This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This homemade Pad Thai recipe is easy to make, tossed with a fresh and sweet and tangy sauce, and customizable with whatever protein, veggies, and spice level you prefer. (Chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, tofu and veggie-only options included below.)
Raise your hand if you love pad Thai! ♡
This delicious noodle stir-fry that hails from the rich food culture of Thailand has become one of the most iconic and beloved dishes around the world in the past few decades…and happens to be one of my all-time faves too! Made with chewy al dente rice noodles, stir-fried veggies, usually at least one type of protein, and an irresistibly fresh, sweet, and tangy tamarind sauce, this national dish of Thailand is everything I adore in a good bowl of noodles. And while it is unquestionably the most popular item on the menu at most Thai restaurants around the world, I was happy to learn years ago that pad Thai is actually quite quick and easy to make at home too!
Granted, I am definitely no expert on the topic of authentic Thai cooking, and the recipe included below is completely inspired by the restaurant version of pad Thai that I was privileged to grow up with halfway around the world in the Midwest. It includes a few ingredient substitutions that are more easily available and popularly used in that part of the world and thus by no means should be considered authentic. (If you are looking for a more authentic version of pad Thai made with traditional ingredients such as dried shrimp, pickled veggies, and garlic chives, I would highly recommend trying these recipes by Hot Thai Kitchen or Thai Table.)
This recipe is still one of our family favorites, though, and is absolutely bursting with layered, fresh, and tangy flavors. It’s also easy to customize with your favorite protein, veggies and spice level when making your own homemade pad Thai. And when you’re moving quickly, the entire dish can come together easily in just a little over a half hour, making it great for busy weeknights. (Plus, the leftovers taste amazing!)
So if you happen to be a fan of these noodles too, I say it’s time to give homemade pad Thai a try!
Pad Thai Recipe | 1-Minute Video
The History of Pad Thai
Details about the exact origins of pad Thai seem to vary a bit from source to source, based on what I’ve read.
But I was interested to learn that all sources agree that pad Thai is actually a relatively new dish, invented in Thailand less than 100 years ago. Some historians say that it originated in the 1930s thanks to a competition held by Plaek Phibunsongkhram, the prime minister at the time, who was trying to promote nationalism by encouraging chefs to create a new national dish with Thailand’s signature blend of sweet, salty and sour flavors. Other historians believe that the dish came about during a wartime shortage of rice, when the prime minister was encouraging cooks to create new dishes with rice noodles instead of the usual larger quantities of rice.
Whatever the exact origins, the dish immediately became a hit in Thailand and is now one of the most famous noodle dishes in the world. (It actually ranked as the 5th most popular dish in the world in this poll a decade ago!) Different countries and different cooks have definitely put their own spin on the dish in modern times, often subbing in different proteins, seasonings and veggies used in their recipes. But the base dish with its brilliant combo of stir-fried rice noodles, eggs, bean sprouts, and a tangy pad Thai sauce remains relatively consistent worldwide. And the world seems to adore it!
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients that you will need to the stir-fried noodles for this pad Thai recipe:
Rice noodles: Pad Thai is traditionally made with thin rice noodles, such as these. But any width of rice noodles that you have on hand will also work.
Protein: I’ve written the recipe below for chicken pad Thai, but feel free to instead use shrimp, beef, pork, tofu, or whatever protein you may prefer.
Veggies: From what I’ve read, the vegetables traditionally included in pad Thai can vary between regions in Thailand. But I have written this recipe with the most common mix I’ve seen of fresh bean sprouts, shredded (or matchstick) carrots, and sliced green onions.
Garlic: I also love to include lots of freshly minced garlic in this stir-fry.
Eggs: I’ve also included eggs in the recipe below, which are briefly scrambled and mixed into the noodle stir-fry. But if you are making this dish vegan, you are welcome to omit the eggs.
Toppings: And finally, when it comes to toppings, I vote the more the merrier and love to sprinkle my noodles with lots of chopped peanuts for crunch and an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice for tang. Plus, you are of course welcome to sprinkle on some extra crushed red pepper flakes if you would like to amp up the heat in your serving.
And here are the ingredients that you will need to make the delicious pad Thai sauce:
Tamarind concentrate: This is the starring ingredient in pad Thai that gives the sauce its signature tangy, sweet, and fruity flavor. Granted, some American Thai restaurants have switched to using ketchup in its place, which gives the dish a notably different and less-tangy flavor. (And also makes the dish notably more red/orange.) But I really, really recommend picking up a jar of tamarind concentrate to make the sauce taste as fresh and authentic as possible. You can purchase it online or find it in the Thai section of the grocery store. Just be sure to purchase a Thai brand of tamarind concentrate for this recipe, since the Indian brands of tamarind concentrate have a significantly different flavor and potency. (I do not recommend using Tamicon tamarind concentrate for this recipe.)
Brown sugar: Traditionally, pad Thai is usually made with palm sugar in Thailand. But since it can be difficult to find in American grocery stores, I’ve written the recipe below using light brown sugar (or you can use coconut sugar).
Fish sauce: You will also need some good-quality fish sauce for this recipe. (This brand is my favorite!)
Soy sauce: We will also add in a bit of soy sauce to give the dish some extra salty-umami flavor.
Lime juice: And of course, lots and lots of fresh lime juice.
Crushed red pepper flakes: And finally, you can add in whatever type and amount of chili flakes you prefer to give the dish a bit of heat.
How To Make Pad Thai
Full instructions for how to make pad Thai are included in the recipe below, but here is a brief overview of the process…
Make the sauce. First things first — go ahead and prep the sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together (or shaking them in a jar) until combined.
Cook the noodles. Next, go ahead and heat your water and cook the noodles al dente according to the package instructions, then drain the excess water. If your noodles finish earlier than your stir-fry, I recommend rinsing them briefly with some lukewarm water and tossing them with a drizzle of oil to prevent them from sticking while they wait.
Cook the protein, veggies and eggs. Meanwhile, go ahead and begin your stir-fry. First, sauté your protein of choice until cooked through, then transfer it to a clean plate and set it aside. Next, sauté the veggies until crisp-tender. Then push them to one side of the pan and briefly scramble the eggs in the other half of the pan until cooked.
Put it all together. Then add everything back in with the eggs and veggies — the cooked noodles, cooked chicken, sauce and green onions — and give the mixture a good toss until everything is evenly coated in the sauce.
Serve. Then serve the noodles immediately while they are nice and hot, garnished with lots of toppings and fresh lime wedges for squeezing.
Possible Recipe Variations
As with any noodle stir-fry, there are endless ways to customize this dish to your liking when making it homemade. For example, feel free to:
Choose your favorite protein: I have included options in the recipe box below for how to make this recipe using beef, pork, shrimp or tofu in place of (or mixed with) the chicken. Or feel free to use whatever other protein you may love best.
Choose your preferred sweetener: As mentioned above, pad Thai is traditionally sweetened with palm sugar. But feel free to use whatever type of sugar or sweetener you prefer in the pad Thai sauce.
Make it milder/spicier: Feel free to adjust the amount of chili flakes to taste to make your noodles milder or spicier.
Make it vegetarian/vegan: To make this vegetarian/vegan pad thai, use tofu as your protein and vegan fish sauce or (extra lime juice, in place of the fish sauce).
Make it gluten-free: To make gluten-free pad thai, use gluten-free tamari in place of the soy sauce.
Use garlic chives: These are more commonly used in Thailand instead of green onions. So if your local market happens to carry them, just slice the garlic chives into 1-inch pieces and add approximately 1 cup of garlic chives to the dish in place of the green onions.
This homemade Pad Thai recipe is easy to make, tossed with a fresh and sweet and tangy sauce, and customizable with whatever protein, veggies, and spice level you prefer. (Chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, tofu and veggie-only options included below.)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more/less to taste)
Instructions
Make the sauce. Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl (or shake together in a mason jar) until completely combined. Set aside until ready to use.
Cook the noodles. Cook the noodles al dente according to package instructions. Drain the noodles in a strainer, then rinse with cold water briefly to halt their cooking. Toss briefly with one tablespoon oil to prevent the noodles from sticking.
Cook the chicken (or see other protein options below). Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a clean plate and set aside.
Cook the veggies. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the sauté pan, along with the bean sprouts, carrots, and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the eggs. Push the veggies to one side of the pan and add the whisked eggs on the other side. Cook the eggs until scrambled, stirring often.
Put it all together. Now add everything back in with the eggs and veggies — the cooked noodles, cooked chicken, sauce and green onions. Give the mixture a good toss until everything is evenly coated in the sauce. Remove pan from heat.
Serve. Serve immediately, sprinkled with lots of crushed peanuts, extra crushed red pepper flakes (if desired) and a good squeeze of fresh lime juice. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe update: This recipe has been updated in 2021 to call for 2 tablespoons (instead of the original 4 tablespoons) of tamarind concentrate, to make it slightly less tangy per feedback from our readers.
Tamarind Concentrate: Please note that different brands of tamarind concentrate can vary significantly in terms of potency and flavor, so the quantity you use may need to be adjusted. (I also recommend using a Thai brand of tamarind concentrate, as Indian tamarind concentrate has a different flavor and is more concentrated.) This recipe is intended to have a fresh and tangy flavor. But if you prefer to have a sweeter sauce, similar to how many American restaurants make this dish, I recommend increasing the amount of packed brown sugar used to 1/2 cup (or more).
How To Make Shrimp Pad Thai: Season 1 pound of large shrimp (peeled and de-veined) with salt and pepper. Sauté in 1 tablespoon oil over high heat until the shrimp are bright pink and cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
How To Make Beef Pad Thai: Thinly slice 1 pound of lean steak (against the grain), then cut into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté in 1 tablespoon oil over heat until the steak is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
How To Make Pork Pad Thai: Thinly slice 1 pound of lean boneless pork chops, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté in 1 tablespoon oil over heat until the pork is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
How To Make Tofu Pad Thai: Slice 1 (14-ounce) block of extra-firm tofu into 1/4-inch slices. Sandwich the slices between paper towels, press and drain for 30 minutes. Cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the tofu in 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan in a single layer for 2 minutes, undisturbed. Then flip the tofu and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
No , don’t even put soy sauce in Pad Thai. It’s not in the recipe. You put soy sauce for stirred fry or some Asian soup. Normally in Chinese food, Japanese or Korean food.
Fish sauce plays a big role for Thai food.
Eugene Kim —
Good fusion America style
NK —
I agree. I don’t know why so many people don’t even bother to learn even a little bit about Thai cuisine. In one blog, “peanut butter” was used. No. Just no.
This was my first time making Pad Thai (we used tofu for protein), or any dish of the style, and it turned out great! It had exactly that particular flavor that I love in Pad Thai. My only complaint is that there were a bit too many noodles for our taste. The second time we cut down on noodles and doubled the tofu and it was more to our liking, so if you’re into a higher protein ratio I can recommend increasing it.
Paul —
Made this recipe today and it was delicious. Everything is there in terms of flavor. I can now tweak it for my palate. Next time I will redone the tamarind a hair and increase the chilli.
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband, who doesn’t usually like pad Thai, ate an entire plate full and packed some for his lunch tomorrow. I did the shrimp version and also added snap peas, bell pepper, and onion. I also added peanut butter to the sauce! I added my noodles slowly at the end because I had a feeling it would be too many and I was right. Id say maybe 3/4 of that amount would be sufficient especially when using all the veg! Great recipe
This was amazing!! I followed the recipe exactly! The pack of noodles I had was only 8oz but it was more than enough. Next time I may add a little extra veggies (because why not?!)
The sauce tasted just like take out…only better. I’ll be cooking my own pad Thai from now on. Thank you for this great recipe!
Review from someone that actually made the recipe-
It’s rare that something is 100% inedible, but this pad thai ended up in the trash. We followed the recipe (didn’t make any substitutions) and our sauce turned out really dark and overpowered by the tamarind. It does not taste like a genuine pad thai and the sauce was so overpowering, that we could not eat the meal. There seems to be mixed reviews on this recipe, but adding peanut butter like others suggest does not make this a genuine pad thai recipe nor does it actually follow the recipe.
This is the only thing I ever order at my favorite Thai restaurant. Now I have this amazing recipe. This could be dangerous :)
Saved. Pinned. And can’t wait to make it this weekend! Plus, I love that I can customize it with my favorite veggies, noodles, protein, and toppings. Thanks Ali!
I wanted and expected to LOVE this recipe. I’ve been looking forward to making it for a week. I made it tonight and we didn’t love it. The sauce was overpoweringly tangy. I used the exact ingredients and proportions. It just didn’t taste like the pad Thai we’ve grown to love from our local Thai restaurants….which I believe to be very authentic. We will reheat the leftovers tomorrow and add more brown sugar and add peanut butter and you suggested.
We made this recipe as directed (no peanut butter) and loved it!! I feel like those complaining about tartness just need to add a little more sugar, if you want it to taste more like the pad Thai in many American restaurants. But we thought it was perfect as is. ?
Made this recipe today and it was delicious. Everything is there in terms of flavor. I can now tweak it for my palate. Next time I will redone the tamarind a hair and increase the chilli.
I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly. I thought it was amazing. I added a lot of lime and peanuts to the top. Thanks for ANOTHER great recipe.
Made this for my son’s 25th bday gathering this past week and it was a hit! I’m making it again tonight for a family dinner. So easy and quick to make. Now I don’t have go to a Thai joint to get Pad Thai. Thanks for a great recipe.
Does not taste like restaurant Pad Thai at all!!! :( and why is their soy sauce in Pad Thai?!? We didn’t like it at all. So if my ours looking for authentic Pad Thai…this is not it!!!
Chelsea —
Overall pretty good flavor and easy recipe to follow but sooo salty, I’m surprised I don’t see more comments about that. I made the recipe as instructed, the only change I made was cutting the sugar in half because I don’t like super sweet pad Thai. But I used the recommended brand of tamarind concentrate, and used low sodium soy sauce, so maybe it’s from the 1/4 cup fish sauce?
Delicious recipe! Subbed ketchup & lime juice for the tamarind as I didn’t have any handy. Flavour was on point. A little on the sweet side, so I would maybe cut down on the sugar a wee bit next time. Make sure to squeeze extra lime juice before eating and add all of the toppings (green onions, crushed peanuts, etc). Makes a lot of noodles, I would consider reducing the noodles by a bit adding extra veggies next time as some suggested.
Excited to make this, but in the video it says to put in ginger, but the recipe states garlic. Which is correct?
NK —
Garlic. Ginger is never really used in Thai recipes, just in dishes that have strong influences from China or India. This Pad Thai recipe is not correct.
Great recipe! I halved it since it’s just two of us and came out fine. I did order the tamarind and the fish sauce from the links. Used cabbage instead of bean sprouts and a few dashes of sriracha b\c I was out of pepper flakes. Will def make again !
Followed recipe except cut down brown sugar from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. Why was my sauce sooooo black and thick and sticky and strong? Couldn’t eat it and was so looking forward to it. 1/4 c tamarind concentrate (not paste) and 1/4 c soy. Can anyone tell me what happened?
Amy —
I meant 1/4 c tamarind, 1/4 c fish sauce and 2 T soy
Morgan —
I had the same problem. I’m reading through the reviews and gathering that the tamarind concentrate can just be too strong. Next time I plan to use much less of that and see if that helps
Morgan —
I think I figured it out! Certain brands of Tamarind Concentrate come from India and are much more concentrated than ones that come from Thailand or Vietnam. I think the concentrate should be more brown than mine which is straight black. I’m going to try to find different Tamarind Concentrate in the future.
Oh. My. Sweet lord. This recipe was absolutely incredible. I have been craving pad Thai during quarantine, and I happened to take the stir fry tamarind from a random online order. Followed this nearly to a T — had no peanuts, but honestly the sauce was so good that I didn’t miss them. I will be making many, many times!
I loved the Pad Thai Sauce recipe! Used it in a Pad Thai including shrimp and leftover vegetables. I must say I used a lot less fish oil. I am not familiair with the brands used, but mine (blue elephant) tends to be very flavourful. Too much would turn the dish salty. I think I used about 25% of the recommended amount.
My daughter and I made this tonight since we cannot eat at our usual Thai place right now. I drove all over our area looking for all the ingredients because I wanted to follow the recipe exactly. It was way too tangy! Probably could have left out the lime and possibly adding more sugar and pepper might have been the better option. Overall Ok but not at all authentic.
This turned out amazing! I didn’t have tamarind in hand so we did the ketchup trick, and it still was delicious. I’ve tried many other recipes and I think my husband and I had grown a bit frustrated with the results. Always edible, but not really hitting the mark. This recipe did! Tasty, awesome Pad Thai. Thank you!
The best recipe I’ve found. I use the whole tamarind amount and love the whole mouth flavor of this dish! Because leftovers are as good, I make enough for two meals. My husband had never had pad thai until we had this at home during COVID-19 lock down, and he loves it now as much as I always have! The only problem I have is in adding all ingredients back into the pan, stirring and reheating the dish at the end. I have a really hard time mixing anything into the mass of rice noodles, so I may try adding the noodles in stages next time.
Some have commented that this doesn’t taste like their restaurant pad thai. I have to say that I’ve watched the restaurant cooks in open kitchens. They used no tamarind and sweetened with white sugar. Next time I order out, I’ll request it with tamarind and see what happens.
Amazing!!! My husband said this is some of the best pad Thai he’s had in a long time. I omitted the fish sauce, added a ton of extra veggies and ginger, and garnished with jalapeños.
I did not have tamarind concentrate (and did not plan ahead enough to order any online) so I simply omitted and this was great! I love pad thai and this is as good as any I’ve had in restaurants.
OMG NO!!
Peanuts in Thai food?? 1/4 cup Fish sauce?
Way too much rice noodles.
You need to redo the portions of the ingredients.
1 Tbsp of oil was not enough to prevent noodles from sticking.
I added another Tbsp for proper results.
No flavor to the veggies and egg.
Then the sauce – wrecked it! :~b
Kitchen smelled vaguely of the dumpster behind a Thai restaurant.
Two mouthfuls and into the trash.
Just made this for my family, it was absolutely delicious and the best version of Pad Thai I’ve made so far. I used tofu as protein, as I’m trying to cut my meat consumption… And if if all my dishes taste this great, I will not miss meat at all :)
I can’t thank you enough for your recipe and instructions. It all started with a brick of tamarind, shrimp, and tofu. I’m pretty sure my tamarind concentrate turned out well, because my Pad Thai sauce was simply magical. No more bottled junk for me! I would encourage anyone to give this recipe a go, your instructions are clear and concise and I so glad I could “cook with you.” What a delicious meal. Thank you, best wishes.
Question: How did the photo in the sauce in the picture look so light? This was my first time using tamarind, and apparently mine is the Indian version (very dark liquid) and my dish is likewise pretty dark. (Almost the look of squid pasta!)
This is the second Pad Thai recipe I’ve made and I prefer this recipe. I didn’t have tamarind and the sauce turned out flavourful. I used a bunch of veggies instead of a meat protein with chopped up peanuts. All in all deeelicious!
Tami De Mille-Campos —
Absolutely delicious! I failed to order the Thai tamarind but the Tamico tamarind didn’t mess the flavor up for me. We loved it! Thanks so much!
I love this pad Thai recipe! I make it all the time probably a dozen times in the last six months. I would not change a thing! It’s so good and everyone who has had it loves it. It does take me about 60-90 minutes all in to make but it’s so worth it
I have never made pad Thai before but this turned out pretty good with me having to wing some things. I bought a different tamarind concentrate that on another Thai cooking website said not to use (I saw that after the fact. It’s from India). It was pretty potent so i added a little water and extra sugar.
I didn’t have any of the veggies so i julienned some red peppers and used broccoli too. I added some salt and pepper to the chicken and eggs because i wasn’t sure if there would be enough flavor with the sauce alone.
I wasn’t sure what the sauce was supposed to taste like (it didn’t taste great freshly made) so i took some of the plain dish out and mixed it so i wouldn’t ruin all the food if it wasn’t to our liking. It was really tasty! My husband liked it before i added the extra sugar (i used palm sugar as other sites said it was more authentic) but i needed a little more and it improved it a lot for me. It all came together really great!
Next time I’ll try the soy sauce maybe. There was a slight flavor missing that would have made it spot on and I’m not sure what it is. I had a friend growing up whose parents were from Thailand and they had a restaurant so I was missing their food but this came really close and was really good. No complaints, not even from the kiddos!
Perfect recipe!
We made the Phad Thai this evening, and my husband had 3 servings!
Thank you for the delish recipe and super helpful video.
I accidentally made too many noodles, so my sauce to noodle ratio wasn’t right, but I made some extra sauce and it worked out so well!
Made this pad Thai and I used pork. Didn’t have the tamarind sauce so I substituted with some dates and rice vinegar. I added peanut butter but it then left a grainy look. It was delicious and my husband loved it! I don’t think the peanut butter is necessary, the peanuts that you garnish with are enough.
This was absolutely delicious! I’ve been looking for new recipes to break us out of our usual dinner rut and this was perfect. Easy, quick and very tasty. Next time I am making a double batch so that I have leftovers for the next few days. Any recommendations on other recipes using tamarind concentrate?
If I want to use Tamarind Paste (lots of recipes use it) instead of Concentrate, do you know what the measurement conversion would be? Would hate to waste Concentrate for only occasional pad thai use. Thanks :-)
Super easy and delicious recipe! I’m trying to go vegeterian and thought this was a good place to start, AND I DEFINITELY WAS! Couldn’t find the Tarmarind sauce but the ketchup+sugar substitute worked great! It was for a lot of people so I added extra noodles and it turned out sooo good.
This looks so delicious. I can’t wait to try it.
No , don’t even put soy sauce in Pad Thai. It’s not in the recipe. You put soy sauce for stirred fry or some Asian soup. Normally in Chinese food, Japanese or Korean food.
Fish sauce plays a big role for Thai food.
Good fusion America style
I agree. I don’t know why so many people don’t even bother to learn even a little bit about Thai cuisine. In one blog, “peanut butter” was used. No. Just no.
This was my first time making Pad Thai (we used tofu for protein), or any dish of the style, and it turned out great! It had exactly that particular flavor that I love in Pad Thai. My only complaint is that there were a bit too many noodles for our taste. The second time we cut down on noodles and doubled the tofu and it was more to our liking, so if you’re into a higher protein ratio I can recommend increasing it.
Made this recipe today and it was delicious. Everything is there in terms of flavor. I can now tweak it for my palate. Next time I will redone the tamarind a hair and increase the chilli.
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband, who doesn’t usually like pad Thai, ate an entire plate full and packed some for his lunch tomorrow. I did the shrimp version and also added snap peas, bell pepper, and onion. I also added peanut butter to the sauce! I added my noodles slowly at the end because I had a feeling it would be too many and I was right. Id say maybe 3/4 of that amount would be sufficient especially when using all the veg! Great recipe
This was amazing!! I followed the recipe exactly! The pack of noodles I had was only 8oz but it was more than enough. Next time I may add a little extra veggies (because why not?!)
The sauce tasted just like take out…only better. I’ll be cooking my own pad Thai from now on. Thank you for this great recipe!
Review from someone that actually made the recipe-
It’s rare that something is 100% inedible, but this pad thai ended up in the trash. We followed the recipe (didn’t make any substitutions) and our sauce turned out really dark and overpowered by the tamarind. It does not taste like a genuine pad thai and the sauce was so overpowering, that we could not eat the meal. There seems to be mixed reviews on this recipe, but adding peanut butter like others suggest does not make this a genuine pad thai recipe nor does it actually follow the recipe.
This is the only thing I ever order at my favorite Thai restaurant. Now I have this amazing recipe. This could be dangerous :)
Saved. Pinned. And can’t wait to make it this weekend! Plus, I love that I can customize it with my favorite veggies, noodles, protein, and toppings. Thanks Ali!
I wanted and expected to LOVE this recipe. I’ve been looking forward to making it for a week. I made it tonight and we didn’t love it. The sauce was overpoweringly tangy. I used the exact ingredients and proportions. It just didn’t taste like the pad Thai we’ve grown to love from our local Thai restaurants….which I believe to be very authentic. We will reheat the leftovers tomorrow and add more brown sugar and add peanut butter and you suggested.
We made this recipe as directed (no peanut butter) and loved it!! I feel like those complaining about tartness just need to add a little more sugar, if you want it to taste more like the pad Thai in many American restaurants. But we thought it was perfect as is. ?
Best Pad Thai we have ever tried! Thanks for such a great recipe with detailed instructions, Ali.
Made this recipe today and it was delicious. Everything is there in terms of flavor. I can now tweak it for my palate. Next time I will redone the tamarind a hair and increase the chilli.
I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly. I thought it was amazing. I added a lot of lime and peanuts to the top. Thanks for ANOTHER great recipe.
Made this for my son’s 25th bday gathering this past week and it was a hit! I’m making it again tonight for a family dinner. So easy and quick to make. Now I don’t have go to a Thai joint to get Pad Thai. Thanks for a great recipe.
Perfect! Made this tonight and my husband and both were nuts over it! I will make this over and over again!
Does not taste like restaurant Pad Thai at all!!! :( and why is their soy sauce in Pad Thai?!? We didn’t like it at all. So if my ours looking for authentic Pad Thai…this is not it!!!
Overall pretty good flavor and easy recipe to follow but sooo salty, I’m surprised I don’t see more comments about that. I made the recipe as instructed, the only change I made was cutting the sugar in half because I don’t like super sweet pad Thai. But I used the recommended brand of tamarind concentrate, and used low sodium soy sauce, so maybe it’s from the 1/4 cup fish sauce?
Delicious recipe! Subbed ketchup & lime juice for the tamarind as I didn’t have any handy. Flavour was on point. A little on the sweet side, so I would maybe cut down on the sugar a wee bit next time. Make sure to squeeze extra lime juice before eating and add all of the toppings (green onions, crushed peanuts, etc). Makes a lot of noodles, I would consider reducing the noodles by a bit adding extra veggies next time as some suggested.
Easy and delicious! Just a bit difficult to get all the ingredients.
Excited to make this, but in the video it says to put in ginger, but the recipe states garlic. Which is correct?
Garlic. Ginger is never really used in Thai recipes, just in dishes that have strong influences from China or India. This Pad Thai recipe is not correct.
What can I used instead of fish sauce?
Great recipe! I halved it since it’s just two of us and came out fine. I did order the tamarind and the fish sauce from the links. Used cabbage instead of bean sprouts and a few dashes of sriracha b\c I was out of pepper flakes. Will def make again !
Delicious pad thai. Could have used a bit less tamarind, but over all, a great recipe.
thank you so much.
We absolutely loved this!! Great flavor.
Is there anything else I can use besides fish sauce. We are vegitarians and don’t eat fish.
Followed recipe except cut down brown sugar from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. Why was my sauce sooooo black and thick and sticky and strong? Couldn’t eat it and was so looking forward to it. 1/4 c tamarind concentrate (not paste) and 1/4 c soy. Can anyone tell me what happened?
I meant 1/4 c tamarind, 1/4 c fish sauce and 2 T soy
I had the same problem. I’m reading through the reviews and gathering that the tamarind concentrate can just be too strong. Next time I plan to use much less of that and see if that helps
I think I figured it out! Certain brands of Tamarind Concentrate come from India and are much more concentrated than ones that come from Thailand or Vietnam. I think the concentrate should be more brown than mine which is straight black. I’m going to try to find different Tamarind Concentrate in the future.
Oh. My. Sweet lord. This recipe was absolutely incredible. I have been craving pad Thai during quarantine, and I happened to take the stir fry tamarind from a random online order. Followed this nearly to a T — had no peanuts, but honestly the sauce was so good that I didn’t miss them. I will be making many, many times!
I loved the Pad Thai Sauce recipe! Used it in a Pad Thai including shrimp and leftover vegetables. I must say I used a lot less fish oil. I am not familiair with the brands used, but mine (blue elephant) tends to be very flavourful. Too much would turn the dish salty. I think I used about 25% of the recommended amount.
My daughter and I made this tonight since we cannot eat at our usual Thai place right now. I drove all over our area looking for all the ingredients because I wanted to follow the recipe exactly. It was way too tangy! Probably could have left out the lime and possibly adding more sugar and pepper might have been the better option. Overall Ok but not at all authentic.
Love this recipe! We have made it so many times and I love the sauce.
This is not pad thai. There is no soy sauce in pad thai. The order of the recipe and techniques are all wrong.
This turned out amazing! I didn’t have tamarind in hand so we did the ketchup trick, and it still was delicious. I’ve tried many other recipes and I think my husband and I had grown a bit frustrated with the results. Always edible, but not really hitting the mark. This recipe did! Tasty, awesome Pad Thai. Thank you!
The best recipe I’ve found. I use the whole tamarind amount and love the whole mouth flavor of this dish! Because leftovers are as good, I make enough for two meals. My husband had never had pad thai until we had this at home during COVID-19 lock down, and he loves it now as much as I always have! The only problem I have is in adding all ingredients back into the pan, stirring and reheating the dish at the end. I have a really hard time mixing anything into the mass of rice noodles, so I may try adding the noodles in stages next time.
Some have commented that this doesn’t taste like their restaurant pad thai. I have to say that I’ve watched the restaurant cooks in open kitchens. They used no tamarind and sweetened with white sugar. Next time I order out, I’ll request it with tamarind and see what happens.
Amazing!!! My husband said this is some of the best pad Thai he’s had in a long time. I omitted the fish sauce, added a ton of extra veggies and ginger, and garnished with jalapeños.
I did not have tamarind concentrate (and did not plan ahead enough to order any online) so I simply omitted and this was great! I love pad thai and this is as good as any I’ve had in restaurants.
I’ve tried so many Pad Thai recipes and OMG!! finally found one that tastes like a real Thai restaurant! I can’t believe it’s only a few ingredients.
OMG NO!!
Peanuts in Thai food?? 1/4 cup Fish sauce?
Way too much rice noodles.
You need to redo the portions of the ingredients.
1 Tbsp of oil was not enough to prevent noodles from sticking.
I added another Tbsp for proper results.
No flavor to the veggies and egg.
Then the sauce – wrecked it! :~b
Kitchen smelled vaguely of the dumpster behind a Thai restaurant.
Two mouthfuls and into the trash.
Just made this for my family, it was absolutely delicious and the best version of Pad Thai I’ve made so far. I used tofu as protein, as I’m trying to cut my meat consumption… And if if all my dishes taste this great, I will not miss meat at all :)
Will definitely make again
I can’t thank you enough for your recipe and instructions. It all started with a brick of tamarind, shrimp, and tofu. I’m pretty sure my tamarind concentrate turned out well, because my Pad Thai sauce was simply magical. No more bottled junk for me! I would encourage anyone to give this recipe a go, your instructions are clear and concise and I so glad I could “cook with you.” What a delicious meal. Thank you, best wishes.
Question: How did the photo in the sauce in the picture look so light? This was my first time using tamarind, and apparently mine is the Indian version (very dark liquid) and my dish is likewise pretty dark. (Almost the look of squid pasta!)
I think you should remake this recipe. The tamarind paste overpowers the food. I love all your recipes but this recipe wasn’t good.
This is the second Pad Thai recipe I’ve made and I prefer this recipe. I didn’t have tamarind and the sauce turned out flavourful. I used a bunch of veggies instead of a meat protein with chopped up peanuts. All in all deeelicious!
Absolutely delicious! I failed to order the Thai tamarind but the Tamico tamarind didn’t mess the flavor up for me. We loved it! Thanks so much!
I love this pad Thai recipe! I make it all the time probably a dozen times in the last six months. I would not change a thing! It’s so good and everyone who has had it loves it. It does take me about 60-90 minutes all in to make but it’s so worth it
I have never made pad Thai before but this turned out pretty good with me having to wing some things. I bought a different tamarind concentrate that on another Thai cooking website said not to use (I saw that after the fact. It’s from India). It was pretty potent so i added a little water and extra sugar.
I didn’t have any of the veggies so i julienned some red peppers and used broccoli too. I added some salt and pepper to the chicken and eggs because i wasn’t sure if there would be enough flavor with the sauce alone.
I wasn’t sure what the sauce was supposed to taste like (it didn’t taste great freshly made) so i took some of the plain dish out and mixed it so i wouldn’t ruin all the food if it wasn’t to our liking. It was really tasty! My husband liked it before i added the extra sugar (i used palm sugar as other sites said it was more authentic) but i needed a little more and it improved it a lot for me. It all came together really great!
Next time I’ll try the soy sauce maybe. There was a slight flavor missing that would have made it spot on and I’m not sure what it is. I had a friend growing up whose parents were from Thailand and they had a restaurant so I was missing their food but this came really close and was really good. No complaints, not even from the kiddos!
Perfect recipe!
We made the Phad Thai this evening, and my husband had 3 servings!
Thank you for the delish recipe and super helpful video.
I accidentally made too many noodles, so my sauce to noodle ratio wasn’t right, but I made some extra sauce and it worked out so well!
Made this pad Thai and I used pork. Didn’t have the tamarind sauce so I substituted with some dates and rice vinegar. I added peanut butter but it then left a grainy look. It was delicious and my husband loved it! I don’t think the peanut butter is necessary, the peanuts that you garnish with are enough.
This was absolutely delicious! I’ve been looking for new recipes to break us out of our usual dinner rut and this was perfect. Easy, quick and very tasty. Next time I am making a double batch so that I have leftovers for the next few days. Any recommendations on other recipes using tamarind concentrate?
So good I just made it a go to for Thai night thank you tastes very authentic
I cooked it with chicken and it was delicious!
Great recipe.
If I want to use Tamarind Paste (lots of recipes use it) instead of Concentrate, do you know what the measurement conversion would be? Would hate to waste Concentrate for only occasional pad thai use. Thanks :-)
Super easy and delicious recipe! I’m trying to go vegeterian and thought this was a good place to start, AND I DEFINITELY WAS! Couldn’t find the Tarmarind sauce but the ketchup+sugar substitute worked great! It was for a lot of people so I added extra noodles and it turned out sooo good.
Will definitely be making this in the future :)
What can I replace Fish sauce with? I am vegetarian