Here is, hands-down my favorite PAD THAI recipe made with accessible ingredients that is fully customizable! Make this with your choice of chicken, shrimp or tofu! Vegan adaptable! The authentic and flavorful Pad Thai Sauce will make your taste buds happy!
The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle. ~ Anias Nin
Here’s my all time favorite recipe for 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 as close as comes to the real deal without having to go 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.
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. 😉
Here’s a quick video if you want to watch how to do it!
I have paired this recipe down to its simplest components. I used to make a more authentic version, 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.
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 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.
Make the flavorful Pad Thai Sauce!
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 the sweetness
- Rice Vinegar ( or traditionally tamarind) 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 you personal taste.
Prep the protein, whisk the eggs, and soften the noodles.
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 start cooking the pad thai , making sure everything is close to the stove!
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 think this is the Best Pad Thai recipe, you’ve ever made too! 😉 Haha! Let me know in the comments below!
Happy weekend. xo
PS! Ceramic bowls and cast iron skillet can both found at our Bowl and Pitcher Store!
PrintThe Best 15 Minute Pad Thai Recipe
The Best 15 MINUTE PAD THAI recipe- an easy recipe 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: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Vegetarian Main
- Method: stir fried
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
- 3– 4 ounces dry pad thai noodles (rice noodles)
- Boiling water to cover noodles
- 6–8 ounces tofu, chicken breast or peeled prawns
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, wok oil or coconut oil
- 1 large fat shallot, finely diced
- 3–4 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)
Pad Thai Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or vegan fish sauce)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (or coconut sugar, palm sugar or brown sugar) see notes
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (or GF liquid aminos like Braggs)
- Chili flakes to taste
- juice of ½ lime, plus more for garnish
Garnish:
- lime wedges, fresh bean sprouts, chili flakes, chopped scallions, roasted peanuts.
Instructions
- Place rice noodles in a shallow baking dish and boil enough water to cover them. Cover with boiling water for 6- 8 minutes, until tender, then drain. ( They don’t have to be totally soft, just pliable)
- In the mean time, slice chicken into very thin strips, ⅓ inch thick x 2 inch long, and season with salt and pepper. (Alternately, press tofu with paper towels to blot dry well. Cut tofu into ¾ inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and for extra crispy, dredge in corn starch) Sear the seasoned chicken or shrimp (or poach -see notes below) or sear tofu in a wok with hot oil until cooked through over medium high heat. Set aside, blot with paper towels, wipe out pan. Turn heat off.
- Chop shallot, garlic and ginger very finely. Set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk the two eggs with a fork and a generous, 3-finger pinch of salt.
- In another small bowl, mix fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. ( see notes)
- Gather your bowls around the stove. Heat 2 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil in the wok over medium heat, add shallot, garlic ginger and stir, cooking a few minutes until golden and fragrant.
- Make a well in the center of the wok, and 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 and garlic, continuing to break them into small bits.
- Add the drained, semi-soft, noodles and toss with the egg mixture, stirring, flipping constantly for a few minutes, until noodles become soft and pliable.
- Add the Pad Thai Sauce and the chicken, tofu or shrimp. Turn and toss the noodles for a few more minutes. It will smell quite fishy at first – turn your fan on – but it will mellow out perfectly. 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 peanuts ( or serve on the side) and sprinkle with chili flakes and scallions. Squeeze with the lime. Give one more toss and serve immediately. Divide among two plates.
- Garnish with bean sprouts, fresh scallions, cilantro or basil, lime wedges and roasted crushed peanuts. Or make this Peanut Chili Crunch!
Notes
Tips for speed. Doubling the recipe will double the time and be much harder to manage all at once, in one wok. If doubling, I would highly recommend cooking in two batches in the wok.
Use time saving ingredites 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!
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) in the pan or wok for just few few minutes. Drain and set aside. The thinner you slice the chicken the faster it will cook.
You may be tempted to cut back on the sugar, but understand that pad thai sauce is a very delicate balance between sweet ( sugar), salt (fish sauce) and acid (vinegar) . 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 as well. 🙂
Peanut Oil really really elevates this dish!!!! Give it a try!
Keywords: pad thai, pad thai recipe, easy pad thai, authentic pad thai recipe, chicken pad thai, pad thai recipe with tofu, vegan pad thai recipe, vegetarian pad thai recipe
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
April 8, 2016 at 8:12 pmI love pad thai and cannot remember the last time that i made it! definitely hungry for a bowlful now. looks delicious and so easy to make too.
Heather Nickason says
April 10, 2016 at 2:45 pmHappy travels Sylvia. I look forward to a recipe (or two) with some Italian flare? Thanks for the Pad Thai recipe 🙂 . Be safe and enjoy your time abroad!
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 11, 2016 at 10:22 amThanks so much Heather!! Yes, getting a lot of inspiration over here 😉
Amy l worthyoursalt says
April 11, 2016 at 7:18 amthank you so much for this recipe! I love pad thai but would never have thought I could make it at home in 15 minutes. can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
Tat says
April 16, 2016 at 9:23 pmDidn’t feel like another tuna sandwich so made this after reading that it only takes 15 min. Awesome recipe, loved it. My 9 yo loved it as well. More easy vegetarian recipes like this please!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 19, 2016 at 7:05 amGlad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing!
Lilly says
April 20, 2016 at 10:39 pmHi Sylvia, it seems like alot of sugar, 3 tablespoons. may I ask what would be the subsitute. thank you
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 25, 2016 at 1:46 pmYes its a lot, but to balance out the fish sauce, unfortunately you need that amount. Play around with agave/ honey or maple…and see what you think. Let me know!!
Carrie says
September 13, 2017 at 8:24 pmYum! This took me longer than 15 minutes, but I’ll be making it again, so I bet next time will be faster. 🙂 I added a thinly sliced red bell pepper and carrot cut with the veggie peeler, and used rotisserie chicken.
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 14, 2017 at 2:11 pmI’ve been hearing this quite a lot… so you are not alone! And I know the next time will be faster… once you get the hang of it! Love that you used rotisserie chicken….great idea!!!
vivian says
September 19, 2017 at 4:14 pmThis was delicious – much better than my expectations of a 15 minute dish. I used smoked tofu, because that’s what I had to use up, and altered the sauce a bit, since I didn’t want to go to another store to find the veggie fish sauce. Because of that, I cut the sugar drastically and I’m glad I did. This is a recipe that I would make again without hesitation. Thank you!
★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 20, 2017 at 7:28 amLove that you used smoked tofu and improvised with the fish sauce. Good call on lowering the sugar without fish sauce. Sounds like you know your way around a kitchen. Nice job!!!
JK says
November 21, 2017 at 2:39 amThis was delicious, who knew you could get the vivid flavours of pad thai in 15 minutes?
And you were right, I already had all the ingredients in my pantry already, it cost me nothing to make! Could I suggest a cheap eats tag on your recipes in future so recipes like this are easy to find? Just a thought!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
October 6, 2018 at 10:17 amThanks and that is such a great idea! Appreciate it!!!
★★★★★
Kimberly Stewart says
July 13, 2018 at 4:24 pmI tried this one with chicken. It has a great flavor profile (mostly) for being a “quick” pad thai. I just felt like it was way too sweet for me. IDK maybe it’s just because I’ve been trying to not put extra sugar in my diet for a while…?? I love your recipes though. And you’ve made them simple, so I appreciate that!! Thanks for doing what you do.
Sylvia Fountaine says
July 13, 2018 at 8:20 pmThanks Kimberly , that is strange. It shouldn’t taste sweet. Do you recall if you used the called for amounts on the soy, fish sauce and vinegar?
Judy says
July 14, 2018 at 9:48 amDelicious recipe, even though it took longer than 15 minutes to make the 1st time. I’m sure it will go faster once I’ve made it a few times. I didn’t have bean sprouts so I flash-sauteed whatever vegetables were on hand (bok choy, carrots, kale, scallions) and that turned out well.
I did feel that very generous squeeze of lime juice at the end was necessary to help counterbalance the sweetness of the sauce. Probably next time I’ll try it with 2 Tbsp sugar first, then add as needed.
Otherwise, a super-delicious and easy recipe that I’ll make again and again. Thank you!
★★★★
Steph says
September 18, 2018 at 5:07 pmInteresting. I’ll definitely have to try this. Is the tamarind really not missed? It’s such an important flavor in the real thing. I’m curious to taste the difference.
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 19, 2018 at 8:31 amSteph, of course tamarind is traditional and always best, but it’s not readily available, so I tried to make a recipe without it. It’s pretty good, I think! This Pad Thai recipe is more traditional.
Mary says
September 23, 2018 at 2:11 pmLoved this!!! Doubled the recipe. My husband and I ate this three days straight, and was sad when it was all gone. Very authentic taste. Delicious!!!
★★★★★
Martinette says
September 30, 2018 at 5:47 pmFirst Pad Thai recipe I’ve ever made and it was one of the best dishes I ever. I’m a amateur in the kitchen, never even used fish sauce before but just followed the recipe and it came out splendidly. Huge thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Sarah says
October 6, 2018 at 7:13 amI enjoyed making this recipe, but a word to the wise. Made this for my family of 6 last night, which meant I quadrupled the recipe. If you also plan on multiplying the recipe, beware of the fish sauce. I kept all of the ratios the same and that fish sauce really jumped out and got my taste buds. Family still thought it delicious and ate up every bite, but if I had to do it over again (and I will), fish sauce will be cut back for sure. Thinking of also adding more veggies such as carrots and snow peas. With these few things, it would be a solid 5-star recipe.
★★★★
Maya says
October 21, 2018 at 12:39 pmVery authentic recipe !!!
★★★★★
Leslee says
November 4, 2018 at 2:58 pmFlavorful, quick and everyone liked it as s hurry up/need to eat now lunch!
I used canned chicken( Kirkland) and it was a great sub for mo protein available! I added chopped cilantro to serve.
★★★★
Joe says
November 20, 2018 at 12:32 amSurprisingly good, will definitely be having again.
★★★★★
Samantha says
December 27, 2018 at 2:19 pmI can’t wait to make this tonight! Your pictures are making me drool! In step 9 you say to add tahini sauce but that’s a typo, right? I followed the link to the tahini sauce recipe and definitely want to make that now too lol
Sylvia Fountaine says
December 27, 2018 at 7:58 pmI think it is a typo, sorry about that! I will fix.
Lana says
December 27, 2018 at 3:49 pmBefore I say this was awesome, I have to admit I made a few changes. Mostly because I used what I had on hand that was “similar”. I had lemon, not lime, an onion, not shallot, and apple cider vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar. I left the ginger out but would try it with it. Also, my husband can’t stand spicy stuff so I added my red pepper flakes after I divided it up into bowls. The only other change I made was to add 2 T of peanut butter to the sauce. The first time I ever had pad thai, it had a peanut sauce and I thought it was SO good. This was just as good, even with my changes. I made it with shrimp and added veggies.
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
December 27, 2018 at 7:57 pmGlad you liked it and thanks for sharing your adaptions!
Trini says
January 4, 2019 at 6:03 pmThanks Silvia for posting! This recipe is my boyfriend’s latest favorite dish! We love it
Heather says
January 7, 2019 at 1:07 pmVey tasty and simple to make. I poached my chicken, as suggested, and also poached a handful of prawns, which I chopped.into bite-sized pieces after removing tails. My son has spent time in Thailand, and he said the flavours were pretty authentic. I will definitely come back to this recipe again. Thanks for posting!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
January 8, 2019 at 4:06 pmGlad you and your son liked it!
Ornaith Maguire says
January 10, 2019 at 2:55 pmLoved it, I halved all the sauce ingredients as doing weightwatchers and added some
Water at the end like the recipe suggests and it was fab. Added a carrot made into strips with a peeler as suggested!
★★★★★
Julie Chetty says
February 14, 2019 at 12:34 pmLOVED IT! Made it with Reduced Sodium Tamari and Tofu with lots of cilantro and sprouts. The entire family raved about it and is asking for it again. Thanks for this quick and easy recipe.
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
February 15, 2019 at 4:35 pmSo glad you enjoyed!
Brian says
February 24, 2019 at 8:57 pmI made this tonight… really easy and super tasty!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
February 25, 2019 at 2:21 pmSo glad you liked it!
Anonymous says
February 25, 2019 at 11:33 amI appreciate your note about cutting back on the sugar. I’m always trying to healthify things, but then they don’t taste right!
Kimberlee says
February 28, 2019 at 7:21 pmA great weeknight dinner. Quick and really delicious! I added some veggies (carrots and bok choy). I’ll be making this again for sure!
★★★★★
Meg says
March 28, 2019 at 5:13 pmVery authentic! I loved it! I’d probably use less fish sauce next time but easy to make and easier to cook.
★★★★★
Lucky Cedarlane says
April 10, 2019 at 2:12 pmI love this Recipe the only thing I change is, I use 3 tablespoon honey no sugar , and comes out Great !
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 11, 2019 at 7:17 amOh perfect, love it!
Christine O'Malley says
April 13, 2019 at 6:48 pmYum! So good! (my husband said, “best pad thai in town”, and my picky daughter had seconds!) It took me much longer than 15 minutes but I doubled it (and I’m slow) I’m sure it will be faster next time.
However, I did not double the fish sauce, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce (I was afraid of too much fish sauce and sugar). Next time I will add more of both and go up to 4 T of fish sauce and sugar (and appropriate ratios for the vinegar and soy) I did have a block of tamarind in the back of the fridge and used that to make of some of the extra sauce, and held the lime to just wedges on the side. Thanks for another keeper, Sylvia!
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
April 14, 2019 at 7:30 amYay! So glad they enjoyed it!! Perfect to use tamarind!
Anonymous says
April 29, 2019 at 12:21 pmYum. A winner!
★★★★★
Tracy says
May 14, 2019 at 3:54 pmFantastic! We couldn’t stop eating it.
★★★★★
Shelley says
May 16, 2019 at 12:56 pmThis really IS the Best Pad Thai recipe I’ve ever had! My husband constantly asks for it, it’s a total winner in our house. The Pad Thai Sauce is perfectly balanced. On regular rotation!
★★★★★
Sandra Fong says
May 17, 2019 at 10:37 amMade this easy Pad Thai recipe for my family and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever made! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes
★★★★★