Easily make Chicken Pad Thai using ingredients you already have on hand! This delicious Pad Thai recipe doesn't use Tamarind (or ketchup!)
“This was so good!!! My son and I love to try new recipes, as long as I don’t have to buy too many ingredients. … Your tip about the rice noodles was very helpful as well as they seem to always stick together for me. We will certainly make this again!!”
One night last week I had tacos on the menu but the boys were craving take out from a local Thai spot so we compromised and got take out.
Twist my arm!
Despite my better judgment I ordered Chicken Pad Thai. Now, I know from experience that Pad Thai doesn’t travel well in flimsy take-out containers and so unsurprisingly I was met with a pile of dry, bland, colorless noodles after opening it up. Will I never learn?
Thankfully I won’t have to because making homemade, gluten free Chicken Pad Thai that’s silky, saucy, and PACKED with flavor is not only simple to do at home, but it’ll be ready in less time than it takes to order take out!
Watch How to Make It
Homemade Chicken Pad Thai
My homemade Chicken Pad Thai is a stir fry of flat rice noodles, vegetables, eggs, boneless skinless chicken breast, and an easy sauce recipe that’s equal parts savory, tangy, and sweet.
The hot noodles are topped with finely minced peanuts (my favorite part) plus lots of fresh cilantro, green onions, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
It is INSANELY delicious.
Pad Thai Noodles
The flat rice noodles used in this dish can be found at your regular grocery store. Rice noodles differ from wheat and rice/corn-based pastas in that they don’t need to be boiled.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil then take it off the heat, add the noodles, and let them soak, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 10-20 minutes depending on the brand.
Pad Thai Sauce Ingredients
- Brown sugar: lends sweetness to the sauce and balances the savory, tart, and spicy flavors.
- Rice vinegar: provides the sour element to the sauce. It’s definitely not a mouth-puckering sourness, but again it balances out the other ingredients.
- Tamari: adds saltiness and savoriness to the sauce. Be sure to reduced or low sodium Tamari. If you don’t need to eat gluten free, you can use low sodium soy sauce.
- Fish sauce: Pad Thai will not taste like Pad Thai unless it contains fish sauce. It’s a defining ingredient. That said, I’m personally a little light handed with fish sauce as too much can overpower the dish, imo.
- Siracha hot sauce: brings the heat! Add as much or as little as you like, or none at all.
What This Sauce Doesn’t Include
- Tamarind: Tamarind pulp/paste is a sticky, sour product that’s called for in authentic Pad Thai recipes. For our family though, it’d be a single use ingredient and we wouldn’t have a need for it outside of this recipe. Furthermore it seems the product can vary taste-wise depending on the brand/source. I use rice vinegar in its place.
- Ketchup: I can see why some use ketchup in place of Tamarind – it’s sour and slightly sweet – but, nuh-uh. Not needed!
- Peanut butter: I blame peanut butter for the reason why my Pad Thai noodles have been thick and gloppy in the past. JUST SAY NO. The finely minced peanuts on top take care of imparting that wonderful, roasted umami flavor without ruining the texture of the whole dish.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Pad Thai
Step 1: Prepare the Rice Noodles
First, prepare rice noodles according to package directions.
For this brand I drop the noodles into a pot of boiling water I’ve just taken off then heat, then let them sit, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 10-12 minutes.
Cooking Tip
If cooking two things simultaneously stresses you out, feel free to soak the rice noodles first then drain and run under cold water until cool. Place the colander inside a bowl of cool water so the noodles are submerged until ready to use.
Step 2: Stir Fry the Chicken
Heat vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat then add thinly sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I like to slice the chicken breasts in half width-wise to create cutlets, then thinly slice the cutlets. Season with salt and white pepper.
Step 3: Add the Vegetables
Once the chicken is golden brown on the bottom, add grated carrot, chopped green onions, and minced garlic then stir fry until the chicken is just cooked through.
Step 4: Add and Scramble the Eggs
Push the chicken mixture to the sides of the skillet then, to the center, add a mixture of eggs whisked with sesame oil and scramble.
Step 5: Add the Noodles, Peanuts, and Sauce
Add the drained noodles plus finely minced peanuts (I send them through my food processor to get them super fine!) and the sauce then stir fry until the noodles are hot and tender.
Pad Thai Sauce Recipe
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Gluten free Tamari (or soy sauce if you don’t need to eat GF)
- Fish sauce
- Siracha hot sauce
Pile the noodles into bowls then top with more finely minced peanuts plus lots of chopped fresh cilantro, green onions, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
This exact combination – noodles, cilantro, peanuts, green onions, and like, 5 drops of lime juice – makes for the BEST Chicken Pad Thai! I hope you love this recipe as much as we do – enjoy!
More Take-Out Inspired Recipes
- Chicken Shawarma Bowls
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Beef and Broccoli
- Potsticker Noodle Bowls
- Sesame Peanut Sauce Noodles
- Thai Sweet Potato Curry
- Easy Chicken Fried Rice
- Vietnamese-Style Caramelized Pork Bowls
- Coconut Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 7 oz thin flat rice noodles, Thai Kitchen recommended
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- salt and white pepper
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 lb chicken, cut into thin strips
- 3/4 cup shredded carrots
- 3 green onions, chopped and divided
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts, finely minced and divided
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- chopped fresh cilantro
For the Pad Thai Sauce:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons gluten free fish sauce, I like 2-1/2 Tablespoons
- 2 Tablespoons gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not GF
- 1 – 2 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce, optional
Directions
- Prepare noodles according to package directions then set aside. For the Thai Kitchen brand shown in these photos I soak them in a large pot of boiled water that’s been pulled off the heat until they’re al dente, 10 minutes, then run under cold running water and let soak in cool water until ready to use.
- Combine eggs and sesame oil plus salt and a dash of white pepper in a small dish then whisk and set aside. Combine ingredients for Pad Thai Sauce in a bowl then set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add chicken then season with salt and white pepper. When the chicken is golden brown on the bottom add carrots, half the green onions, and garlic to the wok then stir fry until chicken is barely cooked through.
- Push mixture to the sides of the wok to create an opening in the center then add the whisked eggs, scramble, and then toss all the ingredients together. Drain then add prepared noodles, 1/4 cup minced peanuts, and the Pad Thai sauce then stir fry until noodles are tender, turning the heat down slightly if needed. Serve immediately with reserved green onions, reserved minced peanuts, lime wedges, and chopped cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
We tried this recipe tonight and it was a total hit!! I love Pad Thai and have never found a recipe to make it homemade that is good until now. Can’t wait to make it again! Loved it!! Thanks
A recipe that actually is as good as you hope it is!! I’ve tried other pad Thai recipes and they are either too sweet, too bland, too sticky with peanut butter—this one is balanced with the amts of each ingredient in the sauce. We made it with tofu and give this recipe 2 thumbs up!
My boys and husband devoured this meal!!! Not one person had a complaint and that is a small miracle!!! It was such a delicious meal and very easy recipe to follow. Thanks Kristin!!!
That IS a miracle – I can so relate!! Thrilled it was a hit with the whole family, Jenni!!
This was awesome. I moved 5 years ago and couldn’t find a good Thai place. Well, now I can just make my own. Didn’t change a thing. Did I say it was awesome? I loved it. My picky husband ate it too. I did add a little sriracha because I like it hot. Made me wish I had a glass of Thai iced tea. My only mistake was the noodles they were rubbery. First time making them.
Those noodles can be a little tricky if you’ve never made them before – I hope attempt #2 is absolutely perfect. I’m sure it will be! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
thanks for this recipe. I’ve given up on take out. I think all the flavor just soaks into the cartons. However–what would be a good substitute for peanuts?
Hey Page! Totally agree. Maybe minced cashews or almonds, instead?
This looks amazing and Pad Thai is one of my favorite dishes! My daughter has peanut and tree nut allergies. I saw that you don’t recommend the nut butters. Do you have any suggestions on how this could make this allergy friendly for those who must avoid nuts?
Hi Deb! You could leave the peanuts out of the mix + topping – the dish will still taste fabulous! Or, you could try stirring in a dollop of sunflower seed butter or tahini into the sauce to give it a more deep, savory flavor.
I made this over the weekend and it was delicious! My noodle pack was 8 oz instead of 7, so I do wish that I had made a little more sauce since it was so good. It was just for me, so I ate it over about four days, just doctoring each bowl with cilantro, peanuts, and lime juice each time I heated up a bowl. Still tasted great several days later. This will go into my regular rotation for sure. Thanks for such a tasty dish!
So thrilled you were able to make it work and enjoy over several days! Thanks so much for your review. :)
This is a must, thanks will do
This is the BEST! I have made this three times and we just love it. Thank you so much!
Yess! I am so glad to hear that, Jennifer!
I made this tonight with the help of my 13 year old and 15 year old. It was SO good! They both loved it. I did have to sub some regular stir fry noodles since our two local grocery stores did not have rice noodles.
I’m so glad you were able to make it work, Nikole!
Oh my gosh! It’s like you read my mind! I have been reading your blog since 2009, I think. Anyway, I know I’ve made your pad Thai dish before so I logged in to search for it this minute and I’m blown away that it was on the home page TODAY?! Crazy…. thanks again for the awesome recipe.
HA – perfect timing! ?? I hope you love it!!
Oh man, this was good. One of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time. I’ve made a lot of your recipes with great results, but this one really stands out – nice work!
So happy to hear that, Megan!! Glad this one knocked it out of the park for you – thank you so much for the review and recipe rating!
I made your Pad Thai recipe tonight and it was a hit. My husband said this is the best Asian dish I’ve ever made. My 14-year-old said it was good (he never says anything) and my 16-year- old said it was really, really good. (She’s a picky teen food-connoisseur.)
I apologize for reading your blog for years but first time commenting now. You are amazing!
LOVE to hear that, Christine! So glad it was a hit with the whole family!