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!
Nagi, my daughter asked for Pad Thai for her birthday, and, of course, I immediately go to your website since I never made it before and you are the only one I can trust with a challenge like this!! One problem: she has braces so cannot have nuts. Is it possible to use smooth peanut butter instead of the crushed peanuts and at what stage? (Add to the sauce perhaps?And how much?) Thanks!
I blend my peanuts with the Ninja grinder, and it gives it a granulated texture. Happy Birthday to your daughter <3
Thanks Jess. Really appreciate your advice, I will give it a try next time! So far, my daughter was very happy with the peanutless dish even though I overcooked the noodles))
Hi Natalia, nuts are really for garnish and texture – Just leave them out! I hope she has a great birthday!! N x
Legendary from albury nsw australia
Made this last night. Very easy to follow recipe and informative blog. Thank you!
So is the brown sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce in addition to what you would use to make the ketchup version of the Tamerand sauce? I’m confused 😆
If you don’t have tamarind, scroll down to recipe notes and use that, only, for the sauce portion of the recipe. Hope that helps!
Made this for the first time this week, and it was simple and perfect. The tamarind concentrate I found looks a bit thinner than Nagi’s, so I may try to find other versions and see how they differ, but honestly, I didn’t care. I have a not-so-local-anymore Thai restaurant that makes an amazing pad thai I haven’t experienced anywhere else, but other than that, I’m maybe never buying pad thai again.
Made this tonight. YUMM… didn’t have Tofu so just omitted it. Also Used Indian tamarind Paste and Thai Kitchen Stir-fry rice Noodles and it came out really great!
Thank you so much! An excellent recipe. I didn’t have tofu, but will try to find it next time. And I added extra bean sprouts, just for my own preference.
Made this tonight Nagi, it was fabulous. I’ve only ever used pad thai kits that resulted in gluggy, dry noodles. It was super easy to make and really delicious. Thank you!
Wahoo, that’s awesome Angela!! N x
I want to try making this for dinner today. I only have the Indian tamarind concentrate. Is it a good substitute or should I shop for Thai tamarind puree/ Please advise.
Thank.
Hi Kumari, I’m just not quite sure what you have without being able to see the ingredients. You could always use the concentrate and start with a little. Add to taste. N x
We are regular buyers of Pad Thai takeaway and this is the best of the lot of them! ! Thank you Nagi, I’ve made about 10 of your recipes and they are fail-proof. You are now my “go-to” to dinners and guests.
This is the best Pad Thai I’ve had in ages! Homemade or in a restaurant. So simple, so easy, so delicious. I’ve made other recipes before and have always been disappointed.
I’m going to look for better quality tamarind paste as the one from my supermarket smells funny. I don’t think Pad Thai travels well as it seems to get goopy in the take-away containers so this is so much better and fresher.
This was perfectttttt!
OMG where has this recipe been all my life Nagi! This was absolutely delicious. I’ve always been hesitant to try pad thai at home but this was so easy and SO GOOD!!! Not quite as good as my favourite thai restaurant but better than some I’ve tried! Thanks so much for this recipe.
Yet another recipe of yours I made that was loved by the family.
I upped the servings to 6 and the recipe wanted 9 tablespoons of sugar. Some of the family thought it was a touch too sweet ( but was fine after they added Vietnamese mint, more chillies and lime).
Was curious though if your tablespoons of sugar were packed or loose ? Also if they were 20ml or 15ml?
Love your recipes!
HI Nagi,
I enjoy cooking and often just have a thought of a couple of ingredients – your recipes have become my fail safe go to. Have made countless number of meals from your recipes and ALL have been a winner. I usually have a tendency to adlib to recipes, but find your recipes to be perfect as they are!
I used to travel with print outs of my fav recipes, but now I just go to Recipetineats!
Thanks for sharing
Michele
Great recipe and so easy and quick. We made it with the ketchup sustitute and it came out perfectly. Almost as good as our favourite local Thai. I feel like we have finally mastered being able to make good Pad Thai at home.
Hi Nagi! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes you post! I’m a big fan of Pad Thai and I have tried it in a ton of restaurants in different states (I’m in the US), and also in Thailand so it is hard for me to tell which one I’ve liked the best. I remember the sauce was really red in Thailand so I wonder if they just used ketchup- wouldn’t be that surprising since it was a pretty touristy place. Anyway, I made your recipe last night and it tasted great but the color of the sauce was very dark. I couldn’t find Tamarind puree so I bought the pulp that comes in a bock and soaked and strained it. It did look very dark so I wonder if Tamarind varies in color. Also, I like fish sauce but mine tasted a bit too fishy so would you switch some of the fish sauce with soy sauce? I wonder if that would make it taste like Pad See Ew. Sorry about the 20 questions! Thanks! 🙂
Hi Mariana, it’s hard to say with your version sorry as you’ve used a different tamarind puree so the flavour could have been unbalanced and too fishy. If you make it again the same way, I would just cut back on the fish sauce to taste, the tamarind puree would cut through this with sourness so it’s hard to give you an exact measurement if you’re using homemade puree from pulp. N x
Not a fan of tofu. Is it ok to make it without it, still taste the same? Do I need to put more of something else to make up for it?
Just leave it out Tony 🙂 N x
Just did it, it was delicious. Will do again. Thx
Great recipe!
I have an electric stove, I feel that it took longer to cook. I would change the soaking time for the noodles to 7-8 minutes, they felt really undercooked. I think it was related to my stove. Thank you for sharing 😎
I only do 3-4 minutes in the water, the trick is the noodles finish cooking in the wok by soaking up the sauce. If they are still underdone in the wok, you can add a little more water until they are done. This ensures you get the nice chewy tangled noodles. If you soak them for too long, they can end up disintegrating in the wok.
How many grams (approx) brown sugar is in 3tbsp? Thank you for your answer!
Hi Agnese, approx 45g 🙂 N x