I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t enjoy Pad Thai. Now that I’m taking on a keto diet, my cravings have been stronger than ever. What’s the best way to fill the void? To make a keto version of Pad Thai, of course! My keto pad thai dish is for those who like to live on the spicy side. The best part is that it’s easy to make!
Last updated: June 29, 2020
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Quick Links
- Is Pad Thai Keto Friendly?
- How about the Keto Pad Thai Sauce?
- Is Fish Sauce Keto?
- What is Monkfruit Sweetener?
- Why Chicken Thighs?
- What other Ingredients were substituted?
- Take me to the recipe!
Is Pad Thai Keto Friendly?
Generally, no. Traditional Pad Thai has a few main ingredients I’ll cover in my post:
- Rice Noodles
- Palm Sugar
- Fish Sauce
- Tamarind
There are a bunch of other variations that use seafood and many other ingredients but for simplicity
1.) As long as rice noodles are being used then it cannot be keto friendly. Instead, I’ve substituted the noodles for shirataki noodles. They’re made out of the roots of Konjac Yam which are found throughout East Asia. They have close to zero carbs which makes it absolutely keto friendly!
Related: How to Cook Shirataki Noodles the Right Way
2.) Another common ingredient is palm sugar. Just as its name implies, there is sugar in this Thai favorite. With my recipe, I’m going to replace it with Monkfruit Sweetener to capture some of the sweetness found in Pad Thai. See: What is monk fruit sweetener?
3.) Traditional Fish Sauce is commonly made with sugar therefore, I suggest using a different kind of brand. See: Is Fish Sauce Keto?
4.) With tamarind, this one’s a major no-no as it contains net carbs of 23 grams. The form commonly used is the paste which is highly concentrated and we can’t have that to stay in ketosis. Instead, I’ll be using lime to capture
How about the Keto Pad Thai Sauce?
Traditionally Pad Thai uses a mix of tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar to make their addictive pad thai sauce. This mix is made prior to cooking and is poured over the veggies and meats while they’re stir-fried. For my recipe, I’ve keto-
Is Fish Sauce Keto?
Here’s the thing about fish sauce. Some are preserved for a long time and blended with some fillers and sugar. I hate to recommend just one brand but I’ve only seen one that’s safest for keto-ers. This one’s called the Red Boat Premium Fish Sauce. They boast only having two ingredients: freshly caught wild anchovies and sea salt. I’ve heard Costco carries them so you may want to check for them there. I’ve also seen them at Wholes Food Market. If not, you can always order them at Amazon.
So maybe that’s a good business to get into is keto fish sauce. There’s barely any competition. Maybe one day you’ll see me strike a deal on Shark Tank.
Want to see other keto friendly ingredients? Check out my Keto Grocery Shopping Guide.
What is Monkfruit Sweetener?
For those who don’t know what Monkfruit is, it’s a natural sweetener extracted from monk fruit, native to Southeast Asia. I advise using monk fruit as an alternative to sugar because it has zero calories and 100-150 times sweeter than sugar especially if you want to stay in ketosis! The one I’m using in my recipe is made by Lakanto which is very popular in the Asian Keto community and praised by many keto leaders such as Thomas Delauer and Drew Manning. You can find this brand and many others at your local Wholes Food Market, Sprouts, and Trader Joes or you can get them at Amazon.
Why Chicken Thighs?
Chicken thighs are used here simply because of the fat content. The thighs are the fattiest part of a chicken at 10.9 grams of fat. Compare that to the chicken breast at almost 4 grams of total fat which more than doubles the fat count. For this reason, I recommend the boneless and skinless chicken thigh.
What other ingredients were substituted?
Before I go into other substitutions I wanted to go into my thought process a little bit. For my recipe, my number one purpose is to make it keto friendly. Second, the recipe should be easy and convenient using ingredients found at your nearest major grocery store. With that said, lets review. I’ve substituted the tamarind for lime and
Now that we got that out of the way, the other ingredients are pecans. Traditionally crushed peanuts are used but I found pecan has more of a naturally sweet flavor with an amazing 2 net carbs per serving, 20 grams of fat compared to peanuts at 2.75 grams/17.75 grams of fat. Either way, you can use either, I personally prefer pecan due to the higher fat and lower carbs.
Instead of bean sprouts, which can be high in carbs if you’re purchasing soybean ones, I’ve subbed it for shredded cabbage. The one I’m using has a mix of shredded red and green cabbages with julienned carrots from Trader Joe’s. Please see the picture below. It made my life so much easier. That’s pretty much it! After trying out the recipe you will find it doesn’t taste too far from the traditional version.
How to make Spicy Keto Pad Thai
Things you’ll need
Easy Spicy Keto Pad Thai
Equipment
- Frying Pan or Wok
Ingredients
Meat
- 1 piece Boneless Skinless Chicken Thigh (or ¼ lb of chicken)
Veggies for cooking
- ¾ cup Shredded Cabbage (substution for bean sprouts)
- ¼ cup Julienned Carrots
- 1 piece Brunoised Jalapeno
- 2 Minced Garlic cloves
Garnish/Toppings
- ½ cup Crushed Pecan
- 1 tbsp MCT Oil
- ¼ cup Cilantro coursely chopped You can also use Dried Cilantro
- 1 stalk Chopped Scallion
- 1 tbsp Crushed Peppers or Ground Cayenne for extra spice
- 4 wedges Lime
Sauce for cooking
- 1½ tbsp Coconut Aminos
- 1½ tbsp Fish Sauce
- ½ tspn Monkfruit Sweetener Add more if you like it sweeter
- ⅓ Freshly Squeezed Lime
Other
- 7 oz Shirataki Noodles
- 1 whole Egg
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil (or Olive oil)
Instructions
Shirataki Noodles
- Follow the package instructions. If not, I can show you how to cook shirataki noodles.Note: I found that one package may not be enough for noodle lovers. If you love noodles I suggest getting two packages or 4 servings of shirataki noodles for 2 people.
Gather all the ingredients
- Prep all the ingredients. Cut the chicken into small strips. Brunoise the jalapeno. Mince Garlic. Chop the scallions and cilantro. Cut the lime into wedges. Beat egg.
- Bring together the ingredients.Pro tip: Separate the ingredients into two groups, one for cooking and the other for garnishing.
Let's Make the Sauce!
- Combine the sauce ingredients together: Coconut Aminos, fish sauce, monkfruit sweetener, and lime juice. Make sure monkfruit is fully dissolved.
Time to cook!
- In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoons of oil on medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Then, remove and transfer to a plate. Let the pan cool down for about 1 minute before returning it to the burner.
- Now lower heat to medium. Add in another tablespoon of oil. Throw in jalapeno, and then garlic. Let it cook for about 30 seconds. Turn heat on medium high. Then throw in the chicken that was cooked earlier.
- Turn heat on medium high. Add in shredded cabbage and carrots. Stir fry veggies and chicken for about 30 seconds.
- Then move veggies and chicken to the side. Pour beated eggs to pan and scramble with spatula for about 30 seconds. Stir with chicken and veggies.
- Pour in half of the pad thai sauce over the chicken and veggies, then throw noodles in. Stir fry for about 2 more minutes. Your Keto Pad Thai is ready for toppings!Protip: I reccomend using half the sauce but everyone has different taste preferences. If you find it too salty or not salty enough feel free to tweak it according to your tastes. If you have extra you can save it in a jar and use for next time.
Toppings
- Transfer the Pad Thai to a plate served family style or to individual plates.
- Add in the toppings (ie pecans, limes, MCT oil, scallions, cilantro, crushed peppers) based on my reccomended amont or by your personal tastes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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