Whole30 chicken pad thai that you can feel good about eating! It's served over a bed of zucchini noodles, loaded up with delicious chicken thigh pieces & topped off with a creamy, cashew butter based sauce. Delicious!
ALL ABOUT BALANCE
As we're gearing up for the Fall season, I am going to be churning out a steady amount of both
Whole30 recipes and delicious paleo friendly treats!
This Whole30 Chicken Pad Thai is the first of many wonderful recipes to come!
I'm a very firm believer in balance, and this is especially true when it comes to the way I think about food and wellness. I've always been a huge fan of the Whole30 reset and what it offers up to your body and mindset.
I am also someone who loves to indulge on occasion. I do not let my firm beliefs about health & wellness takeover my ability to let loose and have fun… especially when it comes to my belly ????
Once I realized how quick and easy it was to recreate some of my Thai restaurant favorites, I've been getting very busy in the kitchen. This recipe for Whole30 Chicken Pad Thai could be the biggest crowd pleaser yet!
Earlier this year, I got busy making
Whole30 Drunken Zucchini Noodles
and
and they are some of my absolute best recipes!
MEAL PREP MADE EASY
Whole30 Chicken Pad Thai is going to really change your meal prep game. One of my favorite parts about making this recipe is how quickly I can finish it!
The addition of the crunchy cabbage on top really brings out the other textures and flavors… it's incredible!
But the best part?
Obviously the creamy, cashew based sauce! It's full of coconut aminos, zesty lime and plenty of ginger and garlic… seriously finger-licking good!
You really must try this incredibly easy recipe! You'll want to continuously incorporate into your weekly meal plan, whether you're on a Whole30 or not!
Whole30 Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
Pad Thai
- 8 large zucchinis spiralized
- 3 tablespoons ghee or avocado oil, split in two
- 1 ½ pounds chicken thighs diced
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 bell pepper sliced
- 3 carrots sliced
- ¼ cup bone broth- Find Here!
- 3 eggs cooked and scrambled
- ⅓ cup raw cashews roasted and chopped
- ⅔ cup red cabbage chopped
- ¼ cup green onions sliced
Sauce
- ½ cup cashew butter
- 3 Medjool dates soaked *see notes*
- 4-5 drops fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 lime juiced
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- ¼ cup canned coconut milk
Instructions
Pad Thai
- Spiralize the zucchini first. I like to use the "C" blade on my Inspiralizer. Feel free to spiralize it as thick or as thin as you'd like! Add the spiralized zucchini to a large colander and place it over the sink. Add a few teaspoons of kosher salt and massage it well into the zucchini. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, as this process will release a lot of moisture. Rinse the zucchini well with cold water and let it drain for another 10-15 minutes. Pat it as dry as you can with a kitchen towel and set aside.
- In a large frying pan, melt half of the ghee and let it coat the entire surface of the pan. Once the pan has heated up for a few minutes, add the diced chicken and a few sprinkles of salt and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently until the chicken is cooked through (go ahead and grab a piece and cut it in half to double check!) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a very large bowl and set aside. Discard the excess liquid.
- Add in the other half of the ghee to the pan and let it melt. Add the bell peppers and carrots to the pan. Saute carrots and bell pepper for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the bone broth and let it cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk the eggs together, and add them to the pan. Continue to cook another 2-3 minutes or until eggs are cooked through.
- Once everything has cooked through, transfer to the big bowl of chicken. Saute the zucchini noodles in the pan for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add the zucchini noodles to the large bowl. Toss everything together well.
- Add in cashews, cabbage and green onions. Add sea salt and black pepper, to taste and prepare the sauce.
Sauce
- Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a high-speed blender pitcher. Blend on high, scraping down the sides if necessary for about 2 minutes.
- Turn the blender down to the lowest speed and slowly add in the coconut milk.
- Pour about half of the sauce into the large bowl of chicken & vegetables. Depending on how big your zucchinis are, you may need more or less sauce. I ended up using all of it because I like things saucy! Adjust salt and black pepper, if needed.
Notes
- Soak dates in boiling water for 20 minutes and drain.
Ryan says
This was a tasty but absolute nightmare of a dish to make. Very complicated with timing and moving parts. Easily a 1:45 minutes to make on your first go. Again, tasty but double the time it say it will take.
Sangeeta says
Wow that SAUCE. Once the Whole 30 is over I'm so going to be mixing up a batch of that and eating it in one sitting lol. I'm looking forward to lunch this week!
omg yum!!!! that sounds fantastic.
Will says
I loved this recipe, but I felt that there was too much going on in the sauce. I omitted the fish sauce, apple cider vinegar, lime, and coconut milk. I also subbed almond butter (only because I couldn't find cashew butter in the stores) for cashew butter and maple syrup instead of dates. Turned out great!
Shelby Burley says
Confused about the eggs... Ingredients say eggs, cooked and scrambled, but in the directions it says to add after bone broth which might make a soupy mess?
Hi Shelby. Sorry for the confusion-- the eggs should be cooked and scrambled separately, then added to the dish with bone broth! 🙂
Andrea says
Unfortunately your response doesn't clear up the confusion. In your ingredient list you specify "3 eggs cooked and scrambled" but in your instructions, you instruct to cook the eggs in the bone broth: "Saute carrots and bell pepper for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the bone broth and let it cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk the eggs together, and add them to the pan. Continue to cook another 2-3 minutes or until eggs are cooked through". I'm interested in making this recipe but don't want to mess it up because that's a drastic difference.
Yes, please follow the instructions. Cook the eggs in the broth.
Coty Marin says
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe?
Thank you!
Jennifer Glenn says
This was amazing! Made it just as is (but added red pepper flakes to final product) and wouldn’t change a thing...I would agree that the prep time was closer to 45 minutes for us but we will be putting this recipe in out normal rotation. Absolutely delicious!
I love it... that makes me so happy. I will need to adjust the prep time!
LLeighN says
This is a great recipe but saying the prep time is only 20 minutes is a VAST understatement. It was my first time making it of course - but it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to get this to the table last night. Spiralizing 4 zucchini along with prepping another 4 vegetables along with making a sauce that has 10 ingredients - takes quite a bit of time. Next time I would also cook the chicken and THEN dice it. Dicing raw chicken just takes too much time. Or better yet - grab a rotisserie or pre-cooked chicken from Trader Joes. It was delicious though - thank you!
Molly says
This was AMAZING. I subbed in roasted sweet potato ribbons for zucchini noodles and it still came out great. Complements from my non-whole 30 friends as well.
Hi Molly. Wow that sounds incredible. I absolutely love sweet potato ribbons/noodles. Thank you so much for letting me know, and I'm so happy to hear you all enjoyed!
Phyllis Renae Beck says
I'm confused about 1.5 dates. Do I purchase an entire bag of $17 dates and use only 1.5?
Hi there. Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They have dates for under $5, I believe...
Kate says
Any suggestions for substitutes for cashew butter since nut butter is not whole30 approved?
Hi there. Nut butter is totally fine to use sparingly during your Whole30. You aren't using it as a snack and engorging... it's in the sauce 🙂 I'm fairly certain you are golden!
Harmony says
This post is confusing -- I think the text from the previous slaw post got mixed in somehow? So the recipe is for pad thai but the narrative is about slaw...
Harmony, you're right. I'm so sorry about that!!! I am working on it now.