The detox continues…But my idea of a detox isn’t exactly the hardcore definition some other people might associate with the word…You know the people I’m talking about, the crazies, Gweneth Paltrow in particular comes to mind. That chick is certifiably insane. I’m pretty sure she single handedly convinced a large bunch of rather gullible people (myself being one of them for about a millisecond) that the “master cleanse” is actually a good idea. Psh. . I seriously can’t imagine any doctor that would recommend subsisting on water, cayenne pepper, honey and lemon juice for a week straight, can you?
I tried it out for about a quarter of a day thinking I’d instantaneously drop five pounds like magic. Instead I ended up with a massive headache, bad attitude and zero energy; and then counteracted the starvation by binging on fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread.
Now, my idea of a detox is to just make healthier choices, maybe swap out regular pasta for whole-wheat, cut back on dairy, up the fruit and veggies; you know eat like a normal person instead of like I’m preparing myself for an Olympic race of some sort.
Since giving up carbs isn’t really in the cards for me (can’t live without ’em), swapping out white bread or pasta for a more heart-healthy grain is one of my favorite ways to get a little health back into my system. I love coming up with healthy ways to eat my favorite pastas and comfort foods, and since this quinoa fried rice was such a hit last year, I thought the perfect succeeding dish would be quinoa pad thai, another tried and true favorite of mine.
I first tried pad thai at a dumpy, but gem of a Thai restaurant in my college town of Manhattan Kansas, which is completely shocking, since it’s not exactly known for its culinary diversity. I was immediately taken with the sweet, spicy, sour and acidic flavors; plus there were noodles and peanuts and eggs which I could live on for days anyways.
This was my frist shot at making it myself — minus the noodles, of course, and I think I did a pretty good job. I researched different pad thai sauce methods for hours, and almost all of them required some form of tamarind. I opted to go for the paste, which is a sweet/sour mixture made from tamarind pods, there really isn’t any ingredient that can replace it, so I’d suggest scoping at your local grocery stores for it; I found mine at whole foods.
To make the sauce I combined a little bit of tamarind paste, brown sugar, fish sauce, sirracha and a litle bit of water to thin everything out, and then warmed it up over a medium-low heat to melt the brown sugar; sauce ready.
Everything else comes together pretty quickly; here’s how it went:
Stir-fry garlic, carrots, cabbage, remove from pan.
Stir-fry chicken, remove from pan.
Stir-fry cooked quinoa.
Add veggies and chicken back in along with bean sprouts.
Coat in sauce; stir-fry.
Cook eggs.
Top with loads of chopped peanuts, cilantro and garnish with lime.
The sauce recipe I have here calls for quite a bit, I found that I didn’t need to use it all, but it really is a personal preference, so start with half of the sauce and add more as needed.
We loved loved LOVED this version, even Kevin, who isn’t really a big fan of quinoa or healthy things really loved it, he even claimed that he liked it better than the quinoa fried rice which I’m not sold on, I think they’re equally delicious, but these recipes are like my babies, so it’s hard to choose which is my favorite!
Sweet, sour, spicy and utterly delicious, just as I remember it the first time.
- 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 cup shredded napa cabbage
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly and divided
- 1 pound chicken sliced very thinly
- 5 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 egg
- ½ cup chopped peanuts
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Salt
- Make sure to have all of your ingredients ready to go.
- In a small saucepan over a medium low heat, whisk together tamarind, brown sugar, fish sauce, water, and sriracha. Heat just until brown sugar is dissolved, set aside.
- In a large skillet or wok heat 1 teaspoon of canola oil over a high heat.
- Quickly stir-fry carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage, garlic, and half of green onions, about 1-2 minutes.Remove from pan, and set aside.
- Heat another teaspoon of oil in pan, and add chicken, stir-fry until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes, remove from pan.
- Heat another teaspoon of oil in pan, add quinoa, stir fry about 1-2 minutes. Add veggies and chicken into the quinoa.
- Add half of sauce, stir-fry until sauce has been absorbed, about 1 minute, taste to see if you need more sauce.
- Make a well in the center of the pan and scramble eggs, combine with quinoa.
- Serve with chopped peanuts, remaining green onion, cilantro and lots of fresh lime.

Love the idea of adding quinoa to pad thai! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Thanks Rachel!
oh man..pad thai is one of my all time favorite takeouts, if not my absolute favorite. I’ve tried making it at home once and it was a disaster..I don’t even know why. But you’re making me want to try again! I looooove that you swapped it out for quinoa! so smart! This is beautiful!
Thank ya girl! I’ve always been scared of making it for some reason, but just went for it!
I’ll be making it this weekend; looks great Nicole. We love pad thai.
Let me know how it goes!!! 🙂
I have to agree with you- all of the trendy cleanses seem a little nuts to me. I just don’t understand how people can go without food for days. Um, no thanks. I like your idea much better.
I’ve actually never tried Pad Thai. I can’t help myself and always go for the peanut sauce, haha. But I should really give it a go, especially with quinoa. I’ll have to pin this for a future meal plan, thanks for sharing!
Seriously, anyone that can do a cleanse and stick with it…I worry about their insanity. Haha. I lovvvveee peanut sauce too, but for some reason I can never make it at home as well as one of my favorite restaurants, so I always shy away from it!
Haha Gweneth Paltrow… yea that’s a type of crazy I want nothing to do with. But I totally love how to counteracted it: fettucine alfredo! Nice. Good work Nicole! I could never do a cleanse like that. But make healthy substitutions like this… that I can totally do! I actually love to make a pad thai with spaghetti squash as a healthy alternative… using quinoa is genius! I’ll have to try it 🙂 Pinned!
Ooooo I like that!!! I actually have a spaghetti squash in my fridge right now!
I love love love this idea! I’m always so scared to eat pad thai even though it is sooooo good because I know it’s not that good for you but I would eat all this up with quinoa! OMG! I totally though I would try to master cleanse a few years ago…lasted exactly 2 hours….awful!
I know! I almost never let myself eat it, and was craving it constantly so I knew I had to make a healthy version! People who can stick with the master cleanse are CRAZY!
how many eggs? it is 2019 and there is no mention of eggs in ingredients. I will try one egg.
Am I missing something? No mention of eggs in ingredient list—only in instructions…
Thanks for pointing out! Fixed!
Great idea – made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!
Simply genius. Pad Thai is one of my favorite dishes on earth – and subbing out the noodles for quinoa is brilliant! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Thanks Alyssa!
Love this idea, and cant wait to make it. Hoping to use it in kids cooking classes, but I need a clarification
“4.Quickly stir-fry garlic, half of green onions, carrots and cabbage, about 1-2 minutes, remove from pan”
am I adding all the carrots and cabbage, and only half of the green onions? where does the other half of the green onions come in? as garnish? (I’m pretty sure I know what you mean, but reading it from a students perspective. Thanks)
Sure! Yes, half the green onion in at the beginning and then toss the rest in at the end. I’ll clarify in the recipe. Hope the kiddos like it!! 🙂
I have looked everywhere and can’t find fresh tamarind or tamarind paste. How crucial is it? I did find a sauce that uses tamarind in the asian cooking isle. Think that would work?
It’s what gives the pad thai it’s unique flavor, I found mine at whole foods, but if you can’t find it that sauce should work too. You may just need to use a bit more depending on how potent it is.
Looks great, I can’t wait to try it! How crucial is the fish sauce? We’re vegetarians so I need to skip that ingredient. Should I put a substitute or just omit it? Thanks.
Thanks Caroline! You could substitute the fish sauce with a combination of a little bit of soy sauce and miso paste or soy sauce and hoisin.
When do I put in the bean sprouts? Am I missing that? Thanks!
In with the veggies. Recipe updated! Sorry! Make sure to have all of your ingredients ready to go.
I’m really excited to try this 🙂 I’m slowly trying to swap out all my favorite takeout foods with healthy versions.
Nice! It’s so much better doing “takeout” that way!
This is a great recipe that I’ll definitely make again. The leftovers didn’t hold up well for me the next day, so I’d recommend scaling the recipe down as needed to always eat it fresh. It’s so quick and easy that it’s worth it.
You realize you ask at the end to add lots of fresh lime, but there is no lime listed on the list of ingredients. It would be helpful if that was on the list of ingredients, as I did not buy lime at the store for this recipe.