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Pad Thai is a popular Thai dish made with rice noodles, chicken, peanuts, scrambled eggs, and bean sprouts, all tossed in a delicious sweet and spicy sauce. It is everyone’s favorite!
Thai food is a favorite in our home and is made weekly. If you love Thai food as much as we do, try this Thai Quinoa Salad, this delicious Sheet Pan Thai Glazed Salmon with Vegetables, or this yummy Thai Peanut Skillet Chicken.
What is Pad Thai?
Thai food is so delicious, but Pad Thai is a favorite! If you have never had it, it is a Thai stir-fry dish made with rice noodles, shrimp, chicken, tofu, peanuts, scrambled eggs, and bean sprouts. The ingredients are sautéed together in a wok and tossed in a delicious Pad Thai sauce.
Traditional pad Thai recipes call for tamarind paste, but because it’s not easily found at your local grocery store, I substituted for ingredients most people have. However, if you would like to use tamarind paste to make the sauce authentic, substitute about 2 Tablespoons in place of the rice vinegar in this recipe.
Ingredients in Homemade Pad Thai
It looks like a lot of ingredients, but don’t let that scare you! Most of the ingredients you will have on hand and ready to go in minutes. There is no prepping, just throwing it all together to make one impressive meal. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all of the exact measurements.
Pad Thai Ingredients
- Rice Noodles: Flat noodles are best, but any width will work too.
- Oil: You will want a mild oil to use, such as olive oil, avocado oil, peanut oil, or coconut oil.
- Garlic: This adds a delicious and enhanced flavor.
- Chicken: I used chicken breasts and cut them into bite-sized pieces. If you are a vegetarian, you can use extra firm tofu (cut into small cubes) instead!
- Eggs: I always like to use large eggs when I am cooking.
- Bean Sprouts: This is a classic Asian vegetable. You can also add shredded carrots along with it.
- Red Bell Pepper: This adds color and flavor to the Pad Thai.
- Green Onions: These garnish the dish with a bit of flavor and color.
- Crushed Peanuts: These are a must in Pad Thai and bring a deliciously crunchy texture to the dish.
- Limes: You can’t go wrong adding a squeeze of lime to anything!
- Fresh Cilantro- This is optional, but it is a great garnish to add color and flavor.
Pad Thai Sauce Ingredients
- Fish Sauce: You do not want to leave out this fish sauce. It is the main ingredient.
- Soy Sauce: I used light soy sauce or low sodium soy sauce so that it doesn’t add any extra salt to the flavor.
- Brown Sugar: The brown sugar adds a sweet and savory flavor.
- Rice Vinegar: The vinegar has a distinct flavor often described as rich, nutty, and slightly sweet.
- Sriracha: I use Sriracha sauce to add in some more heat! Use little to a lot depending on your preference for spicy. I like to make my own sriracha sauce at home using this recipe.
- Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is best for that smooth taste.
How Do You Make Pad Thai?
This Pad Thai is packed with fresh ingredients and a simple homemade Pad Thai sauce you will love. This simple recipe comes together in a matter of minutes, which makes it perfect for a weeknight meal!
- Cook Noodles: Cook the rice noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse.
- Make Sauce: Whisk fish sauce, light soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, and creamy peanut butter in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook Chicken and Eggs: In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and garlic. Then, add the chicken or tofu and cook until no longer pink. Slide the chicken over and add the bell pepper. Saute for 1-2 minutes until almost tender. Slide them to the side, add the eggs, and cook until scrambled.
- Combine and Toss: Add the noodles, sauce, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Then, toss until it is fully coated in the sauce and heated throughout.
- Garnish: Garnish with green onions, chopped peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges.
Variations
It is always fun to mix and match different varieties of Pad Thai. The options are endless! Here are a few ideas you can try out to change this up every time!
- Protein: You can use other types of protein like chicken, beef, pork, or even salmon. To make it vegetarian, add tofu instead.
- Vegetables: In addition to the vegetables already in the recipe, you can add shredded carrots, peas, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms.
- Noodles: Zoodles (zucchini noodles) work well with this Pad Thai recipe or any type of flatter noodle to soak up the sauce.
- Peanut Butter: Try adding an extra 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for that added flavor and creamy sauce.
- Make it Sweeter: If you like it more on the sweeter side, then brown sugar will be your best friend. Add in 1 to 2 tablespoons more for a sweet sauce.
- Make it Spicy: Try topping with red pepper flakes or add more sriracha sauce, depending on your preferred heat.
Storing Leftovers
- In the Refrigerator: If you have leftover Pad Thai, then you can store it in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat Pad Thai: The best way to reheat your Pad Thai and make sure that it isn’t soggy is to cook it on the stove. Add a little bit of oil to the pan, heat it on medium heat, and add in your leftover pad Thai with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until it’s heated through.
More Delicious Thai Recipes
Once you try Thai food, you will never go back! It’s the best! Here are some more delicious Thai recipes that you have got to try. They are so delicious, the hardest past will be picking out which one is your favorite.
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Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 8 oz flat rice noodles
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 8 oz chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces (or extra firm tofu cut into small cubes)
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup crushed peanuts
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoons sriracha sauce, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the rice noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse.
- Whisk fish sauce, light soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, and creamy peanut butter in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and garlic. Add the chicken or tofu and cook until no longer pink. Slide the chicken over and add the bell pepper. Saute for 1-2 minutes until almost tender. Slide them to the side and add the eggs, and cook until scrambled.
- Add in the noodles, sauce, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Toss until it is fully coated in the sauce and heated throughout.
- Garnish with green onions, chopped peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for sharing! It was delicious and easy. Even for dummies!
Not gonna lie, I am pretty picky about my pad Thai. This was the first time I tried my hand at making it myself and I am so glad I did. Obsessed! So delicious! Thank you.
I made mine vegetarian (except for the fish sauce). Did not use fancy fresh garnish as I did not have them. Used crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy. Also added a splash of orange juice to the sauce. 10/10!
This was so absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe with peanut butter but used chicken, shrimp and tofu.. it was incredible! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
LOVED IT! So tasty, the whole family loved it! Question: when are you supposed to use the garlic? I assume sauté before the chicken but the instructions for it are missing
Prepared to rave family reviews. The sauce was, in our opinion, perfect WITH the peanut butter (it really shouldn’t be optional). The only suggestions would be to increase the amount of vegetables in it, and my wife (always) wanted more peanuts (even though I used more than called for).
As has been mentioned, the garlic isn’t listed in the instructions and I totally missed it. I’ve penciled it into a printed copy to remember for next time!
We’ll definitely be making this again. Probably regularly.
Not sure if I have ever put a rating on this. But the fact that I’ve made it 3 times this month, just shows how much my family enjoy this. Definitely , use the peanut butter. But I do have a comment about the garlic. It is written in the ingredients and not described in the instructions. Today I had everything prepped and followed the instructions only to realize I hadn’t used the garlic yet. I am sure I put it in before the peppers last time, but wanted to let you know.
Our full family enjoyed your recipe absolutely delicious we did a combination beef and chicken and enjoyed adding extra bean sprouts. We will be enjoying many more of your recipes soon. Thank you for all you do.
I made this recipe a couple of nights ago. It was my first time making pad Thai at home, and also my first time cooking with fish sauce.
I will definitely be making this recipe again, I thought it was delicious and really satisfied the craving for takeout! However, my hubby and I both agreed that 3 TBSP of fish sauce was too much and overpowered the dish. Next time, I’ll be dialing that down to 1 TBSP and substituting with a little more soy, sesame oil, or peanut butter. I will also double the amount of bean sprouts and adding in some shredded carrots as they are my favourite part in a dish like this! Besides, bean sprouts only come in huge bags where I live 🙁
Good recipe overall, so thank you!
This was delicious and will make again and again. Thank You for sharing!
I found tamarind paste. Does it only replace the rice vinegar, or maybe some sugar, too?
I have not tried tamarind paste with this pad Thai. Let me know what you think!
I’m not gonna lie, fish sauce doesn’t sound good. I like be pad tai but I’ve never had any that taste fishy…. could I just leave out the fish sauce or substitute it with something?
HAHA! I totally understand. Yes, that sounds good.
This sounds very good *(so does your Thai Basil Beef) Just a comment on a prior post,from a year ago… If you have eaten Thai or Vietnamese (or Asian) food then you have consumed Fish Sauce and there is no substitute. It gives Thai dishes that Umami flavor that we crave. When I lived in Thailand, Phat Thai was served with scallions and slices of lime as well as a ‘Spice Tray’ on the side. The diner tweaked the dish to their taste… like it sweeter? more tart? Saltier? Spicer? The spice tray is important! It has Bird’s Eye chilis in Fish Sauce. Red Chilies in Vinegar. Sugar, Dried chili.Yum! Suggestion: If you can find Palm Sugar for your Thai recipes it would be even more authentic and the Tamarind is worth trying. I love your recipes, btw!
We made this last night and it was AWESOME!I I highly recommend the peanut butter in the sauce. I can’t wait to make this again for some friends who love Thai food.
When I saw this recipe come into the mailbox this week I knew I had to try it. I emailed it to my 19 yr old daughter, and we couldn’t wait. Tonight was the night. We love Pad Thai and love finding new Thai food restaurants to try it. Making this recipe was easy, relatively quick and fun. When my husband and 16 yr old son got home it was almost done. The house smelled great. I used one pound of large shrimp instead of chicken. Eight ounces of meat is NOT enough for the four of us. I would recommend a full pound of chicken breast too. I left out the cilantro, but did everything else according to the recipe and it was great. We all loved the flavors and I will forward the recipe to my ‘gourmet chef’ friends! Can’t wait to make it again for company.
I love love love Thai food! And Pad Thai is one of the first I ever fell in love with and it’s no wonder! Your recipe looks easy enough but so tasty. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the recipe. Looks scrumptious. I’m a new cook (wannabe) this looks like something I can do. If Wifey hasn’t already planned supper for tonight I’ll try this. Again thanks.