I love pasta. A really well-done pasta fills me with such euphoria, I don’t think I could ever fathom going full-on zero-carb.
I love pasta and bread and butter and cheese and wine and happiness. That being said, I also love kale (when/how did that happen?) and Brussels sprouts (COME AT ME) and guess what- I freaking love spaghetti squash.
Am I going to substitute spaghetti squash in my husband’s legendary meatball recipe or Chrissy Teigen’s Cacio e Pepe? NAH. Of course not.
But I do love the heck out of a well-made spaghetti squash recipe. One that doesn’t make you go “This is so good. You know what is the only thing that would make this better? Real-ass, proper pasta noodles.”
I recently learned that I have been cooking spaghetti squash wrong my entire adult life (WHAT?!) (it’s about a shocking as the day I learned gif was supposed to be pronounced ‘jif’… except obviously I actually listened to the spaghetti squash advice. Jif is stupid.)
Having finally reached spaghetti squash nirvana, I sat happily munching and thinking “this reminds me of something…”
Vermicelli noodles.
Proper spaghetti squash is tender but remains a little crunchy, it’s slurpy but not watery. It’s- rice vermicelli!
I know pad thai isn’t usually made with rice vermicelli, but it is made with thicker rice noodles of a slightly similar texture so *close enough.* Sure enough, using spaghetti squash in pad thai worked better than I ever expected.
It’s good, guys. It’s really good. It’s so good, I didn’t miss the actual noodles at all. It’s so good I made it twice in one week… and then a third time to take some pictures.
To my great surprise, this recipe also makes amazing leftovers. I fully expected it the ‘noodles’ to go mushy after a second reheat but they didn’t- which in some ways makes it better than traditional pad thai because anyone who has ever attempted to resuscitate rice noodles the day after… yeah, it’s sad.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that all that saucy, chewy, crunchy, sweet, salty, sour, savoury, herby… wait, what was I talking about? This is like highway hypnosis. I’m probably either halfway through making this again without consciously knowing it… or I’m chewing through my pillow and dreaming that I am.
I won’t keep talking, I know no one reads the non-recipe bits in food blogs anyway 🙂
Just do yourself a favour and put this on the meal plan for the week.
| Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai | | Print |
- Pad Thai sauce:
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce*
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp tamarind paste
- .
- Protein(s):
- 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced
- AND/OR
- 200g firm tofu, sliced
- .
- 2 Tbsp vegetable, coconut or peanut oil
- ½ medium onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 150g bean sprouts
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- .
- Garnishes:
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- Sriracha or other Asian hot sauce (optional)
- Mix all pad thai sauce ingredients together and whisk until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Cook spaghetti squash al dente (see instructions in notes)**
- If you are using tofu in addition to or in lieu of chicken: Heat a touch of oil in a wide, flat-bottomed pan. Place slices of tofu into the hot pan and cook until brown and crispy then flip and brown on the other side. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate until ready to add to the finished pad thai.
- Heat pan over medium-high heat with a touch of oil (coconut, vegetable or peanut). Add onion and cook until softened, roughly 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so until fragrant but not browned. If you are using chicken, add chicken and stir fry with the onion and garlic until the chicken is cooked through.
- Pour the egg mixture into the pan, swirl them around the pan a bit and cook for a couple seconds, as if you're making an omelette. Let the bottom of the eggs cook just barely set and then scrape up the edges with a spatula. Let the bottom of the eggs cook once more and then scrape up again. Add spaghetti squash noodles and bean sprouts and then pour the pad thai sauce in, tossing the entire mixture to coat. Remove from heat. If you are adding tofu, tossed your crisped tofu in now.
- Serve immediately with handfuls of peanuts, green onions, lime wedges, cilantro and- if you so please- hot sauce or fresh chilis.
** How to Cook the Perfect Al Dente Spaghetti Squash: http://portandfin.com/how-to-cook-the-perfect-spaghetti-squash/
I have attempted spaghetti squash pad thai several times and have always been disappointed. Not so this time!! I’m so glad I tried this recipe after so many botched attempts- even my husband (a carb-holic) adored it. This is going into our weekly rotation now. Thank you so much for finally cracking the code on this!!