To date, this may be one of my favorite real food meals I’ve put together on so many levels:  anyone can make it, great flavors and colors, reasonable cost (see breakdown at bottom) and it’s loaded with real food nutrition.  This is a Pad Thai you’re going to love… and rather than typical Pad Thai made with rice noodles, I did a grain-free veggie spin on it using rainbow carrot noodles and zucchini noodles.  Super healthy real food remix version!

This Shrimp Pad Thai is recipe-friendly:

• Paleo
• Vegetarian
• Vegan-adaptable
• ReBoot Protocol (see kitchen notes)
• Gluten-free
• Grain-free
• Dairy-free
• 100% real food ingredients

Let’s dig in…

 Click to Pin and save for later!

Ingredients – Pad Thai Base

Serves 4, or great for meal prep

1 pound wild-caught shrimp, grilled (16-20)

4 cups rainbow carrot noodles, spiralized (4 medium-large carrots – see image below)

4 cups zucchini noodles, spiralized (2 large zucchini – see image below)

1 cup snow pea pods

1/2 – 1 cup cilantro, rough chop

1/2 cup raw cashews, crushed chunks

1/2 cup pea sprouts (bean sprouts fine too)

1/4 – 1/2 cup scallion, green part sliced thin

2 small garlic cloves, razor thin sliced

1 lime, juice

Coconut oil or olive oil

Pink & pepp

Optional:  Chili for heat

Ingredients – Pad Thai Sauce (this stuff was insane good!)

4 tablespoon raw cashew butter (if you have nut allergy, try using tahini)

2 tablespoon coconut aminos

1 tablespoon raw, unpasteurized honey (if vegan-adapt, use sweet of choice like coconut nectar or coconut sugar)

1 lime, juice

1 inch piece of ginger, skin removed

1 large garlic clove (or two medium)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 orange, juice

Kitchen Notes

1.   Spiralize:  Have you bought a veggie spiralizer yet?  If not, highly recommend.  Adds a fun aspect to the kitchen and your meals and it’s a kitchen tool you’ll use a lot.

2.  Carrots:  try and find thick girth carrots (see that orange one in image below?  You’ll want that so easier when you make as noodles with spiralizer. That purple one was a pain.)

3.  Pad Thai Sauce:  if you don’t want to make the whole Pad Thai dish, try the sauce as a salad dressing – so tasty!  If you want to thin it out, just add some more orange. Super easy.

4.  ReBoot:  ReBoot-friendly week 1 without shrimp.  Week 2+ with shrimp per how-to manual serving size.

Directions

1.  Start by “spiralizing” all your veggies (see above) and getting other ingredients ready.

2.  Add 2 tablespoon of olive or coconut oil to a large low-medium heat pan and add your carrot “noodles” first with a good pinch of salt and pepp.  Toss everything or use some tongs to coat.

3.  Let the carrots sizzle for about 8 minutes WITH lid, tossing every minute or so and putting lid back on.  The lid will help steam them a bit, making them a little more tender, but not mushy cooked like carrots we find in a soup for example.  We still want some ‘bite’.

4.  After the 8 minutes, add the zucchini noodles and thinly sliced garlic and turn the heat slightly lower.  We’re going to do same here, add a bit more salt and pepp, toss and add lid, and then tossing or using tongs to rotate everything and placing lid back on every minute or two.  We’re going to do another 8 minutes total for the zucchini noodles.

5.  While all the noodles are sizzling, let’s do our Pad Thai Sauce…  Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until creamy smooth.  How’s it taste?

6.  After the zucchini noodles have gone their 8 minutes, add the snow peas and all your sauce (see below).  Here, taste one of the carrot noodles and zucchini noodles… are they tender?  When I timed it, this was perfect for my palate… I  like bite and I don’t want to destroy the foods by overcooking too much.  If you want them to steam a bit longer with lid on, you may, just keep and eye on it so not mushy.

7.  Add  green scallion, sprouts, cilantro, and cashews and fold or toss in… however for plating, save a small handful of each if you like to sprinkle on top.

At this point, I turn the heat off on the Pad Thai noodles, and let it sit to the side with lid on while I quick sizzle the shrimps.

SHRIMPS:

1.  Start a new pan on medium heat.

2.  Add shrimps to a bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and give it a toss so everything is coated.

3.  When the pan is hot, add shrimps and sizzle for 1 minute each side, or until done to your liking.

When the shrimps are all done, toss or fold into your pad thai noodles and serve on a platter (see picture above) or serve individually on plates (picture below)..  Top off with some of your left over scallion, cashews and cilantro.

Really like the colors in this dish… does that not motivate you to eat healthy?!  Love it.  Hope you enjoy!

Estimated Cost Breakdown

Your big cost is shrimp.  Mine was $16 for a pound of fresh wild-caught.  So if you make this entire meal with the other veggie ingredients in it, you’re running about $6-7 each per person @ 4 servings/meals (how much do you think that plate above would cost in a restaurant?  Probably $15-20+ range depending on restaurant.  Cooking real food at home you’ll always save money. That said, you could make this without the shrimp to have as a beautiful side dish or even as a nourishing real food plant-based meal and your costs will be considerably less (about $2 per meal/person) for integrity-sourced ingredients.

Have a question about this post?  Ask below!