Quick and easy, sautéed zucchini noodles tossed with pesto, chicken and tomatoes.
Have zucchini? If you haven’t tried spiralizing zucchini yet, you’re missing out!
Seriously. Zucchini “noodles” are great. They trick your mind into thinking you’re eating carb-heavy pasta, when in fact, you are eating healthy, vitamin rich zucchini.
You know that spinach flavored pasta? This is like zucchini flavored pasta, that’s actually just zucchini. Gluten-free, low-carb, super healthy zucchini.
There’s something about the noodle shape that makes it way more fun to eat than just chopped up squash.
To make zucchini noodles, you’ll need some sort of spiralizer, essentially a lathe, for vegetables. For these zoodles I’m using Ali Maffucci’s Inspiralizer, which does the job perfectly.
This is a quick and easy zucchini noodle bowl with zoodles that have been tossed with basil pesto and served with chopped sautéed chicken breast and tomatoes.
With all the basil I have in my garden I made the pesto from scratch (recipe here, it’s easy!) but you could just as easily use store bought pesto.
You cook the chicken first, and then while it’s resting, sauté the zucchini noodles in the same pan. Toss with the pesto, put it all together in a bowl and eat! It even reheats well for leftovers.
Zucchini Noodle Chicken Pesto Bowl Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast(s)
- Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 2 medium large zucchini (a little more than a pound)
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/4 cup prepared basil pesto
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Several fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced, for garnish
Special equipment:
- Vegetable spiralizer, like Ali Maffucci’s Inspiralizer
Method
1 Cook the chicken breast(s): Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breast(s) with a little salt and the paprika. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil on high heat in a large sauté pan. Place the chicken breast(s) in the pan and cook for a minute or two on each side, until well browned.
Lower the heat to low and cover the pan, cook for 2 to 5 more minutes (depending on the thickness of the breast) until the chicken is just cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest while you make the zucchini noodles.
2 Make zucchini noodles: Use a spiralizer to make zucchini noodles with the zucchini.
3 Sauté the zucchini noodles, garlic: Add another 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan you used to cook the chicken and heat it on high heat.
Add the zucchini noodles and the sliced garlic and sauté, stirring often, until the noodles begin to wilt. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt while you cook the zoodles.
When they are just barely cooked and if they are releasing moisture, remove them to a colander placed over a bowl to drain.
4 Slice or cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
5 Toss zucchini noodles with pesto: Place the zucchini noodles in a serving bowl and toss with basil pesto.
Serve the zucchini noodles in bowls topped with chicken, tomatoes, and sliced fresh basil leaves.
Links:
How to make homemade basil pesto here on Simply Recipes
Asian Zucchini Noodle Salad here on Simply Recipes
