Well good morning, you little ray of sunshine! Do I have a tasty recipe for you! So get this. I’ve made lots of casseroles on the blog already (I shared some links below this recipe) and when I shared my last one, a reader mentioned me making a pad thai casserole. So that’s exactly what I did! And it came out super tasty and umami-y. Totally a word.
Omg, that reminds me of this burger place I went to while I was on book tour that had this burger called the umami burger and it was absolutely OUT OF CONTROL! Do I remember what the place was called or even where it was? Nope. So this conversation is absolutely pointless and 100% not helpful to you. Lovely.
After last weekend of partying, dealing with super drunk friends, and drinking too many mimosas myself – I need a chill weekend. Maybe 1 restaurant, but other than that, I think it’s time to chill. My friend is celebrating her 40th birthday, which I swear she’s being celebrating for 2 months straight, but you can do whatever the hell you want when you turn 40, right? Anywho, she won a free Cyclebar class for herself and all her friends, so a bunch of us are trying a class out this weekend! Which I’m excited about since I’ve never tried a class!
And the other thing I’ve been doing over the weekend is trying out a new gluten free bakery every other weekend or so. I have this new obsession with getting a good workout in then exploring a new place I’ve never been to and having a treat before I work the rest of the day. I spend so much time at home working from my computer that it’s nice to get out and explore, even just by myself. So this week I have a new GF bakery I plan on trying then adding it to my favorite GF restaurants in Denver, if it’s good! You can find that list here! Feel free to add to the list whether you live in Denver or somewhere else! I always check it before I travel somewhere to see if there is a delicious spot to check out when I’m out of town! Speaking of out of town, I leave for LA soon! So pumped, minus the flying in to LAX part. F*ck I HATE THAT PLACE WITH ALL MY SOUL!
But to leave on a high note, this recipe is delicious and I hope you enjoy it oh so much!
Pad Thai Casserole
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
For the pad thai sauce
- 1/3 cup sunflower seed butter
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
For the casserole
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
- 1 pound ground chicken
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 eggs, whisked
For the garnishes
- 2 fresno peppers, sliced
- 1/3 cup cashews, chopped
- 3 green onions, sliced
- cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- While the spaghetti squash cooks, place all ingredient for the pad thai sauce into a blender and blender until smooth. Set aside.
- Place a large saute pan over medium heat, add ghee along with the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent. Then add carrot and bell peppers and cook for about 10 minutes, until the carrots become soft. Add chicken along with salt, pepper, sriracha and red pepper flakes and cook until chicken has broken up into small pieces and is no longer pink, then remove from heat.
- Use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash strings and place in the greased baking dish along with the chicken mixture, the pad thai sauce (leaving about 3 tablespoons behind for garnish later on), and eggs. Mix until casserole is completely combine, then press the sliced fresno peppers into the casserole. Place in the oven to bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. When the dish has 15 minutes left, remove it from the oven and place the cashew pieces on top and place the casserole back into to finish cooking.
- Garnish the casserole with the leftover pad thai sauce, green onions, and cilantro!
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More Casseroles!
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I’m such a sucker for a good casserole. And ALL of your casserole recipes are soooo good!
I have to admit, Juli, I was a little terrified when I put this one in the oven, because it was really soupy. I thought I minghtbend up with a watery mess. But nope, I should have had faith, because it baked up great and held together perfectly. My husband, who is frankly a little over my casserole obsession, liked it so much he went back for seconds! Thanks for the great recipe!
so glad you liked it!
i’ve been wanting to make this and finally have. mad at myself for waiting so long! perfect kickoff to fall! came out delicious. as always, thanks 🙂
awesome!! glad you liked it Micha!
This is hands-down my favorite casserole. We’ve been making this one for some time, and I’m always excited to eat it. So healthy, it makes yummy leftovers, and it just has wonderfully comforting, but also complex flavor — sweet and savory, silky and crunchy, fresh and yet bursting with umami!! Sometimes I change up the vegetables depending on what we have on hand — for instance, using a poblano pepper in place of one of the bell peppers is a nice change-up. I also can almost never find fresnos, so I usually use jalapenos.
My pro tip: roast the squash and chop and cook all the vegetables the day before, then do everything else the next day. We usually prep on Sunday, finish up Monday, and eat the leftovers most of the week!