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Our easy Drunken Noodles recipe (Pad Kee Mao) is a spicy Thai stir-fry with wide rice noodles, chicken, vegetables, and fresh Thai basil in a savory-sweet sauce. It's ready in just 30 minutes and you can add whatever protein you like and adjust the spice level to your preference.
I love to make Drunken Noodles at home.
I love to make Drunken Noodles at home.Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) is hands down my favorite Thai dish, and making them at home is a total game-changer. You can control the spice level – extra spicy for me, mild for the kids. You can also swap out the chicken for tofu, shrimp, or pork. And like most things, making it yourself is less expensive, better for you and fast–this stir-fry hits the table in 30 minutes. And if you've never tried drunken noodles before, you'll find out why this is such beloved Thai street food!
Try my other Thai-inspired recipes, like Pad Thai, Thai Meatballs, Thai Basil Chicken, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Fresh Spring Rolls!
How to make Drunken Noodles:
Prep Noodles and Sauce: Cook noodles according to package instructions. In a mixing bowl, whisk all sauce ingredients and set aside.
Cook Chicken and Veggies: Sauté shallots and carrots in a little olive oil in a wok or large skillet. Add chicken and season with pepper and sauté until cooked through. Stir in garlic and ginger then toss in bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, and the whites of the green onion.
Combine and Serve: Dump strained noodles into the pan then pour sauce over noodles. Toss and cook for a few minutes, until warm. Take off heat and stir in chopped basil. Serve Thai Pad Kee Mao immediately, topped with remaining green onion and extra chili sauce, sriracha, or crushed red pepper if you want more spice.
A Word About Thai Basil:
Basil: There are 3 main types of basil, and each will add a different flavor profile. For most Thai food recipes, you want to use Thai Holy Basil.
- Thai Holy Basil (or Hot Basil): This is what we use in this drunken noodles recipe. It's a basil leaf that adds heat to dishes. It may be hard to find in grocery stores, but try an Asian market, or have Amazon ship it to you, or substitute regular sweet basil.
- Thai Basil: It has purple stems and a spicy licorice-anise flavor. It's not commonly found at the grocery store, but can usually be found at Asian grocery stores. It is a good substitute for Thai holy basil.
- Sweet Basil is the most common in US grocery stores and recipes. It can be substituted for Thai holy basil, you just lose a little of the unique flavor from Thai Holy Basil.
Drunken Noodles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz wide rice noodles
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil , (or canola)
- 2 shallots, , chopped
- 2 carrots, , thinly sliced
- 1 large chicken breast, , chopped (or shrimp or tofu)
- 3 large cloves of garlic, , minced
- ½ teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 zucchini, , thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, , thinly sliced
- 2 green onions, , chopped
- 1 roma tomatoes, , sliced
- 1 cup fresh Thai Holy Basil leaves (or substitute regular basil), , roughly chopped
For the sauce:
- 3 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 teaspoon Thai red chili paste, , more or less, to taste (or substitute sriracha or crushed red pepper flakes)
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package instructions.8 oz wide rice noodles
- Mix sauce in a small bowl and set aside.3 Tbsp oyster sauce, ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce, 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 Tbsp water, 1 teaspoon Thai red chili paste
- Saute: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in wok or large skillet over high heat. Add shallots and carrot and cook for 2 minutes. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add chicken and season with pepper, cooking until it's cooked through. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 10 seconds. Add bell pepper, zucchini, tomato and the whites of the chopped green onion and cook for 2 minutes.2 Tbsp sesame oil, 2 shallots, 2 carrots, 1 large chicken breast, 3 large cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon fresh minced ginger, 1 zucchini, 1 green bell pepper, 1 roma tomatoes, 2 green onions
- Add noodles to the pan and pour the sauce over the noodles. Toss and cook for a few minutes until warmed through. Remove from heat and stir in chopped basil.1 cup fresh Thai Holy Basil leaves (or substitute regular basil)
- Serve immediately, garnished with remaining green onion and extra chili sauce, sriracha, or crushed red pepper, for added spice.
Notes
- Add more vegetables: yellow squash, broccoli, baby corn, etc.
- Swap out the protein: shrimp, tofu, beef, chicken thighs
- Vegetarian drunken noodles: substitute tofu for chicken. You may choose to sauté the tofu separately until browned on all sides before adding to the dish.
- Vegan Drunken noodles: substitute tofu for chicken, soy sauce for the fish sauce, and hoisin sauce for oyster sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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this was absolutely delicious. Sauce was awesome
Hi! I was going to try this recipe but I am a vegetarian. Any alternatives for the fish sauce and oyster sauce? I’ve omitted before but it definitely lacks the taste of restaurant noodles without them..any ideas/tricks?!
Hi! There is vegetarian oyster sauce mad with mushrooms. For the fish sauce you can omit or try a dash of fermented bean paste.
Forgot the basil…very versatile recipe to use up vegetables. Sauce has just enough spice fir us. Used rotisserie chicken and frozen, cooked shrimp for a quick weeknight meal. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hey Lauren! I’m going to be linking to this recipe in my upcoming post. I created a thai-inspired sake cocktail and it pairs wonderfully with Pad Kee Mao! I hope you don’t mind 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
This was the first time making Thai food. It was easy and so delicious. I opted out of the spice and let everyone add their own heat. I only put a half cup of basil in. Great dinner.
Thanks Renee, I’m so happy you liked it!
I’m making this tonight for my family. Great idea on adding Gochuchang. I might use Sweet chili sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. Definitely Zucchini, broccoli, shrimp, chicken, carrots and green onions. I’m so excited!!
I made this for my wife since we can’t seem to find a good drunken noodles dish around. I made some small adjustments and added broccoli, used chicken and shrimp and added toasted red chili peppers and gojuchang for spice in the sauce. Made it last week and she’s already asking me to make it again. Super easy and super Delicious 😋 …. This recipe is a keeper!
I love that this recipe is so forgiving. The author thinks a bit like I do about cooking – if you don’t have (or like) a particular ingredient – it[s YOUR cooking and you use whatever is on-hand or to your liking! Thank you!
Just made this tonight, it was FANTASTIC! I added additional veggies, yellow squash, asparagus and snap peas.
Also added handful of shrimp. The sauce really makes it and definitely I’d use the low sodium soy. I garnished with cashews. Thanks for a great, easy recipe!
I loved this too after making it for dinner tonight.
I also added broccoli, and thought snow peas would be good next time.
Asparagus too!
Your girl is a great cook!!
I made this last night with regular basil and it turned out well! I’ve made a bunch of your recipes so I typically trust that they’ll be good. Also, I assumed the tomato listed in the ingredients was a mistake since it’s not listed in the steps.
My husband and I have been craving Thai food but our favorite Thai place has been closed. I found this recipe online and decided to give it a try. OMG! I don’t know that we need to order take out anymore. This was fresh and just as flavorful as our place. So soo good!