4.81 107 Published May 27, 2020, Updated Aug 13, 2024 Authentic Pad Thai is made with a sauce that consists of fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind paste and sugar. For this untraditional Pad Thai we’re using a sweet chili almond sauce that doesn’t use fish sauce, but still has a ton of flavor and makes this dish absolutely delicious. While I never want to imply that spaghetti squash noodles are exact dupes for regular noodles, they are a really great substitute for this Pad Thai dish! I find that while the texture is super similar, spaghetti squash has a firmer texture than cooked noodles and of course, they are thinner than the traditional rice noodles used for Pad Thai. You will know you’re eating vegetables instead of rice noodles, but I love the extra texture in this dish! Spaghetti squash has a hint of sweetness to it, but overall it’s pretty mild in taste so it takes on the flavors of the dish. In this case there are a lot of delicious flavors happening (especially from the almond sauce) so you don’t have to worry about it tasting bland.
Ingredients Needed:
There are two main components of this recipe: the sauce and everything else. I’m obsessed with the chili almond sauce, which is inspired by my chili almond dressing. Chili Almond Sauce Ingredients:
natural almond butter – look for one with just almonds or almonds + salt fresh lime juice low sodium tamari or coconut aminos – I love the sweetness coconut aminos add to this dish but either option works and in a pinch soy sauce works as well fresh ginger – you could certainly try ground ginger if you don’t have fresh, but fresh ginger gives this sauce so much flavor garlic cloves maple syrup sambal oelek or crushed red pepper
Pai Thai Ingredients:
spaghetti squash – either one large one or two small olive or avocado oil – whichever you have in the pantry works chicken breast – you could swap this for tofu or shrimp if you don’t eat meat Sea salt and ground pepper chopped ginger chopped yellow onion red bell pepper matchstick carrots green onions, fresh cilantro and limes, for garnish salted almonds (optional)
How to Prep Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
There are a lot of methods you can use to cook spaghetti squash, but here’s how I like to cook spaghetti squash. Check out the blog post for the full details, but the cliff notes are this: you preheat your oven to 400º F and then cut your spaghetti squash into 1 1/2 inch thick rings. Gently scrape out the seeds in the middle of each ring, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping about 15 minutes in. You’ll be left with perfectly cooked spaghetti squash strands that are long and not watery at all. After you cook the spaghetti squash and whip up the sauce in your food processor or blender, this recipe is straight forward – just lots of sautéing! First you’ll cook the chicken, then the veggies and then you mix everything together for serving. And if your sauté pan isn’t large enough, you can do the mixing in a large bowl. Once everything is combined, simply serve with green onions, cilantro, lime and chopped almonds for garnish!
Spaghetti Squash Recipes to Try:
20+ Spaghetti Squash Recipes Spaghetti Squash Tuna Noodle Casserole Boats Almond Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake Vegan Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Bowls
More Healthy Pad Thai Inspired Dishes:
Kale & Cabbage Pad Thai Salad Healthy Pad Thai Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai
