{"id":1380732,"date":"2020-01-11T11:31:05","date_gmt":"0001-01-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/origin-www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/easy-pad-thai\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T13:11:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T19:11:58","slug":"easy-pad-thai","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/easy-pad-thai\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Pad Thai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pad thai is\u2014hands down\u2014one of the simplest copycat recipes you can make at home. Our easy pad thai recipe is one of our best 30-minute meals<\/a> because it tastes just as good as the dish from your favorite restaurant. It’s the perfect quick-cooking meal for an easy weeknight dinner, and making it won’t break the bank.<\/p>\n

Our pork pad thai recipe creates a dish filled with chewy noodles, crunchy peanuts and tons of fresh veggie flavors, all swimming in a perfectly tangy, sweet-and-sour sauce. Follow the recipe to a T, or make a few substitutions to customize it. You can make a pad thai recipe easy with chicken or shrimp, or create a vegetarian version by swapping in tofu, tempeh or more veggies and omitting the fish sauce. Your choice!<\/p>\n

What is pad thai?<\/h2>\n

Pad thai is a popular Thai dish with rice noodles, peanuts, scrambled eggs, vegetables, and sometimes meat or seafood stir-fried in an unforgettable sauce. It’s full of fresh flavors, and the sauce perfectly balances sweet, sour and savory tastes.<\/p>\n

Although it’s considered a Thai dish, pad thai has Chinese origins. The dish’s full name\u2014kway teow pad thai<\/em>\u2014roughly translates to “Thai-style stir-fried noodles,” but the cooking method of stir-frying meat, vegetables and noodles with sauce is more Chinese. However, Thailand unified around the recipe as its national dish in the 1930s when Thailand’s prime minister, Phibun, popularized pad thai by distributing the recipe for this nutritious, well-balanced and inexpensive meal. Today, it can be found at almost every food cart in the country.<\/p>\n

How do you cook rice noodles for pad thai?<\/h2>\n

Rice noodles are a bit trickier to cook than flour-based ones because they’re delicate and turn to mush when mishandled. Luckily, preparing rice noodles is simple considering they don’t actually need to be cooked: They need only a quick soak in hot water. Just don’t keep them in the water too long or they will get mushy.<\/p>\n

When the noodles appear softened, try one to ensure they no longer taste of raw rice flour. For thick noodles, this process can take as long as 10 minutes. The noodles should feel al dente<\/a> with a bit of a chew, as they will continue to cook when they’re added to the stir-fry. When you’re happy with the texture, drain the noodles and discard the soaking liquid. Rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. If you’re not using the rice noodles immediately, toss them in a little sesame oil to keep them from sticking.<\/p>\n

Ingredients for Easy Pad Thai<\/h2>\n