Sticky, sweet and savory crispy baked chicken over crunchy spiralized strands of carrot noodles are a match made in healthy, fake-out take-out heaven.  Hello Friends and happy almost weekend!  How has your week been going?

Apparently this past Monday – Blue Monday – was the most depressing day of the year.  So if you are here, reading this (nonsense), and made it through that manic Monday, you should be doing A-Okay.

Smoothing sailing for the rest of the 340+ days of 2016… hopefully.  #PositiveThinkingAnyways, moving on. because I’m keeping things short and sweet today.

This year I’m trying to be all about that bass variety on this here blog, where spoons are sometimes necessary despite the name.

Healthy, indulgent.  Vegetarian, carnivorous.  Sweet, savory.  Boozy, non-alcoholic.

You name it, I’m going to try and provide it, so feel free to email me or drop requests in the comments section at the bottom of any post.We started out the year with a delicious vegetarian cauliflower & chickpea salad, then skinny spaghetti squash alla vodka boats, some savory and slightly sweet scones, and a hearty beef lovers chili.

Now I’m coming at you with a healthy, yet seriously satisfying dish with an Asian and spiralized twist.

Honey, Ginger Garlic Chicken with Carrot Noodle Bowls.

These bowls are bomb, my friends.  They are a healthy spin on fake-out take-out, and they were inspired by my favorite Asian ginger-carrot dressing, which I could seriously guzzle by the gallon.  No joke.

I am always looking for ways to turn that dressing into a meal.  Remember my ginger carrot dressing Hummus?  No?  Go check it out now.  I’ll wait….. So, I took the components of that dressing and turned it into these bowls, obviously I added a lot of creativity.  And chicken.  Because that’s just how I roll.  #ProteinPower

The sauce in these carr-oodle bowls (<– totally just made up that word) is sticky, sweet, savory, garlicky, gingery and seriously scrumptious.

The bite sized pieces of chicken are crispy, while the inside remains tender and juicy without deep frying.  This is possible thanks to a dredge in cornstarch and quick flash in the pan before being baked.  And since the chicken is baked instead of fried, you can keep up with those healthy New Year’s goals and still devour a few pounds of this chicken.

At least that’s what I did.  😉 But you can’t have a carroodle bowl without the carrot noodles.  If you like zucchini noodles, I can guarantee you are going to like carroodles.  They are slightly crunchy and when tossed with the honey ginger garlic sauce they are veg-tastically delicious.

Honestly, I was eating the carroodles by the bowlful when I realized we had polished off all the chicken.If you love take out, but don’t love all the calories that come with it, I highly recommend you try these honey ginger garlic chicken carrot noodle bowls.  Pinkie promise you will love them!  Until next time friends – Cheers to carroodles being all the rage.

-xoxo-

Cheyanne

5 from 10 votes

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Honey Ginger Garlic Chicken Carrot Noodle Bowls

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Sticky, sweet and savory crispy baked chicken over crunchy spiralized strands of carrot noodles are a match made in healthy, fake-out take-out heaven.  

Course: entree, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 4

Calories: 533 kcal

Author: Cheyanne Bany

Ingredients

• 1 Pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – cut into bite sized pieces (roughly 1- 1 ½’’ cubes)
• ½ tsp Salt , plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper , plus more to taste
• ½ Cup Cornstarch
• ¼ Cup + 1 TBS Vegetable Oil (can substitute Canola) - divided
• 5-6 large Carrots – peeled, ends trimmed & spiralized*
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes , to taste
• Sauce:
• 8 Cloves Garlic – minced
• 6 TBS Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
• ¼ Cup Sake
• ½ Cup Honey
• ¼ Cup Fresh Ginger – grated
• 1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
• Garnish:
• ½ Cup Scallions – thinly sliced
• Sesame Seeds , to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare a 8x11’’ baking pan with cooking spray and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. For the Chicken: Place the chicken pieces, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Shake the bag until the chicken is well coated in cornstarch.
3. Heat ¼ cup oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan*, and sauté until lightly browned, turning to cook all sides, about 2-3 minutes. (chicken will be raw on the inside) Transfer to prepared baking pan and spray the top of chicken with cooking spray.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Meanwhile: Wipe pan of excess oil and reduce heat to medium high. Add 1 tablespoon clean oil to the pan. Add the carrot noodles and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until sauce in thickened. Turn heat off under skillet.
7. When chicken is done cooking add it to the sauté pan and toss to coat. (Alternatively, pour the sauce over chicken in the baking pan and toss to coat. Or, toss both noodles and chicken with sauce)
8. Serve chicken over carrot noodles. Garnish with scallions, sesame seeds and additional red pepper flakes.

Recipe Notes

*If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a vegetable peeler to shred the carrots.
*If you don’t like a lot of sauce for the noodles, ½ the sauce recipe
*If cooking the chicken in batches, add more oil to pan as needed.

Nutrition Facts

Honey Ginger Garlic Chicken Carrot Noodle Bowls

Amount Per Serving

Calories 533 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 18g 28%

Saturated Fat 12g 60%

Cholesterol 72mg 24%

Sodium 1364mg 57%

Potassium 856mg 24%

Total Carbohydrates 64g 21%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 39g

Protein 27g 54%

Vitamin A 303.9%

Vitamin C 13.8%

Calcium 6.2%

Iron 9.5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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