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Authentic and the best Pad Thai recipe with rice noodles stir-fried with homemade Pad Thai sauce. Learn how to make Pad Thai noodles with this easy recipe!
Pad Thai Recipe
What is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai is Thai stir-fried noodles with rice stick noodles, shrimp, chicken, fried tofu, eggs and Pad Thai sauce.
The noodles are topped with crushed peanuts and served with fresh chives, lime wedges, with condiments such as sugar, fish sauce and chili powder on the side.
Pad Thai noodles are cooked over high heat in a wok, with a sweet, savory, sour and spicy Pad Thai sauce.
It is a popular street food in Thailand and sold by many street vendors. It’s also available in Thai restaurants, probably the second most ordered other than Tom Yum Soup.
Looking for more authentic Thai recipes? Check out my Pad See Ew recipe!
Pad Thai Ingredients
This recipe calls for simple ingredients below:
- Pad Thai noodles or flat rice noodle. They are also labeled as rice sticks.
- Fried tofu
- Bean sprouts
- Chicken and shrimp
- Crushed peanuts
- Fresh limes
You can get the ingredients easily from regular supermarkets and in the International food aisle.
Otherwise, you can buy them online or go to an Asian store.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
Pad Thai Sauce
What is Pad Thai Sauce Made of?
There are two types of Pad Thai sauce: tamarind based and vinegar based.
The sauce is the soul of the dish and you should make it from scratch. The sweet, savory, spicy and sour sauce is added to the noodles for the iconic taste.
Authentic Pad Thai sauce calls for the following ingredients:
- Tamarind juice or tamarind concentrate.
- Palm sugar.
- Chili powder.
- Fish sauce.
Authentic Pad Thai noodles are made with tamarind.
Tamarind is prepared by extracting the juice from tamarind pulps, which comes in a block in a clear plastic packaging (see picture above).
You can also buy tamarind concentrate which can be diluted with water.
However, you can make the sauce without tamarind, by substituting tamarind with vinegar, which is what I use for my recipe here.
There are many bottled sauces in the market but they don’t taste as good and not authentic because it’s loaded with chemicals, preservatives and MSG.
The Origin Of Pad Thai
The dish was born, with much fanfare, during a competition masterminded by Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram some time in the 1940s, when Thai nationalism was on the rise.
The goal of the competition was to identify a noodle dish that was Thai and the dish was born. (Most noodle dishes in Thailand Thailand are Chinese in origin, for example: Pad See Ew.)
How To Make Pad Thai
There are many kinds of Pad Thai rice stick or flat rice noodles available in the market.
They vary in their width so for the best Pad Thai, you want to use rice noodles that are about 1/10″ wide, as pictured above.
To prepare the fried rice noodles, follow the package instructions to boil them in hot water first.
The rice noodles should be soft (but still chewy and not mushy) after boiling. Rinse the boiled noodles with cold running water before cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are many ways to make Pad Thai. You can make it with shrimp or chicken.
You can also make it with tofu or even beef.
You can also make it vegan by using a vegetarian seasoning sauce.
My homemade Pad Thai recipe is healthy as it’s loaded with vegetables.
It’s very easy to make and the taste is better than Thai restaurants or takeouts.
This recipe is 557 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve this dish as a main dish (such as Choo Chee Salmon) or side dish with other Thai dishes. For an authentic Thai meal at home, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Additionally, feel free to explore my other authentic Thai recipes, such as Tom Yum, Drunken Noodles, Green Curry, and Thai Cucumber Salad next. They are all amazing and taste just like the ones in Bangkok!
Other Thai Recipes You Might Like
Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 4 oz (120g) flat rice noodles
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 4 oz (120g) medium-sized shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 2 oz (60g) fried firm tofu, cut into slices
- 1 large egg
- 4-6 oz (120g-170g) bean sprouts
- 1 oz (30g) chinese chives , or scallions, cut into 2-inch (5cm) lengths
- 2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
- lime wedges
Pad Thai Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
Instructions
- Follow the package instructions to boil the dry rice noodles. The rice noodles should be soft (but still chewy and not mushy) after boiling. Rinse the boiled noodles with cold running water.
- Mix all the ingredients in the Pad Thai Sauce in a small bowl until well combined and the sugar completely dissolved, set aside.
- Heat up a skillet on high heat and add the oil. As soon as the oil is heated, add the garlic into the skillet and start stirring until you smell the aroma of the garlic. Add the shrimp and the tofu pieces into the skillet and continue stirring.
- As soon as the shrimp changes color, add the noodles into the skillet and stir continuously, about 30 seconds. Use the spatula to push the noodles to one side of the skillet, and crack the egg on the empty side of the skillet.
- Use the spatula to break the egg yolk and blend with the egg white, let cook for about 30 seconds. Combine the egg and the noodles, and add the Seasoning sauce. Stir to combine well with the noodles.
- Next, add the bean sprouts and chives and continue stirring. As soon as the bean sprouts are cooked, stir-in the crushed peanut. Turn off the heat and serve the Pad Thai immediately with the lime wedges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was tasty! Added red bell pepper and bok choy and served it with homemade peanut sauce instead of peanut pieces. Would highly recommend the peanut sauce addition for flavor.
This is my go-to for Pad Thai… the only thing I do substitute is Tamarind Juice for the vinegar. I looked at the other recipes here and followed the process to soak the Tamarind in water, and it was easy and worked perfectly. I feel the Pad Thai has a more authentic taste with the Tamarind.
I love pad Thai a lot! Now I could make it at home. Thanks for your sharing!
Pad Thai will ALWAYS be one of my favorite food! Thank you for sharing such an easy, and comforting recipe! I’ll have to double up next time :)
Hi Bee, I too need clarification on “chili powder”.
Are you talking about ground chillies or the Mexican chili powder that contains oregano?
Any pure chili powder is fine.
what an amazing recipe!
Thank you!
May I use apple cider to replace rice vinegar? Thank you for the recipe!
Yes.
Just want to thank you for this recipe — and the additional info on what to serve it with. Been wanting to try making Thai food (love it in restaurants but …. not going to eat out right now due to the virus) but was intimidated. Will try this next week when my daughter/family come over! Susan
Awesome Susan!
Awesome recipe! I always double the sauce and use 12-15 count shrimp. Happy tummy every time and all my guests love it too. It’s just perfect!,!!!
Awesome, thanks for trying my Pad Thai recipe.