Easy 30-Minute Chicken Pad Thai comes together in a flash and can be made any night of the week for a delicious takeout meal. This healthy chicken Pad Thai recipe is perfect for meal prep or any time you have a craving for Thai noodles.
Back in my high school days, I had a torrid love affair with all foods Thai in general, and chicken pad Thai in particular.
Going out to Thai food was an experience in and of itself, as I welcomed the brightly decorated, inviting atmosphere with the barrage of warm scents from spices, ginger and garlic, and relished every bite of my wildly flavorful meal, alongside a nice chilled glass of Thai iced tea.
My very first introduction to Thai food was in my early teens. My first ever order? Pad Thai with chicken.
The second I tried the noodle dish, my mind space was jettisoned into an alternate universe. An experience I never thought I would be able to replicate at home.
I became obsessed! Pad Thai chicken to me was as pizza is to most teens. An epic treat!
Although nothing beats otherworldly authentic Thai cuisine, I’ve become decent at replicating ethnic dishes using common ingredients found at all grocery stores.
Sure, if you lack specific key ingredients, the depths of flavors are difficult to nail down in some dishes, but you can come pretty close to mimicking your favorite Thai inspired meals. Plus you can also tailor the dishes to your dietary needs and palate.
I used Annie Chun’s Pad Thai Rice Noodles for this recipe, and they turned out marvelously! They are gluten-free, vegan, and are perfect for any Thai-inspired noodle dish, or salad. They can be used in both hot or cold applications.
Tips and Tricks:
My trick to cooking these noodles perfectly is bringing a pot of water to a boil on the stove and removing it from the heat before adding the noodles.
I let the noodles sit for 8 minutes on the dot, then strain them and rinse them under cold water, giving you the perfect al dente noodles. Or, follow the package directions.
Preparing this recipe using one package of noodles yields enough pad Thai for 4 very hungry individuals, or up to 6 mildly hungry individuals.
One of the key components to succeeding at any Thai dish is making a good sauce. Let’s discuss.
Ingredients For Pad Thai:
In addition to the rice noodles mentioned above, we need boneless skinless chicken breast, raw shrimp, green onions, eggs, Thai chilies, fresh garlic, Thai basil, and pad Thai sauce (below).
I like serving the meal with lime wedges so that you can drizzle a squeeze of lime juice over the meal if desired.
Most Thai restaurants include mung bean sprouts in their rice noodle dishes, but I prefer to leave them out.
Pad Thai Sauce Ingredients:
For my personal take on Pad Thai sauce, I use fish sauce, rice vinegar, pure maple syrup, fresh ginger, and liquid aminos.
A typical authentic pad Thai sauce includes fish sauce, lime juice (or rice vinegar), cane sugar (or palm sugar or brown sugar), and tamarind paste or tamarind concentrate.
I haven’t found tamarind paste at any regular grocery store in my area. It can be found at any local Asian market.
Preparing sauce for pad Thai is super easy and only requires a few ingredients, but there are multiple ways you can go about it.
The idea is to find the perfect balance between tangy, salty, sweet flavors.
You can make the authentic version, or make your own concoction depending on your own taste.
I’ve been known to add a couple tablespoons of teriyaki sauce to my pad Thai chicken in order to help with the caramelization effect, so following suit is definitely an option as well.
How to Make Chicken Pad Thai:
A major bonus feature to this chicken pad Thai recipe is it can easily be prepared in under 30 minutes, as long as you’re cool with multi-tasking.
- Step One: Start by cooking the chicken and shrimp over medium-high heat, and prepare the noodles while the proteins are cooking.
- Step Two: Chop everything you need for the remainder of the recipe. Also prepare the sauce while the proteins and noodles are heating.
- Step Three: Once the proteins are cooked, toss everything in the skillet (cooked noodles included). Allow everything to cook together for a few minutes.
This multi-task approach may seem like a bit much if you’re new to chicken pad Thai, but after a few rounds, it’s just the easiest and quickest takeout meal ever!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe Customizations:
- To make this dish spicy, be sure to include some (or all) of the seeds from the Thai chili. In order to keep it mild, omit the chili altogether.
- Omit the shrimp or the chicken, and/or add pressed tofu if desired. I enjoy the combination of chicken and shrimp in pad Thai, but you can take any animal protein route you’d like by subbing in pork, beef, white fish, etc.
- Add in more fresh vegetables such as bell pepper, spring onions, bok choy, zucchini, and more.
- You can use any cooking oil such as avocado oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil. I just like the flavor the peanut oil adds to the dish.
- If you have a peanut allergy, you can add chopped cashews instead of peanuts so that you still get the nutty crunch. Also obviously use a different oil in place of the peanut oil, such as coconut, avocado oil, olive oil, or canola oil.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to the Pad Thai Sauce if you love peanut flavor.
- Some folks are fish sauce-averse, so if that’s you, increase the liquid aminos (or soy sauce), and decrease the fish sauce.
- Use low-sodium soy sauce in place of the liquid aminos.
- Make it vegetarian by swapping out the chicken and shrimp for a block of tofu.
Enjoy your delicious homemade Chicken Pad Thai any night of the week!
Chicken Pad Thai Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil avocado oil, or canola oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken cut into strips
- 1/2 pound raw shrimp peeled and deveined
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red Thai chili seeded and finely chopped, optional
- Pinch cayenne pepper optional
- 2 large eggs well beaten
- 1 (8-oz) package Pad Thai rice noodles
- 4 green onions chopped
Pad Thai Sauce:
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons liquid aminos coconut aminos, or low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger peeled and grated, optional
For Serving:
- 1 cup bean sprouts optional
- ½ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
- Fresh basil chopped (or cilantro)
- Lime or lemon wedges
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil and peanut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides. Add the shrimp and continue cooking until both the chicken and shrimp are cooked through but are still tender (Note: if necessary, cover the skillet with a lid to help cook the chicken and shrimp). Once cooked, drain the liquid from the skillet and place it back on the stovetop over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic, thai chili, sea salt, and green onion to the skillet with the chicken and shrimp. Saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- While the chicken and shrimp are cooking, prepare the noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Add the uncooked noodles and allow them to sit for 8 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water.
- Heat a small skillet over medium-high and add just enough oil to coat the surface. Pour in the beaten eggs and scramble to desired done.ness. Set aside until ready to use.
- Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a small bowl and whisk until well-combined.
- Add the cooked noodles and sauce to the skillet and toss to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a full boil and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has burned off and the noodles begin to stick to the pan and caramelize. Add in the scrambled eggs and toss to combine.
- Serve chicken pad thai with chopped peanuts, bean sprouts, fresh basil, and lemon or lime wedges.
Nutrition
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I have looked all over the website but can’t find a way to reach out to “customer service”. I like receiving your emails but am really disappointed that I can no longer PIN the recipes!!! If I print it out, lots of your tips and suggestions are obviously not available. Would you consider returning the “pin” option?
Hi Wendy! I added the pin button to the recipe card, so you should be good to go now 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions! xo
Julia, that was so amazing and delicious. You made my weekend thanks again. I will glued to your blog now because i am a giant Gourmand:-p.
I’m so happy to hear it, Zara! Thanks for stopping by and giving your feedback!! Have a wonderful week. xo
Its mouth watering recipe. Never tried chicken with thai style. I am going to try this on weekend party at my home.
Happy to hear it, Zara! Let me know how you like it.
I am probably really tired so am just missing the obvious, but what do you do with the beaten eggs??
Hi Deb, It wasn’t you, it was me 😉 I accidentally left out the instructions for the eggs, but I made the edit and we should be good to go now. Let me know if you have any more questions!
This has me craving Thai! I have to try this recipe soon.
It’s really hard to branch out and order anything other than Pad Thai, but I really should make it more often at home so I can try new things when I go out! I’ve often had problems with my noodles either being too soft or too hard so I’m really excited to try out your noodle tip!
I agree, Thai food is where it’s at! Pad Thai is also one of my favorite dishes and your version looks so good. I love the idea to add a little teriyaki for caramelizing…YUM!
I live for 30 minute meals and can’t get enough Thai flavors! This is perfect for my weeknight dinner rush!
Right?!! 30-Minute meals are all I make these days, too. Ain’t nobody got time for big long productions…especially during the week. Hope you enjoy this Pad Thai recipe!
i love pad Thai in general but this last time, I had a bad experience..so stopped ordering them. im loving this homemade version with both chicken and shrimp. yum…
Oh no, sorry to hear that Dixya! Bad food experiences are no bueno. Hope you try Pad Thai out at home and re-kindle your relationship with the dish! 😉
This looks so perfect! Love your tip for cooking rice noodles because different packages all have different suggestions, and mine often end up overcooked. Also, I am such a sucker for egg in noodle dishes. I can’t wait to try this!
I tend to cook noodles for the lowest amount of time on the package, or even 1 minute less. Nothing worse than a mooshy noodle experience 😉 Let me know if you try the recipe! I think you’d love this dish!
Hmmm, I’ve read the recipe three times and can’t find where or how eggs are added…. each time I’ve read it I’ve gotten hungrier!
Hi Susan! My apologies, I overlooked the scrambled egg portion of the recipe. Essentially, you scramble them in a separate skillet and add them to the Pad Thai at the very end. I went ahead and fixed the instructions 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!
Wow, reading this is really making me crave pad thai at 9 am. …maybe because I haven’t had it in a really, really long time. I’m that girl who always orders the exact same thing at my favorite Thai restaurant, and it’s not pad thai despite the fact that I know I like it. That needs to change!
I hear ya! I have a tendency to not branch out from my ush either…Pad Thai’s definitely worth the venture! Let me know if you try it – either in a restaurant or at home!