Paleo Ramen

If you’ve read my post Homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken , then you probably already know how precious Asian cuisine is in our home.

With the challenges of my son’s peanut allergy as well as my clean eating restrictions, eating out at Chinese restaurants can be quite the challenge. Many Asian inspired dished use soy products for flavor and add peanuts for crunch. Though it’s not supposed to pose a risk, many restaurants also use peanut oil to fry their foods. I just don’t like to chance it!

So, for the last 6 years, I’ve experimented with several kinds of ingredients and recipes to get that special takeout flavor without all the risks!

It’s A Buffet!

Stir fry. Egg drop soup. Beef and broccoli…all examples of dishes that frequent our family’s menu. Sometimes though, it’s nice to switch it up and try new flavors.

I was standing in the produce aisle of our local HyVee when that spicy, savory smell punched me in my nose. The Chinese counter was frying up some of that saucy goodness that triggered my mouth to water. It was at that moment when I knew I wasn’t leaving the store with out ingredients to make homemade takeout.

I cruised over to the Asian inspired aisle in search for the newest victims. It took a few minutes (and a quick Pinterest search) to decide on the menu. As it turned out, it ended up being a little bit of everything. Touché HyVee…that was some stellar marketing!

That’s Using Your Noodle

I should probably back up a few steps to last week when I discovered something called Shirataki Miracle Noodles on Amazon. I had never heard of this product before, but was intrigued when it has the label “paleo” listed next to “spaghetti”. I’m used to using spaghetti squash when I make my spaghetti, but in the same way as the Asian flavors, it’s nice to try new things. And boy I’m glad I did!

I had one of the packaged ripped open with in an hour of delivery. The fact that they come precooked was an added bonus. Anytime I can save a step when making meals is a huge win! A quick microwave later, I took my first bite.

I was really impressed that these noodles are super similar to regular noodles. I would say the only differences are the transparent appearance and the slightly tougher texture. Neither of those are deal breakers for me.

Zoom forward to present-day, grocery-aisle me. I remembered that I still have several of these noodle packages at home. As a result, when I was quickly scrolling my way down the Pinterest pages for inspiration, the various ramen recipes caught my attention.

If you’re not one for following fads, don’t worry, I don’t judge. But with rising grocery bills and higher prices of living ramen noodles have been EVERYWHERE!

What once was a college kid’s means of survival, is now feeding entire families. Unfortunately, the Miracle Noodles are not a cheap as the orange-bagged brand, but they are substantially better for you. If you are on a tight budget, simply substitute the Miracle Noodles for a package of your ramen of choice!

Here are the recipes I ended up experimenting with to create a healthy paleo, yet trendy, Asian feast!

Red Curry Soup

The first recipe that caught my attention while scrolling through Pinterest was this Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup. Not only is it GORGEROUS to look at, but red curry is not an ingredient that I’ve used before. I was excited to give it a shot!

Since I knew I was going to be making a buffet style meal, I decided to cut the recipe in half. It ended up being perfectly proportioned for one of the 7oz Miracle Noodle package and still made several appetizer sized bowls of soup. As a bonus, it also made for a killer dipping sauce for the crab rangoons. YUM!

As per usual, I did end up altering the recipe a smidge. In addition to subbing cheap ramen for the Miracle Noodles, I used 6 chicken bouillon cubes with 4 cup of water in place of the chicken broth. Ratios of cubes to water are usually 1:1, but I like things to be flavorful, so a couple extra cubes won’t hurt anything.

TikTok Ramen

If you’ve been on social media fairly frequently, you’ve probably heard some buzz about TikTok Ramen. Supposedly, it’s super quick and easy to make while still being take-out worthy. So I decided to give it a shot since I already had all of the ingredients.

The recipe did in fact prove to be very easy. My edits for this recipe were subbing out the butter for Country Crock Plant Butter, replacing the brown sugar with coconut sugar, and using coco aminos in place of soy sauce.

Originally, I didn’t think I altered much, but after typing that last paragraph I realized I pretty much changed everything. LOL! Especially since I also, once again, used the Miracle Noodles in place of the ramen.

Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry

Ok, being completely honest, I totally winged this one. One of the reasons that I appreciate a good stir fry is that you can make one out of just about anything. Pick a meat, some veggies, a base, and your sauces. Voila! Quick and easy dinner.

I did use this Ginger Glazed Chicken recipe for inspiration on the shrimp marinade. Instead of the soy sauces, I substituted the coconut aminos. For the brown sugar, I once again subbed coconut sugar. As I already mentioned, I also used shrimp instead of the chicken. I mean, recipes are only suggestions, right?

I marinated the shrimp while I chopped up some onions, broccoli, carrots, peppers, and mushrooms. I also ended up throwing in some frozen peas that I had leftover from a previous recipe. Once I chopped everything up, I threw all the veggies, and the shrimp, into a large skillet heated with 1 tbsp of oil. As it cooked, I added a little extra aminos for a kick of flavor.

When it was done, I topped it off with some diced green onion and red pepper flakes for heat.