Zucchini pasta is tossed with a filling and flavor-packed, no cook creamy sun-dried tomato and scallion sauce plus perfectly cooked chicken. A tasty Paleo, Whole30 and low carb meal that’s great hot or cold. Perfect for spring and summer!
Some people might think an entire cookbook devoted to pasta recipes has no place in a household that eats primarily Paleo. But those people would be wrong, in my opinion! I’ve always had a thing for cookbooks, ever since I purchased How To Cook Everything way back in college to finally put TV dinners in a dark corner of my past, forever.
Since then, my cookbook collection grew considerably, to include books on everything from the Panera Bread menu, to 30 minute vegan recipes, to a book of nothing but burgers – that’s shaped like a burger. I have Paleo cookbooks and Rachael Ray cookbooks, kid cookbooks and cocktail cookbooks. Betty Crocker and Microwave Gourmet. All I can really say is I really flipping love cookbooks of all kinds!
But that pasta one, even I didn’t particularly see the need for a pasta cookbook until I met my husband, Adam, and he mentioned that pasta was his favorite food (it’s a joke amongst our friends that he’ll order pasta with butter whenever we go out to dinner. He once surprised us and veered off butter with pesto tortellini.)
Anyway, because I was blinded by love and totally bought into that heart/stomach connection saying, I bought the dang pasta cookbook. And I have to say, though I’ve had it for over 10 years, I’ve probably referenced it more after paleo than before. Weird, right?
Well, not really so weird at all. Because if you think about it, a pasta cookbook is really just a sauce cookbook, pasta being the vehicle for the sauce. So, when I get in a pesto rut (hard to do, but it actually happens) or worse, start dipping veggies in plain marinara sauce, I know where I need to look to draw some inspiration. Yup, pasta book.
Now of course, the book is obviously not remotely Paleo, which makes the inspiration part even more fun. You see, I was NEVER good at following recipes to a T anyway (I even joke that I have to tweak my own recipes each time I make them, if only to remember why it was written as it was!) and drawing inspiration from a recipe and then changing almost everything about it is a good ‘ol time for me. Yup, I’m one of those cooks. Except I swear I’ve never written a multi-paragraph review on Allrecipes, though I do get a kick out of reading them 🙂
But, back to my zucchini pasta! While flipping through my pasta book, a sun-dried tomato cream sauce caught my eye (the original was with farfalle and heavy cream, and it looked flipping delicious) and I knew a thick, creamy, flavorful sauce like that would work so well with zucchini noodles! I tend to hate the wateriness off zucchini, so the thicker the sauce, the better. Plus, I have major sun-dried tomato love and can’t seem to stay away for too long.
I also included both scallions AND garlic to intensify the flavors and completely mask any coconutty-ness from the coconut milk. So you just get a nice thick and creamy sauce without noticing that you skipped the dairy. You could even add nutritional yeast if you wanted a cheesy touch, though it’s delicious as is!
The sauce is no-cook and you could technically serve the dish cold or warm, trust me, I ate my leftovers cold and it was delicious. (Actually, I eat all my recipes cold since it takes me an hour to do photos. So they usually taste good both ways.)
I think we’re good to go! I’m hungry, and I know you are too! Get out the spiralizer! As always, let me know what you think 🙂
Zucchini Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream and Chicken {Paleo & Whole30}
Zucchini Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream and Chicken {Paleo & Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 2/3 cup sun-dried tomato halves or 10-12, soaked in hot water until soft, then drained well
- 1 bunch scallions 5-6 dark green parts removed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp black pepper or pinch crushed red pepper flakes for spice
- 2 cloves garlic
For the Chicken:
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin or pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
- 1-2 tsp cooking fat coconut oil, ghee, bacon fat, etc.
- Large pinch onion powder
- Large pinch salt
- Large pinch pepper
- 3-4 medium zucchinis peeled (if desired) and spiralized
- Large pinch salt for the zucchini
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
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Line a large bowl with paper towel. Toss the zucchini noodles with salt and let them rest on the paper towel while you prepare the chicken and sauce.
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For the sauce, blend together the sun dried tomatoes, scallions, coconut milk, lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper in a high speed blender or food processor, until nearly pureed (it should be thick)
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Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and onion powder on both sides and cook in a large skillet with 1-2 tsp cooking fat over medium heat, until browned on both sides and cooked through, then remove to a plate
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Wipe out the skillet (or use a separate one if you wish) and coat with a thin layer of cooking fat, then add the zucchini noodles.
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Sauté and toss to evenly cook for just 2 minutes, or until just barely softened. Overcooking will lead to very watery noodles, although a bit water is okay since it will thin out the thick sauce
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Transfer noodles to a large bowl, leaving excess water in the pan. Slice the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the noodles. Add 3/4 of the sauce and toss, add the rest if you need to/want to depending on how saturated you want the noodles (everyone will have slightly different amount of noodles, so you may wind up with a bit extra sauce, though you will definitely have enough!
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Lastly, toss in the parsley or simply sprinkle on top. Save leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Serves 4, enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used to Make My Zucchini Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream and Chicken:
Want more Paleo and Whole30 meal ideas? Try one of these!
Strawberry Salad with Bacon, Chicken and Orange Balsamic
Paleo & Whole30 Chicken Cutlets
Roasted Butternut Squash and Chicken with Tomato Basil Cream
Chicken Pesto Spaghetti Squash
Tell Me!
Are you a cookbook collector?
Current favorite “vehicle”? (AKA sauce!)
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Just cooked it for dinner and it was de-li-cious!!
Even my girls loved it although they’re not big fans of zucchini.
I Don’t have a spiralizer so I used my peeler and made tagliatelle with the zucchinis 🙂
Thank you for your great recipes, I always know I can pick any of them and it’s going to be exquisite.
Marie (from Switzerland)
Hearing kids like something is the best! So thrilled you guys enjoyed it 🙂
It is time for me to use my spiralizer; this dish looks so delicious!
Hope you like it!
I’m not clear on whether to use the white or green part of the scallion. Excited to make this tonight!
For this recipe use the light green and white parts. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you! i made this tonight and it was pure perfection. Will definitely be a regular dish for dinner around here.
Excellent! Loved the sauces richness!
Delicious! Thanks!
Could this recipe work in the slow cooker?chloe
This is amazing!! I didn’t change a thing or add a thing and I’m obsessed! I did at the end just put all together to heat up and it was perfect! Thank you!
Tried to give it 5stars but it cut me off!!
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This Zucchini Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream recipe is an absolute delight for both pasta lovers and those following a paleo lifestyle. The use of spiralized zucchini noodles as a gluten-free and grain-free alternative is genius!
thank you for sharing amazing recipe content. i will try on this weekend