This Spicy Thai Chicken Zoodle Salad is a dead-simple, low carb, Whole30-friendly, colorful, and super satisfying paleo meal that you can get from fridge to mouth in 10 minutes or less.
A bowl filled with Spicy Thai Chicken Zoodle Salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado. The red label says that the dish is Whole30, gluten free, nut free, no cook, and low carb.

Are you neglecting your own needs ’cause you’re always looking after someone else’s—say, your sniffly kids or a needy partner? Take a breather!

Seriously: it’s time you treated yourself to a dead-simple, colorful, and super satisfying meal that you can get from fridge to mouth in 10 minutes or less. Use the extra time you save to flop on the couch and watch a trashy episode of your favorite Real Housewives franchise. (Me? I like to savor my no-cook zoodle bowl with the ladies from Hotlanta.)

What’s The Best Spiralizer?

I have three different spiralizers I love that transform zucchini into noodles (a.k.a. zoodles) in a jiffy. My favorite one is The Inspiralizer because it is lightweight, suctions to the counter, and leaves minimal waste. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available for sale! The Oxo Tabletop Spiralizer is also great— it’s easier to clean than the Inspiralizer, but you end up with a little more veggie waste at the core. If you’re not going to make veggie noodles all the time, you can just buy an inexpensive julienne peeler or an Oxo handheld spiralizer.

Can You Make This Dish Ahead?

Not really. The zoodles can get watery if you leave them in the dressing too long. However, you don’t really need to make it ahead because this salad is so quick to throw together! If you want to pack it for lunch, don’t mix in the dressing until you’re ready to eat it.

Time to make Spicy Thai Chicken Zoodle Salad!

Serves 1

Ingredients

Dressing:

Salad:

  • 1 medium zucchini, ends trimmed
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup leftover cooked chicken, shredded
  • ¼ avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 small scallion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Equipment

Method

Make the dressing in a large bowl by combining the sunflower seed butter, sriracha, lime juice, and a pinch of salt.

Someone squeezing lime and adding salt to a bowl for the spicy Thai dressing.

Whisk well to blend a thick sauce. Ta-dah!

Whisking the sauce in a bowl.

Now go grab your veggies and leftover cooked chicken from the fridge.

The assembled ingredients for spicy Thai zoodle salad.

Grab your vegetable spiralizer and make your zoodles.

Someone spiralizing zucchini to make zoodles.

Finish dicing and chopping your other veggies and herbs.

Someone chopping green onions.

Dump the raw zoodles into the bowl of dressing…

Someone adding raw zoodles in a bowl with the spicy Thai marinade.

…and add the julienned carrots and chicken.

Someone adding cooked chicken to a bowl with julienned vegetables.

Toss well to combine.

Someone mixing julienned vegetables with the spicy Thai marinade.

If you’re feeling fancy, transfer the salad to a clean bowl and top with sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, and toasted sesame seeds.

A bowl of spicy Thai chicken zoodle salad topped with tomatoes.

Go ahead and eat. You deserve it!

A bowl of spicy Thai chicken zoodle salad.

Have a ton of zucchini to cook up? Make my delicious and simple Instant Pot Zucchini Bolognese recipe!

[Originally posted on March 16, 2016. Updated with new details and photos on September 7, 2020.]


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Spicy Thai Chicken Zoodle Salad (Whole30, Gluten Free, Low Carb)

4.88 from 8 votes
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Servings 1 serving
Spicy Thai Zoodle Salad: a dead-simple, Whole30-friendly, colorful, and super satisfying paleo meal that you can get from fridge to mouth in 10 minutes or less.

Ingredients 
 

Dressing

Salad

  • 1 medium zucchini ends trimmed
  • 1 small carrot peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup leftover cooked chicken shredded
  • ¼ avocado peeled and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1 small scallion thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
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Instructions 

  • Make the dressing in a large bowl by combining the sunflower seed butter, sriracha, lime juice, and a pinch of salt. Whisk well to blend a thick sauce. Ta-dah!
  • Now go grab your veggies and leftover cooked chicken from the fridge. Get your vegetable spiralizer and make your zoodles.
  • Finish dicing and chopping your other veggies and herbs.
  • Dump the raw zoodles into the bowl of dressing and add the julienned carrots and chicken. Toss well to combine.
  • If you’re feeling fancy, transfer the salad to a clean bowl and top with sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, and toasted sesame seeds. Eat immediately.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 474kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 24g | Fiber: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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8 Comments

  1. Hi Michelle.

    Is this still worth making, in your opinion, if the sriracha has to be left out for specific dietary restrictions? Also is there anything you can suggest to replace the sriracha for added flavor but not necessarily heat?

  2. TRY THIS RECIPE ASAP! You probably have the ingredients in the house already, and it’s so flexible to add whatever else you want. Yesterday I roasted chicken thighs – in that 30 min I made the sauce and spiralized/chopped the veggies. I doubled the recipe so that we have leftovers. We did zoodles plus carrots, snap peas, tomatoes, cilantro, mint, and parsley. I threw in some pickled red onion too! Yummy, fast, easy, healthy! ✅ ✅✅✅