Pad Thai Zoodle Bowls

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Mmmm these Pad Thai Zoodle Bowls – healthy, easy, and so yummy! Maybe you feel like me and that you have been exclusively existing on a quarantine diet of banana bread and cheez-its (just me? no?) but I have been needing something packed with veggies and healthy. But still yummy – very important. There are three parts to these bowls- the zoodles (zucchini noodles), the sauce, and the protein.

I started making these zoodle bowls last summer when I was trying out a gluten free, dairy free diet (not on that anymore), but these fit the bill! Or, they’re just healthy but still really yummy! If you need them to be dairy free / gluten free, just check your condiments carefully- sometimes there’s sneaky ingredients hiding in there.

Here’s the main reason I like these zoodle bowls though…. They. Are. So. FAST. Faster than actual pasta (which by the way, yes you could totally use real noodles in this – rice noodles would be good) but I’m TELLING YOU- FAST. ZOODLES. Especially with the Sloth Shortcuts.

Zoodles

What the heck are “zoodles”?

Zucchini noodles. Zucchini that’s been spiralized into long spaghetti-like shapes. You could chop up the zucchini and get a similar-ish dish, but there is something about eating yummy noodles – even if they’re made out of zucchini – that isn’t quite the same as chopped zucchini. They key is that you need a crank spiralizer – I tried to cut noodle-ish shapes by hand for a while.. it’s a) too much work so I gave up and b) didn’t taste the same.

I’m in love with this spiralizer. I have the version with three different blades so you can make different types of “noodles”. It’s so easy to use and ALSO SO CATHARTIC SOMEHOW? I’m not sure what it is, but spinning the crank and getting a ginormous mountain of zucchini noodles in seconds (yes, seconds) is just too much fun.

To use it, you chop off the ends of your zucchini, put it on the spiralizer, and go to town. I’m obsessed. This ridiculously huge pile of zoodles took about 30 seconds. BIG FAN.

I will also spiralize these all at once at the beginning of the week and store them in a plastic bag with a paper towel. They do release some water, and if you’re not cooking them right away, you can squeeze some if it out with a paper towel. I always store them with a dry paper towel, and they last several days like this in the fridge. This is the FASTEST EVER spaghetti Monday with these zoodles in the fridge.

The Sauce

To get that distinctive, delicious, savory, Pad Thai taste, there are a few specific ingredients:

White vinegar – some acidity
Chicken base – (I like this one, lots of flavor)
Soy Sauce – some salt and flavor
Lime Juice – a little citrus
Honey – some sweetness
Garlic powder
Pepper
This chili sauce – great flavor but be careful – it is SPICY!! I use just a little.
and…. Fish Sauce.

Hold on hold on hold on…. yes I know Fish Sauce sounds weird and NOT like something you want to eat, but it brings some really important flavor to this pad thai, and many other asian dishes- it just isn’t the same without it. Your noodles, er- zoodles, will not taste like fish- they will be delicious, I promise. I held out on buying this for a while before finally caving, and it is WORTH IT. It tastes salty and flavorful- kind of like Worcestershire sauce, but a little different.

You know what else has weird fishy ingredients and is beloved by all? Caesar salad. That stuff has ANCHOVY PASTE in it. Sounds weird, but so important to the flavor.

In conclusion, fish sauce. Strange sounding, but very important. Yum yum yum I promise.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup and set it aside.

Protein

To make this a filling, hearty dinner, you’ll need some protein. My favorites are shrimp or chicken, but you could also do tofu to be vegetarian.

I love using rotisserie chicken or leftover shredded chicken in this – it makes it even faster!

Whatever you use, sauté your protein in a large skillet (LARGE- those zoodles take up lots of room) – and you want to do this in one pan because no thank you to dishes. I like this skillet – it’s a nonstick pan but without the teflon coating- it’s a ceramic coating.

For chicken (uncooked), dice it up and brown it until it’s cooked through- depending on the size of your chicken, this should take 5-6 minutes. If you’re using cooked chicken, skip this step. For shrimp, throw it into the pan and sauté until it’s no longer pink – about 2 minutes.

Remove the protein to a plate (or preferably, one of the bowls your yummy noodles are going into- less dishes!)

Sauté the sliced onion until it’s starting to soften and then throw your giant mountain of zoodles into the pan. It looks like so many right now, but they will shrink down some as they cook. The thing with zoodles is that we don’t want to overcook them, so this next part is quick. They cook FAST and they go from YUM to wilty and sad pretty quickly. If you are a zoodle hater, you may have had slimy, lifeless, sad zoodles. I like them to be warm but still have a little bite to them.

Make a little spot for the eggs, and add the two eggs (beaten) into the pan. Let it cook about 30 seconds and then give everything a stir- the egg will keep cooking.

Grab your sauce and your protein and cook just one more minute until everything is warmed and combined. If you like your zoodles softer, you can keep cooking, but I find I like them best while they still hold their shape and have just a little bit of crunch.

Yummm! Top with some chopped peanuts (so important!) and if you have it, some chopped cilantro and lime wedges. Add a little tiny scoop of the chili sauce on there, but just a little- it’s spicy!

So good and so healthy!

Sloth Shortcuts

To throw these Pad Thai Zoodle Bowls together quickly, use these Sloth Shortcuts:

Sloth Shortcut #1: Use precooked chicken – leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken to speed things up!

Sloth Shortcut #2: For hardly any prep around mealtime, use a spiralizer to prep the zoodles earlier in the week when you have time (although they take just few minutes to do). If you want to prep the zoodles ahead of time, squeeze them with a paper towel to get rid of excess water and then store them wrapped in a paper towel in a ziplock bag. They’ll last several days.

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