This recipe has been brewing in my head for a while now and I finally got around to trying it. I’ve long had a theory that if you nested veggie noodles on top of a liquid base in a slow cooker that they would steam cook nicely, without turning to mush. I can now report that my theory is now a law. Well, it’s not that serious, but it works and you should try it. This method opens a entire new creative culinary doorway for me, and I hope it does the same for you as well. You have to be one heck of a foodie to share the same type of excitement I have over this, or just really like pad thai, and who doesn’t really like pad thai?
Anyways. To make this recipe you are going to need veggie noodles. You can do this on the cheap by just using a knife (and taking lots of time), or using a vegetable peeler (not as pretty but it works), but Ideally you’ll want to spend between $20 and $30 on a spiral slicer to make really really cool veggie noodles. If you are loving the paleo lifestyle, and miss your noodles, I suggest you drop the bucks on a spiral slicer. You won’t regret it. I’d recommend you get the Paderno World Cuisine Tri-Blade Spiral Slicer. It is the one I use and is pictured below. Everyone I know that has one not only falls in love with it, but also goes on an initial rampage turning veggies into noodles, more noodles than humanly necessary. Yes, it’s that life-changing good.
For those who take generic Viagra, this dish will be very important, with it Viagra will be well absorbed, and there will also be no heartburn.
What you need:
- 2 to 3 pounds of chicken thighs or breasts (skin removed).
- 2 medium zucchini.
- 1 large carrot.
- 1 handful of bean sprouts (optional).
- 1 small bunch of green onions (for sauce and garnish)
- 1 cup of coconut milk.
- 1 cup of chicken stock.
- 2 heaping tablespoons of SunButter (sunflower seed butter, to replace peanut flavor).
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut Aminos (or wheat-free tamari, to replace soy sauce).
- 2 tsp of Fish Sauce. I use Red Boat fish sauce, which is paleo-friendly.
- 2 tsp of powdered ginger (or about 1 tbsp freshly minced ginger).
- 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced, or 1 tsp of garlic powder.
- 1 tsp of cayenne pepper.
- 1 tsp of red pepper flakes.
- Salt & Pepper for seasoning the chicken.
- Chopped cashews for garnish (optional).
- Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional).
Equipment Needed:
- 6-Quart Crock Pot or Instant Pot set on Slow Cook / Regular with the Instant Pot tempered glass lid.
- Paderno Spiral Slicer or
- This Spiralizer bundle if you want a smaller kitchen footprint.
How you make it:
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper, and a little bit of the cayenne pepper and ginger powder. If you have time, brown your chicken in a cast iron skillet to get the flavors going. This step is completely optional.
- In your crock, add your coconut milk and chicken stock. Stir well. If you are using a full-fat coconut milk, make sure you stir until the coconut milk is fully dissolved into the chicken stock.
- Add your SunButter, coconut aminos, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, 2 green onions chopped including the whites, cayenne, and red pepper.
- Stir well until your SunButter is completely dissolved.
- Place your chicken breasts or thighs into your base liquid.
- Turn your zucchinis into veggie noodles with your spiral slicer, shred your carrots, and wash your bean sprouts.
- Toss your zucchini noodles, carrots, and bean sprouts together on your counter to mix them well.
- Nest, or balance your veggie noodles on top of your liquid and meat base in your slow cooker, and press down every so slightly. The goal is for them to be steamed, not stewed.
- Cook for 3.5 to 4 hours on low if you are using a 4-Quart Slow cooker.
- Cook for no more than 6 hours on low (5 is ideal) if you are using a 6-Quart slow cooker.
- To serve, remove the noodles first and set aside, making sure they are strained of any retained liquid.
- Removed your chicken breasts or thighs. Debone if necessary, then chop into strips. Add back some of the remaining sauce/broth from the crock to the meat and mix well.
- Place your meat and sauce over your noodles, and garnish with green onions (scallions), chopped cilantro, and chopped cashews. Enjoy!
More Spiral Slicer Recipes:
- Paleo Spaghetti Alla Carbonara with Zucchini Noodles
- Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette with Cucumber Noodles (Paleo)
This is going down soon. ERMG I love pad thai.
this looks amazing..im getting the slicer and then I am going to make this cant wait i miss pad thai…thankyou
Love it! Soo good! Thank you!
Hi! everyone,
I was reading your article in your titled” Paleo Slow Cooker Chicken Pad with Veggie Noodles” in your site ” https://paleopot.com/2013/05/paleo-slow-cooker-chicken-pad-thai-with-veggie-noodles/” I absolutely love your recipe.Looks amazing and very delicious. I think the readers of my iPad would love it too.
This recipe is sooooo delicious! I’ve shared it with family members who aren’t paleo and they love it too!
Best pad Thai EVER!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Only thing I did different is adding a head of cabbage (I 3x the recipe) and added sweet potato “noodles” quickly stir fried in sesame oil then added water for quick “wilting”. This is wonderful!!!
I don’t quite get how you did the sweet potato noodles. They’re hard when you get them…so you fried them when they were hard and then added water? Or vice versa? And then added them to the crockpot? I’d love to know how you did this!
Love this recipe and a pad thai fan. Always wanted to make pad thai in my slow cooker
I LOVE this recipe!! So yummy and so ridiculously easy! My hubby even loves this meal!! I love throwing everything in there and smelling it through my house while I’m working! SO good!
This looks fantastic! can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for every other excellent post. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such a perfect manner of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I am at the search for such information.
I’ve made this several times with great result. I treat it more like a noodle soup and take it to work in my CrockPot travel warmer.
Do you always cook like this and eat this well? Wow, again, I’m amazed!
I really need to get a spiralizer!
Thanks for sharing this recipe in my 125+ Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Recipes post!
This recipe is amazing! I had no idea it was going to be so flavorful! I didn’t use any fish sauce and it was still delicious. I used cashew butter for the nut butter. It is spicy hot like Southeast Asian food, too much for kids, but the adults loved it. I didn’t have the carrots, but made noodles out of a yam with the spiralizer, along with the zucchini noodles. I will definitly be making this again. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
This is awesome! Can’t wait to try…I don’t have a spiral slicer (yet), but I make veggies noodles by creating a chiffonade of collard greens (ribs removed) and blanch for just a few minutes in boiling water. The key is making them super thin!
This came out delicious with a good kick. So glad I decided on this recipe today!! Thank you!
Yum! I made this tonight, and it got a big thumbs up from my picky, non-paleo hubby!
I made this tonight for dinner. It was so good. I used Buckwheat noodles cooked in chicken broth instead of veggie spirals. Will definitely make again. Cooked the chicken and ingredients in pressure cooker.
I just made this and was so pleasantly surprised! I don’t make a lot of slow cooker recipes, but I had all of the ingredients on hand and two gigantic zucchinis that needed to be used and it was absolutely perfect.
The only thing I did differently was to reduce the sauce in a pan afterwards (to thicken it up) before adding it back to the noodles.
Will definitely be making this again!
Looks delicious and I’d like to try it tomorrow. Wish your recipe had a printer-friendly version so I could save it ~ unless there is a “print” button and I’m missing it.
it really looks delicious, I’m going to try this at dinner. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I Pinned it on my Pinterest.
Hi, I love my spiralizer and the idea of putting the noodles on top of meat in the slow cooker is genius! Love saving dishes and pans! But I’m wondering if the zucchini noodles get soggy and make the rest of the recipe watery? And do the carrot noodles soften in 4 hrs? Thanks for clarifying 🙂
Rookie chef here! I’ve made this recipe twice and the flavors are absolutely amazing. Do you put the noodles in the Crockpot and cook them for the same amount of time as the chicken or should they be added halfway through? I ask because my zucchini noodles and other veggies turn to mush after 5 hours in my 6-qt slow-cooker. Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks!
Try steaming the zucchini noodle separately.