Drunken Noodles is the literal translation of Pad Kee Mao because the theory is that these spicy Thai noodles should be eaten with an ice cold beer and that they are a great cure for hangover. I can confirm both cases to be true!
This Thai noodle dish is a very popular both in Thailand and in Thai restaurants outside of Thailand. You will be surprised how fast and easy this recipe is to make!
Drunken Noodles!
Get Drunken Noodles from the streets of Thailand, and unless you have an exceptional spice-o-meter, you’ll be chugging down the beer in an attempt to cool the burn in your mouth.
Make this at home and you can control the heat!
The amount of chilli I’ve included in the recipe is mild enough for most people (I think), but enough so you can taste the heat. By all means, feel free to turn up the spice dial!
What you need
There are all sorts of variations of Drunken Noodles in Thailand and even more in the western world. In Thailand the two constants are chicken and Thai Basil, and quite often it came with baby corn as well, though from my research I couldn’t confirm that this was a “must have” in this dish.
Rice Noodles
Get the widest dried rice noodles you can find at your grocery store. Here in Australian supermarkets, the widest I can find is labelled “Pad Thai”, though ironically, it’s actually too wide for Pad Thai!
Thai Basil
There are actually two types of Thai Basil – regular Thai Basil and Thai Holy Basil. Drunken Noodles can be made with either.
Outside of Thailand, restaurants typically use regular Thai Basil because it is easier to find than Holy Basil. I even have difficulty finding Holy Basil in Thai grocery stores!
Is Thai Basil the same as regular basil?
Thai Basil is not the same as regular basil. It tastes like regular basil with a slight aniseed flavour. A very distinct flavour that you know and love about your favourite dishes at your local Thai restaurant like Drunken Noodles and Thai Chilli Basil Chicken!
Best substitute for Thai Basil
Regular basil! In fact, Drunken Noodles is traditionally made with Holy Basil which tastes more similar to regular basil than Thai Basil!
How to make it
As with all stir fries and stir fried noodles, this moves fast once you start cooking – around 6 minutes start to finish – so have everything ready to go before you start cooking!
Comparison to other popular Thai noodles
Whereas Pad Thai is nutty and sweet, Pad Kee Mao is spicy and savoury. Compared to Pad See Ew, the sauce of Drunken Noodles is lighter in colour and not as sweet.
Also, neither Pad Thai nor Pad See Ew does not have Thai Basil in it, and it is not as spicy.
Actually, Pad Kee Mao is essentially like Thai Chilli Basil Chicken stir fry with noodles added!
Better made at home
In Western Thai restaurants, Drunken Noodles are usually very saucy, oily and salty – too much so in my opinion, and very different from the streets of Thailand. So it’s really nice to be able to make a healthier yet just as tasty version at home!
And remember to crack open an ice cold beer to enjoy these Drunken Noodles with! – Nagi x
More Thai Food favourites
(Yes, I ❤️ Thai Food, in case you hadn’t figured it out!)
Watch how to make it
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Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
Ingredients
Noodles
- 7 oz /200g dried rice noodles , wide (Note 1)
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
- 3 large cloves of garlic , minced
- 2 birds eye chilli or Thai chillies , deseeded, very finely chopped (Note 2)
- 1/2 onion , sliced
- 200 g /7oz chicken thighs , cut into bite size pieces (breast ok too)
- 2 tsp fish sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2 green onions , cut into 3cm/2" pieces
- 1 cup Thai or Thai Holy Basil leaves (sub regular basil, Note 3)
Sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 4)
- 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 4)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Prepare noodles per packet directions.
- Mix Sauce in a small bowl.
- Heat oil in wok or large heavy based skillet over high heat.
- Add garlic and chilli and cook for 10 seconds. Don't inhale - the chilli will make you cough!
- Add onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken and fish sauce, and fry until cooked, around 2 minutes.
- Add green onion, noodles and sauce and cook for 1 minute until the sauce reduces and coats the noodles.
- Remove from heat and immediately add basil, toss until just wilted, then serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Drunken Noodles recipe originally published July 2014. Updated June 2019 with new photos, new writing, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Like my video shooting area isn’t a tripping hazard as it is, let’s add a giant fur ball into the mix. 🙄
(PS the wine is a PROP! I wasn’t having a cheeky glass at lunch!! 😂)
Can I omit Thai Basil ? I really not so much fan of that taste.
Thank you for the recipe. Is there a reason you don’t just mix your fish sauce in with the rest of the sauce at the beginning?
You want to cook off the fish sauce with the chicken to get rid of the funkiness then you add the rest of the sauce and cook it down! N x
Hi, I have dry thai holy basil.. could you please let me know how that can be used? Can it be sauteed with the chicken/veggies?
I haven’t used it dried Sabitha – it depends on how strong the flavour is as to how you would use it. I would try cooking it with the chicken…add a little bit to start then see if it needs more after you cook the chicken. N x
My favourite Thai place was closed and I was hungry! Thank you for saving the day with your great recipe. I added more veggies (like the local place makes it, sugar peas, yellow peppers, carrot, celery…). Yum. Had lots left for lunches!
There’s nothing worse than a Thai food emergency!! Glad I could help Karen! N x
Can I use holy basil leaf instead? Thanks jon
Yes you can Jon! N x
This was quite good!! Made this last night almost exactly to recipe. Did add some baby corns. I also couldn’t find fresh thai chilis, so used dried. I wanted it hot, so added more chilis than you called for…and didn’t de-seed at all. was *hot* but delicious!! cleared out my sinuses for sure! Great flavour of the sauce and the basil (normal basil, sadly could not find Thai basil!) was such a great component!! Will make again for sure. The ingredient prep took a bit of time, but having everything chopped, prepped and measured ahead of time made cooking a breeze.
A great indulgent weeknight meal. So thank you!!
Can you use other hot peppers in place of Thai peppers. Hard to find them in my area.
Yes Randy – just sub in a different hot chilli! N x
So delicious. I cooked the noodles less than the recommended time because I knew it would finish cooking in the pan. I ran cold water on them and after draining they stuck together but I knew once the noodles were in the pan with the other stuff it would be fine and it was.
I only used 1 tsp fish sauce because I accidentally used a tbsp or more in a Thai Larb dish and it was TOO TOO much…wow, big mistake, lesson learned! I couldn’t get the smell out of the house or microwave for a couple of weeks, just strong and smelly and because of the smell I threw away the rest of the dish!
I used Wok Mei All Natural Oyster Flavored Sauce and this sauce is more sweet than salty.
I love fresh garlic but not roasted and I didn’t think I would like it browned/burned looking in the pan but it made the dish POP, gave the dish a different garlic flavor and I loved it!
There are 2 Thai restaurants in my area and I was going to buy Drunken Noodles a couple of days ago but after seeing Nagi’s recipe that looked so easy to follow I decided to make it. My Drunken Noodles tasted better than both restaurants, yes it did. Restaurants these days don’t make food with LOVE!! Since I have more velveted chicken breast and ingredients I’m going to make more in about an hour or so.
Thanks a lot for the recipe.
I am so happy you enjoyed the dish Andi! N x
I made this tonight but, due to sensitive palates, I had to omit the chilis and sub dried chili flakes. I added extra spice to mine. Very delicious, thank you.
My first attempt was a disaster for two reasons. The rice noodles weren’t ready and the fish sauce in the wok was too much. The noodles … my package directions said to soak them for 10 minutes in cold water, good to go. Nope. They were so tough I couldn’t chew them. I had to keep sauteing my drunken noodles for 15 minutes to get them halfway soft enough to eat. Second time around I put them in nearly boiling water for about 15 minutes and that was better. Make SURE your noodles are soft and tender, ready to eat before adding them to the wok at the end. You are only integrating them in the dish and coating with sauce at that point, they will not cook further. The fish sauce … for me 2 tsp is too much fish taste. It is VERY potent and takes over the dish. Also, adding it to the sauteing onions and chicken will fill your whole house with a fermented fish smell. Second time around I just cut back to a scant 1 tsp and added it to my sauce ingredients instead. Much better result.
People, do use your heads (esp. when it is your name)! It seems as if you are all cooking for the first time.
Made this recipe tonight and we both loved it, but gosh was it salty (and I am an absolute salt fiend!). Thought I had misread the recipe, but hadn’t, so am wondering if it’s based on 15ml tablespoons rather than the 20ml standard? Or perhaps it was the oyster sauce brand? I used Haday Golden Label – no idea if that’s reputable.
Could one cut thru the salt overload by adding book Chou or similar (feel this might detract from that wonderful basil flavour), or simply use less oyster/soy. Otherwise simply gorgeous, as with all recipes on this site.
I love the beer pairing recommendation too, certainly worked 🙂
I didn’t realise that the Australian tablespoon is 20ml, rather than 15ml, as it is in most other places. So I’ve been using 15ml measurements in all of Nagi’s recipes and they’ve all come out perfectly! 🤣
It could definitely be the brand of oyster sauce or your soy. I’ve got a post of recommended Asian sauce brands that should help with that! https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-market-grocery-store-shopping-list/ N x
Thanks so much Nagi for the link and the reply. As a pale Aussie it was very instructive when a friend told me fish sauce is just like olive oil. You have your first press for fresh things, and your next presses for cooking, and then the sauces to avoid. Why wouldn’t it be the same for oyster sauce?! I think I might go with your recommended oyster sauce next time! Nicholasmisthton
Wow is is so much better that takeaway food. Thank you so very much.
Nagi, the correct way to spell chili is with one “l”, not 2.
Love your recipes. Made your drunken noodles last night and they were delicious. Thanks. Ron
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-chili-chilli-chile
Afraid both spellings are correct Ron.
Thanks for a great recipe Nagi x
Hi Ron, In Australia and the UK we spell chilli with 2 l’s
Ron you elitists snob who cares? I love your recipe but I’ll point out to thousands you can’t spell chilli
The word chili is spelled various ways in different countries. Some with 2 Ls and some with a Y.
Lol I suspect Ron is either a sheltered North American or is trolling. I do agree with him though that this is another epic dish Nagi!
Great recipe yet again Nagi. I would increase the chicken to at least 300 grams, double the onion and garlic. I also added coriander as a garnish. Nagi, I used fresh packet noodles and it would be great to understand how much to use – assume approx 750 grams.
My favourites drunken noodles alway have a good dose of galangal or ginger
This was a winner! I doubled the recipe and only used some chili flakes due to some picky eaters, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Thank you for such a simple noodle dish anyone can make at home!
I am confused about the Chili’s bird side chilies or Thai chilies where do I find those
Hi Mariette – bird’s eye (or Thai chillies) are small, red, very hot and spicy chillies commonly used in Thai cooking. You can find them at grocery stores or where Asian ingredients are sold. N x
Absolute ripper!! This has definitely made our favourites list! I love your Thai recipes – thank you
So delicious! I tried this tonight and I’m so happy it tastes almost exactly like the pad kee mao dish at my favourite thai restaurant! I will make this all the time!
So gooood! My partner even said geez I’d be stoked if I got this meal at a restaurant, I’ll take that! So thankyou! 🙂