini noodles is fantastic.
- Spiralize yellow squash for extra color. If you’re having a dinner party then the mix of yellow and green zucchini is gorgeous.
- All recipe details are in the recipe box below.
Best Vegetable Spiralizer for Zucchini Noodles :
Paderno Spiralizer–
The Classic! We’ve lost track of how many meals this one has made for us. Fantastic spiralizer.
KitchenAid Spiralizer Attachment–
Spiralize, peel, core, slice. All from the power of the KitchenAid stand mixer.
OXO Julienne Peeler–
For those who love it simple. This great julienne peeler has seen a lot of mileage in our kitchen.
With all the heat this week, we’ll be craving more healthy foods. On top of our list is going to be all of our garden lettuce, kale and other greens!
Enjoy,
diane and todd
Our original zucchini pad thai recipe.
We used thisPaderno vegetable spiral slicerto make the curly zucchini noodles/pasta:
we love this vegetable slicer for making bigger batches of zucchini noodles
Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai
Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 10 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
When we first made this version with shrimp, we couldn’t believe how satisfied we were when we were craving pad thai and didn’t even miss the rice noodles. Since then, we’ve adapted our popular Pad Thai zucchini noodles with healthy chicken breast and it’s become an instant hit with friends. Another quick option would be to use shredded roast chicken. Just add it in place of the raw chicken and just cook it long enough to heat-through.
Our favorite tool for making zucchini noodles is the Paderno Spiralizer.
5 from 4 votes
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Ingredients
For the Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai
- 2 medium zucchini
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (30ml) (divided)
- 1 pound chicken breast (455g) , cut into small chunks
- 2-3 cloves garlic , minced or crushed
- 1 small red bell pepper , seeded and sliced thin
- 3-4 green onions , sliced in 1-inch pieces
- 1 large egg
- about 2 cups bean sprouts (480ml)
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts (80ml)
- chopped cilantro , for garnish
- lime wedges (optional)
For the Sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar (30ml) or distilled white vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce (30ml) (or more to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons ketchup (45ml)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar (5ml)
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (or more to taste)
- sriracha hot sauce (options, to taste)
Instructions
Make the Sauce: in a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (rice vinegar, fish sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, and chili garlic sauce), set aside. If you want to use sriracha hot sauce, add as much as you like or you can add it afterwards.
Cut the zucchini into noodles or long pasta by using a vegetable spiralizer tool or similar tool.
Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon of olive oil (reserve the other half for later). Then add zucchini noodles and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the zucchini noodles are tender. Don't overcook the noodles. The zucchini noodles should be slightly crunchy with a tender bite.
Let the noodles rest for about 3 minutes to allow all the moisture to release. Remove the noodles from the pan and drain the excess water.
Carefully wipe the same pan remove the excess water, and then re-heat the pan on medium-high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic untilsoft and translucent, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until tender.
Add the bell peppers and green onions. Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until tender. Add the egg and stir in with the vegetables untilthe egg is cooked.
Add the zucchini noodles back into the same pan, and then add the sauce. Cook for about 1 more minute or until the zucchini noodles are heated through. Then stir in the bean sprouts.
Serve the warm zucchini pad Thai noodles with roasted peanuts and cilantro. If you want to add lime wedges, squeeze some fresh lime juice on the noodles right before serving. Serve with extra sriracha if desired.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: 663kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 62g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 227mg, Sodium: 2163mg, Potassium: 1868mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 2945IU, Vitamin C: 119mg, Calcium: 105mg, Iron: 3mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Asian
Calories: 663
More Easy Recipes
- Zucchini noodles with turkey marinara
- Healthy zucchini noodle chow Mein
- Korean style noodles with pork and Kim chi
- Chicken pho zucchini noodles
- All our zucchini noodle recipes here
- this recipe as originally published in 2014
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100+ Easy Meals 30 Minute Recipes Asian Chicken | Turkey Food Healthy Low Carb | Keto One Pot | Skillet Paleo Pasta | Noodles Recipes Vegetables
11 Comments / Leave a Comment »
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11 comments on “Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai”
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Olivia — November 24, 2019 @ 11:24 pm Reply
Awesome flavor! Love it.
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Austin — January 21, 2019 @ 4:22 pm Reply
This is a very tasty recipe despite it being low carb! You get the same great Pad Thai taste without all the carbs from the noodles.
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Cheryl — January 20, 2019 @ 4:20 pm Reply
Great and easy for date nights with the hubby. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
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— January 20, 2019 @ 4:49 pm Reply
Awesome it’s always a success for date night!
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Low Carb 30 Minute Meals — February 2, 2018 @ 1:39 pm Reply
Looks like a very easy recipe to prep. I love 30 minute meals as it fits for my busy lifestyle. Will give a try in the weekend. Thanks!
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Anica — March 19, 2017 @ 2:59 pm Reply
Freaking love this! Thanks for this amazingly simple dish! Cheers 😀
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Judy — September 13, 2016 @ 6:00 pm Reply
I made this for dinner but left out the chicken, wonderful vegetarian dish. Love the zucchini noodles, I have the exact same spiral cutter just collecting dust. Glad to get some use out of it, won’t be dusty anymore.
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Ron @ fasthealthycooking.net — July 8, 2016 @ 3:44 am Reply
Colorful dinners are so much more fun to eat! This one looks great!
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Anne Sofie — July 4, 2016 @ 12:49 pm Reply
This is just amazing! I made it yesterday and both my boyfriend and I loved it!
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Shannon T — June 30, 2016 @ 5:08 pm Reply
Wow! this had a lot more spice than I thought initially. Still tasty but whoa. 🙂
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Carol C — June 28, 2016 @ 4:59 pm Reply
I made this tonight – delicious!
