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
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)
- 1/4– 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 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)
- Chop shallot, garlic and ginger and set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk the two eggs with a fork and add a generous, 3-finger pinch of salt.
- In another small bowl, make the Pad Thai Sauce. Whisk fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and soy sauce. (see notes)
- Prep the protein. Chicken: slice chicken into very thin strips and season with salt and pepper. 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 corn starch. Shrimp: Peel and season with salt and pepper. Sear the seasoned chicken, shrimp or 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.
- STIR FRY: Gather your chopped shallots, whisked eggs, noodles, 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 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 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.
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 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) 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!
- If using tamarind, make tamarind “water” by mixing 1 tablespoon tamarind paste 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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This is SO freaking good! We are in lockdown right now with the COVID pandemic, I had stocked up on rice noodles and this recipe is easy and very delicious with pantry staples and some tofu & veg. Thank you for this!
★★★★★
You are so welcome. Stay Well. xoxo
So I never leave reviews but I felt like it was warranted for this recipe. I’ve read that Pad Thai is supposed to be sweet, salty, and sour … And (not to be dramatic) but now I know what that means! I LOVE pad Thai and I’ve tried so many recipes to find the right balance or come even somewhat close to my fave Thai restaurant and nothing came remotely close until this. My fiance and I have meal prepped it three times in a row (yep, about a week of pad thai every day & no regrets) LOL. Needless to say, we love this recipe! I used the tamarind water in mine and it’s delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!
★★★★★
WOW! I’m so happy you liked this Mikha!
Excellent and easy to make!
★★★★★
Thanks Corina! Glad you liked this!
I was so excited to find a pad thai recipe that didn’t use tamarind sauce (because there’s none in the house). I added grated carrots and used tofu. It was delicious, but not very saucy. Next time I’ll double, or even triple, the amount of sauce. Looking forward to lunch leftovers tomorrow!
★★★★★
Great to hear Arlene!
This really was “the bast pad thai recipe”! It was better than any pad thai I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of pad thai! Both my kids and husband loved it. The kids fought over the leftovers at lunch the next day! I didn’t have any bean sprouts, so I used thinly chopped bok choy. I used “Just Egg” to make it vegan, which turned out well! I have a question: My noodles broke into small pieces. Does that mean I let them sit in the water for too long? I let them sit for 6-8 minutes. Thanks, Sylvia!
★★★★★
Thanks Luann. As for noodles…perhaps soaked a little too long, or sometimes if the package gets banged around too much they break up a lot.
Followed the recipe exactly using the tamarind water. It’s perfect. Thanks for this easy, healthy, and tasty recipe. I will certainly looking for more recipes on your site!
★★★★★
Thanks Chris- appreciate this!
My boyfriend loves this, it’s so lovely, i use cashews instead of peanuts which works well. The only thing that caught me out (becasue i didn’t read the blurb before hand) was putting the chicken in. At first i put in raw chicken which was a bit stressfull as it didn’t cook fast. so i added cooked chicken the second time. A tip for anyone skipping straight to the recipie bit.
★★★★★
can I be your boyriend too?? :o)
★★★★★
Easy to make and a huge hit!! Bang-on takeout flavour without the grease, and simple to adapt for my vegetarian kiddo. This is going into weekly rotation!
★★★★★
Great to hear Kate!
Hi Kate, I have a 12 year old vegetarian as well. What veggies did you use that worked well?
This was my first time making pad thai, and I’m never ordering it for delivery again. WOW THIS WAS GOOD
(I do think if I make this again, I would probably up the sweetness (I used agave syrup) by a Tbsp)
★★★★★
Yay Ann- happy you enjoyed!
I love this recipe! I prefer my pad Thai on the sweeter and saucier side, so I did 4 TBLS fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar and cooked it down a bit. I like to add Thai chili’s and it’s great with the optional fresh ginger.
★★★★★
Awesome Sean- I appreciate you sharing your adaptions! Gald you liked this one!
I made this tonight, using tofu. We absolutely loved it and will definitely make it again. Looking forward to trying it with the shrimp and chicken also. Only wish the sodium was lower, but I know most comes from the fish sauce. Delicious, and very easy to prepare. Thanks
Awesome! thanks Jennifer!
Woah, what a surprise. This recipe was so fantastic, I was salivating with every bite because every mouthful had such robust flavour. We love this recipe, so authentic – highly recommend!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much – appreciate this Alexandre!
I used Key West Jumbo Pink Fresh Shrimp sourced locally. This was an amazing recipe! It was great!
★★★★★
thanks so much!
We did not follow the instructions to the letter, because I don’t have enough patience. However, this was THE BEST chicken I have ever eaten, bar none. I’ll do better with the instructions next time, but even with my inattention, this is now my favorite recipe of all times.
★★★★★
Made this last night and it was delicious. Didn’t use exact measurements for the sauce but added the amounts till it tasted balanced. Everyone loved it!
★★★★★
Great to hear Jackie!
I made this last night and it tasted so authentic it felt like I’d ordered a home delivery from a restaurant. Really easy to make. Highly recommend you try it.
★★★★★
Loved eating Pad Thai from street vendors in Thailand and this recipe definitely satisfies my Pad Thai cravings. I am not a fan of fish sauce and have modified my sauce blend to include some coconut aminos and some store bought Vegan Worcestershire sauce. For the effort to make this, this meal is a total home run. We probably make this once a week.
★★★★★
Love this- super helpful, thanks for rating and commenting. I appreciate you Rebecca!!!
Pretty good, but was a little too acidic. I’d use a little bit less (maybe half) rice vinegar next time
★★★★
I substituted sugar for honey stevia and used tiara in. , shrimp and chicken. It was delicious. Will make again.
★★★★★
This turned out so good! Very helpful tips and instructions. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
This was brilliant! I was searching for ages for a recipe that didn’t use dozens of ingredients that were impossible to find. Thanks – will definitely be adding it to the repertoire!
★★★★★
Yay!!! Great to hear!
This was one of the best recipes for Pad Thai ever. I did the vegetarian version preparing the fish soarce a day early and the result was amazing. Thanks!
★★★★★
Im so glad you liked it and tried the vegan fish sauce!!! Great to hear!
The perfect answer to my Pad Thai craving on a cold November day. Defrosted some jumbo cooked, peeled and de-veined shrimp and cut them into chunks for the protein. The only problem was there was not enough for seconds!! Will be prepped for a second batch next time. Thanks for the recipe – it’s a keeper.
★★★★★
Amazing recipe ! Just as good as our local Thai restaurant ,I used tamarind instead of rice vinegar as suggested in the notes.
★★★★★
So happy you liked it and tried it with the tamarind!