Anyway, onto this recipe! Pasta has always been an all time favorite of mine, and I LOVE sun dried tomatoes! It wasn’t until I discovered zoodles a few years back that I realized just how nutritious “pasta” can really be! Zoodles, or zucchini noodles (not nearly as fun to say!) are my favorite, and they really helped me when I was first changing my diet.
I really think you’ll love this dish, as it’s super easy to make, the flavors are so delicious, and the leftovers are great even eaten cold! I prefer to use sun dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in oil, as I’m never quite sure what the quality of the oil actually is. If you use tomatoes packed in oil, simply add less olive oil to the sauce and you’re good to go!
First up, let’s get the moisture out of the zoodles, no one likes watery pasta! It’s totally up to you, and what you want to do with your zoodles, but I typically prefer the salting method. This gets the moisture out, so that they don’t become a watery mess when heated with the sauce. To do this, place your zoodles on top of paper towels or a clean dishtowel and salt them generously. Set aside for at least 20 minutes, while they release their moisture.
Add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor (or blender) and pulse until well combined. Set aside.
Heat the coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once the oil has melted, add the chicken to the pan. Sauté until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Let’s get back to the zoodles! Press the salted zoodles between dry paper towels or another clean dishrag, to remove the excess moisture.
Turn down the heat of the pan to medium-low, and add the zoodles to the pan. Stir well. Once the zoodles are warm, turn the heat off and add the sun dried tomato sauce, and pine nuts to the pan and stir until combined. Enjoy!
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Game of Thrones! Brian and I are obsessed. I feel your pain. In the beginning I was very confused! That will get better, I promise! I think I need to make some zoodles now.
This recipe sounded delicious and I could not wait to try it. However I was disappointed in the zoodles. I have made many zoodle recipes and have never salted them or tried to get the moisture out. So I wanted to give it a try. I don’t know what happened…too much salt? But my zoodles ended up limp and almost mushy, no crunch at all. Did I do something wrong?
The sauce tasted very good but seemed salty (again was this due to the zoodles?) I will try this recipe again but wanted your opinion what may have happened. Thank You!
Hi Michele, so sorry that you had an issue with the zoodles! A couple of things that I thought of – it definitely could be that you over salted them. The salt is typically released with the moisture from the zoodles, although if you use too much I could see that it would make them salty. Salting them will make the zoodles flexible, but they should still have a crunch, they definitely shouldn’t be mushy. I’ve heard of this happening if you wring the zoodles, as opposed to gently pressing them with dry paper towels or a clean dishrag. The sauce itself doesn’t have any salt added, so it shouldn’t be overly salty, which makes me think that more than likely the zoodles were just salted a bit too much. Next time you could just try salting them lightly, or just leaving them as is! Also, if you make them the day before and store them in a covered container in the fridge, they’ll dry out enough so that they don’t water down the sauce. I hope that helps!
I’m about to make this recipe but I am wondering how many days it will last in the fridge.
Hi Jessica! I”d say it would last about 5 days in the fridge 🙂 Hope that helps!
I made this recipe, it was good!! I have a question. Does 1 cup basil leaves mean fill 1 cup or 8 oz weighed (very different). I used 1 cup and it did not seem like enough.
Yep, you want 1 cup packed, so it’s more like 2 cups if you weren’t to pack it in 🙂 Hope that helps!
I love this recipe! It’s my first time trying zoodles and they are delicious!
hi there! what kind of nutritional yeast do you use? ground or flakes? also, do you have a preference on brand? I went to the store and was overwhelmed by the options. it’s my first time using it, so want to make sure I get the right stuff. thanks in advance!
I was wondering about the nutritional values. Or did I miss them somewhere?
I’m doing Whole30, and the only compliant sun-dried tomatoes (with no sulfites) I’ve been able to find are jarred in oil. How will this affect the recipe? Thanks!
Hey Carolyn! That’s totally fine – you can use the oil they’re packed in and just add less of the olive oil in the recipe! Enjoy!
I’m allergic to walnuts. Is there another nut you would replace with, like pine nuts or pistachios? If so, would you use the same measurements?
This was absolutely delicious and so easy to prepare.