Healthy Pad Thai

This healthy Pad Thai takes me back to one of my favorite travel memories when my hubby and I backpacked through Southeast Asia, including Thailand. One of our favorite street carts was on Khaosan Road in Bangkok, and it had the most incredible Pad Thai. It took me many years to perfect this recipe, so it’s as good as the one we often reminisce about.

I’ve deliberately combined flavors from easy-to-find supermarket ingredients to make the Pad Thai sauce, and I believe I’ve nailed it (so there’s no need for specialty ingredients like tamarind paste or palm sugar). Hubby certainly gives this his stamp of approval—he says it’s ‘the best Pad Thai’!

Pad Thai is such a quick and easy meal. This homemade version is simple to whip up, making it a great option for a fast, nutritious dinner packed with veggies, protein, and fresh herbs. It’s perfect for busy weeknights or whenever you’re craving those vibrant Southeast Asian flavours! Plus, it’s just as quick to make as the total time it takes to order and pick up takeaway from your local Thai restaurant.

Health benefits

Loaded with protein from chicken or tofu and eggs and packed with fresh herbs, garlic, and bean sprouts, this gluten-free Pad Thai is a nourishing meal. The rice noodles are gluten-free, and you can easily adapt the recipe for dairy-free, egg-free, or vegetarian diets, making it suitable for many dietary needs. The fresh lime and coriander also offer a good dose of antioxidants.

Ingredients

This Pad Thai recipe uses classic ingredients like rice noodles, chicken, garlic, and fresh herbs, along with a delicious sauce made from pantry staples like fish sauce, tamari, and rice vinegar. Topped with crunchy peanuts, a squeeze of lime and fresh coriander (cilantro), it’s a complete meal with everything you need for a balanced dish.

How to make healthy Pad Thai

Start by prepping all your ingredients and mixing the sauce. While soaking (or cooking) the rice noodles, stir-fry the onion, garlic, and chicken until cooked through over a medium high heat.. Add the eggs to the pan and scramble them alongside the chicken. Toss in the noodles, fresh mung bean sprouts, garlic chives, peanuts, and the sauce, and stir to combine.

Serving suggestions and how to store

Pad Thai is best served fresh with a generous squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and coriander. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days. Reheat in a pan over low heat to keep the noodles from getting too soft. You can also freeze the cooked chicken and sauce separately to save prep time next time.

Vary this healthy Pad Thai to suit your dietary needs

To make this peanut-free, swap the peanuts for toasted cashews or leave them out altogether. For a vegan option, replace the fish sauce with sea salt and use extra firm tofu instead of chicken. If you’re egg-free, sub in silken tofu, and for soy-free, use coconut aminos instead of tamari. Add extra stir-fried veggies for a nutrient boost and make it your own! I often add carrots, broccoli or asian greens. If you are a fan of shrimp, feel free to add as well.

Take a look at the variations (below the main recipe) for suggestions to alter the recipe to suit your specific dietary requirements.

For more easy to make, delicious healthy dinner recipes, click HERE.

Healthy Pad Thai

Prep 20 minutes minutes

Cook 10 minutes minutes

Total 30 minutes minutes

Serves: 4

Pad Thai is a classic Thai street food that’s incredibly delicious and satisfying, with its perfect balance of sweet, salty, and tangy flavours. This homemade version is simple to whip up, making it a great option for a quick, nutritious dinner packed with veggies, protein, and fresh herbs. It's perfect for busy weeknights or whenever you’re craving those vibrant Southeast Asian flavors!

MetricUS Customary

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Sauce

• 3 tbsp coconut sugar or rapadura
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce – or 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp tamari – or coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 lime/s (small) juice

Stir fry

• 250 g rice noodles – Pad Thai (I find Changs brand hold up best)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion/s – finely sliced
• 4 clove/s garlic – minced
• 300 g boneless, skinless chicken breasts – or thigh, sliced very thinly (you can also use leftover cooked chicken too)
• 3 egg/s – whisked in a jug
• 1 bunch/s garlic chives – cut into 2 cm lengths
• 120 g bean sprouts (approx. couple handfuls)
• 60 g roasted peanuts – (½ cup) – finely chopped
• 1 bunch/s fresh coriander leaves – finely chopped, or Thai basil is lovely too

Serve

• 1 lime/s – cut into quarters (or lemon)
• 1 red chilli/s – optional, sliced

Method

• Start with making the sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
• Prepare ALL of your stir-fry ingredients so they are ready to cook, including whisking the egg into a small jug.
• Check how your noodles are best prepared. Fill your kettle and put on to boil if they need to be soaked. Or put a large pot of water on to boil if they need simmering.
• Start heating your wok (especially if using induction as I find it takes time for it to heat well).
• Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for approx. 5 minutes until just softening then drain in a colander, rinsing immediately under cold water to stop them further cooking. Alternatively, cook according to the rice noodle packet instructions. Shake the colander to remove as much water as possible. Take care not to over soften them, they need a bit of a bite.
• While the noodles are soaking/cooking, work quickly and heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick pan over a high heat.
• Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until it softens. Add the garlic and chicken and stir-fry to cook (approx. 3-4 minutes). If using cooked chicken, only heat for 30 seconds.
• Once cooked push to the side and pour in the whisked egg in the other side of the wok, mixing to cook.
• Then add two thirds of the bean sprouts, garlic chives, two thirds of the peanuts, half the coriander, noodles and all of the sauce.
• Turn off the heat straight away and gently fold to combine the ingredients with the sauce so that the noodles are evenly coated.

Serve

• Garnish with remaining bean sprouts, peanuts and coriander.
• With lime wedges (this is essential), see note below.

Note

• Make sure you add the extra lime juice to taste. It really helps to balance out the saltiness and sweetness of the dish. Add to suit your taste.
• Garlic chives are a herb that taste like a mix of spring onions and chives. They are sometimes available in a supermarket however if you cannot find them, you can substitute with some extra garlic. They are a very hardy herb so if you have space in your garden, grow some. They're also delish chopped through mashed potato.

Variations

Peanut-free

You can sub the peanuts with toasted cashew nuts or just leave out altogether (or add in toasted seeds).

Seafood-free

Replace the fish sauce with a good teaspoon of sea salt.

Egg-free

Replace with 150g silken tofu (scrambled for 30 seconds).

Vegetarian

Replace the chicken with 300g firm tofu diced and cook for 1 minute (to heat it).

Vegan

Combine the seafood free and vegetarian versions.

Soy-free

Choose the coconut aminos instead of the tamari.

Add more veggies

Feel free to stir fry more veggies if you like.

 

 

 

I’d love to know what you think of my delicious and healthy version of Pad Thai.

Course: Main Course

Author: Georgia Harding

Family Ad