Chicken Pad Thai — EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and BETTER than takeout!! Tender rice noodles, juicy chicken, with crisp-tender carrots, cabbage, and more for an IRRESISTIBLE and AUTHENTIC chicken pad Thai!!
Table of Contents
My Thai recipes are some of my most popular recipes on my site and I knew it was time for an authentic-tasting chicken pad Thai recipe that’s easy, ready quicker than you can call for takeout, and leaves you going back for more.
This homemade pad Thai recipe feeds a crowd, so invite your friends over or get ready to enjoy delectable leftovers.
All the chicken pad Thai ingredients are readily available in the Asian or ethnic section of most major supermarkets. Or there’s always Amazon.
What Is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai is a popular street food dish that’s served all over Thailand. It typically features rice noodles, bean sprouts, peanuts, scrambled egg, and a source of protein (I’ve heard that shrimp is most common in Thailand).
The ingredients are stir-fried in a wok in a delicious sauce made from soy sauce, fish sauce, and lime.
The resulting explosion of tastes and textures is what makes this dish so delicious! The rice noodles remain chewy, while the veggies add a slight crunch.
Note that the recipe I’m sharing in this post is NOT authentic pad Thai. It’s simply a home cook’s version of pad Thai using ingredients I can easily find at my local supermarket.
Recipe Ingredients
To make this easy chicken pad Thai recipe, you’ll need:
- Flat rice noodles (sometimes called pad Thai noodles or ban pho noodles)
- Coconut oil
- Onion
- Chicken breasts
- Garlic
- Ground ginger
- Green cabbage (an 8-ounce bag of chopped cabbage is a time-saver)
- Shredded carrots (use pre-shredded to save time)
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Lime juice
- Honey
- Green onions
- Peanuts
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken Pad Thai
Homemade chicken pad Thai comes together quickly and easily. Here’s an overview of how the recipe is made:
- Boil one pound of flat rice noodles. Because they’re made from rice and don’t have gluten, they cook very quickly, in about 5 minutes so make sure not to overcook them or you’ll have mush.
- Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water, and set them aside.
- In a very large skillet, cook together diced onions and sliced chicken with sesame oil, coconut oil, garlic, and ginger.
- Add the green cabbage, shredded carrots, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, a touch of honey or agave syrup, and optional sriracha sauce.
- Stir in the noodles, a scrambled egg, top with green onions, peanuts, and get ready to dig in.
Tips for Making This Recipe
One 12-ounce bag of coleslaw mix would do double-duty for the cabbage and carrots. This likely will also have red cabbage, and slightly less carrots, but in terms of taste, it will be very similar and is a time-saver and you’ll a tiny bit of money on ingredients compared to buying cabbage and carrots separately.
Note that fresh ginger can be used instead of dried (use half the quantity listed if using fresh).
Rather than using a combination of sesame and coconut oil, you’re welcome to use vegetable and/or olive oil. (Note that the mere 1 tablespoon of coconut I used in this big-batch recipe does not make the dish taste at all like coconut if you’re sensitive to the flavor).
FAQs
I promise the chicken pad Thai recipe doesn’t taste fishy whatsoever! It just adds a rich umami flavor that’s impossible to replicate with another ingredient.
No, the fish sauce is a must! It helps give the pad Thai sauce its signature flavor.
You’ll want to use flat rice noodles when making pad Thai. Flat rice noodles resemble Italian fettuccini and hold up well again the juicy chicken and hearty sauce.
Yes! To make this pad Thai recipe using shrimp instead of chicken, add cleaned, fresh, raw shrimp at the same place in the recipe where you would add the chicken. As soon as the shrimp is cooked through (in likely 2 minutes), remove them from the pan, set it aside, and stir them back in at the end. Otherwise it will be overcooked and rubbery.
Recipe Variations to Try
There are a million versions and variations of pad Thai you can try. Some optional ideas and variations include:
- Add bean sprouts, bell peppers, and/or mushrooms.
- Rather than green onions, use fresh Thai basil.
- Sriracha adds a touch of heat, and for me Thai food needs to have at least some heat, but you can omit it if you’re sensitive to spices.
- Add extra sriracha and/or dried chili flakes if you want more heat.
What to Serve With Pad Thai
Storage and Reheating Instructions
To store: Store leftover chicken pad thai in an airtight container in the fridge. If stored properly, it will keep for up to 5 days.
To reheat: I recommend reheating the chicken pad Thai in a skillet over medium heat. You may need to add a little oil to the pan if the noodles seem dry. I don’t recommend reheating pad Thai in the microwave as that will make the noodles and chicken rubbery.
Video Tutorial
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Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 1 pound flat rice noodles
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium onion, diced small (I used sweet Vidalia)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced into thin long strips
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger, (1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger may be substituted)
- 8 ounces thinly sliced green cabbage, (about 3 to 4 loosely packed cups)
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ to ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup
- 1 large egg, scrambled
- 2 tablespoons sriracha, (optional and to taste)
- 3 green onions, sliced into thin rounds (optionally substitute with 1/3 cup minced fresh Thai basil)
- ⅔ cup chopped roasted peanuts, (I used reduced-salt)
Instructions
- Cook rice noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse under cold water; set aside.
- To a very large skillet at least 4 inches deep, add the oils (vegetable and/or olive oil may be substituted for the sesame and coconut oil), onion, and sauté the onion over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until onion is beginning to soften; stir intermittently.
- Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes, or until done; stir and flip nearly constantly to ensure even cooking. The chicken will cook very quickly if it’s sliced sufficiently thin.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir nearly constantly.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, stir to combine, cover skillet with a lid, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 3 minutes, or until cabbage wilts and softens. Remove lid and stir.
- Add the honey and stir to combine.
- Add the cooked noodles, turn off the heat, and stir well to combine.
- Add the scrambled egg, optional sriracha, and stir to combine.
- Evenly garnish with the green onions, peanuts, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this tonight for myself and meal prep lunch for the week. It is quite flavorful and not to hard to make if you use pre-shredded items. I did have to add a little bit of corn starch to thicken up the sauce before serving. Will make again!
I made this tonight for myself and meal prep lunch for the week. It is quite flavorful and not to hard to make if you use pre-shredded items. I did have to add a little bit of corn starch to thicken up the sauce before serving. Will make again!
I’m glad you will make this again and enjoyed it!
made this tonight and got “holy S***” from everyone. My family absolutely loved it. I subbed out breasts for thighs and added some red pepper flakes to my oils. This is so good. Thanks!!
made this tonight and got “holy S***” from everyone. My family absolutely loved it. I subbed out breasts for thighs and added some red pepper flakes to my oils. This is so good. Thanks!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad that this got a holy sh** from everyone! Sign of a great meal in my house and sounds like yours too 😊
Been to some really AMAZING Thai restaurants pad that is my favorite. Makes me afraid to even try your recipe when not one of them ever had Cabbage or carrots in their recipe
Not sure where you get your pad thai but when I go to Thai restaurants in San Diego, LA, Chicago, and many other cities, it does have cabbage and carrots. However I am sure the dish varies from place to place, and region to region.
This is an excellent recipe and I am sure if you try it you’ll love it.
All my boys loved this!! Great recipe, fantastic flavor, excellent dish.
All my boys loved this!! Great recipe, fantastic flavor, excellent dish.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad everyone loved this and it was excellent!
I was dying to love this (it was pretty easy to make!) but it was not sweet enough for me. I have since found other recipes where brown sugar (and more of it) is used vs. honey and maybe that would be a better flavor profile for my tastebuds. When I order pad Thai at a restaurant (and I order it at just about every Asian fusion and authentic Thai restaurant we frequent) there is a distinctively sweeter taste to the sauce. That said – my husband and son thought it was great! So I am just reviewing to call out that those looking for “restaurant familiar” flavors may want to increase the sweetener.
I was dying to love this (it was pretty easy to make!) but it was not sweet enough for me. I have since found other recipes where brown sugar (and more of it) is used vs. honey and maybe that would be a better flavor profile for my tastebuds. When I order pad Thai at a restaurant (and I order it at just about every Asian fusion and authentic Thai restaurant we frequent) there is a distinctively sweeter taste to the sauce. That said – my husband and son thought it was great! So I am just reviewing to call out that those looking for “restaurant familiar” flavors may want to increase the sweetener.
Thanks for trying the recipe and your feedback about sugar. I have tons of glowing comments on this and no one has ever mentioned the sauce as not being sweet enough. I do love a sweet sauce at times personally in Asian dishes. But….
Sugar in (overall) savory recipes I have found is a very funny thing because many times one person will say it’s too much and another not enough. So I try to be as middle of the road, but erring on the conservative side, so as to not get that one comment that says they had to toss the whole thing because it was too sweet. Whereas people in your camp can always taste it, and add more, if they desire.
Yet your husband and son said it was great as you made it. So even in your own house, there were varying tastes! Which is my conundrum. But I have to take the middle approach on sugar in savory dishes, in general. I appreciate this feedback though as it’s one of those things that 2500 recipes later I still always am very careful about.
Made this for supper tonight. We loved it. I followed the recipe as written substituting boneless skinless chicken thighs. I cooked the whole pound of rice noodles but found that half the amount was plenty. It also took me longer to prep than 20 minutes but I am one of the people who chopped the cabbage and grated the carrots. Yes, I will make again
Made this for supper tonight. We loved it. I followed the recipe as written substituting boneless skinless chicken thighs. I cooked the whole pound of rice noodles but found that half the amount was plenty. It also took me longer to prep than 20 minutes but I am one of the people who chopped the cabbage and grated the carrots. Yes, I will make again
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad you loved it! Yes, if you hand chop everything rather than taking some shortcuts it will definitely take you a bit longer but sounds like it was all worth it in the end!
tried to email you but bounced back just wanted to say
I have gotten your newsletter for quite awhile now and just really enjoy is the recipes are just wonderful
Thank you
Kay Swanson Torrence
Maple Grove, MN
tried to email you but bounced back just wanted to say
I have gotten your newsletter for quite awhile now and just really enjoy is the recipes are just wonderful
Thank you
Kay Swanson Torrence
Maple Grove, MN
I did see your email and thank you for taking the time to write! Glad you are loving my recipes!
I’m doing a personal cooking challenge and your Pad Thai dish has been a favorite with my family! I wrote an article about your dish here.
https://marychang-10894.medium.com/pad-thai-anyone-753585eccd8a?sk=b3d84de1e43e1dbd237c87312a33282b