Veggie Pad Thai Salad with a sweet and savoury peanut dressing – ready in 15 minutes or less. This spicy noodle bowl uses julienned zucchini in place of noodles making it perfect as light lunch or dinner side.
I think it’s about time I buy myself an spiralizer because I’m just about done with slicing the ever-loving you-know-what out of my fingers with my current julienne peeler. We had a good run together, my julienne peeler and I and have made lots of fun things together. We went through countless carrots, tons of courgettes, I even made hash browns out of a few potatoes. But now it’s time for bigger and better things and I can’t keep hurting myself like this. It’s time to move on….
Until then, I just can’t help myself. I am so on board with this whole veggie pasta noodle that has taken hold. Maybe it’s because I’m still a five year old at heart, but I find it so much easier to eat my vegetables when they are small enough that I can pretend they’re not there. One of my favorite breakfasts involves me slicing up a zucchini, cutting it up into even smaller bits and throwing it in my eggs with a bit of feta and cherry tomatoes and you don’t even know they’re there. It’s amazing.
Which brings me to this Pad Thai salad. Unlike regular Pad Thai, this replaces the noodles with shredded zucchini aka “zoodles”. Between the zoodles, the shredded carrot, and everything else this veggie Pad Thai is basically a big ol’ bowl of your five a day. Also unlike traditional Pad Thai, there’s no stir frying required – just a quick flash fry of carrots and zucchini to soften them up. Then all you have to do is pile on the peppers, the herbs, and the 2 minute peanut sauce and you have a fresher and healthier reincarnation of your very a takeout favorite.
If you crave a little more protein in your life you can also toss in a bit of chopped chicken or tofu. Or you can just go crazy like me and throw in another handful (or two) of chopped peanuts. I dig that crunch.
Speaking of peanuts. I am all about this peanut dressing. It’s simple. It’s sweet. It’s savory. It takes more time to actually locate the ingredients to make said dressing than it does to mix it all together. I want to pour this sauce over my cereal and have it for breakfast it’s that good.
This, in my opinion, is the way vegetables should be eaten.
Do any of you own a spiralizer type contraption or have any recommendations? If so – discuss in the comments and let me know!
Veggie Pad Thai Zoodles
Veggie Pad Thai Salad with a sweet and savory peanut dressing - ready in 15 minutes or less. This spicy noodle bowl uses julienned zucchiuni in place of noodles making it perfect as light lunch or dinner side.
Ingredients
- 2 large zucchinis shredded
- 1 large carrot shredded
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup a small handful fresh cilantro, diced + more for garnshing
- 1/4 cup a small handful fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup of green onions, diced (green part only for low FODMAP)
- 1 hot pepper sliced - remove the seed if you want less heat
- 1/2 cup | 65 grams peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp sesame oil + more for frying
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar, or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Heat a skillet with a little bit of sesame oil and flash fry your shredded zucchini and carrot for 1-2 minutes to soften. Make sure to stir the entire time, then remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the diced red peppers, hot pepper, fresh herbs, and peanuts to the zoodles and squeeze the lime juice over the veggies. Toss to combine.
- In a small bowl add the peanut butter, sesame oil, coconut aminos (or tamari), sugar, and red pepper flakes - whisk to combine. Pour over the zoodles and toss. Garnish with additional cilantro and peanuts and serve.
Nutrition Information
This post contains affiliate links. I only post links for products I personally use and believe in. If you make a purchase on Amazon after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission and the price you pay is not affected. Thank you!
Justine Duncan says
I made this over the weekend to have for a quick, healthy lunch that I can eat on the go at work. It’s absolutely amazing! I omitted the sugar and it was still so delicious! Definitely making this many more times. Thank you for the recipe 😀
Sarah says
Yay! Thanks Justine! Glad you liked it!
Katherine says
I’ve made this recipe twice now, the second time doubling it. Delicious! Great, healthy recipe!
Sarah says
I’m so glad you like it! Thanks for coming back to let me know what you think!
Sarah says
Same here – love peanut sauces! Thanks, Dan!
Sarah says
Aww, I’m honored! Thanks, Molly!
Sarah says
Thanks, Heather!
Sarah says
Thanks, Meg! Is it weird that the other thing I really like about spiralizer’s is that they always make the noodles veggies look all nice and curly? Because I totally love that! Thank you so much – hope you like it as much as we did!
Sarah says
#teamspiralizer! Thanks, Laura!
Sarah says
You can never go wrong when you throw a bit of crispy tofu into things – you could also just go to town and add both tofu and peanuts! Thanks, Gabriel!