I will be the first one to admit. I have been very late to get on the wagon for spiralized recipes. There are two reasons for that.
First, I did not want to share recipes that require my readers to have a piece of special equipment. Like it is in this Sweet Potato “Noodle” Pad Thai recipe, to make it, you need a hand-operated machine called vegetable spiralizer. I did not want to make people have to go out and get a machine to make a recipe of mine.
But then one day, while I was shopping at our local Whole Foods, I saw that they were selling already spiralized vegetables. At that point, I realized it was about time that I got on board, invest in a spiralizer, and start sharing recipes on the blog. This was back in October.
You may rightfully ask, October was almost 4 months ago, why did it take so long to share your first recipe?! The answer to this question is my second reason. In my first spiralizing attempt of turning a sweet potato into noodles using my new toy, I cut my finger with the ultra-sharp noodle blade so badly that I had to wait close to a month for it to heal. It was totally my fault as I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.
As a result, a piece of my middle finger became a part of our sweet potato noodles. I apologize for the nasty visual. However, if you decide to purchase a spiralizer, I think it is important to warn you to be very careful when operating it, especially if it is your first time. This thing turns super hard vegetables into beautiful noodles because of its super sharp blades. I do not have kids, but if I did I would not allow them anywhere near this machine.
With all that being said, I have been playing with my spiralizer since the beginning of this year and I now know why it has been so popular. Being able to turn vegetables like zucchini, beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. into noodles and use them like you would use spaghetti has been pretty awesome.
Even my husband, who is not much into cooking, thought that the possibilities were endless. And guess what? It doesn’t end in there. Depending on your Spiralizer, most of them come with other attachments that turn vegetables into noodles similar to wide white pasta like pappardelle or super thin pasta like angel hair.
The moral of the story: This machine is awesome and you can do so much with it. However, if you do not want to purchase one and want to make dishes like this recipe, you can find already spiralized vegetables in supermarkets. If you do decide to invest in one, be very careful using it as its sharp blades are no joke.
For the record, the one I am using is Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Vegetable Spiral Slicer. I purchased it after Cooks Illustrated magazine reviewed a bunch of them and named this one as the best spiralizer back in May 2016. As in most things that they recommend, this one did not disappoint. It is easy to use, clean, and fairly inexpensive, $22.99 on Amazon at the time of this writing.
About this Sweet Potato Noodle Pad Thai Recipe:
Now on to the recipe…
This sweet potato noodles dish is all about the dressing; a mixture of peanut butter, tamari, grated ginger, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
The one ingredient in this list that you might not be familiar with is tamari. I know I wasn’t until I read it on Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen cookbook a few years ago. In her book, she used it a lot along with Shoyu (soy sauce). Both tamari and soy sauce are made with soybeans. Though the concentration of soybeans in tamari is more than soy sauce.
In addition, in Amy’s words (on page 26), “Shoyu (soy sauce) is fermented with wheat, while tamari is wheat and gluten-free, but they both add a wonderful warmth and depth of flavor to savory food.”
Since I wanted to this recipe to be both vegan and gluten-free, I used tamari instead of soy sauce. However, if you are not gluten sensitive and/or only have soy sauce on hand feel free to use that instead.
Here I have to mention, in my experience tamari is less salty than soy sauce. Therefore, I recommend tasting the sauce before adding more salt to it. If you are wondering, I use this naturally fermented San J Tamari Soy Sauce.
Making this sweet potato noodle dish in advance
As you will see in the recipe below, there are few ingredients to chop and get ready for the dressing. Plus, if you are not purchasing already spiralized noodles, you need to spiralize the sweet potatoes. Even though these two components of the recipe do not take too much time, I know some of you prefer a faster weeknight dinner. For that reason, you can prep both the sauce and your veggies a day or two in advance.
As a matter of fact, I recommend doing that especially for the dressing as while it is sitting in the fridge in an airtight container, all of the flavors get a chance to develop making the end result truly delicious. In the same way, you can prep the sweet potato noodles a day in advance, place in a plastic bag, let the air out as much as you can, and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Finally, if you have any leftovers, place them in an airtight container and place it in the fridge. They make the best lunch the next day.
Other spiralizer recipes you might like
- Butternut Squash Noodles
- Zucchini Noodles – Basic (only 5 ingredients) zoodles recipe
- Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles
- Chicken Potato Noodle Soup
- Kale Zucchini Recipe
Other sweet potato recipes you might like
- Sweet Potato Mash
- Vegetarian Sweet Potato Soup
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
- Trisha Yearwood Sweet Potato Casserole
- Double Mashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Biscuits Recipe
Sweet Potato “Noodle” Pad Thai
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened and smooth peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons tamari*
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons vegetable stock
For the Pad Thai:
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper seeded and sliced thinly
- 2 medium-size sweet potatoes peeled and spiralized (as seen in the photos) – You should have 5-6 cups of “noodles”
- ¼ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup edamame
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
As Garnish:
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1-2 stalks of green onions both white and green parts chopped
- 2 tablespoons lightly salted peanuts coarsely chopped
Instructions
- To make the dressing: Whisk together all the ingredients of the dressing in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet in medium heat. Add in the onion and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the sweet potato noodles and vegetable stock and cook, stirring frequently, for 6-7 minutes.
- Pour the dressing over the noodles and give it a large stir, making sure that the noodles are coated with the dressing. Cook 2-3 minutes until it is warm.
- Off the heat, stir in the edamame and chopped cilantro.
- To serve, divide the pad thai in 4 bowls and garnish each one with sesame seeds, green onions, and peanuts.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Other Vegan & Gluten-Free Bowl Recipes You Might Like
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Lentil Stew
- Burrito Bowl with Vegan Burrito Sauce
- Spicy Chocolate Chili
- Sweet Potato and Quinoa Power Bowl
- Quinoa and Vegetable Stew
Brigid
My boyfriend and I LOVED this recipe! The flavors were bold and what you’d expect for an Asian-style dish. We added dried Thai chili flakes for a kick which I would have missed if we didn’t so if you like spice, I’d add some to the sauce. We will definitely be making again! Thanks Ice!
Aysegul Sanford
This is music to my ears Brigit. Thanks for coming and letting me know about your experience.
Nicole
This was so delicious! Will definitely make this again! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Aysegul Sanford
I am thrilled to hear that Nicole. Thanks for coming by.