Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai recipe as featured in The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook
My test kitchen (i.e. family and friends) guests were big fans of this Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai.
Compliments included “does not taste healthy,” “very authentic” and “I did not know that spaghetti squash could taste that good.”
Spaghetti squash is different than other winter squashes as it’s flesh will separate into spaghetti like strands. This makes it a perfect substitute in all of your pasta recipes.
Spaghetti squash provides Potassium which performs the essential role of keeping your muscles and nerves functioning, including your heart muscle.
It also provides vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, iron and calcium This powerhouse even offers protein. At just 40 calories per cup, spaghetti squash deserves a prominent place on your dinner plate.
Mung Bean Sprouts provide protein and contain isoflavone nutrients. This can offer hormone regulating activity and are low in cholesterol and high in soluble dietary fibers.
Foods that are high in soluble dietary fibers may help to lower LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is also known as Low Density Lipoproteins or “bad cholesterol”. This is the cholesterol bad boy and the one we want to lower (an easy way to remember this is L for Lower and H, as in HDL, for higher). With mung beans containing 1.9 g of total dietary fiber per cup you are on your way to the 10 to 25 g of soluble fiber per day that is recommended for your health.
We are told that shrimp is high in cholesterol but researchers at Rockefeller University in New York and Harvard have conducted extensive research that tell us that this may not be of concern.
This may be due to the fact that shrimp is low in fat and contains fish oils that are good for your heart. Elizabeth De Oliveira of Rockefeller University states that “If you love shrimp, and you follow a heart healthy diet, enjoy your shrimp with no guilt. In fact, consuming shrimp instead of other high fat foods will have beneficial effects.”
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai is definitely another Dr. Hyman healthy hit that I encourage you to try.
Maximize your nutrition by trading carbohydrate rich rice noodles for low-glycemic and Vitamin-A rich spaghetti squash.
Serves: 4 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Level: Easy
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai Ingredients:
■ 1 large spaghetti squash, halved and seeded ■ ¼ cup peanut oil ■ 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce.You’ll find Thai fish sauce in your local Asian or natural food market, or in the international aisle of most large supermarkets.
■ 2 teaspoons reduced-sodium, gluten-free tamari sauce ■ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes ■ 1 large egg, beaten ■ 2 garlic cloves, minced ■ 4 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, roughly chopped ■ sea salt ■ 4 ounces raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and roughly chopped ■ 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded ■ 2 cups mung bean sprouts ■ 6 scallions, finely chopped ■ 1 lime, halved ■ ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnishSpaghetti Squash Pad Thai Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Brush the cut sides of the squash with 1 tablespoon of peanut oil.
- Place the squash, cut sides down, on a baking sheet and roast for 30–40 minutes. There will be no doubt that the spaghetti squash is cooked when a knife easily pierces through the flesh.
- After the spaghetti squash is cooled use a fork to shred the flesh into spaghetti-like strands and set aside.
- Stir together the fish sauce, tamari, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large wok, or large cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heat.
- Add the egg and cook until scrambled. Transfer to a plate and reserve.
- Pour an additional tablespoon of the oil into the wok and stir-fry the garlic until aromatic.
- Season the chicken with a little salt and stir-fry until golden brown, about 4 minutes.
- Push the chicken to the side, add the shrimp and stir frequently until the shrimp are pink and firm.
- Toss in the carrots and stir-fry them for 1 minute. Transfer the contents of the pan to a platter.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the wok, spread the squash strands out in the pan, and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Flip the pile of strands over and brown them for 2 minutes.
- Pour the sauce into the wok and add the chicken-shrimp mixture, egg, bean sprouts, and scallions. Gently toss to heat through, and squeeze the juice of one lime half over all.
- Garnish with the peanuts and serve with the other half lime available for table-side squeezing.
Nutritional Analysis: per Serving (1 and 1/3 cups): calories 263, fat 15 g, saturated fat 2 g, cholesterol
131 mg, fiber 1 g, protein 21 g, carbohydrate 14 g, sodium 611 mg
Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Have you tried spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute before? Will you now?
14 thoughts on “Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai with Chicken & Shrimp”
This sounds SO GOOD!!
It’s great to see you give healthier options but stay packed full of flavor.
Thanks for your value 🙂
Matt.
You are very welcome.
I’m trying to replace rice and noodles in my son’s diet with healthier alternatives and bought a spiralizer for him to create vegetable noodles. (he loves cooking) It’s hard for him to operate so spaghetti squash sounds like a great alternative. I’ve not bought it before but will add it to my shopping list this week. Thanks Dr Elise.
Spaghetti Squash is super simple to work with. Unfortunately some of the spiralizers are made very poorly. I am about to return one that I bought not long ago and buy a new one from KitchenAid. I hope that your son enjoys the dish.
Hi Dr. Elise, I just bought this tool from Walmart so that I can make swirls and curls with my vegetables. This dish sounds like a winner for me to test it out and create a new recipe for hubby.
I laughed at the quote, “it doesn’t taste healthy,” I say stuff like that all the time. Then I think isn’t it sad that healthy and tasty for some many doesn’t belong in the same sentence. Have patience with blogs like yours we are learning. Thank you
Lydia, I know exactly what tool you are referring to and you will love it. Play around with it and then before you know it you will use it all of the time.
Hi Elise Cohen Ho mam, Wonderful recipe for blood sugar. Its looking like tasty…Thanks for sharing
My pleasure. I hope that you will love it as much as I do 🙂
Hi Elishe
I am not a fan of Spaghetti but this looks so good. Thaks for sharing and have a wonderful week.
The spaghetti idea comes from the name of the squash, the strands of the squash looking similar to spaghetti and being able to use it all in ways similar to the way you would use spaghetti.
Hi Elise,
Looks amazing, I love the spaghetti squash.
Thank you for sharing I’ll definitely try your recipe 🙂
I will be very interested in your feedback
I’ve seen recipes using spaghetti squash but never had an opportunity to taste them, but I do like the idea of finding a healthy alternative to noodles so I’m just going to dive in and give this a try. Thanks Dr. Ho!
You should definitely just jump in and try it. It is really, really good.