Easy homemade chicken Pad Thai (authentic recipe)

Chicken Pad Thai is a classic of Thai cuisine and it's such a cinch to make! Perfectly cooked rice noodle with tender chicken bites and an incredibly tasty sauce: trust me, this is the ultimate combo to elevate your busy weeknight meals!

For my 25th birthday, a few months ago, I went to Thailand. There, I discovered a delicious cuisine, both rich and packed with flavors.

And I also took a Thai cooking class with a trained Thai chef, who showed me how to make an authentic Pad Thai, which is now one of my favorite Thai dishes. We also did a Thai salmon curry and the famous mango sticky rice. So let me now share what I learned!

And for the record, Pad Thai is made differently in different parts of Thailand, but it can also vary from one Asian country to another.

💙 Why you'll love it

• Quick and easy - this delicious meal will only take you 10 minutes of preparation. And it's a real cinch to prepare, trust me, even if it's your first time, it'll be an absolute success!
• Ideal for batch cooking - you can totally prepare it in advance and store it for a few days in the refrigerator. Or freeze it.
• Substitutions possible - if you don't find Asian ingredients in your regular grocery store or if you don't want to buy many ingredients, you can completely substitute them with more classic ingredients. I'll tell you how.

🧄Ingredients

You can find a full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below. Here are a few ingredient notes to make this restaurant quality chicken Pad Thai.

• Fish sauce, which you can also find under the name of Nuoc-Mam sauce.
• Brown sugar - traditionally in Thailand, they use coconut palm sugar. But as it not super easy to find or maybe you don't want to buy 25 ingredients for one recipe (and how I understand you!), you can perfectly substitute it with regular brown sugar.
• Pad Thai noodles - flat or thin noodles, it's up to you!
• Chives - the Thai chef told me that they traditionally use garlic chives or garlic green leaves, but it might be a bit complicated to find, or too expensive. So you can replace it with regular chives (as I did here) spring onions or green onions.
• Oil - I use olive oil, but you can also use sesame oil.
• Egg - ideally pasture-raised organic. You can refer to the Eco Tips I've written on eggs to help you choose the right ones.
• Garlic - if you want to choose your garlic carefully so you do not encourage the slavery of Chinese prisoners, read my Eco Tips on the subject.

🌶Variations

Feel free to change this recipe to go with your tastes. I suggest several options:

• Vegetarian - remove the chicken. You'll have enough proteins with tofu and the scrambled egg.
• Proteins - chicken can be replace with cooked shrimps or cooked beef. Those versions are also very famous in Thailand, and I absolutely love them too!
• More veggies - you can add fresh vegetables, such as carrot or red bell pepper. Thai people don't mince their vegetables too finely, because they like to let you taste each ingredient, but you can do how you prefer.
• Spice it up with some chili sauce

This recipe has not been tested using any other substitutions. If you do try substituting ingredients, it may not turn out as it's meant to. Please leave a comment below letting me know if it worked out!

✨How to make this easy chicken Pad Thai recipe?

Recipe details and quantities are in the recipe card below.

• Place rice noodles in bowl of cold water for 30 minutes.

• Meanwhile, pour the oil in a large skillet. Then add the cubes of tofu and chicken and fry on medium-high heat until golden brown.
• Mix regularly so it doesn't stick. When cooked, set aside.

• Then, prepare the Pad Thai sauce: chop thinly shallot and garlic, and fry them in the skillet, in remaining oil. If it sticks too much, you can add a little drizzle of olive oil.

• When translucent, add sugar.
• Tamarind pulp.
• Fish sauce.

• And water. Leave to cook for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens and becomes syrupy.

• Then add soaked noodles, tofu, chicken and bean sprouts. Mix well.
• Push the content of the pan to one side and crack an egg into it on the other side. Use chopsticks to scramble the egg.

• Serve in plates with crushed peanuts, minced spring onion, chilli, lime juice and lime wedges.

👩🏻‍🍳 Chef's Tip

If you can't find ready-to-use tamarind pulp in Asian grocery stores, use tamarind paste that you dissolve with a little boiling water. Then use a small strainer to filter out only the tamarind pulp.

❄️ Storage and freezing

Store - once completely cold, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. So you can make it ahead of time!

Reheat in the microwave until hot.

Freezing - place each serving in a separate freezing bag, then place them in the freezer.

✅Other easy recipes

• The best honey butter Old Bay salmon (easy recipe)
• Super easy one pot deconstructed lasagna (lazy lasagna)
• Easy chicken Cordon Bleu (French)

If you make this Pad Thai, it would be so nice to leave me a comment and rate the recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. You can also tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Tik Tok, or even send me a photo, I love seeing my little dishes in your homes!