Zoodles are life changing. They can make Italian food part of your daily life. Pesto zoodles takes it to the next level.
Italian food is one of my great food affairs. I say affair because I would consider myself to be food-obsessed. My mind is constantly drifting to food and eating… which sometimes makes it hard to stay healthy. I mean, seriously, how hard is it to be healthy when all you want to do is stuff your face everyday and try every food you see??? The daily struggle is real. I try my hardest to stay on track and theses “noodles” are my pasta savior. Now there’s nothing wrong with eating pasta; my problem is that I want to inhale it in large quantities every day for dinner. Zoodles to the rescue. Bonus is more vegetables. (Dietitian side note: Most people eat far too many refined carbohydrates and not enough vegetables; zucchini are a great replacement for pasta. You could even do half pasta, half zoodles.)
I love ALL food, but Italian cuisine ranks top five. My heart belongs to marinara sauce, but this pesto is making its case to possibly win me over. Pesto zoodles are divine. We make them all the time. One of my best friends, Alyssa, got me a little, handheld spiralizer for Christmas two years ago, and it’s become one of the most used gadgets in our kitchen. Especially since my zucchini plants dominated the garden last summer. At one point, I think Kris was making zoodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
For this recipe I spiralized two medium zucchinis and sautéed them in olive oil with a sliced onion. If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can slice the zucchini lengthwise into very thin strips. (Before sautéing the zoodles and onions, I started cooking the chicken in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.) Zucchini cook pretty fast, and I prefer them more on the crisp side, so I only cook them for a few minutes. When the zoodles are cooked al dente, I stir in the pesto and watch as it heats up and coats the zucchini and onions. As soon as the pesto is incorporated and the chicken is done, time to plate up and eat!
Hope zoodles are as life changing for you as they are for me and will help you enjoy Italian food uninhibitedly.
- 2 medium zucchini spiralized
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pesto see previous post for my favorite pesto recipe
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Juice from half lemon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Shredded parmesan and pine nuts to garnish
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Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
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Place chicken breasts in skillet; season with salt and pepper, add lemon juice to skillet.
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Chicken breasts will take approximately 15 minutes to cook; make sure to flip halfway through cooking. Let chicken breasts rest for approximately 5 minutes before slicing.
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Meanwhile, heat a second skillet over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil.
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Add sliced onion to skillet and sauté for a few minutes until it starts to become transparent.
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Add zoodles in with onions and stir to combine.
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Sauté zoodles with onions for about 3 minutes.
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Stir pesto into zoodles and onions and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until incorporated.
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To serve, dish up zoodles and top with sliced chicken. Garnish with parmesan and pine nuts.
This looks so good. It might be how I can finally get my boyfriend to eat zucchini noodles! LOVE pesto.
Thanks so much, Allie! Hopefully he likes it 😉
What is the calories per portion please?
Hannah – 500 calories per serving, 33 g protein, 20 g carbs, 34 g fat.
I made this recipe a few days ago and it turned out so amazing! I underestimated how many zucchini I needed so I had to add noodles. I actually preferred the zoodles over the whole wheat noodles I used! Thank you for the recioe, Emily!
Thanks, Amie!!! Glad you guys liked it! 🙂
Just made Pesto Zoodles with Chicken and it was a big success! I didn’t miss having a starch at all and I am big fan of Italian food.
Thanks, Moniki!!! Glad you liked it! Hopefully Greg was a fan too 😉
Is there the nutritional information somewhere I just can’t see it ? Sorry
Sorry I missed replying to you! 500 calories per serving, 33 g protein, 20 g carbs, 34 g fat.
This was so good and simple! I added some sun dried tomatoes and garlic salt and it was delicious.
Sun dried tomatoes sounds amazing!!! Yum!!! Will have to try adding them next time 🙂
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Thanks, Marianela! Hope you like it 🙂
I tried this today! Super easy to cook and of course it was as delicious as it looks!
Yay! Glad it was easy and you enjoyed it! Quick, easy meals are the best!
Looking forward to trying this recipe. However, you should include a fiber count with your nutrition info. The carb grams minus the fiber grams equals net carbs, which is what low carb dieters are looking for! So, if you’re new to low-carbing and are looking at nutrition labels, 1 gram of fiber cancels out 1 gram of carbs! So, if a dish has 20 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fiber, your NET carbs is actually 16 grams. 🙂 Just thought I would throw this out there!
Oh, yum. Makes dieting so much easier. I Love my spiralizer. It makes all kinds of veggies look like so much food! This was just terrific! Plus a little garlic and lemon zest! mmmmmmm! Thank you!
Hi Mary,
Glad you liked it! Sounds like you love zoodles as much as I do 🙂
This is amazing ! Buy a Julian slicer- works great and cheap. I didn’t do the chicken for time reasons but topped with cherry tomatoes.Delish
Yes! A julienne slicer works great too! Cherry tomatoes sound really good!
What about the nutritional facts on this recipe.
500 calories per serving, 33 g protein, 20 g carbs (15 net carbs), 34 g fat.
My husband said “this is the best thing you’ve ever cooked”! Thanks for making me a rockstar!!