Skip the take-out and make this Chicken Pad Thai recipe, a delicious and easy dish that brings the vibrant flavors of Thai cuisine to your kitchen.
Perfect for any day of the week, this recipe is a surefire way to impress your family and friends with restaurant-quality Pad Thai. If you want an easy recipe, with ingredients you can find in a regular grocery store, you are in the right place!
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A lot of restaurants get a little skimpy with their chicken portions, in my humble opinion. So I used more chicken in this recipe.
That is one of the benefits of making this at home. If you want less chicken, see the notes in the recipe card below for the recommended adjustments.
Also, I wanted to make this with the most simple ingredients as possible. You know, things you can easily find in conventional grocery stores.
So I left out some of the more unusual ingredients often found in authentic pad Thai, like tamarind paste or fish sauce. If you are a pad Thai purist and really prefer to have these, feel free to add those in. I know most of y’all usually appreciate simplicity.
How to Make Chicken Pad Thai
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
For the best taste, always use the highest quality ingredients you have access to.
To make this easy Chicken Pad Thai recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Light brown sugar
- Creamy peanut butter
- Reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce
- Lime juice
- Rice vinegar
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Pad Thai rice noodles
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- Avocado oil or other neutral oil
- Red bell pepper
- White or yellow onion
- Garlic cloves
- Scallions/ green onions
- Eggs
- Bean sprouts
- Fresh cilantro
- Chopped peanuts
Feel free to customize your Chicken Pad Thai with additional fresh vegetables like matchstick carrots or spring onions. For a vegetarian twist, you can replace the chicken with a block of tofu.
Cooking Chicken Pad Thai
Chicken Pad Thai is a simple recipe that can be made in just a few easy steps. Here is how you can make it at home!
Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl until combined.
Set aside for later.
Place Pad Thai noodles in a large bowl. Pour over boiling water until it completely submerges the noodles.
Allow the noodles to soak for 5-10 minutes (depending on the package directions), moving them around often with tongs. Once the noodles have softened, drain and rinse them under cold water. Set aside.
Massage salt and pepper into the chicken pieces. You will need either a large wok or large skillet for this recipe.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and let it heat up for 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring often until fully cooked through.
Transfer chicken to a plate/bowl and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the hot pan along with the sliced pepper and onions. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often until the onions are still crisp but becoming translucent. Next, mix in the garlic and white parts of the scallions. Cook for 2 more minutes.
Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add beaten egg to the other side of the pan.
Scramble over medium-low heat until the egg is just cooked but not overcooked and dry. Mix the egg with the vegetables from the side of the pan, and add the cooked chicken and bean sprouts to the pan.
Give the sauce from earlier a quick mix. Add the noodles and sauce to the pan.
Carefully toss together with tongs until the noodles are coated in sauce and combined with the vegetables and chicken.
Mix in most of the green parts of the scallion, chopped peanuts, and cilantro. Save the remaining ingredients for garnishing the dish.
Once ready to serve, sprinkle with remaining scallions, chopped peanuts, and cilantro. You can opt to leave the peanut in bigger chinks/ halves like you see here. Or chop them up, as is traditional at Thai restaurants.
Leftovers
How long is leftover chicken ad Thai good in the refrigerator? Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Always use common sense and good judgement when it comes to leftovers, though! If something looks or smells funky, don’t eat it.
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Chicken Pad Thai
Skip the take-out and make this Chicken Pad Thai recipe, a delicious dish that brings the vibrant flavors of Thai cuisine to your kitchen.
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 3 Tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce
- 1 Tablespoons lime juice juice of about 1/2 lime*
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the Noodles
- 8 ounces uncooked Pad Thai rice noodles
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or other neutral oil
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 onion white or yellow, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 scallions thinly sliced (whites and green parts separated)
- 2 eggs large, lightly beaten
- 1.5 cups bean sprouts plus extra as garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro as garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts as garnish
Instructions
-
Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside for later
-
Place pad thai noodles in a large bowl. Pour over boiling water until it completely submerges the noodles. Allow the noodles to soak for 5-10 minutes (depending on the package directions), moving them around often with tongs. Once the noodles have softened, drain and rinse the noodles under cold water. Set aside.
- Massage 1⁄2 teaspoon salt & 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper into the chicken pieces. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and let it heat up for 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring often until fully cooked through. Transfer chicken to a plate/bowl and set aside.
- Add another 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot pan along with the sliced pepper and onions to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often until the onions are still crisp but becoming translucent. Next, mix in the garlic and white parts of the scallions. Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add beaten egg to the other side of the pan. Scramble over medium-low heat, until the egg is just cooked but not overcooked and dry. Mix the egg with the vegetables from the side of the pan, and add the cooked chicken & bean sprouts to the pan.
- Give the sauce from earlier a quick mix. Add the noodles & sauce to the pan. Carefully toss together with tongs until the noodles are coated in sauce and combined with the vegetables/chicken.
- Mix in most of the green parts of the scallion, chopped peanuts and cilantro. Save the remaining of each ingredient for garnishing the dish.
- Once ready to serve, sprinkle with remaining scallions, chopped peanuts and cilantro.
Recipe Notes
-
Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator. Info is based on 3 generous servings and is 1/3 the total recipe.
- Save the remaining 1⁄2 lime that wasn’t needed for the sauce as garnish for the final dish!
- This recipe is generous with the chicken, as I know many of you prioritize protein in your meals. If you prefer less chicken in your pad Thai, use 1⁄2 pound of chicken instead. If using 1⁄2 pound chicken, you would adjust and season it with 1⁄4 tsp salt and a tiny pinch pepper.
- This recipe was tested with Lotus Foods “Traditional Pad Thai Rice Noodles”. Let them soak for a full 10 minutes in the boiling water.
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