Have Thai night at home, but make it low carb! Using shirataki noodles, it's easy to make Keto Pad Thai in just 25 minutes! This recipe features all of the flavors you know and love in traditional Pad Thai, including an incredibly scrumptious sauce. Make it with shrimp, chicken or vegetables for a delicious meal.
A tasty noodle dish that's low carb, how is that even possible? Allow me to introduce you to shirataki noodles, also known as miracle noodles or zero calorie noodles. These noodles are originally from Japan and made from the konjac plant.
The noodles have very little flavor on their own, which is why I'm pairing them with an incredibly flavorful sauce in this pad thai recipe. You only need to boil them for 2 minutes, which is one of the reasons this recipe comes together so quickly!
In less than 30 minutes, you can create keto pad thai at home, with all of the flavors you know and love, but way less calories and carbs! This recipe contains 8 total carbs and 7 net carbs per serving, making it the perfect meal for those on a keto diet.
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Ingredients you'll need
- For the sauce:
- Coconut aminos - this sauce is a common substitute for soy sauce or tamari. It's naturally gluten free, with 73% less sodium than traditional soy sauce and it's paleo, keto and whole30 approved.
- Sesame oil
- Monk fruit sweetener - this keto sweetener is a common substitute for sugar, honey or other sweeteners in low carb recipes. It's found online or near the traditional sugar at the grocery store. It contains zero calories and zero net carbs, making it perfect for our low carb pad thai sauce.
- Lime juice
- Sriracha
- Thai red curry paste
- Fish sauce
- Peanut butter
- For the pad thai:
- Shirataki noodles - these noodles are now easily found at most major grocery stores in the refrigerated section near the vegan products, such as tofu and tempeh. They might be labeled "miracle noodles" or "pasta zero". You can read more about them in this post, What Are Shirataki Noodles?
- Coconut oil
- Garlic cloves
- Shrimp
- Eggs
- Bean sprouts
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Unsalted roasted peanuts
Step by step instructions
- Prepare the sauce. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut aminos, sesame oil, monkfruit sweetener, lime juice, sriracha, Thai red curry paste, fish sauce and peanut butter. Set the sauce aside.
- Cook the shirataki noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove. Rinse the shirataki noodles thoroughly using a fine mesh strainer. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Cook the garlic and shrimp. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet, or wok, on the stove over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add minced garlic and shrimp, cook for 1 minute.
- Add the eggs. Move the shrimp and garlic to one side of the pan. Whisk two eggs, then add them to the other side of the pan.
- Scramble the eggs. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs in the skillet, this should take 1-2 minutes.
- Add the noodles and sauce to the skillet. Add the cooked noodles and prepared sauce.
- Stir fry the pad thai. Toss all of the ingredients together, add bean sprouts and stir fry the dish for 2-3 minutes.
- Finish the dish. Remove the pad thai from the heat and divide it between four bowls. Top with diced green onions, cilantro leaves and chopped peanuts.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I make it with chicken instead of shrimp? Yes, of course! You can marinate the chicken first using this Thai Chicken Recipe, or you can skip the marinade. Either way, you'll want to add ½ pound of cubed chicken breasts or chicken thighs to the skillet when the coconut oil is hot. Saute for 3-4 minutes before adding the garlic. Since shrimp cooks faster than chicken, you'll need that extra 2-3 minutes of cook time. Follow the rest of the recipe as instructed.
- Can I use something besides shirataki noodles? Yes, you can use zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash instead of the shirataki noodles and still make this dish low carb!
- Can I prep the sauce ahead of time? Yes! That's one of my favorite meal prep tricks. Whisk together the sauce and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Feel free to double the batch and make this recipe twice in one week. I promise, you'll want to, it's so delicious!!
How to make this recipe vegan
- Replace the fish sauce and Thai red curry paste. Most curry paste contains shrimp paste, so you'll want to find one that does not to make this recipe vegan. My favorite brand of curry paste, Mae Ploy, now makes a vegetarian version of their red curry paste. I would highly recommend it for this recipe. You'll also want to replace the fish sauce with a vegan fish sauce, like this one from Ocean's Halo.
- Replace the shrimp with vegetables. Feel free to use ½ pound of the vegetables of your choice. I like bell peppers, onions, zucchini, mushrooms and broccoli in my vegetarian pad thai. The vegetables should be cut into squares, or small florets of broccoli. Add the vegetables to the coconut oil in the pan, once it's hot. Saute for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for an additional minute. Follow the other instructions as listed in the recipe.
- Omit the eggs. If you'd like, you can replace them with crumbled tofu.
More keto recipes to try
- Low Carb Fish Taco Bowls
- Buffalo Tofu Salad
- Chicken Shawarma Salad
- Keto Buffalo Chicken Bowl
- Slow Cooker Green Chili Pulled Pork Bowl
- Low Carb Vegan Fajita Bowl
- Chipotle Chicken Bowl with Avocado Salsa
Recipe
Keto Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon monk fruit sweetener
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon thai red curry paste
- 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 16 ounces shirataki noodles
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ pound shrimp peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
Toppings
- ¼ cup bean sprouts
- 2 tablespoons green onions diced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon unsalted peanuts chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut aminos, sesame oil, monk fruit extract, fresh lime juice, sriracha, thai red curry paste, fish sauce and peanut butter. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove.
- Rinse the shirataki noodles thoroughly using a fine mesh strainer.
- Add the shirataki noodles to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.
- Drain the noodles and set them aside.
- Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet or wok on the stove over medium high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and shrimp, cook for 1 minute.
- Flip the shrimp and move them to the side of the pan.
- Pour the lightly beaten eggs into the skillet.
- Cook the eggs, stirring them until cooked and scrambled, about 2 minutes.
- Add the cooked noodles and prepared sauce to the skillet, toss everything together, continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and divide the pad thai between four bowls.
- Top with the bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro leaves, peanuts and lime wedges.
Video
Notes
- To make this recipe with chicken: You can marinate the chicken first using this Thai Chicken Recipe, or you can skip the marinade. Either way, you'll want to add ½ pound of cubed chicken breast to the skillet when the coconut oil is hot and saute for 3-4 minutes before adding the garlic. Since shrimp cooks faster than chicken, you'll need that extra 2-3 minutes of cook time.
- The shirataki noodles can be replaced with zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash to still make this dish low carb.
- The sauce can be prepped up to 5 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until you're ready to prepare the dish.
- To make this recipe vegan, use a vegetarian curry paste that does not contain shrimp paste and use a vegan fish sauce. Replace the shrimp with ½ pound of chopped vegetables. Add the vegetables to the hot coconut oil in the pan, saute for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for an additional minute. Follow the other instructions as listed in the recipe. Omit the eggs. If you'd like, you can replace them with crumbled tofu.
Tiffany
This recipe is amazing! I use Smucker’s sugar free breakfast syrup for my sweetener and it is so good. My picky hubby loves it as well.
Elizabeth Andersen
I followed the recipe. It had good flavor but the sauce was on the thin side. However mine turned out pretty watery