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This amazing Pad Thai recipe is easy and comes together in under 30 minutes. It starts with fresh ingredients including rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, tofu, peanuts, scrambled eggs, and fresh vegetables all tossed together in a delicious homemade pad thai sauce.
Looking for more fun 30-Minute-Meals? Try my Creamy Pesto Tortellini, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Ground Beef Bowls.
I haven't kept my love for Thai food a secret (here are some of my favorite Thai inspired recipes). My love comes from my mom's cooking, and enjoying favorite Thai restaurants near my hometown, like My Thai, owned by Dee Benson. Dee also made the best fresh spring rolls and gave us advice for making them. This recipe was created by me in an effort to use ingredients I could find easily, and recreate the taste I love.
For a more Authentic Pad Thai recipe that uses palm sugar and tamarind paste, check out Thai Cooking with Joy.
Why I love this recipe:
- 30 Minutes: From start to finish, perfect for a busy weeknight!
- Easy: A few simple steps and everything gets tossed together in the same pan!
- Flavorful: The fresh vegetables and homemade pad thai sauce really make this meal shine!
What is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai is stir-fry dish made with rice noodles, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, peanuts, a scrambled egg and bean sprouts. The ingredients are sautéed together in a wok and tossed in a delicious Pad Thai sauce. It's a common street food in Thailand and one of the most popular menu items at Thai restaurants around the country.
To make vegan or vegetarian pad Thai, leave out the egg and substitute the fish sauce for more soy sauce.
A Note about Pad Thai Sauce:
Traditional pad thai sauce includes fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and tamarind paste. Tamarind paste is not easily found at a regular grocery stores so I substituted rice vinegar. If you would like to use tamarind paste, substitute about 2 Tablespoons in place of the rice vinegar in this recipe. I also added a big scoop of peanut butter to my sauce, because I think it gives the whole dish an added creaminess and boost of flavor that I love.
How to Make Pad Thai:
Cook Noodles: Follow package instructions to cook noodles just until tender. Rinse under cold water.
Make Sauce: Stir together fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar (or tamarind paste), Sriracha, and peanut butter, if using. Set aside.
Sauté Protein: Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, chicken or tofu, garlic and bell pepper. Cook until meat is done.
Cook Eggs: Push everything to the side of the pan. Add a little more oil and add the beaten eggs. Scramble the eggs, breaking them into small pieces with a spatula as they cook.
Combine and Toss: Add noodles, sauce, bean sprouts and peanuts to the pan (reserving some peanuts for topping at the end). Toss everything to combine.
Serve: Top with green onions, extra peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges. Serve immediately!
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Cut your protein, and chop veggies ahead of time. Stir together sauce ingredients and set aside.
To Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Recipe Variations:
- Tamarind Paste: Substitute 2 Tablespoons Tamarind paste in place of the vinegar, for a more authentic sauce.
- Vegan or Vegetarian: Leave out the egg. Use tofu, and substitute the fish sauce for more soy sauce.
- Peanut Butter: In my recipe, I add a big scoop of peanut butter to the sauce because I think it gives the whole dish an added creaminess and boost of flavor.
More Thai Inspired Recipes:
- Panang Curry
- Yellow Curry
- Drunken Noodles
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Peanut Chicken Pasta
- Green Curry Meatballs
Pad Thai
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces flat rice noodles
- 3 Tablespoons oil
- 3 cloves garlic, , minced
- 8 ounces uncooked shrimp, chicken, or extra-firm tofu, , cut into small pieces
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
- 1 red bell pepper, , thinly sliced
- 3 green onions, , chopped
- 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 2 limes
- 1/2 cup Fresh cilantro, , chopped
For the Pad Thai sauce:
- 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 5 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar, , or Tamarind Paste*
- 1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce, , or more, to taste
- 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter*, (optional)
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package instructions, just until tender. Rinse under cold water.
- Make sauce by combining sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- Stir Fry:: Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, chicken or tofu, garlic and bell pepper. The shrimp will cook quickly, about 1-2 minutes on each side, or until pink. If using chicken, cook until just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes, flipping only once.
- Push everything to the side of the pan. Add a little more oil and add the beaten eggs. Scramble the eggs, breaking them into small pieces with a spatula as they cook.
- Add noodles, sauce, bean sprouts and peanuts to the wok (reserving some peanuts for topping at the end). Toss everything to combine.
- Garnish the top with green onions, extra peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges. Serve immediately!
- Store leftovers in the fridge and enjoy within 2-3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe August 2018. Updated April 2022.
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Best Pad Thai I’ve ever made at home, rivalling the best I’ve had out.
Of all pad Thai recipes I’ve tried, this is the best one
I found this recipe after eating Pad Thai on a business trip. It immediately became a family favorite. I make it almost weekly, using shrimp and baby scallops, red, yellow and orange peppers, crunchy peanut butter and extra roasted peanuts. It’s pretty quick and easy to make, and the best part is, leftovers are EXCELLENT!! Thank you!
The crunchy peanut butter! Love it!
I’ve tried several recipes for pad Thai and this is by far my favorite! The sauce was so delicious and this recipe was easy to make. I will definitely be making more of it!
Hands-down, the best Pad Thai I’ve ever had/made. I never order it from a restaurant anymore and just make this at home and everyone loves it!
Outstanding recipe…. I used fresh salmon I got from my local fish monger…. cooked it first, removed from pan, did everything else your. way, then plated the salmon last… So So SO good!!! Will be making this often with different proteins. Thank you very much. This recipe is a keeper.
This was so tasty!!!! I’ve been looking for a quick pad Thai sauce recipe and this one (with tamarind paste) was authentic and perfect. Thank you!
It was really good. I made it with chicken and added a bit more heat. This was my first time cooking rice noodles and they took longer than expected and stuck together so some were weirdly crunchy. Lesson learned with that.
This is a quality recipe. Everytime I make it people love it. It’s a great harmony of flavour. I love this dish.
This was delicious. Will defiantly make it again. The tamarind and peanut butter in there and fish sauce (everything) were stars. Yum it was all good. Yesss, left overs for tonight.
So delicious! My first attempt at Pad Thai and my husband and I loved this recipe. Thank you!
Hubby loves pad thai and lived in China for a couple years, so he’s picky about “real” Asian food. He loved this recipe and even had seconds, which is very rare! This is now part of my meal rotation.
I love this . My boss actually told me about it.. and I finally made it. So easy and super delicious:-) I did add stir fry vegetables tho cause I forgot the bean sprouts . 🙂 Looking for the my next yummy meal on your site.
Very tasty! I made it for lunch and the kids demanded that I serve it at dinner as well!
Hubby thought it was very flavourful.
Hi Lauren. Thanks for your recipe and I enjoyed trying it. However, I don’t recommend trying this recipe without some changes.
Tamarind ‘paste’ is not ready to combine with anything until you remove the pulp. Tamarind concentrate is available and makes it quicker. I used paste and removed the pulp myself.
Brown sugar?? If you go to the trouble finding Tamarind, pick up some palm sugar and coconut sugar and don’t use brown sugar.
Not a single Thai person I know in Thailand ever added brown sugar to their Pad Thai.
Peanut butter?
Only a few Thai people that I know have ever heard of what peanut butter is. And none of them add it to Pad Thai……that got a few laughs when I asked them.
Pad Thai in Thailand will not have peanut butter.
Rice Vinegar? No, not in real Pad Thai.
Just buy the sauce already made and available in Publix and most grocery stores if you are confused about using this sauce recipe.
Thank you again for all your recipes.
You basically redid the entire recipe. Glad you felt the need to get a laugh at others expense. If you didn’t like it, say that, or publish your own.
The recipe was great.
I think she was simply trying to give a more authentic review of the recipe and she even thanked the site for their recipes so she didnt sound rude to me. Just, perspective. Have a wonderful day <3
I’ve made this recipe many times. Like other said, I doubled the sauce and only used half the noodles. Also, I doubled the chicken (used chicken tenders). Lastly, I get my noodles from an Asian grocery store. The ones I got from Kroger weren’t good at all. When I make it with these changes, it is fantastic! I can’t imagine how dry it would be if you only use the sauce as indicated in the recipe and used the whole package of noodles.
I don’t believe she ever stated authentic, but for the average person that doesn’t have a culturally expansive grocery store; this recipe hits the mark with what we might have on hand. You’re being unfair and rude. I don’t feel your comments helped any other cook but exemplified small minded thinking.