Craving chicken pad thai without all the calories? Low carb chicken zucchini noodle pad thai is a reader favorite. The spiralized zucchini is fantastic. 

Healthy Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai on a plate

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.
How to make healthy zucchini noodles "zoodles" on spiral slicer on @whiteonrice
Healthy Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai in a bowl

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.  

Healthy Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai in a bowl with chopsticks

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. 

Healthy Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai Recipe in a pan

We used this Paderno vegetable spiral slicer to make the curly zucchini noodles/pasta:

Low Carb and Healthy Zucchini Noodles spiralized

we love this vegetable slicer for making bigger batches of zucchini noodles

How to make healthy zucchini noodles "zoodles" on spiral slicer on @whiteonrice

Chicken Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai

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

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:

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 until soft 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 until the 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