Creamy Chicken Zucchini Fettuccine [Dude, what’s up with The Healthy Foodie?]
I’ve been extremely confused as to what to do with this place, lately.
Since I’ve now gone exclusively Paleo, I feel like I’m sending conflicting information all over the place.
I’ve become some sort of an antipode of my own self. I sometimes feel like I don’t belong on my own blog anymore… like I’m slightly out of place.
Almost like I’d been keeping a blog on, say “Caramel and Chocolate – A Thousand and One Decadent Indulgences” and suddenly turned it into this hard core “Totally Sugar Free – Rid Yourself of your Sugar Addiction Today” site.
Well, maybe not to that extreme, but you get the point.
So many of my “old” recipes call for ingredients that totally go against the grain (pun definitely intended) of what I’m doing now.
But what am I to do? Scrap everything I’ve done thus far and start from scratch? Ouch. That’s a very tough move to make!
Remove all non-paleo recipes from my blog? That just seems wrong… I can’t. I just can’t.
Yet, keeping things just as they are now doesn’t seem like a viable option to me…
So I’m really at a loss as to what to do with this place. If you happen to have ideas, comments or suggestions for me, please, by all means, fire them away!
Now, until I can come up with a solution, I guess status quo is the way to go.
Because there is one thing that I do happen to know: Paleo is here to stay!
Never in my life have I felt so strongly about something and wished that I could just get everyone to instantly see what it is that I’m seeing and have them make the switch for themselves.
For one, I get to eat so much more!
And for a foodie, more food is always good news!
Take this “pasta” dish, for example. I can have a MOUNTAIN of it before the calorie count even approaches that of a traditional bowl of pasta.
And quite frankly, I think I’m starting to like zucchini pasta even more than the real thing. They have MUCH more flavor to them, have a very similar texture and appearance too.
When we had this particular dish, my son came *this* close from stealing a bite from my daughter’s plate. He was convinced they were real pasta. She had to warn him that they were actually zucchinis, at which point he, half-disappointed, put the fork back.
*Sigh* Hopefully he’ll snap out of *that* stage soon.
Maybe he’ll eventually grow to love ’em poor courgettes…
Zucchini is my new pasta!
You can choose to keep it raw..
And top with some piping hot sauce…
The heat from the sauce alone will soften the pasta some!
If you prefer a softer noodle, you can also cook your zucchini for one or two minutes
Doesn’t this look just like pasta to you?
Could’ve fooled me!
Dig in, why don’t you?
Creamy Chicken Zucchini Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp Himalayan or fine sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 large head cauliflower, roughly chopped (about 600g )
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- the juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tsp capers
- 225 g mushrooms, sliced
- 450 g leftover cooked chicken, chopped (I used grilled chicken)
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped (to garnish)
- 2-3 large zucchinis, peeled and julienned
Instructions
- Peel the zucchini (or not, I peeled mine just for the look and munched on the peels while I was cooking) and cut them into wide julienne strips with a mandolin. Set aside. (I used the wider setting of my mandolin to create Fettuccine-like “noodles”, but you could also do finer noodles with the thinner setting or you could also use a vegetable spiralizer.)
- Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat for one or two minutes, until fragrant and slightly softened.
- Throw the cauliflower in and continue cooking for a minute or two.
- Add chicken stock, cover and bring to the boil; lower heat and continue cooking until the cauliflower is tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms in a large skillet until nice and golden. Add chicken and continue cooking until heated through; Reserve.
- Ladle the cauliflower mixture into your blender; add Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, balsamic vinegar and lime juice and process on high speed until super smooth and silky in consistency. Throw in capers and pulse 2-3 times just to mix them in and break them down a little. Pour that cauliflower mixture over the reserved chicken and mushrooms and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat.
- Divide the julienned zucchini between serving plates and ladle the chicken sauce on top.
- The heat from the sauce alone will soften the zucchini some, but it you want your "pasta" to be even softer still, you can also add the zucchini to the pan, stir until well coated and cook over low heat for a minute or two.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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61 Comments on “Creamy Chicken Zucchini Fettuccine [Dude, what’s up with The Healthy Foodie?]”
When I saw this photo I was like “What???? No way Sonia’s posting real pasta!!” It looked so much like the real thing! Then I read the post and was like “ooooh, ok!” I get how you’re feeling, I had a similar identity crisis when I went low carb and gluten free. Now I just have my old traditional recipes in the “other” category on the recipe index. I don’t think you should remove them at all – they are a part of you and your journey towards healthier eating. Lots of people will find them useful if they are still eating grains, and there is nothing wrong with that if it works for them. But just think of the fun you can have making over some of your old favorites to fit your new Paleo lifestyle! I for one can’t wait! 🙂
HAHA! They DO look like the real thing, don’t they? Especially when you peel them! I am totally sold on them.
And thanks a lot for sharing your advice, Mellissa. This means a lot to me. That is one idea that I’ve been toying with. Compartmentalize my recipes, divide my blog into “pre-paleo” and “post-paleo”, so to speak. I went and checked out your “others” sections and it only shows 5 recipes for me. Surely you have more than that?
I wish there was a way to be more specific with my categories too. This is one thing that I find seriously lacks in “recipe indexing possibilities”. There should be a plugin out there that allows us to automatically generate a recipe index that contains categories and sub categories, such as “Non-Paleo – Chicken”… maybe there is such a thing and I just don’t know about it. I shall investigate that! 🙂
Well let me know if you find a plugin that does that! I put so much time into redesigning the blog that I got burnt out, so when it finally relaunched I took a break from formatting old posts. I still have tons of posts to add to the recipe plugin, and I’ve been lax in managing my index too – I never did get around to filling in that “other” category and totally forgot about it! I’ll have to find time to spend finishing all of that. As you know it’s a challenge to manage the administrative stuff for the blog, AND come up with new content, AND go back and keep the old posts current – AND manage “real life” stuff! When I started this blog I had NO IDEA how much work it would turn into! Good thing I love it or I’d have quit a long time ago!!!!
Oh, don’t I know! I so totally hear you, Mellissa… and it sure ain’t the paycheck that keeps us going! 😉 I too have a lot of that “old” stuff that needs to be taken care of, yet I never got around to doing it. I think I should make a list!
Great recipe Sonia! I’m a huge zucchini pasta fan, just did a recipe using it for the first time a couple months ago on my blog and I’m hooked! Regular pasta always gave me a killer stomach ache so I was so happy to find a worthy replacement that worked! …as for your blog dilemma, I think it’s just how life works… your blog will evolve as you evolve in your eating and views and you’ve just got to roll with it! Maybe you could categorize your recipes as “pre paleo” and “paleo” ?? Either way, I’m here to stay! Love your stuff!
Aw, thank you so much Christal. That is music to my ears and part of what I need to hear, too: that people aren’t going to desert this place because it’s so chaotic and “paleo wannabe” type of thing. Thank you very much for your positive feedback. This really means a lot to me! You are a true gem! 🙂
Hey Sonia, In answer to your BIG question — Take a break. Give us folks some advance notice, find some prior posts that received a lot of traffic, recycle them (with SHORT updates, as needed from now, like “Afterwords” or “Epilogues” in books {example: How experiments are going in the process of changing that particular recipe to paleo, the successes and failures}), then do some thinking. Not only where you want to go with the blog. Maybe, perhaps, there are some things you need to think-through away from this blog, find clarity in your mind first? Forget about us for a moment: Be fair to yourself first. You may find you’re wanting to go in one direction that, before, you felt had no place in your life, but maybe now, you’re thinking ‘Maybe, perhaps…’ You’re all about people treating themselves fairly, honestly, and each according to one’s goals and abilities. The same is true for you, too, friend. Peace.
Wow! Such wise words! Thank you so much for that, Matt. I sincerely appreciate your intervention!
And you are so right about me going one direction that before, had no place in my life. This is precisely what’s going on now, and this probably plays a big role in my being so confused! 🙂
I agree with Melissa: put your old recipes under a different category on the same website. Then those of us still eating grains can use them on occasion. Also, I love the idea of you remaking the recipes paleo… you can link to the paleo recipe and vice versa. I just found your site and am going to try it this week. I’m trying Paleo, but I’m not one of those people to go 100% on it yet. I cook for my husband and seven children at home, so I go slowly on such a big change. 🙂
Too true, Jennifer. There are a lot of people like you out there who aren’t 100% paleo. For sure, my old recipes can still come in handy from time to time!
So I need to find a way to efficiently compartmentalize my blog! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, I truly appreciate that! 🙂
And best of luck with the paleo transition. It can’t be easy with a big family like that! At least, I have no one but myself to think about. It sure makes things a lot easier! 😉
Don’t get rid of the old recipes! The photographs are beautiful and the recipes are still great for those of us who like to eat healthfully but do not eat meat and therefore are not going paleo, such as myself.
I think that keeping the recipes around would reflect your journey to a style of eating that is working for you right now. Just because something isn’t ‘you’ at this particular moment, doesn’t make it reflect ‘you’ less as a part of the build up to being where you are and all you have learned. I throughly enjoy this blog and hope you’ll be here to stay. I also hope you’ll put up more vegetarian recipes!
You are right, Hannah. This is all a part of my journey, indeed, so it should definitely stay. And hey, no one says that I have to eat paleo 100% of the time. Who knows, some of those old recipes might even come in handy for my own self eventually! And even if I don’t redo them, I might very well “paleo-ify” a bunch of them, like others have suggested.
Thank you very much for your kind words and your continued support. And with summer being here (well, almost) I guess you can expect a lot more vegetarian salads and sides to make an appearance on here. Hey, one needs a whole lot of veggies to go with all that meat! 🙂
Thanks for this awesome new recipe! And like the others, I vote to not take down your old recipes. They are still healthy, delicious, and the story behind each one makes them priceless. Be proud of where you were because that was the path that lead to to where you are today! Organizing them as either Paleo or Non-Paleo and so forth will make it easy for people to find what they want. Like others have said, many people don’t eat exclusively Paleo or need to cook for non-Paleo family members. For me, I don’t call myself Paleo because I will have the occasional bowl of quinoa or cottage cheese or a tablespoon of yogurt in my cooking. Also, I cannot eat any sweeteners other than stevia or xylitol (so no honey, dates, etc that are allowed under Paleo guidelines) so I keep it flexible to my body’s needs. Anyway, I’m here to stay, love your recipes, love your website and am so excited to see what else you have in store! 😀
p.s. besides your skinny beef stroganoff recipe is my absolute favorite recipe of all time!! I cut down the yogurt to just a tablespoon per serving, but still…I die and go to heaven with every bite! So thank you for that even though it is non-Paleo! 😉
Thank you for taking the time to write such kind and wise words, Christine. I sincerely appreciate that! As for my skinny Beef Stroganoff being your absolute favorite recipe of all time: WOW, really? I am flattered and honored! Thank you so much for letting me know. You just made my day! 😀
You are most certainly welcome! 🙂
Over the past year, I lost a total of 60lbs. I’m now at my goal weight after being overweight for most of my life (I’m 20) and I just wanted to say thank you! Because last fall, in the last stretch of my weight loss journey as I was trying (without much success) to really find a new way of eating that was both healthy and tasty do you know what happened? I found your website. Since then I’ve been cooking your recipes and it opened a whole new world to me! Your website has been my go-to site throughout this process and has inspired me to take new risks in my cooking and try some new foods that before I had just written off as “healthy and gross.” But after trying your recipes I began realizing how delicious healthy food can be and I haven’t looked back! Now I’m cooking crazy wonderful things like Beef Stroganoff, butternut squash and chicken mash, and roasted bacon with brussels sprouts! And that all started because of you! So I just wanted to give you a big thank you from the very bottom of my heart. 😀 Have a truly wonderful day and God bless!
OMG, Christine, this actually brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. It touches me to no end, you can’t even begin to imagine. This is the kind of feedback that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning and keep doing what I am doing. Trust me, being a food blogger isn’t always easy, it demands a tremendous amount of time and energy, but reading beautiful testimonials such as yours gives a true meaning to all that I do. I am simply blown away. You didn’t make my day, Christine, you just gave me wings! Thank you so much for that, you are totally awesome!
So you go, girl. Have yourself a wonderful week-end and stay healthy. Forever. Together, we can do this! <3
More food is always better…always! I didn’t even realize that the “pasta” was acutally zucchini. You’re sneaky, but totally in a good way. I can’t wait to give this a try.
I like the diversity of all the different types of recipes you’ve posted. I don’t have a restricted diet, I just try to eat healthy so they all work for me!
Skimming through a few of the responses here and I’d have to agree with those that said you should keep your old recipes the way they are and just categorize/label them. Besides, your non-Paleo recipes are perfect for those who are not into Paleo but still want to eat healthy =)
This looks fantastic. I haven’t tried zucchini noodles yet but I’m going to have to!
I agree with what most others have said. Keep the old recipes, just put them in a different category. I for one am thrilled that you’re going paleo, because I recently decided to as well! Now I know I can keep coming back here for awesome recipes well into the future 🙂
An additional idea I have is changing your blog design. Obviously there is nothing wrong with the one you have now! But if you want to make the changes really marked, that would be a way to do it. A new blog design might be a way of refreshing the site in more than one way.
Thanks for your insight, Chelsea, I really value your opinion. Funny, I’ve been thinking about getting a little face lift too. Guess I’m gonna have to put some serious thought as to what direction I want to take now. One thing is for sure, the old recipes stay and the future ones will be paleo! I’m lovin’ it way too much to go back. 🙂
Oh, and ps… DO try the zucchini noodles. You’ll be totally hooked! 🙂
I am in the same place with my blog! I went paleo and then took on the GAPS diet to heal my stomach and I’ve just decided to move forward with the new eating style. Maybe we should start a support group for paleo crossover blogs! 😉
Haha! A support group for paleo crossover blogs. I love it! Seriously, I really wish such a forum existed! I’d be a member, for sure! 🙂
Hello! I made this dish to bring to lunch this week and it is absolutely delicious. I didn’t bother to peel the zucchini and did cook it a bit and loved it. It’s so good, I wanted to eat the whole week’s portions in one sitting. I do love pasta and eat it regularly. However, this will be a added to the rotation.
I only recently found your blog and plan on trying several of your recipes. I would love it if you kept the non paleo recipes up as I will try some of those. Sounds like there are plenty of us who still want those old ones around but like the new ones too. I’m new to your blog and didn’t have any problems with the fact or figuring out that you changed your diet. Using some of the suggestions that others have already made should make it easier for newcomers.
Your photography is beautiful.
Thank you so much for your kind words and feedback, Diane. Real happy to hear you enjoyed this “pasta” dish.
As for keeping my non-paleo recipes online, I definitely intend to do that. I’m trying to figure out a way to create 2 completely distinct recipe indexes. Not sure it can be done, but it sure would be ideal.
Hope you like the next recipes you intend on trying. Make sure you let me know how they turn out when you do make them! 🙂
I made this and it was really, really good. I have used the shirataki noodles and spaghetti squash, but I never thought of using zucchini. I think it’s my new favorite. Can’t wait to try out other noodle dishes with it. Thanks!
Thank you for your awesome feedback, Ashley. Real glad to hear the noodles worked for you! 😀
Hi, this is a great recipe, I like the puréed cauliflower to create the creaminess. Good luck with the paleo diet!
Thank you, Ed, but I don’t need luck at all… I just happen to love it so much, I don’t even feel deprived in the least. So really, I’m having a blast! Glad you like the recipe! 🙂
This was sooooo delicious! The best dish I had in months! Thank you!
Although I have a question: what kind of mushrooms did you use? Because I used champignons and they turned my sauce grey (obviously, because they are sort of dark). It’s still equally delicious just doesn’t look too appealing.
Real glad to hear you like it that much, Vita, although I do not understand how the mushrooms changed the color of your sauce. Did you throw them in the food processor with the cauliflower?
😀 no, of course, I didn’t. But when sauteed the mushrooms get oxygen and blacken a little and release some juices so when I add the white sauce it turns black. I don’t know if that makes any sense 😀 don’t tell me it’s only Lithuanian mushrooms that get darker when cooked/sauteed (and both the forest mushrooms and tame mushrooms… except for chanterelles). Anyway, I think the next time I’ll just leave the mushrooms out 🙂 The problem’s solved! 🙂
When I added the mushrooms to my sauce the color did not change whatsoever. It maybe has to do with the type of mushroom you used. I used white button mushrooms. Yes, the mushrooms themselves get darker but they didn’t darken the sauce at all.
What a fun recipe, Thank you so much! Very creative! We used shredded chicken that I did in the crockpot and I used regular balsamic b/c thats all I had. The only adjustments I will make for next time is to reduce the stock by 3/4 when I pour it into the blender and maybe add some bacon for ‘garnish’ 🙂 Both my husband and I enjoyed. Plus this recipe gave me a reason to break in the new veggie spiral gadget. Its going into regular rotation in our house. Thanks again!
Isn’t that veggie spiral gadget super fun? Don’t you want to spiralize everything in sight? 😉
Glad you liked this recipe, Laurie, and thank you so much for taking the time to leave this amazing feedback. It’s greatly appreciated! And hey, I’m all for bacon for garnish. What a great idea! 🙂
The sauce was delicious….but I think the next time I make it I will add broccoli florets and have it over a baked potato…..maybe with a dolop of sour cream or greek yogurt on toop.
This is great! Happy to see a “cream” sauce that isn’t made from cashews. I made this today with shrimp instead of chicken. I added too much water to the sauce, but we still ate it and I now have a new non-dairy “cream” sauce.
I’m about to make this but don’t have any nutritional yeast – what’s it for anyways? I’ve never heard of yeast being used for anything but baking.
It’s used mainly for flavor here, Amy, so you can totally leave it out.
yay! I stumbled across this recipe and was also wondering about the yeast (i have none) so will try without.
it looks and sounds delicious 🙂
Today is the first time I have seen your site Going to try the z-noodles recipe. I am now on low carb but not paleo. Hope to visit your blog regularly.
Awesome, Sue. Hope you find a lot of recipes to inspire you in the kitchen! 🙂
That looks absolutely delicious.
One question I have though, I’m looking at doing Keto instead of Paleo.
Obviously zoodles are perfect for this, but the recipe shows it has about 28g of carbs whereas my daliy limit is 29….
Any idea what is blowing out the carbs?
The carbs come mostly from the cauliflower and zucchini, Chris. But are you counting total carbs or net carbs? Because you’re only looking at 18g of net carbs per serving here.
That’s one of the things I didn’t really like about the keto diet… you can’t even have vegetables without busting your daily carb limit. And god knows I LOVE me some vegetables. Plus, I think they’re super good for me, too. Keto was way too restrictive in that department for my taste. 🙁
Followed the recipe to the ‘T’ — this was DISGUSTING! Don’t waste your time…or ingredients!
I’m sorry to hear you feel that way, Tina. However, the fact that you didn’t like the dish doesn’t automatically make it disgusting; other people may (and did) feel differently about it. I think it’s only fair to leave it up to them to decide whether they want to give the recipe a try or not…
A small dash of cayenne pepper can make a huge difference in getting the cheese-like taste. I’ve made vegan white or cheese sauces before and they all have a dash of red pepper. It took me a few minutes to figure out what this was missing
I just discovered your website and am so excited to try your recipes! I asked for and received a Spiralizer for Mother’s Day and this is the first recipe I used it for. It was DELICIOUS! My 11 yr old had fun making the zucchini noodles and my 8 yr old asked if she could have more of this dish for dessert while she was still eating dinner! I am new to the Paleo lifestyle and am so excited I can get my family on board without resorting to bribery or begging! Skinny beef stroganoff is next on my list…Thank you!
YAY!!! I’m so super happy to hear this, Jamie! I simply LOVE it when kids dig my dishes. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this amazing feedback, too, you just SO made my day. I hope you (and your kiddos!) enjoy the beef stroganoff just as much. Keep me posted! 😀
Just out of curiosity, have you done pasta with any vegetables besides squash? For paleo You can do it with almost any root vegetables, including beets, carrots, parsnips, or sweet potatoes. I don’t know about turnips or rutabagas, though… The only thing is they need to be cooked. It’s definitely a staple in my house. I’ve gotten so used to spiralized veggies that I don’t even like real pasta anymore. I intend to make this one tonight but using orange peppers instead of mushrooms. My pepper plants have gone crazy the last couple weeks 😀
I don’t miss pasta all that much, so I don’t feel the need to spiralize everything in sight… but I must say that rutabaga is by far my favorite when I crave a bowl of spaghetti. 🙂
Hi, I just discovered your website tonight. I’m not on a paleo diet, but I’m certainly not opposed to cutting down on carbs and sugars. Oh, and I have a TON of squash and cauliflower in the house. This recipe makes perfect sense for tonight, as I am adamant about using what’s on hand.
I skimmed the reader comments, and I’m definitely gong with Amber’s suggestion to punch things up with some cayenne pepper.
I have one suggestion: would you consider editing steps 2 and 5 (and the list of ingredients) to include your fat choice for sauteing?
Thanks for the inspiration!
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This was delicious!! I did not have nutritional yeast, lime, or capers, so all of those were omitted. It was incredible!! I wouldn’t go so far as to say it tasted like fettucine alfredo, nor should it be expected to, but it was just as delicious and even more so because I knew how healthy it is! I also did cook the zucchini a tad bit before putting the chicken over it. I can also see myself using this cauliflower “sauce” with chicken and broccoli. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe! I will be putting this in my rotation for sure!
Real happy to hear that this dish was to your liking, and thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. I always love getting feedback on my recipes, especially when it’s as awesome as yours! 🙂
Oh, and by the way, Fettuccine Alfredo is a completely different dish, filled with all kinds of cream and cheese!!! But now you just inspired me to try it with cauliflower… I’m sure it could be done!
Ha! Yes, I thought that’s what this was- a healthier version of fettucine alfredo! I guess when I saw “fettucine” I automatically hear “alfredo”. 🙂 It doesn’t taste exactly the same, but it’s similar and a version that is much healthier!
Hi! I don’t tolerate mushrooms well, and don’t like capers. Do you think they can be omitted and have it turn out okay? Do you have any suggestions for substitutions? 🙂
Dawn, I made this recipe without capers and I loved it. I don’t see why you can’t omit the mushrooms as well, if you wanted to. They’re not a component of the sauce, so I think they’re just with the chicken to add flavor. I didn’t have capers, lime or nutritional yeast and it came out amazing!
I’ve never heard of Nutritional Yeast (living in Australia). Can I leave it out or can I substitute something else for it? This recipe looks delicious!!
You can leave it out entirely, Anita… in this recipe, it gets added mainly for flavor, so it won’t really affect the overall results.
I just made this and it turned out great! Very delicious! If I were to make it again I would probably decrease the vinegar to 1 Tbsp and the pepper to 1/4 tsp. Also add a little less chicken stock because it was very runny – especially as the zucchini started to soften and release moisture on the plate. Thanks for a great recipe!
Happy to hear and really appreciate the feedback, Elise. Thanks very much for taking the time to share your impressions. I sincerely appreciate it! 🙂