Conquer your takeout cravings with this easy Keto Pad Thai Recipe. Made with cabbage noodles, it’s low in carbs, high in protein, and ready in 25 minutes! A healthy and delicious alternative to the classic Thai dish.
This Keto Pad Thai with Cabbage Noodles is one of those surprise hits. People were skeptical at first, wondering if it could possibly be as tasty as the real deal. But it quickly won over some fans and many readers have said it’s one of their favorite keto dinner recipes.
I can’t argue with that! Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines, and I love creating healthier, sugar-free versions. Simple recipes like Keto Thai Chicken Soup and Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken are easy, flavorful, and appeal to all palates.
Thai food typically has quite a bit of added sugar, and relies heavily on noodles and rice. But a few easy swaps and you can enjoy all the flavor, with a fraction of the carbs!
★★★★★
Michelle says: “What an impressive recipe, keto or not! My family loved it. The flavours were spot on and the noodles were not even missed.“
Ingredients and Substitutions
Pad Thai Sauce
- Tamari: This is my preference over soy sauce or coconut aminos. It’s gluten-free, very low in carbs, and has a concentrated umami flavor that’s perfect for Asian dishes.
- Fish sauce: Fish sauce gives many Thai dishes their classic flavor. Red Boat is a good sugar-free option.
- Sweetener: You can use any sweetener you like here, as long as it dissolves well in liquids.
- Peanut butter: I like using a creamy natural peanut butter like Santa Cruz.
- Lime: Another classic Thai ingredient.
Keto Pad Thai
- Chicken: I like chicken thighs but you can use chicken breast instead. You can also use another protein like shrimp, but it cooks much faster so adjust accordingly.
- Red pepper: For color and flavor. Sometimes I use orange pepper instead.
- Cabbage: Finely shredded cabbage acts as the “noodles” in this keto recipe. You could swap in shiritaki noodles or palmini noodles if you prefer.
- Eggs: These get scrambled right into the skillet. But you can skip them if you prefer.
- Green onion: For flavor and color.
- Salted peanuts: A nice little crunch sprinkled on top of the Pad Thai.
- Garlic: Do yourself a favor and use fresh garlic, for the best flavor.
How to Make Keto Pad Thai
- Make the sauce: Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Cook the chicken: Sauté the chicken in half the oil until lightly browned and cooked through, then transfer to a bowl. Drain any excess liquid.
- Sauté the veggies: Add more oil to the pan and sauté the red pepper and garlic. Then add the cabbage and cook until tender.
- Add the eggs: Push all the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the eggs in the cleared space. Scramble for about 1 minute.
- Put it all together: Stir the sauce and the chicken back into the pan and toss to combine well.
- Serve: Sprinkle each serving with chopped green onion and peanuts. Serve with a lime wedge.
Carolyn’s Tasty Tips
Thinly sliced chicken thighs will cook through faster and more evenly. One bonus tip is to slice the chicken when it’s still semi-frozen but not rock hard. It’s much easier to get uniform slices that way.
Be sure to drain off any liquid that accumulated after cooking the chicken. Too much moisture in the pan will make the veggies soggy and thin out the sauce too much.
At first, the cabbage may seem like too much for your skillet. Don’t worry, it cooks down quickly so just keep tossing it a bit until it is reduced.
Scramble the eggs quickly after adding them and cook them just a minute or two, until they are nicely scrambled but not dry.
More Delicious Asian-Style Recipes
Keto Cabbage Pad Thai
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce
- 3 tbsp (9.13 g) brown sugar replacement, (or another sweetener)
- 3 tbsp (54.78 g) tamari
- 2 tbsp (36.52 g) fish sauce
- 2 tbsp (30.43 g) lime juice
- 2 tbsp (32.46 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) red pepper flakes
Pad Thai
- 1/4 cup (54.5 g) avocado oil, divided, (can also use coconut oil)
- 2 lb (907.18 g) chicken thighs, thinly sliced, (boneless, skinless thighs)
- 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups (350 g) shredded cabbage, (about 1/2 a large head)
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 medium green onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup (36.5 g) salted peanuts, chopped
- Lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
Sauce
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
Pad Thai
- In a large saucepan over medium high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add the chicken and sauté until lightly browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a bowl.
- Drain off any liquid in the pan, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Once hot, add the red pepper and garlic. Sauté 2 minutes.
- Add the shredded cabbage to the pan and sauté until tender, another 3 to 5 minutes. Push the veggies to one side and add the eggs to the cleared side of the pan. Cook, stirring often, until scrambled, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken back to the pan, pour in the sauce, and stir everything together until combined and warmed through. Remove from heat.
- Top with the chopped onion and peanuts, and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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This recipe tasted amazing!! Even my husband who is not on keto said this was “tastebud explosion”!!
Going into my “Definite Do Over” recipe folder!!
Love it!
The best Pad Thai I have ever had was in a trip to Thailand
Easy to do with your tecipe
I would beat an egg and cook it in a skillet til just set
Then carefully flip it over like a crepe and use it to line the serving bowl One of these per serving(to do ahead just make one per person and stack them with waxed paper between each)
In Thailand the Pad Thai I enjoyed also had shrimp!
What an impressive recipe, keto or not! My family loved it. The flavours were spot on and the noodles were not even missed.
yay!
Made this tonight, love it.
I made this with raw shrimp instead of chicken and drained the liquid after cooking. Then proceeded with the remaining ingredients. I did not miss the pad Thai noodles at all and thought the slaw added a nice crunch. The flavors hit all the pad Thai traditional notes.
I also increased the red pepper flakes just a tiny bit and topped off our bowls with cilantro, crushed peanuts and siracha. Will make this again! It’s a favorite dinner now.
Fantastic!
Omg!! This is sooooooo good! I was skeptical but so glad I cooked it! Every bite is bursting with flavor and the cabbage noodles are tender and perfect! Who needs pasta?
Glad you liked it!
YUMMY! I used ground pork instead of chicken because that is what I had. This is going to be a regular thing in my rotation.
I love Thai food, and this just hit the spot. I absolutely loved the cabbage, and my husband said it was a great dinner. That’s says a lot coming from him. He has no idea how many Keto recipes of yours I use. 🙂
Boy, this was amazing! Never would have thought of cabbage noodles, but the flavor and texture are spot-on!
I get the weekly meals which gives me great ideas for the upcoming week(s). The Pad Thai was a recent recipe. Absolutely LOVE IT!!! My husband is not a picky eater but can be a little dramatic if he doesn’t care for something. This is now on a rotation as he thought it was fantastic!
Thanks again for another wonder recipe!
We love Pad Thai, and I have been super unhappy that it is no longer on the list of what I could eat. WELL HOORAH!!!!! Read this a few weeks on the meal plan and made it last week. Folks we have a winner. Not only did we not miss the noodles we actually liked it better.
Thanks, Carolyn, for another fantastic recipe.
p.s. Hubby ate the leftovers the next day for lunch – and agrees was even better the day after.
My husband said this recipe is a keeper!!!! Yay, he isn’t the easiest eater to please.
I used this as a guide for the dish I made, which dreamed of being Pad Thai but was actually all the same elements minus the Sauce lol. But I’m leaving a comment to share that I made some “zoodles” using diakon radish & it did the trick for the noodle mouth-feel I was going for. I promise to try the recipe again as it is written, but I already believe it’s a keeper! thank you xo
Lovely, savory dish and I forgot the peanut butter the first iteration of this dish! My husband, who does not need to eat low-carb enthusiastically dug in twice!
This recipe is excellent!!!! So good!!! I followed the instructions as written but added bean sprouts as one poster suggested. It’s one of my favorite recipes from Carolyn. Thank you!
this looks delicious, can’t wait to try it out