Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
101
Published May 27, 2020, Updated Dec 12, 2021
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This healthy spaghetti squash Pad Thai uses spaghetti squash strands instead of rice noodles for a veggie-packed dish that’s lower in carbs and super satisfying.
Pad Thai is probably one of the most well-known Thai dishes, but if you’re unfamiliar it’s traditionally a stir-fried noodle dish originating from Thailand. It’s typically made with rice noodles, but since I’m a spaghetti squash lover through and through, I had to try it with squash noodles instead. 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 healthy 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 could use to cook spaghetti squash, but my personal favorite is to cook it in rings. Check out my blog post for the full details, but the cliff notes are: 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!
More Spaghetti Squash Recipes to Try:
- 20+ Healthy 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:
If you make this spaghetti squash Pad Thai, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating down below letting me know how it turned out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash, approx. 5 cups after roasting
- 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons olive or avocado oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- Sea salt and ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 ⁄2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 sliced red bell pepper
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- Green onions, fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for garnish
- 2 Tablespoons chopped salted almonds, optional
Chili Almond Sauce
- ½ cup natural almond butter, no sugar added
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 Tablespoon low sodium tamari or coconut aminos
- 1 inch knob fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or crushed red pepper
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti squash in rings using instructions from my spaghetti squash post.
- Allow squash rings to cool for about 15 minutes, then peel the skin away and use a fork to separate the strands.
- While squash is roasting, make the chili almond sauce by adding all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and set aside.
- Chop raw chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon oil. Add chicken to the skillet and liberally season with sea salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often until all sides are golden and chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the same skillet and sauté together ginger, onion, bell pepper and carrots. Cook until the veggies are starting to soften, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add chicken back to the skillet with the veggies. Then add the chili almond sauce and mix everything together thoroughly.
- Add spaghetti squash to the skillet and mix again. If your skillet isn’t large enough, you can put everything in a large bowl to mix instead.
- Serve the spaghetti squash pad Thai immediately with green onions, fresh cilantro and lime wedges for garnish. Top with chopped almonds.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this for dinner today and it was actually amazing. Probably my favorite recipe from EBF so far! The sauce is great even without the chili flakes and it doesn’t leave you feeling heavy. Can’t wait to have my leftovers tomorrow!
Ahh!! I’m so glad this dish surprised you with being so good, Ariana. Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and star rating too. I really appreciate it!
A top 5 Whole 30 meal and we’ve done Whole 30 at least 8x! Skipped maple syrup and carrots. 4 chicken breasts. Could use a second red pepper but slightly less cayenne. Make the spaghetti squash exactly as she says! Not soggy at all… delicious meal!!
Yay!! That makes me so happy to hear. I’m so glad you’ve been loving this recipe. Thanks for much for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
Smelled so amazing cooking that everyone was really excited to try it! Didn’t have red pepper so used cabbage, sweet onions, and carrots. Sautéed in sesame oil. Used coconut aminos in the sauce but it turned out a tad sweet so added soy at the end and also added some extra chili flakes. Topped with sliced green onions, chopped peanuts, and sriracha. Didn’t have cilantro but that would have been a perfect touch.Rave reviews from my skeptical diners- will definitely make again!
Ahh yay!! That makes me so happy to hear. I’m glad this recipe was a hit. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
Yum! I don’t usually take time to comment but this dish is a winner. I’ve leaned hard away from spaghetti squash in recent years because it’s time consuming. The method sighted here is a keeper, though it still takes some time. But… it’s a pandemic, so I’ve got time certainly. I made more squash than I needed so will be back for more recipe inspiration. I like a saucy & spicy pad thai so ended up increase the saucey 50% and adding more sambal. Even better the next day! Thanks for this great recipe.
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m so glad you loved this recipe, Emily. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I SO appreciate it!
Love, love, love this dish!!! It’s one of those recipes that you make and crave it days later. I’ve never cooked with spaghetti squash until this dish, and I’m so glad I gave it a go. Great recipe!
Ahh yay!! That makes me so happy to hear. I’m so glad this recipe was a hit. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
This was a delicious meal. I’m so glad I tried it. Will definitely be making again.
Yay!! I’m glad you tried it and loved it, Jenn. 🙂
Delicious!!!!
This recipe turned out to yield a phenomenal dish. Definitely a crowd pleaser. I’d say makes for great leftovers, but there almost weren’t any left, just because of how popular it was. I just discovered this recipe about a week and a half ago, and I’ve already made it twice. Will be using this recipe for upcoming Christmas potlucks.
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m so glad this recipe was a hit, Shauna. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It means the world to me. 🙂
Turned out delicious!!! At first I thought the steps sounded pretty long and complicated, but everything went real easy! I love the different way to cook spag squash, it was like a revelation for me! Lol. And I used some fake chicken to make the meal vegan. Perfection!
So glad you loved this recipe, Beth!! Thanks for giving it a try and for coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it. 🙂
O.M.G. This was FANTASTIC