This is a Pad Thai recipe that truly stacks up to great Thai restaurants yet is totally doable for every home cook with just a trip to your every day grocery store. With the slippery noodles, signature sweet-savoury flavour, sprinkle of peanuts and tang from lime, this is a Thai food favourite for good reason!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Pad Thai recipe
Pad Thai is one of the world’s most beloved noodle dishes. Along with Thai Green Curry and Red Curry, this is the dish by which every Thai restaurant is measured. In fact, I was trying to find the “best” Thai restaurant in my area just last week and it brought me much amusement that Pad Thai was the baseline of a favourable or unfavourable rating for almost every review!
If you’ve been disappointed by basic Pad Thai recipes in the past, have faith – I promise this one delivers!
What is Pad Thai??
Pad Thai is a Thai noodle stir fry with a sweet-savoury-sour sauce scattered with crushed peanuts. It’s made with thin, flat rice noodles, and almost always has bean sprouts, garlic chives, scrambled egg, firm tofu and a protein – the most popular being chicken or prawns/shrimp.
Authentic Pad Thai
Authentic Pad Thai on the streets of Thailand has a distinct fishy/prawny “funk” (which sounds thoroughly unappetising but is actually completely addictive and the very essence of true Thai street food). If authentic is what you’re after, try this Prawn/Shrimp version I shared from Spice I Am Thai restaurant.
On the other end of the spectrum, a quick Google is all it takes to find a myriad of basic westernised versions which are typically made with not much more than something sour (vinegar, lime juice), soy sauce and sugar. These recipes will not taste like any Pad Thai you’ve had from a restaurant.
This recipe I’m sharing today lies in the middle between hardcore authentic version (which even I find borderline too fishy) and very basic westernised recipes that tend to lack the proper depth of flavour and are typically too sweet.
It truly stacks up to your favourite Thai takeout – except less oily (restaurants tend to use loads of oil) – but you will not need to hunt in the dark corners of an Asian store to find the ingredients.
What is Pad Thai Sauce made of?
Pad Thai Sauce is made with fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and tamarind.
Tamarind is the ingredient that is the heart and soul of Pad Thai sauce, giving the sauce the sour flavour that Pad Thai is known for. It’s an ingredient used in South East Asian cooking, like this Malaysian Beef Rendang.
Authentic Pad Thai is made with Tamarind pulp which comes in a block (size of a soap bar) which is then soaked in hot water, then pressed through a sieve to make tamarind puree.
To make life easy, I use ready made tamarind puree which is sold at supermarkets here in Australia. 🙌🏻🙌🏻 Or Asian stores, obviously (and it’s cheaper).
Can’t find Tamarind Puree?
Believe it or not, a great substitute is ketchup. With a few tweaks to the recipe, you can achieve a similar, extremely good outcome!
The Noodles
Pad Thai is made with flat dried rice noodles which can be found in everyday supermarkets.
I recommend Chang’s “Thai style” rice noodles rather than the actual Thai brand rice noodles (Erawan Rice Sticks – red pack below) that are sold at supermarkets.
Chang’s are less prone to breaking and require just 5 minutes of soaking in hot water.
The Erawan Rice Sticks are far more prone to breaking when stir frying.
Other ingredients in Pad Thai
Here are two more ingredients that are very Pad Thai-centric: firm tofu and garlic chives.
You’ll find firm tofu at the supermarket too – go for the firmest plain tofu you can find (read the label, give the packet a squeeze to check). Don’t even think about trying this with soft tofu – it will just totally disintegrate!
Garlic chives are the big brother of normal chives. They taste like garlicky chives (I know, you’re shocked right? 😂) and are shaped like blades of grass. These are also sold at supermarkets here in Australia (with the other fresh herbs). Sub with extra garlic and green onions if you can’t find them.
How to make Pad Thai
Once you’ve gathered the ingredients, the making part is actually very straight forward!
As with all stir fries, make sure you have all the ingredients prepared and ready to toss into the wok or skillet because once you start cooking, things move fast!
I cannot believe how I’ve just written about Pad Thai without barely pausing for a breathe.
I’m going to stop here before I run out of space for the recipe. 😂
So – meet your new favourite Pad Thai recipe. The one you will make over and over again, any night of the week, just by popping into Woolies on the way home. WHOOOOT!!!!! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 125 g / 4oz Chang’s Pad Thai dried rice sticks (Note 1)
Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tbsp tamarind puree , NOT concentrate (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 4)
Stir Fry:
- 2 – 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 1/2 onion , sliced (brown, yellow)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 150 g/5oz chicken breast (or thigh) , thinly sliced
- 2 eggs , lightly whisked
- 1 1/2 cups of beansprouts
- 1/2 cup firm tofu, cut into 3cm / 1 1/4″ batons (see photo)
- 1/4 cup garlic chives , cut into 3cm / 1 1/4″ pieces
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts
For serving:
- Lime wedges (essential)
- Ground chilli or cayenne pepper (optional)
- More beansprouts
Instructions
- Place noodles in a large bowl, pour over plenty of boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and quickly rinse under cold water. Don’t leave them sitting around for more than 5 – 10 minutes.
- Mix Sauce in small bowl.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan (or well seasoned skillet) over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken and cook for 1 1/2 minutes until mostly cooked through.
- Push to one side of the pan, pour egg in on the other side. Scramble using the wooden spoon (add touch of extra oil if pan is too dry), then mix into chicken.
- Add bean sprouts, tofu, noodles then Sauce.
- Toss gently for about 1 1/2 minutes until Sauce is absorbed by the noodles.
- Add garlic chives and half the peanuts. Toss through quickly then remove from heat.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with remaining peanuts and lime wedges on the side, with a sprinkle of chilli and a handful of extra beansprouts on the side if desired (this is the Thai way!). Squeeze over lime juice to taste before eating.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2018. Updated January 2019 with a new video, new step photos. No change to recipe.
More Thai food favourites
Good Thai is sorely lacking in my neighbourhood – so it’s critical to have recipes for all my favourite Thai dishes!
Life of Dozer
Flashback to when I first published Pad Thai back in May 2018 when he tore his cruciate ligament and was confined to a small space during his recovery. He does an excellent sad face. 😢
Happy to report that 3 months later, he was back to his wild, crazy self!
Lili says
I’ve tried SO MANY pad Thai recipes and I’ve been disappointed every time. This recipe is exactly like a restaurant. And so easy!!
Shammin says
I was craving pad thai so made it for dinner! I knew it would be really good as the general tso’s chicken i’ve made from here tastes authentic. I doubled the recipe but added more chicken and also added bok choy and mushrooms. I had the erawan rice noodles, I used tamarind pulp and left out the beansprouts. It tastes authentic and better than the restaurant one which is quite oily. Will keep a look out for the Chang’s brand.
Thank you!
JACQUELINE SEPULIA says
WOW! I never leave reviews but this was amazing! I followed the recipe to the T and this tasted incredible! Thanks for sharing!
Maggie says
I’d like to give a big shout out to the ketchup substitute recipe! Thank you Nagi!! Tamarind is 100% the soul of Pad Thai but tonight I realized my tamarind was moldy half way into my prep… Admittedly I was skeptical at first but it turned out well. Flavor was close to what I usually do (3T tamarind, 2T fish sauce, 3T palm sugar and 1-2T water) but more on the sweet side.
Michael Blough says
Hi – I really like this recipe and its relativley simple with ingredients that easily found here in the US. Will this work well with shrimp? I realize you have another recipe for Shrimp Pad Thai.
Kerrie Thomson says
Delicious as all your recipes are, better than any other Pad Thai recipe I have made. I did add chilli flakes as I didn’t have fresh red chillies for an extra kick during cooking. Looking at it in the wok I thought we would have dinner for 2 nights but after 2nds for both as it was so delish I don’t think so. Thanks again Nagi and Dozer…
Maree Harwood says
I love love love your Pad Thai recipe. I have made it several times and have not been disappointed. You are my go to cook when I’m looking for something delish to make. Thank you.
Philip Khoury says
I made this veggie with some plant-based chick*n fillets, and replacement sauces and it came out so beautifully. I can’t wait to make it againnn! Love your work
Barb S. says
This pad thai recipe really DOES taste like you ordered it from a restaurant–it’s not an exaggeration! I eat only plant-based foods and used vegan substitutes for the sauce ingredients. I also used soy curls in place of chicken; still came out perfect. This is going on my weekly rotation of family meals. Thanks so much!
Didi Prescott says
For a 400gram pack of rice noodles, is it safe to just multiply the quantities of the rest of the ingredients by 3?
Alex says
Amazing!!! Wow!! I’ve only used half of the fish sauce, that smell is too strong for me really. Apart of this it tastes incredible
Zeinab Abdo says
Nagi, this is the best recipe on your whole site! It is 10pm and we are making it again for the second night in a row!! Honestly tastes almost identical to our local thai restaurant. So amazing!
Andrew Ozanich says
Is it possible to cook this without fish/oyster sauce? I’m cooking for someone with food allergies and would love to try this recipe.
Nagi says
Hi Andrew, I would sub the fish sauce with soy sauce and buy vegetarian oyster sauce to use here. The flavour will be slightly different but still delicious! N x
Natalia Lie says
Thank you so much, Nagi! This is the most delicious Pad Thai I’ve ever cooked. Your recipe is amazing! I’ve also tried your Beef honey black pepper recipe and my husband’s family in Austria loves it
Alice Dang says
Was a bit skeptical on trying as many Asian dishes online are sometimes made to be more westernised and lack flavour but this did not disappoint by any means .. restaurant quality and very authentic … A MUST TRY
Sabrina Lupo says
Hello nagi.. First of all, everything I try from your website turns out amazing, thank you so much for making coming fun again. I enjoy my pad Thai really saucy what do you recommend
Danielle Lilley says
Hi Nagi, I have some palm sugar that I’d like to use. Would you recommend heating the sauce prior to adding to the stir fry in order that it dissolves? I’m not sure if the palm sugar would dissolve into the sauce without heating beforehand and would be worried that the sweetness would not even distribute.
Kylie Whillier says
This was absolutely delicious!! Thanks Nagi! another great recipe.
Nagi says
Thanks so much Kylie, that’s great to hear! N x
Sharon says
Thank you Nagi for another amazing recipe. I tried the ketchup version and it taste delicious. Great to have substitutes when you can’t get certain ingredients.
Hanna says
No more take-out! I wanted to get rid of the tamarind concentrate I never used. It tastes amazing! Just like the one I tried in Thailand. Thank you!
Allison B. says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Our store was out of tamarind concentrate so we tried the ketchup trick. It was delicious! I can’t wait to try it again with the tamarind.
Isabel says
So, so good. We all enjoyed it. Thanks again for a delicious recipe.