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!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole (video!)
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This looks amazing! Been super into Asian-inspired dishes lately so I can’t wait to try it! I’ve been upping my carbs; do you think this would work with rice or rice noodles?
Also, off topic from this post but how did you figure out that eggs caused acne? Just experimentation/elimination? I’m thinking I might have the same issue…
I’ve been reading your blog for years and I love it! Thanks Juli 🙂
yeah, i’m sure it would! i haven’t tried but i don’t see why not! and a while back i mentioned something about my acne on my instagram and a woman mentioned eggs giving her acne and at that point, i was eating eggs every day. so i removed them and almost instantly had my skin clear up!
Sunbutter and not tahini? I am madly in love with your OMG sauce from a few years back, that one is made with tahini and I am just curious on the difference between the two. Keep up the good casserole/sauce work! 🙂
Juli, Umami Burgers are all over the LA area. Next time you are in town, go to the one in the Arts District in DTLA. You will love the area. Cool and artsy. =)
Can’t wait to try this new recipe! All your casseroles are delish!
AH i need to go there next week!!
Just for general information, I recently read an article by the man who started this whole gluten thing, and he is now maintaining that if you do not have celiac disease, then this whole gluten-free thing is not true. Instead, the real issue is about the wheat, with all the GMO modifications occurring, along with the pesticides (see Monsanto) that have been done. It appears that the whole gluten-free movement is going to become another variation of the “fat-free” debacle that many of us lived through. If you start looking into this more I think you will find out what I am talking about
i’ve definitely read these sort of articles and i can see where they are coming from! but i can for sure tell you that i feel completely sick when i eat a regular donut, with complete gut aches and cramps, and i don’t feel that way whatsoever when i eat a gluten free donut. not that either are good for me and i should be eating either on a regular basis, but i don’t feel sick when i eat something made from rice flour and tapioca flour vs eating wheat flour
Can’t wait to try this casserole! Looks amazing and who doesn’t love pad thai!?!
Have you ever thought of doing a paleomg app? Grocery list, recipes, conversions for the recipes, etc….. workouts would be good to add in too or fashion! I would definitely pay for that app!! I think a lot of people would for sure.
i’ve definitely thought about it and it’s on my mind A LOT. so you never know!!
Sorry if you’ve gotten this question before – but where’s that casserole dish from? It’s really cute.
I’ve cycled a few of your casserole recipes for my work lunches and they are always SO great! I’m happy to have another one completely different from the rest to add to the rotation next!
I made this casserole last night and it was amazing! I used almond butter instead of sunflower butter, pulled rotisserie chicken, and no fish sauce as I can ALWAYS taste it. The spice level was great and my boyfriend loved it. I love your spaghetti squash casseroles.
I really love the creaminess of all of your casseroles, and I notice that this one doesn’t have eggs. Do you think the eggs would add to the creamy factor, or were they just used to bind everything together? Thanks!!