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.
Oh my goodness, this is an amazing recipe!! Life the usual commenter I did have to make a little change – I was out of Sriracha so I chopped one of my home grown Szechuan chilies instead, can you say American hot?!? But that flavor profile with zero tamarind, you did it! Thank you so very much for sharing this with the world ❤️
Awesome!! I’m SO glad you loved this recipe, Ginny! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Dare I say I don’t like cilantro! What, if any, would be a good substitute? Thank you!
You can just leave it out!
Fantastic recipe! I was looking for a recipe that was similar to my favourite restaurant and it did the trick . The only thing that I changed was I used shrimp instead of chicken . It’s so flavourful and well balanced . I also like that it’s without tamarind which is so hard to find in stores around where I live . Great job with this recipe . It’s a keeper for sure . ❤️
So good! I’ve been searching for many months to find a delicious and easy Pad Thai recipe and this is it! I’m going to try it with shrimp next time.
This was the closest thing to restaurant Pad Thai I’ve been able to make. The whole family loved it. The only thing I suggest is to double the recipe for a family of four (with two teens). There just wasn’t enough for our hungry family! Great job.
So, so thrilled you all loved the recipe, Jennifer! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
This looks awesome! Do you have any recommendations for substitutions for the fish sauce?
You can leave it out or add a tiny splash of worcestershire sauce, OR add an extra drizzle of Tamari.
Great recipe! I would add more sauce for additional flavor and noodle coverage and fewer peanuts as it was a lot.
I’m so glad you loved it, M!
This was one of the best meals I have ever cooked. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, red pepper instead of carrot and I skipped the sesame oil, but everything else was exactly the same. All the flavors and textures were so good I couldn’t stop eating it.
LOVE hearing that, Lori! Great job!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Kristin, thank you so much for this recipe…it was fabulous and my whole family loved it…better than any takeout pad thai we have ever had! I can’t wait to make it again. In addition to being gluten-free, we are a low-sugar household, so I did omit the brown sugar and replaced it with one tablespoon of honey. I used Lotus brand brown rice pad thai noodles. Thank you for the tip on blitzing the peanuts in the food processor…it really was a nice touch. I also doubled the recipe because we are all big eaters, and it was just enough for our family of 4!
Oh my gosh, I’m SO glad it was a hit with the whole family, Karen!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating, I really appreciate it!
Oooo. I never thought to add chicken to my pad thai, which makes it a main dish rather than a side. Next time (soon!) I’ll make your recipe, add an easy side of steamed broc, and have a delicious, healthy meal. Thanks, Kristin. BTW, agree totally that peanut butter is a big “no” if we want restaurant-quality p.t. at home.
I hope you love this one, JJ – it really is so, so delicious!
This recipe is amazing! I doubled the noodles and sauce, cut back a bit on the sugar and added celery and cabbage to the mixture. I marinated the chicken in a Thai peanut sauce. Really delicious! I rarely leave reviews for things, but this one is worth it! Thanks for sharing!
Ooo, that chicken sounds fantastic. I am so grateful for your review, Anne. Thank you!
great recipe though I did not add the sriracha. I always tried to stick with those “authentic” recipes but I have such a hard time finding tamarind around me.
I made only one change, I cooked the sauce in advance and I put 1 tbsp of corn starch in 2 tbsp of cold water and tossed it in the sauce when it came to a boil. I just like that thicker texture in my sauces.
Anyway, delicious and easy, thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed the dish, Eric, and thank you so much for your star rating and review!
My daughter and I love this meal!! She is 10 and has celiac disease, and we love trying new recipes together! This has quickly become one of our favorite meals to make together. It is delicious! Perfect recipe and we followed it exactly as written. Love it!
I love that this recipe not only works for her but that it’s fun for the two of you to make together. So special!! Thank you for sharing, and for your recipe rating too!