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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Nevermind! I see there are eggs! Sorry, apparently I can’t read.
Hi Juli! I made this recipe last night and let me tell you it took me FOREVER! A lot longer than the 15 min prep time that is listed. Making the pad thai sauce and chopping the veggies took me at least 15 mins on it own. Is that time not included in the prep time for a reason?
I normally don’t comment on blogs but DAMN was this recipe good. Thank you and keep doing you!
yay!! glad you liked it, ryan! thanks for commenting!
AMAZING!!! I love the little hit of flavor. Do you think if I cut the Sunflower Seed Butter by half it will completely change the flavor?
maybe somewhat, but it would mostly change the amount of sauce
This recipe is AMAZING. Just FYI – freezing and thawing out the spaghetti squash casseroles for this blog is not advised IMO. When I reheated after frozen it always turns really soggy. That being said, this and the pizza one are the bees knees so don’t miss out on them because you can’t freeze them!!
good to know! i never thought these casseroles would be very good frozen and reheated
I just finished a 6 week nutrition challenge through my gym (no added sugar or alcohol, limited grains and dairy). For 4 out of the 6 weeks I made two of your casseroles and split them up into 10 portions for me and my boyfriend to take to work for lunches. They work great for this. I made this one this week and the flavors are great. I used peanut butter instead of sun butter.
Maybe you can do a post on make ahead meals for meal prep?
awesome!! maybe someday!
Made this tonight and it was amazing!! So many veggies and flavors!! I’m assuming leftovers are going to be even better!
Oh my gosh, Juli! This was AMAZING!!!! Definitely a new fave. You’re a gem. :-*
Absolutely loved this recipe! I made it not so paleo using Adams creamy peanut butter, liquid aminos and butter instead of ghee. The spice level is perfect. Can’t wait to eat this all week long! Can’t wait for more casseroles!
Jenna
Your feedly feed STILL doesn’t work. What gives? What do the feedly people say?
no clue. and they didn’t respond.