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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.
I’m a huge fan of Thai food and decided to try this since it had 5 stars. It’s definitely a mock pad Thai, although it go closer the second day in the fridge. If you are going to make this dish, reduce the rice vinegar a bit and use a QUARTER of the recommended sugar. I used half the sugar and ended up barely being able to eat it. As written this dish is a noodle dessert and not like Pad Thai.
Gluten free recipes thank you
Sam
This was incredible, my only suggestion is to double the batch cause you’re going to want more. My family loved it so much.
We moved to a midwest town from a Foodie town in the Pacific Northwest and haven’t found any decent Thai food anywhere near us. Finding your recipe was a lifesaver! Finally, I can have delicious Pad Thai without a two hour drive to a bigger town. Love your recipes and website! Thank you!
Really not trying to be another twerp on here but y’all – this just isn’t pad Thai 🤦♀️ Please just call this dish something else, even just like pseudo-pad Thai. You’re really missing out on what what makes a good pad Thai (tamarind a must, garlic chives not green onions, shallots, palm sugar; NO soy sauce or peanut butter) and it’s misleading.
Thamk you Sonny. This is NOT pad thai. And no, cilantro is not used in pad thai…use garlic chives.
The recipe was very good! I’ve never made rice noodles before so I hope I just did something wrong. The package said boil for 7 mins. and the noodles were very firm. Did I need to add anything to the water or just boil longer? So, if not for my noodles, everyone liked this!
Were you using rice pasta? That stuff never cooks right. For this recipe you want a brand like this, and you don’t boil it, just soak in hot water til it softens: https://www.target.com/p/a-taste-of-thai-gluten-free-straight-cut-rice-noodles-16oz/-/A-13423921?sidd=1437S&ref=tgt_adv_xsp&AFID=google&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000108264736&CPNG=PLA_Dry%2BGrocery%2BShopping_Local%7CDry%2BGocery_Ecomm_Food_Bev&adgroup=SC_Dry%2BGrocery&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=m&location=9021730&targetid=pla-323070238064&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD-5dfY1e0DpoYX1m8awsp7maVdCh&gclid=CjwKCAjwxNW2BhAkEiwA24Cm9EQBGwQk2jm41vdtB5eJPFzfsCULUJzqG98jVxxiakn-DOgyj9NhfxoCIIkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
The sauce was completely off. Nothing authentic or tasty about this recipe, skip this one
I’m not sure that I’ve ever left a comment on a recipe video before, but I just had to tell you how much I loved this dish and what a big hit it was at my house tonight. I made it exactly as you suggested, with the only change being that I used peanut oil to cook the chicken. Everyone is raving about it – it had so much flavor. I can’t wait to make it again!
This was delicious, but how in the world are you calling this a 30 minute recipe?
The prep alone on this took me over an hour.
Just made this and the sauce was great. I’m vegetarian so I used vegan fish sauce and fried tofu as the alternatives. Instead of sriracha I used sambal oelek. (Sriracha has a more distinctive flavour that I didn’t want for this dish). Big thumbs up.
For those I read that say there isn’t enough flavour, at the end you can always sprinkle some stock powder or add a bit more of the sauce ingredients.