Chicken pad thai
Chewy rice noodles, tender chicken and soft egg tossed in a sweet, sour, salty sauce and showered with peanuts and lime.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $3.35 a serving
- 750 calories
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 4 oz rice noodles
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges
- ½ lb chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup peanuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Each serving has about 750 calories, 43 g protein, 77 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.35 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Soak the noodles in a bowl of very hot tap water for 8 to 10 minutes, until bendy but still firm, then .
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: They finish softening in the pan. Noodles that are soft now turn to mush later.the fish sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and juice of 1 lime together in a cup.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
the chicken into thin strips and wash your hands and board.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large over medium-high heat and cook the chicken 3 to 4 minutes, , until the thickest strip reads 165°F. Move it to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Add the rest of the oil and the garlic for 20 seconds, push it aside, crack in the eggs and scramble them until just set.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Add the noodles and the sauce and with tongs for 2 to 3 minutes, until the noodles are soft and have soaked up the sauce.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: If the noodles stick or seem stiff, add a splash of water and keep tossing.Add the chicken, bean sprouts and green onions and 1 minute more.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Pile onto plates and top with the peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Thai basil beef (pad kra pao)
35 min
Shrimp pad thai
40 min
Sweet chili tilapia
30 min
Thai basil shrimp
30 min
High-protein dinners ›Easy Thai dinner recipes ›What to make with chicken and eggs ›What to make with eggs and bean sprouts ›