Our Zucchini noodle pad thai recipe is light, low carb and satisfying when you’re craving regular pad thai.
The sound of zucchini pasta didn’t exactly entice our appetites. We’ve heard of zoodles, or zucchini noodles but had never tasted them. Zucchini pasta recipes? Ok….how….interesting. Yes, we judged the humble zucchini. The thought of making zucchini noodles didn’t exactly have us running to the kitchen to whip up a batch. Maybe we thought zucchini pasta would be tasteless and we’d rather eat the real stuff and run 5 miles to burn it off. Well, we’re here to humbly apologize to the zucchini noodles because we were totally wrong. So, so sorry zucchini, we should have believed in you more.
Our minds were blown when we were in Asheville for Food Blog Forum a few weeks ago and for dinner at Corner Kitchen we had our very first plate of zucchini pasta. Our minds were blown. We’re here to apologize again for waiting so long to explore the amazing world of zucchini noodles. And finally, we here to tell you that we’re now totally and whole-heartedly addicted to zucchini noodles. What a complete 180 turn-around, right? That zoodle or zucchini pasta meal was so incredibly delicious, that we didn’t even miss the pasta. We inhaled our zucchini noodles and couldn’t believe how satisfying it was and how healthy it was. Two things that can’t go wrong in a dish: delicious AND healthy. We felt full and satisfied, the same way we feel when we eat noodles or pasta. Except without the normally resulting food-coma. But best of all, it was totally healthier, lower calorie and gluten-free. What an amazing option to serve when we have gluten-free friends over! Again, we’re zucchini noodle addicts and this zucchini noodle pad thai recipe is super satisfying when we’re craving healthy Thai food.
As soon as we returned from Asheville, we went into the kitchen to research, explore, experiment and taste test our recipe for zucchini noodle pad thai. Here’s what we were able to play with in the kitchen, along with one of the first recipes we made: “Zoodles” Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai!
Watch this Delicious Zoodle Pad Thai Recipe Video:
Check out some Favorites for Spiralizing & Entertaining:
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.
Stoneware Radial Salad Plate – Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia –
We love the handmade feel of these salad plates that Chip and Joanna Gaines created for their Target collaboration. Beautiful everyday dishware.
Izon Mirror 5pc Silverware Set Gold – Project 62™ –
The clean Modernist lines and subdued gold mirror finish on this flatware set.
Stoneware Mini Bowl – Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia –
For those who love it simple. We love the size, crafted feel, and sturdiness of these bowls, also from the new collection Chip and Joanna Gaines created for their Target collaboration.
Here’s what we made on our zucchini noodle play day:
We used this awesome Paderno vegetable spiral slicer to make the curly zucchini noodles or pasta:
we love this vegetable slicer, especially for making bigger batches of zucchini noodles
this spiral vegetable slicer, cuts up the zucchini super quick
Our OXO vegetable peeler was equally awesome at making the noodles, without the curly look.
A Mandolin works great as well, but be safe. We used our safety gloves.
though a mandolin doesn’t have the curls either, the zucchini cooks up great.
With 20 pounds of zucchini noodles in the kitchen, we cooked up the healthiest pad thai ever.
We didn’t miss the regular noodles at all and the zucchini was fantastic
Can you tell? We’re obsessed.
Enjoy,
diane and todd
Love Chow Mein noodles, but without the calories? Try our popular and Healthy Zucchini Noodle Chow Mein Recipe Here.
Turkey marinara with zucchini noodles hits the spot. Here’s the recipe.
print recipeZucchini Pad Thai Noodles "Zoodles"
Yield: Serves 2
Total Time: 30 Minutes
The best part about this Zucchini Pad Thai is that you can add what ever protein you want. We like to have our zucchini noodles a little on the crunchy side, so we like to cook the zucchini first, then let the water drain from the noodles before serving. The water that's reserved from the noodles won't water down any sauce or flavor in the zoodle recipe.
Ingredients:
for the zucchini noodle pad thai:
- about 2 medium zucchini
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil, divided
- 1/2 pound (225g) peeled and de-veined shrimp or what ever protein you prefer
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed
- 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 large egg
- about 2 cups (480ml) bean sprouts
- 1/3 cup (80ml) roasted peanuts
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
- Few lime wedges for serving (optional)
for the sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fish sauce or to taste
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) ketchup
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1 small red chili, sliced
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, or to taste
Directions:
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (vinegar, fish sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, chili garlic sauce), then set aside.
- Cut the zucchini into noodles or long pasta by using a vegetable spiralizer tool or tools mentioned in our post write up.
- Heat a large pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil (reserve the other half for later). Then add zucchini noodles and cook for 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 as much moisture as possible to release. Remove the noodles from the pan and drain the excess water.
- Carefully wipe the same pan to 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 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp is tender and cooked through, about 3 minutes.
- Add the bell peppers and green onions. Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until tender. Add the egg and stir in with the vegetable until the egg is cooked.
- Add the zucchini noodles back into the same pan, then add the sauce. Cook for about 1 more minutes or until the zucchini noodles are heated through. Then stir in the bean sprouts.
- Serve the warm zucchini pad thai noodles with roasted peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges.
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Recipe Note for Salt: All recipes containing salt are based on kosher or sea salt amounts, not table salt. If using table salt, reduce the amount used to taste.
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This Zucchini Pad Thai Noodles recipe so extravagant:) I’m afraid I will not find the ingredients for this recipe! Happy Independence Day!
Yes I’m obsessed. How about chicken instead of shrimp?
Hi William, Yes you can definitely use chicken. That’s probably everyones favorite meat to add to these zoodles!
I am in love with this recipe! I have got to get a spiralizer. I don’t know why I don’t have one yet. Tis would be so perfect for healthy weeknight meals!
Even thoiught I am not a big fan of noodles I’ll try it. It seems delicious.
Great and hope you enjoy them. It’s great that you’re trying something new!
Delicious! Great flavors! Will definitely make again.
Thanks Kimberly!
I forgot to get zucchini yesterday, but I did get butternut squash, so I’m going to try that today. Will report back. Has anyone else made this substitution?
Zucchini Pad Thai Noodles are very yummy, I tried this recipe for my kids and that were too awesome. I love to follow your site and the amazing recipes.
this dish looks very tempting i will surely this at once
Amazing Zucchini Pad Thai Noodles! Combination of taste, I like a balanced diet, a variety of protein and vitamin supplements so that they will have good health. My husband would love it!
Finally made this today …. Loooove it ! My husband was asking “without spaghetti? No combination ?” I told him no, let’s try like this first ….He just loved it ! Thanks for sharing !
Do you know if this recipe is gluten free? I would love to make it for my ceoliac aunt!
I made this tonight for me and my wife. I had never made zucchini noodles before. I followed the recipe to the letter and I’m telling you it was beyond amazing! My wife said it was the best thing I’d ever cooked for her and I was a professional cook for many years! This is going to be at least a once a week meal! Thank you so much for this post!!
it’s a good thing your photography is so beautiful or I would have thought the same think if I just read about zucchini noodles, but this dish looks really good in your photo and I’m wondering if I’d even miss the pasta and if not then wow!, get rid of pasta for a healthy veg is a double bonus, so thank you for this!
This is such a gorgeous recipe. I can taste it through the screen
Very Healthy And Tasty Noodle, Using Cucumber.. Gives extra freshness and I will made for my dinner.. Light diet..
Love them so much. A tasty treat.
I make this recipe all the time! It’s my favorite. SO SO GOOD. However, instead of shrimp I add chicken, and instead of fish sauce I put some soy sauce. And still it is amazing. So happy & so thrilled with it.
This was fantastic. I used a lot of ginger to make it more aromatic, as well as some carrots. Thanks for sharing.
YUM! I was a little leery of this recipe, how could zucchini noodles really hold up to regular Pad Thai noodles? But I was thrilled to find out that this recipe is DELICIOUS!! I highly recommend! I followed others’ suggestions of cutting down the fish sauce and adding some peanut butter and it turned out fantastic! I added chicken breast as my protein instead of the shrimp, used 1/2 green bell pepper, 1/2 red bell pepper, and yellow onion instead of green as this is what I had on hand, and double the entire recipe. I used my Vegetti spiralizer to make the zoodles, slicing thin those last tidbits. I omitted the roasted peanuts for calories’ sake, but they would’ve been a welcome addition! I made 6 servings, coming out to 309 calories each according to my calculations.
I got a spiralizer for Christmas and I made this last night with chicken. My husband licked the plate! Thank you!
@TODD & DIANE
I have been enamored with Zoodles for well over a year. I found them subsequent to attempting Shirataki noodles and not being awed, but rather requiring something to sub for standard pasta. I additionally love to do strips with the zucchini. Your formula looks astounding and I can hardly wait to attempt it!
regards
pooja
Thank you so much for this much appreciated
Made it for dinner tonight. . .any data what calories or nutritional information on it?
Doreen, how it tasted? I recommend to check nutrition info yourself, because our recipes may differ from original, list of ingredients isn’t strict. I checked this recipe (no optional ingredients, no sauce) on our Recipe Analyzer. Estimated values for whole recipe: 963 kcal, Protein: 74.64 g, Fat: 63.92 g, Carbohydrates: 33.13 g.
This was, great. Fulfilling and a liable joy to eat as much as you need. The spouse completed the container off. I will be making this once more
Regards
Anjali
Hey so I made your pad thai for supper today and it was great!! I followed the recipe for everything except the shrimp, as I had tofu on hand that needed eating. I will definitely make this again, although I will experiment with the sauce a bit; I found the 2 Tbsps of fish sauce a little too flavourful! I would probably reduce the fish sauce to 1 Tbsp next time and mix in a couple Tbsps of fresh peanut butter for extra “peanuttiness”!
Coincidentally, these are the exact modifications I used tonight — tofu instead of shrimp, added some peanut butter, reduced the fish sauce because of its high sodium. It turned out great!
I also used tamarind paste (3tbps) instead of ketchup as I’ve never been a big fan of the ketchup version of pad thai. (I’ve read that vinegar and brown sugar is a good substitute for the flavours in tamarind paste, so I reduced these two ingredients somewhat, but included a bit of each.)
I’m sold on zoodles — and on zoodle pad thai!
Made this tonight!! LOVED IT!!! Awesome flavor:)
@Todd & Diane
This looks great.
Waahh!! Shrimp everywhere. I cherished cooking zucchini noodles however I for the most part put the best dim sum hk with a few vegetables and chicken, yet since I adore shrimp and I saw this, well then will be putting shrimp rather than faint whole. Yahoo! Can hardly wait to set it up.
Regards
Priyanka
Fantastic!! SO happy! I have something new, healthy and delicious to my boring repertoire!! Thank YOU!! This is the 1st I’ve reviewed a recipe – it’s THAT good!!
Hands down, one of my most favorite meals that I’ve ever made for myself. I must admit that I was somewhat skeptical about the sauce but it was absolutely delish and had a nice kick to it. Thank you and I’ll be sure to check out your other recipes!
I made this dish last night to take for lunch today but I couldn’t wait and ate some for dinner. Delicious! Thank you so much!
For vegetarians you can substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce.
This looks so yummy. I am a vegetarian so I asked what could be used instead of fish sauce. They told me that many vegetarians use soy sauce. sounds good to me.
Is there a way to make this without ketchup? What can be used instead of ketchup?
Thanks.
Hello! You can use tomato sauce to replace the ketchup and it should still be delicious. The tomato sauce adds a little sweetness to the recipe, so you can add a touch of sugar if you like.
This was very, very good. Satisfying and a guilty pleasure to eat as much as you want. The husband finished the pan off. I will be making this again, going to try chicken next time.
Does anyone know whether any company sells ready made zucchini noodles? I don’t have a spiralizer or anything here besides a regular old peeler.
I’ve seen zuchinni/squash noodles at Whole Foods.
Check the label though. Most of those offered dry at grocers are really grain based with a little veggies added, so it’s NOT the same thing.
You can just use your regular old peeler! that type of “flat noodle” is also tasty.
Amazing – I have shared this recipe with several friends – thank you
This is one of the most delicious recipes I have ever cooked and so healthy! We don’t yet have a spiraliser so I just used my veggie peeler and it turned out great.
Can’t wait to make these! – Charlie, http://www.lemonbutterlove.com/
Looking forward to try this thai noodle recipe! Looks yummo!
Now I am dying to have this zucchini noodle maker! This recipe looks great so I am going to order it.
I appreciate your work for making such wonderful Noodles. Sure, I will try it on this valentine day for someone 🙂
I’ve made this twice in a week. It is sooooo good! I also added some Sriracha for a little extra kick.
This looks gorgeous! I love zoodles and pad thai and can’t wait to try this out!
Just whipped this up and it is PHENOMENAL! I never write reviews but I felt compelled to write this one. If you love Pad Thai and don’t love all of those calories, zucchini noodles are the way to go. I will be the first to admit, I did not have very high hope for the zucchini noodles…I even purchased regular rice noodles just in case. But these zucchini noodles were fabulous. Definitely worth giving this a try! It’s also a pretty quick fix so I will definitely be adding this as a weekly staple! Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks incredible.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. My husband who was hesitant about “zoodles” ate two helpings and then finished mine. This recipe is a keeper, thank you.
Tried this tonite so easy so amazing!!!!! We loved it much better the rice noodles!!!!
We will be making this again!!!!! Thanks for the great recipe!!!!
I bought myself a vegetable slicer during my visit home to Canada, so now I know the perfect recipe to use it for! Thanks, looks delicious.
I’m always happy when I find a new zucchini recipe. 🙂 This must be really delicious, it’s unfortunate that I won’t have the time today to go shopping. 🙁 Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Hi Todd & Diane,
This Pad Thai zoodle dish looks awesome. You’ve motivated me to unbox my spiraler. I see your photos in an entirely new light after taking your class. (No pun intended!) I’m looking forward to trying this recipe.
I love the zucchini noodles in the pad thai! I can’t wait to make it!
zoodles are the best.
Made it last night – easy and tasty my kind of recipe thanks
Suzy
I made this tonight for dinner. It was fabulous–flavorful, satisfying, and easy! Thank you for another wonderful addition to my dinner repertoire .
Love it! And your pictures are gorgeous. Very inspiring 🙂
wow..these look so fresh and healthy! I have to try this 🙂
I’ve been doing zucchini pasta for a while now and absolutely love it, I’ll mix it in with some pasta sometimes to bulk it up. I’ve never even thought to turn it into noodles or a pad thai. I’ll give this a go one night, thanks!
Ah this looks amazing! I absolutely need to try this =)
I made this dish last night and it was delicious! This was the first time making zoodles, and I will be making them again:)
I’ve heard of “zoodles” but have yet to try them. They look divine!
i just recently bought a spiraler and loooove it. definitely giving this recipe a try :))
xo, cheyenne
This sounds incredible! And such beautiful zoodles! I may have to finally get that spiralizer I’ve been eyeing.
I have felt the same about zoodles but you have me convinced!! Will be trying these soon seriously!
I love devouring pad thai but always feel so guilty afterwards due to all the thick rice noodles, so this recipe is perfect for me. I definitely will be trying your zucchini noodle version.. thanks for the idea!
This is so genius! I haven’t invested in a spiralizer thingy yet, but you may have convinced me. Now I’m searching my brain for other noodle dishes the zoodles could sub in…
Absolutely gorgeous! I need to give this a try.
I love to learn new things in a kitchen and I looove this idea. The first machine looks awesome 😀
yum! this looks delicious & I can’t wait to try it!
I have been in love with Zoodles for well over a year. I discovered them after trying Shirataki noodles and not being impressed, but needing something to sub for regular pasta. I also love to do ribbons with the zucchini. Your recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Zoodles pad thai looks terrific. I bumped into your book at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. It looks fabulous. Congrats to both of you.
Love this idea! We’ve been making zucchini noodles all summer – even when we use actual pasta, I love how they extend and lighten up the dish.
I’m obsessed with my Paderno, I’ve been making zoodles all summer! This Pad Thai will def be going on the menu soon!
There are food fads and crazes that I could do without (like Nutella on everything), but zoodles is one that I hope sticks around indefinitely. This dinner looks amazing!
Love zoodles!! Especially when it’s made tastefully 🙂
This is gorgeous! Love the curly zucchini noodles. Yum!