This delicious and full of flavour Chicken Pad Thai is just like the one you would find at your favourite Thai restaurant. It's far easier to make than you might think, and easily adapted to add different vegetables and protein. It's zesty, spicy, and everything you could want from a Thai dish.
What we love about this recipe is that it tastes incredible, with minimal effort and no trips to specialist shops. You can find all the ingredients in a regular supermarket and you don't need any fancy kitchen gadgets to make it. It's ready in just 20 minutes too.
Be sure to make extras, as you are going to want a double portion of this!
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Why should you try it?
- Ready in 22 minutes
- A really tasty and easy Thai dish
- Easy to adapt with different ingredients
- Veggie packed
- Easy to adjust the spice level according to taste
What you will need
- Chicken breast - This helps to keep the dish nice and lean. You could swap it for skinless and boneless chicken thighs, however this would change the nutritional information and cooking time.
- Broccoli - We used tenderstem broccoli, but small florets of normal broccoli will work.
- Bell pepper - We used a red pepper for a nice pop of colour.
- Oil - You will need olive oil to cook the chicken and sesame oil for the sauce.
- Noodles - Traditionally rice noodles are used but we used soba noodles, which are made for buckwheat flour.
- Garlic and Ginger - The base for all Thai recipes.
- Honey - Sweetens the sauce and balances out the other savoury flavours.
- Nut butter - This thickens the sauce. Normally peanut would be used, but we used almond butter, which is better for those with peanut .
- Chili - Adds a nice kick of heat to the dish.
- Fish sauce - This can be omitted but it adds a complex umami flavour to the dish.
- Lime - Fresh and zesty, this really lightens up the dish.
Step by step
One: In a pestle and mortar, combine the garlic, ginger, honey, almond butter, sesame oil, chilli and fish sauce. Pound until smooth and set aside.
Two: Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the chicken until browned all over, about 5-7 minutes.
Three: Add the pepper slices and broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Four: Put the noodles into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 4 minutes.
Five: Add the cooked noodles and sauce to the chicken and vegetables. Mix well and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Six: Serve with spring onions (scallions), sliced chilli and lime wedges (all optional).
What is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai, sometimes spelled as Phad Thai, is a traditional Thai stir-fried rice noodle dish, usually served as a street food throughout Thailand. It is typically made with noodles, prawns (shrimp), chicken, beef or tofu, peanuts, scrambled egg, and bean sprouts, as well as a variety of other vegetables.
What vegetables to add
We used broccoli and slices of red bell pepper for this to keep it simple, but any vegetables will work. Carrots, mangetout (snow peas), button mushrooms and baby corn would all work well.
Bean sprouts are also commonly used as well as spring onions (scallions).
What other ingredients can you use
We used chicken in ours, but you could swap that for prawns, tofu egg, or just do a veggie loaded one. If you are doing a veggie version, then try going for chunkier, meaty vegetables like aubergine, courgette (zucchini) and different textured mushrooms.
Pad Thai sauce
This sauce is everything and more. Whilst the chicken and vegetables are delicious, nobody is denying that, it really is all about the sauce. Whilst you can buy a Pad Thai sauce ready made, or even kits from the supermarket, it's worth making it yourself for that intense flavour. Luckily, it's really easy to make.
A mixture of garlic, ginger, honey, almond butter, oil, chilli, fish sauce and lime, it has all those Thai flavours that you know and love. This recipe does have a little bit of a kick of heat in it, but you can easily adapt that. You could leave the chilli out of the sauce completely and then just add some chilli slices on top for those that want the spice.
What to serve it with
This is really a whole meal in itself, so you don't really need anything to go with it. If you wanted to add a side dish, then our Carrot and Coriander Side Salad would compliment the Pad Thai well.
You could make this as a smaller portion and eat it as an appetizer for any of our Thai Recipes.
FAQs
Pad Thai doesn't freeze well as the texture is ruined by the formation of ice crystals within the noodles. You can store this in airtight containers in the fridge for 2-3 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the hob (stove top) for a few minutes until thoroughly heated through.
Extra tips
- Add some extra texture with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts before serving.
- A sprinkling of coriander will add lots of flavour to the finished dish.
- Make this as mild or as spicy as you like. Make it spicier by adding extra chilli to the sauce, or milder by leaving it out completely and adding chilli flakes on top for those that want them.
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Recipe card
Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 150 g chicken breast cut into chunks
- 80 g tenderstem broccoli
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 g soba noodles
For the sauce:
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 30 g ginger peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp nut butter (we used almond butter)
- 2 tsp sesame oil (or olive oil)
- 0.5 red chili chopped
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 lime juice only
To serve (all optional):
- 4 spring onions (scallions) sliced
- 0.5 red chilli sliced
- 2 limes quartered
Instructions
- In a pestle and mortar, combine the garlic, ginger, honey, almond butter, sesame oil, chili, lime juice and fish sauce. Pound until smooth and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the chicken until browned all over, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the pepper slices and broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Put the noodles into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 4 minutes.
- To the chicken and vegetables, add the sauce and cooked noodles. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Serve with spring onions (scallions), sliced chilli and lime wedges (all optional).
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
This sounds like such a delicious and zesty dish! I will be adding this to the meal plan for next week - always looking for new meals to add to the rotation that the whole family will enjoy.
Sarah Holt
I love Thai food! This pad thai sounds so good
Alison
This Chicken Pad Thai has so many gorgeous colors with all the added vegetables. It's not too heavy like some pad Thai's I've had in restaurants.
Jessica Formicola
Oh wow, this looks SO much better than takeout! I will definitely be making this for dinner soon!
Mirlene
It has been a while since I was in a Thai restaurant but the flavors of the real pad thai is there with me always lol Definitely should try making it at home!
Nathan
I LOVE pad thai, but I've actually never thought to make it myself! This looks fantastic, can't wait to give it a try!
Claudia Lamascolo
I have never had soba noodles, I need to find them this looks like a healthy flavorful meal that we will all love
Jenn
This is my go-to recipe for chicken pad Thai - I just love all the veggies in it and it always turns out perfectly!
Beth
My family and I love this recipe! I can't wait to make this again!
Alisa Infanti
Thanks for this recipe. It is so easy to make I can have pad thai any day of the week now.
Jess
I love the tip to add coriander to this dish. Adds lots of additional flavor!
Toni
This was really amazing!! A new addition to our favorite weeknight meals!
Pam Greer
We love pad thai and had no idea we could easily make it at home!! Yum! No more take out for us!
Beth
My family and I are going to love this recipe! I can't wait to make this tomorrow night for dinner! Looks so delicious and flavorful!
Megan
LOVE how many veggies are in this dish!!
Gina
This is my favorite takeout dish and you've made it so simple to enjoy at home - love this recipe!
Jill
Thank you for this recipe!! I love love love pad thai, but I agree, it's always so greasy! I just made this for the first time. It was absolutely Yummy and very similar to the restaurant version. Will absolutely make this again and again and again.
Jazmine
Wow! I made this tonight never having tried chicken pad thai. I've had a lot of foods, but I've never tried thai food. This was awesome!! I will definitely be making it again.