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Chicken Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles

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Who doesn’t love Pad Thai?  No one I know, that’s for sure.  I was in the mood for Pad Thai but wanted to cut back on the carbs so I opted for zucchini to replace the rice noodles.  Obviously this dish isn’t an authentic Pad Thai recipe, rather a dish inspired by my love of Pad Thai.  And while I don’t claim this dish to be low carb because there’s sugar in the sauce, it is lower in carbs than using rice noodles and really, really simple to make!  Try this Chicken Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles for a quick and delicious lunch or dinner. You could even swap out the chicken for shrimp if you’d like!

Pad Thai inspired chicken with zucchini noodles - lower in carbs than regular Pad Thai

I’ve tried various Pad Thai sauce recipes but my favorite comes from Rachel Cooks Thai.  It’s simple and hits all the right notes that make Pad Thai so delicious.  I like a little spice in my sauce so I added some chili paste to it, but leave it out if you don’t want the heat. I know some of you may wonder if you can substitute soy sauce for fish sauce or lime juice for tamarind paste, or brown/white sugar for palm sugar.  I’ve tried it all but it’s just not quite the same.  Still quite yummy, but just not the same.  For this recipe I used Tamarind Concentrate by Laxmi. The palm sugar I used is from Thai Taste which I found in my local gourmet grocery store. It’s consistency is like natural peanut butter. I haven’t tried this sauce with any of the granulated palm sugar that’s available in the grocery store these days. If you try it, let me know how it works. The Fish Sauce I used is by Tiparos, however, I’ve seen other brands of fish sauce in my local grocery store so it shouldn’t be hard to find. So if you’re able to find the Thai ingredients, I encourage you to give them a try before finding substitutes.  And if you don’t have the tamarind or palm sugar than go ahead and substitute, it will just have a slightly different flavor but I think you will still like it.  Just get creative in the kitchen, that’s what’s really important!

You may use whatever protein you want in this dish, chicken, shrimp, or even tofu!  I think bean sprouts, sliced green onions and shredded carrots work well, but you can really add whatever you like.  And don’t leave out the chopped peanuts, cilantro, mint and lime, they’re a must in my book.

Pad Thai inspired Chicken with Zucchini Noodles

While this Chicken Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles is not quite an authentic Pad Thai, it’s one simple dish I’m sure you’ll enjoy!

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Chicken Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients

Scale
  • For the Sauce:
  • 1 Tbls. Tamarind concentrate/paste
  • 1 Tbls. Fish Sauce
  • 1 Tbls. Palm Sugar
  • 1 Tbls. white sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. chili paste
  • For the Pad Thai:
  • 1 chicken breast, cut into chunks
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 C. shredded carrots
  • 1 zucchini, cut into thin noodle shape (like linguini)
  • 1 green onion, sliced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 C. bean sprouts
  • 2 Tbls. chopped cilantro
  • 2 Tbls. chopped mint
  • 2 Tbls. chopped peanuts
  • slice of lime

Instructions

  1. Combine sauce ingredients in bowl and set aside. I like to microwave it about 20-30 seconds to make sure the sugars are melted.
  2. In large skillet, add a little bit of oil and cook the chicken with the garlic. Add carrots and zucchini and briefly cook to soften the zucchini a bit.
  3. Push ingredients in pan to the side. Crack egg and scramble it in the pan, then combine it with the mixture. Add sauce to heat and combine.
  4. To serve, toss with green onions, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint and peanuts and a squirt of lime.

Notes

If you’d like the green onions to be a little cooked, just add them with the zucchini instead of adding them at the end.