This Pad Thai recipe is hands-down one of the easiest, tastiest recipes on the blog. It’s made with simple ingredients and can be made with chicken, shrimp or tofu! Vegan-adaptable. GF! Once your ingredients are prepped, it only takes 15 minutes!
We must teach ourselves, activley remind ourselves, what being wild means. We must make room for it and invite it back. ~Brian Meier, Awaken the Bear.
Here’s a simple easy recipe for the best Pad Thai that contains very accessible ingredients and only takes about 15 minutes of actual cooking time. The Pad Thai Sauce is so flavorful and balanced- it is as close as comes to the real deal without having to take a trip to the Asian market.
Believe me, when I tell you, I’ve had a lot of Pad Thai in my life. Here and all across Thailand! It’s one of my favorite things to eat, and so I’ve made a practice of learning how to perfect this dish. It’s all about the flavor balance of the sauce, and the texture of the noodles.
So yes, I may be biased but I think this tastes pretty darn amazing! Seriously! But don’t take my word for it….give it a try yourself and see what you think. What I love about this Pad Thai recipe is how adaptable and customizable it is. Make this with chicken, or shrimp or tofu. YES, you can even make vegan Pad Thai !!! Here’s my recipe for vegan fish sauce that will come in handy. 😉
how to make pad thai! | 30 second video
Simple and easy!
How to Make Pad Thai:
- Whisk together Pad Thai Sauce
- Prep the protein and vegetables
- Whisk the eggs
- Cook the noodles
- Stir fry it all together!
I have paired this Pad Thai recipe down to its simplest components. I also make a more authentic version here, emulating what we learned in Thailand- using tamarind and such, but here I’ve wanted to create it with ingredients most everyone has on hand.
It really doesn’t need to be complicated to taste amazing. It is ALL about balance!
Give it a try. Once you have the ingredients together, see if you can cook it in 15 minutes! It’s a fun challenge. It took me 20 minutes the first time, then finally down to 15!
Read the whole recipe through first and then give it a go. You will be faster and faster the more you practice, and I think you will like the recipe enough to want to try this over and over.
For the easiest cooking experience, make the Pad Thai recipe using a wok – but you can also use a skillet, if in a pinch. Also the recipe works best, when not doubling or tripling in the wok- see notes!
Make the Pad Thai with tofu (like you see above) or chicken or shrimp — take your pick. If going for chicken, make sure to read the notes at the bottom of the recipe, especially if looking to reduce fat.
We’ve been poaching the thinly sliced chicken in a bit of water instead of frying it, and this is the way it was done at the restaurant. In fact, they actually poached the chicken in water ahead to save even more time, which is always an option.
Cutting the chicken very thinly really cuts down on cooking time, plus it just works better in the recipe. Remember to cut across the grain. So here I’ve cut it into ⅛ -¼ thin strips about two inches long.
To save a few calories, I poach it in a little salted water, until cooked through which just takes a couple of minutes. Then I set it aside.
Another secret to this flavorful pad thai recipe is the shallot. And of course garlic. But shallot more than anything adds so much flavor to this dish, way more than substituting onions. So try to seek out shallots at your grocery store, it will make a big difference -trust me!
Sometimes I’ll add ginger, but it’s not imperative- and to save time, I’ll use store-bought, already peeled garlic.
Ginger paste, that comes in a tube is also another time-saving product I’ll buy at the grocery store.
Saute the garlic and shallot and prep the remaining ingredients.
Pad Thai Sauce Ingredients!
The secret to the best Pad Thai, is the sauce! It must be balanced. Salty, sweet and sour!
- Fish sauce ( or vegan fish sauce) and soy sauce add the salty component.
- Brown Sugar or honey add sweetness. (In Thailand it is traditional to use palm sugar.)
- Rice Vinegar or tamarind paste and lime, add the sour component.
There is a delicate balance between salty, tart and sweet, and when you find it, totally elevates the dish! This sauce to my palate is perfectly balanced.
Try it and see for yourself. You may adjust to your personal taste.
AND please do not leave the sugar component out. You will end up with fishy, sour pad thai that tastes terrible. TRUST ME.
Follow the directions on the package of the noodles or pour boiling water over rice noodles and let them soak just until they are pliable (about 7-8 minutes) They don’t need to be totally soft, as they will soften as you sauté them.
Then place everything by the stove and cook it up!
If going for a vegan pad thai, make the vegan fish sauce recipe ahead, it’s actually quite good, and keeps for months.
When it’s done, garnish with lime, roasted peanuts ( or try this amazing Peanut Chili Crunch!) bean sprouts, and scallions!
I hope you after you make this, you’ll think this is the best Pad Thai recipe, you’ve ever made too! 😉
Haha! Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
Happy weekend. xo
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Pad Thai
An easy recipe for Pad Thai with simple accessible ingredients with the most amazing flavor! The best part … once you have your ingredients together it only takes 15 minutes of actual cooking time! See recipe notes for tips and tricks!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: stir-fried
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
- 3–4 ounces dry pad thai noodles (rice noodles)
- Boiling water to cover noodles
- 1 large shallot, finely diced ( much better than onion here)
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger (optional)
- 2 eggs, whisked with a fork with a generous 3-finger pinch salt ( if vegan, leave it out)
- 6–8 ounces tofu, chicken breast or peeled prawns
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, wok oil or coconut oil
- 1 lime
Pad Thai Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (see notes- or use vegan fish sauce)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar, palm sugar or regular sugar) see notes
- 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar (or tamarind water– see notes)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce (or GF liquid aminos like Braggs)
Garnish:
- lime wedges, fresh bean sprouts, chili flakes, chopped scallions, roasted peanuts.
Instructions
- COOK NOODLES: Cook noodles according to package instructions (or place rice noodles in a shallow bowl or baking dish and boil enough water to cover them. Cover with boiling water for 7- 8 minutes, until tender, then drain. They don’t have to be totally soft, just bendy and pliable)
- Chop shallot, garlic and ginger and set aside.
- Whisk the two eggs with a fork and add a generous, 3-finger pinch of salt.
- Make the Pad Thai Sauce Whisk fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and soy sauce. (see notes) in a small bowl.
- Prep and Cook the protein: Chicken: slice chicken into very thin strips and season with salt and pepper. Crispy Tofu: Blot tofu with paper towels pressing down firmly. Cut tofu into ¾ inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and for extra crispy, dredge in a little corn starch. Shrimp: Peel and season with salt and pepper. COOK: Sear the seasoned chicken, shrimp or tofu in a wok with hot oil until cooked through over medium-high heat. Set aside, on top of a paper towel, wipe out the pan. Turn heat off.
- STIR FRY: Gather your chopped shallots, whisked eggs, cooked noodles, cooked protein and Pad Thai sauce around the stove. Heat 2 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil in the wok over medium heat, add shallot-garlic-ginger and stir, cooking just a few minutes until golden and fragrant.
- Make a well in the center of the wok, add the whisked eggs. With a metal spatula, scramble them and break them apart into little bits, letting them brown just little, and incorporate them into the shallots continuing to break them into small bits.
- Add the drained, semi-soft noodles and toss with the egg mixture, stirring, flipping, frying constantly for 3-4 minutes, until noodles become soft and pliable.
- Add the Pad Thai Sauce and cook 1 minute. It will smell quite fishy at first – turn your fan on – but it will mellow out perfectly. Add the cooked chicken, tofu or shrimp and turn and toss the noodles for a few more minutes. Cook until the noodles are soft (but still a little chewy) adding just a little water if it seems too dry.
- Toss in the bean sprouts and roasted peanuts (or serve on the side) and sprinkle with chili flakes and scallions. Squeeze with the lime. Taste. Adjust salt, lime and sweetness to your liking adding a pinch of salt, more lime or more sugar to taste. Give one more toss and serve immediately. Divide among two plates.
- Garnish with more bean sprouts, fresh scallions, cilantro or basil, chili flakes, lime wedges and roasted crushed peanuts. Or make this Peanut Chili Crunch!
Notes
DO NOT BE tempted to cut out the sugar – understand that Pad Thai Sauce is a very delicate balance between sweet (sugar), salt (fish sauce) and acid (vinegar or tamarind) . I’ve already lowered the sugar as much as I could, while preserving the balance. That being said, if you are intent on cutting the sugar back, cut back the on the vinegar and fish sauce as well. 🙂 *Leaving the sugar or honey out will result in terrible Pad THAI! Also the same with leaving out the fish sauce (or vegan fish sauce) or leaving out the acid.
Fish sauce: If you are not accustomed to fish sauce, or are using a brand you haven’t tried before (some are fishier than others) feel free to go a little lighter on the fish sauce. It is an acquired taste. If going less, you will need to add a little more salt to taste.
DOUBLING: Doubling the recipe will double the time and be much harder to manage all at once, in one wok. If doubling, I highly recommend cooking in two batches in the wok.
Use time-saving ingredients like store-bought peeled garlic (or minced garlic) and ginger paste in a tube. Using pre-cooked chicken is fastest -leftover rotisserie chicken is perfect. Also you could make the Pad Thai sauce ahead!
Tips for health: An easy way to cut back on the oil in the recipe is to poach the thinly sliced chicken in a little salted water (just enough to barely cover) and poach in the pan or wok for just a few minutes. Drain and set aside. The thinner you slice the chicken the faster it will cook.
TIPS for flavor:
- Peanut Oil and chili flakes really really elevate this dish!
- Tamarind: If using tamarind (instead of rice vinegar) make tamarind “water” by mixing 1 tablespoon tamarind paste with 2 tablespoons water. Or use 1-2 teaspoons tamarind “concentrate” with 2 tablespoons water. Use in place of the vinegar. This is more traditional but I realize not everyone has access to tamarind.
- TEXTURE IS KEY! Everything from frying the noodles to adding the bean sprouts and roasted peanuts elevates this.
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c
I made this for my 12-year-old daughter, who loves pad thai with tofu. It was delicious, and the whole family devoured it faster than I care to admit!! Thank you.
★★★★★
Yay!🙌
This is a fantastic recipe. I used tagliatelle instead of rice noodles and none of my well travelled friends noticed! Lots of veg keeps this moist and coriander in the garnish took it to another level!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Steve- glad it worked for you!
First time making Pad Thai and a wonderful success…..and Oh so easy! Thanks Sylvia!
Thanks Debra! Glad you liked it!
This recipe is absolutely amazing! I have made it twice already in the span of 8 days!!
Thank you
This was excellent!
★★★★★
I made this last night for my family. Every bit of it disappeared even though I tripled the recipe. I followed the recipe exactly using tofu . It took me much longer than 15 minutes, but hope to get faster next time… and there will definitely be a next time. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Great to hear Charlotte~
Beautiful and easy! Thanks again, Sylvia, for a wonderful recipe – and evening. I made it with ingredients at hand so substituted our black ramen-style noodles for the Pad Thai noodles and used Gulf Shrimp as the protein. We paired this with your Cucumber Salad with Lime and, well, I haven’t made a recipe here we don’t love. This continues. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks Laura! Appreciate all your comments this week!
A family favorite! Part of our monthly rotation. I triple the sauce, but only 1.5x the fish sauce. We are vegetarian, so we pre-bake cauliflower-ettes with turmeric, salt and pepper, then add it right after we add the noodles. Never dissatisfied!
★★★★★
Sounds perfect Isaac! Awesome, great to hear! 🙌
Fab Pad Thai recipe – had to use a Teriyaki Sauce as had no soy sauce but that worked out great. Easy to make, easy to cook and agree even some toasted cashews will elevate this dish too. Thank you!
★★★★★
Yay!!! Great to hear. Thanks for sharing! 🙌
Made this recipe several times with chicken and prawns. I add finely chopped carrots and peppers. I use toasted cashews instead of peanuts (my son is allergic) and freshly chopped coriander. Rice or egg noodles work well. It’s a Devine recipe 10/10. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, really appreciate this Lee-Ann!
Hi just finished making the Pad Thai, as per your note I just did 4 table spoons fish sauce and added extra salt making sauce for 4, I love that when I wanted 2 make for four everything changed at the push of a button, I dished up for my son who said sorry Mum I dont like this sort of stuff but I will eat it, well, 2 helpings later we have a convert, didnt have bean sprouts so shredded some red cabbage and folded in last minute. Great recipe. Thanks from M New Zealand
★★★★★
Great to hear!!!
Used this recipe but substituted half a medium onion and some garlic powder for the shallot, plus peanut butter + olive oil for peanut oil. Was really lovely – the point about the texture and variety of distinct tastes (fish, soy, chilli flakes, lime, spring onion, rice vinegar, basil, sugar, egg, ginger, garlic, shallot, pepper, peanuts) was bang on and helped me get this right. I’m looking forward to making it with the proper ingredients at some point, because as it was it was sooo nice.
★★★★★
Do you have to use egg in the recipe? Is it ok to leave the egg out?
Of course you can leave it out!
Haven’t made it yet, but excited to try! Can I add a Tbsp peanut butter to the sauce? Will it change it too much?
And are there any good substitutes for tamarind? I’ve heard some people use worchestershire sauce. I just don’t want to go shopping again. Haha.
★★★★★
Use the rice vinegar for the tamarind. Peanut butter is not typically in authentic Pad Thai. Up to you. 😉
Amazing recipe. Better then restaurant quality and I’ve worked in many!
Currently my favorite vegan recipe. I make sure to always have the ingredients on hand so I can make this whenever. Only issue is how addicting this is!
★★★★★
THnaks joey!
Delicious!! I even quadrupled the recipe since I accidentally did 2 14oz bags of noodles. I substituted fish sauce with soy sauce and lime since I didn’t have the fish sauce on hand and it still was yummy! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks! 😊
★★★★★