I love Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai, but when trying to eat low-carb or Keto, because of the sugar and noodles you can't enjoy Pad Thai or can you? Yes, yes you can! A low carb version Pad Thai.
This was absolutely delicious and will definitely be added to my monthly rotation of meals. I would eat it weekly if I could. I am not sure I want to eat the Healthy Noodle weekly, it is delicious, it is not about that, it is just I am trying to listen to my friend Ash over at KetoCryers and try to eat with cleaner ingredients. Follow KetoCryers for Keto, Positivity, and Wellness Inspiration.
While the Healthy Noodle is a great low-carb option, it is not Keto. Listen whenever you can eat clean, eat whole foods, but in my opinion, to do this long-term as a lifestyle I personally need some of my favorite dishes and desserts, re-made, and often a low-carb version works, even though it may not be clean or considered whole foods. So while I agree, you shouldn't eat packaged anything every single day, sometimes it is what it is and it is better than eating the sugar-filled one. I know for myself this is a journey, I've lost weight, I've gained the weight back, I am still on my journey of a healthy lifestyle. I just like many of you, would eat all the junk if I could, it is cheaper, it is more convenient to eat chips, cookies, and ice cream, but the junk is not going to help me in my goals of living long and living strong.
Choosing berries as a treat over packed low-carb cookies of course in better and cleaner. Choosing Zoodles over any packaged, processed noodle substitute is going to be cleaner obviously. You could totally make this recipe with Zucchini Zoodles, and it would still taste yummy. With the Healthy Noodle, though it looks more like real Pad Thai, we also eat with our eyes, so grateful for this low-carb option.
I searched for a recipe and came across one by Low Carb Love, which I love all her low-carb recipes. I decided I would give it a try. I adapted it a little to use what I had on hand. For example, she uses bell pepper and no carrots and celery, but that is what I had on hand. She did not use onion, I like to use onion in everything. I used less Molasses and less sweetener than her recipe, and I thought mine tasted fine with less. I used both chicken and shrimp because I like a lot of meat. You could leave one out or even leave both out if you wish.
Don't be overwhelmed by the list of ingredients, this really is such a simple dish to make and a quick one. You can enjoy a delicious Chicken or Shrimp Pad Thai dinner in about 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
Healthy Noodle - 2 Pouches for 4 people
Chicken or Shrimp
2 Tablespoons - Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon - Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons - Fish Sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons - Coconut Aminos
1/2 Teaspoon Molasses
2-Tablespoons-Creamy Peanut Butter (sugar-free or lowest carb count possible)
2-Tablespoons Xylitol or Erythritol or Low Carb Sweetener of Your Choice
2-eggs
1/2 Small White Onion
3 Cloves - Minced Garlic (2 cloves to add with carrots and celery, 1 clove to cook with shrimp)
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
Celery (2-3 stalks diced)
Carrots (1/2 cup sliced)
1 Cup of Bean Sprouts
Garnish
Cilantro (this is a must in my opinion, makes the dish)
Green Onion (optional)
Peanuts (optional)
Lime
Instructions:
1. Prepare all your ingredients because this recipe goes fast.
Dice your onion, celery, carrots, you can use bell pepper, use what you have. In a bowl whisk the two eggs. Strain and rinse the noodle pouches have ready to go.
2. Prepare your sauce in a glass bowl. Combine all the ingredients.
3. Cook Shrimp in a tablespoon of olive oil, avocado oil, or what you have on hand, I added 1 clove of minced garlic with the shrimp as it cooked. Remove the cooked shrimp from the pan, set aside.
4. In the same pan, sauté your onions, celery, carrots. Don't over sauté, you want them to have a little crunch to them. Make a well in the middle. Add in your eggs to scramble. Mix together.
5. Add in a cup of bean sprouts, mix.
6. Add back in your cooked shrimp or chicken.
7. Add in the prepared sauce.
8. Add in Healthy Noodle, don't over mix, just heat slightly.
9. Plate and top with green onion, cilantro, peanuts and a squeeze of lime.
The cilantro really pulls together this dish, I wanted to taste it right away and so I tasted it and while it tasted delicious when I added the cilantro, that made such a HUGE difference and really pulled the dish together giving it that authentic Pad Thai goodness.
Some things I learned:
We grilled a chicken breast, I wanted to do both chicken and shrimp in our Pad Thai to make it meaty. Next time I will pre-cut the chicken like I do when I make fajitas and cook the chicken stovetop, fajita style. The grilled chicken worked and wasn't a big issue, but it really did not slice and look like the chicken would in a normal Chicken Pad Thai dish.
The Healthy Noodle cannot be over stirred, it will begin to break apart, for the best looking and for the noodle to keep its length, I would plate the Healthy Noodle on a plate, and then just pour all the ingredients over the noodles next time.
Authentic Pad Thai is made with brown sugar so adding the molasses makes up for that, the molasses and sweetener are the brown sugar, so you technically could use a low carb brown sugar if you have that on hand instead of going out to purchase molasses. I think you could also skip this part and it would still fill your Pad Thai cravings.
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