Since reading Sweet Potato Power, I’ve been using sweet potatoes much more creatively. We’ve always eaten a lot of them, but she had a great recipe for sweet potato pasta, and I’ve used the basic concept in several dishes since then.
This is my favorite so far because it combines sweet potatoes, shrimp, and bacon … yum.
Even if you aren’t completely grain free, using sweet potato strings in place of pasta is an easy way to add some extra nutrition and fun color to a meal!
Shrimp Carbonara Sweet Potato "Pasta" Recipe
An easy, creamy shrimp sauce over a pasta made of sweet potatoes.
Servings 4 -6
Calories 481kcal
The ingredient links below are affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.
Ingredients
- 4 TBSP butter (or coconut oil, divided)
- 3-4 medium sweet potatoes (julienned or shredded)
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 cup peas (or chopped asparagus spears)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 1 lb shrimp (peeled and tails removed)
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
- ½ cup heavy cream (or coconut milk, optional)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter or coconut oil in a large skillet and add the sweet potato "noodles." Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Cook for about 7-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until noodles are starting to get tender but are not mushy yet.
- Remove from pan and set aside, keeping warm.
- Add the bacon to the skillet and cook until crispy.
- Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add onion, peas/asparagus, and the remaining tablespoon of butter or oil if needed.
- Cook 3-4 minutes or until onions are translucent and peas are bright green and tender.
- Add the shrimp and saute another 5-6 minutes or until shrimp is cooked.
- Add the Parmesan and cream/coconut milk and spices.
- Stir 1-2 minutes to thicken.
- Serve shrimp cream sauce over sweet potato "noodles" and sprinkle with bacon.
- Enjoy!
Notes
You can omit the Parmesan and cream completely if you'd prefer more of a stir fry type dish.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 481kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.2g | Protein: 30.4g | Fat: 22.7g | Saturated Fat: 11.4g | Cholesterol: 219mg | Sodium: 1267mg | Fiber: 6.1g | Sugar: 2.8g
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
Serve by topping the sweet potato noodles with the shrimp sauce and crumbled bacon. Enjoy!
Ever made “pasta” this way? How did it turn out? Share below!
Overcoming Stumbling Blocks
Would you say the 3-4 sweet potatoes turned into noodles makes roughly the same amount as a 16 oz. box of regular pasta? I’m new to the grain free cooking, my husband is trying to cure his tooth decay so I am trying really hard to make a grain free grocery list. But I LOVE pasta, so I’m trying to find some good alternatives. I would love to know how many sweet potatoes to sub for a 16 oz. box of pasta.
Great recipe! Omitted the bacon, but was still great! Did not have a julienne, but used my vegetation pro PERFECTO!
I feel really dumb, but am going to ask anyway. I am suffering from a lot of hair loss, I am in my mid 40’s. Would love to try to run this around. I have been to several dr’s. I am now seeing a naturopathic dr. Did a food intolerance test. I can eat fish, but no other meat, no mineral salt, and cannot combine potato and grains within 8 hours of each other.
What are simple starches. Yes I should know, but do not. I see that this is one of the first steps to correcting this. I want to fix my Leptin level. From what I can find, does this mean no fruits or am I just misunderstanding? If it is fruits, does this mean cut them out forever or until Leptin level is corrected?
Thanks
Don’t feel dumb! Thanks for asking! This article talks a lot about leptin resistance and how to fix it 🙂 https://wellnessmama.com/5356/leptin-resistance/
This sounds amazing!! We’ve accidentally made Paleo “carbonara” with shredded cabbage and onion, toss an egg in with it, and bacon! And, the “carbon” part–freshly ground pepper! My step-grandpa is Italian and taught the traditional version to my parents. I never miss pasta, especially when I can still eat the old favorite flavors!
This looks great! I’m trying to cut out grains, but I’m not finding a lot of successful replacements for pastas (maybe there isn’t one?). Will definitely give this a try!
I just got one of these amazing things – https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-122-Grip-EZ-Julienne-Slicer/dp/B0000VLUHG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=e3abd7ad8cf6458d2b2b07ddbd81831c&language=en_US
I’ve been using it to make zucchini “pasta” (since we have zucchini in bucketloads in our garden right now). It makes the julienne process super quick & the pieces are a perfect thickness – you don’t even have to cook the zukes if you don’t want to!
I’ll definitely try it with this recipe. Thanks!
Just made this tonight. Absolutely delicious! Pasta carbonara used to be one of my favorite dishes back in my grain-eating days. This did not disappoint!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I modified it a little–used turkey bratwurst and no bacon. My husband loved it.