Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodle Pad Thai

Zoodle Pad Thai - a lighter, vegetable-based version of pad thai, featuring noodles made from zucchini - aka zoodles!

Alright friends, have you tried zoodles (zucchini noodles)? What do you think? Love them, hate them? Let's be real here, it’s NOT regular pasta, and we don’t have to try to fool ourselves into thinking it will taste like regular pasta.

I’m an advocate of all foods, nothing is “off limits”, even regular old pasta for the carb-fearing among you. But I’m also a fan of zoodles. A great way to base your meal on vegetables.

Zoodles will add some extra veggies into your meal (always a great thing), but they can also add some extra flavor and texture to your meal. I regularly use zoodles (and other veggie noodles) in my cooking to change it up and get in even more veggies! Not that we ever struggle to find our plates filled with vegetables. 😃

That’s exactly what we’ve done with our Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodle Pad Thai. This Zoodle Pad Thai is a great weeknight meal and gives an extra nutrient boost with those yummy zucchini noodles. 

This recipe has a mixture of regular pad thai noodles and zucchini noodles, topped with mushrooms, grass-fed ground beef and a yummy Asian-style sauce.

Hi there! Below you’ll find affiliate links to great products that we enjoy using in our own kitchen.

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Ready to make it? Let’s go!

1 - Make those zoodles. You can buy pre-made zoodles, or make your own with a spiralizer, they’re pretty simple to make and homemade zoodles means there’s no need for packaging! I aim to keep my noodles about the same width as the pad thai noodles.

2 - Cook your grass-fed ground beef. Heat the pan over medium heat and add oil. Then add ground beef (you may not need oil if you’re using beef with a higher fat content), then cook until browned. Then add garlic and onions and saute until onions are transparent, about 10 minutes. 

3 - Boil pad Thai noodles: While the beef cooks, bring a pot of water to boil - you can also use a kettle as we’ll be pouring water over the noodles in a separate bowl. Add the noodles to a deep bowl and once the water is boiling, cover the noodles with water and stir every couple of minutes until the noodles are tender, but still slightly undercooked, about 10 minutes. Drain and set them aside. I recommend adding a bit of sesame (or olive) oil to the noodles to keep them from sticking together. 

4 - Prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce (or soy sauce alternative), chili garlic sauce, cornstarch, broth, lime juice, and fish sauce. Pour the sauce over the ground beef mixture and heat until the sauce begins to thicken. 

5 - Add the zoodles and mushrooms and cook for another 5-10 minutes, just until the zoodles are tender. 

6 - Serve: Toss with the pad Thai noodles and garnish with sliced green onions and cilantro. Enjoy!

Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodle Pad Thai Tips, Tricks, and Tools

You don’t need any special tools for this easy pad thai recipe, but it does help if you have a great skillet. I love my All-Clad stainless steel pan for dishes like this.  

If you’re planning to spiralize your own zoodles, you’ll need a spiralizer. 

Make it vegan by swapping in crumbled tempeh or cubes of tofu instead of ground beef, and a vegan fish sauce (which is generally made from mushrooms and seaweed). 

Don’t have pad thai noodles? No problem, simply double the number of zucchini you spiralize and use all zoodles instead of the mix of zoodles and pad thai noodles.

High quality ingredients: I try to use local, grass-fed beef whenever I can. Check out our post on grass-fed beef for more information about the differences between conventional and grass-fed beef.

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We hope you love this Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodle Pad Thai

• It’s filled with veggies in the form of noodles!
• Easy enough for a weeknight meal and great for lunch the next day
• Bursting with flavor from the Asian-style pad thai sauce

Love this simple Asian-Inspired recipe? Check out our other delicious Asian-inspired recipes like this Spicy Cashew Zucchini Noodles and our Honey Sesame Tofu with Roasted Asian Vegetables.

Did you enjoy this Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodles Pad Thai as much as we do?

Comment below! And rate the recipe to let us know how it turned out! Not cooking it today? Save this Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodle Pad Thai for later by pinning it to your Thai Recipes Board and make sure to tag us at The Crooked Carrot Instagram to show us your Grass-Fed Beef and Zoodles Pad Thai creations!

"You are what you eat eats too." – Michael Pollan

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