Chicken Pad Thai

I have been trying very hard to eat healthier, and it’s paying off. I have lost a lot of weight since I started my journey, and I feel great! A lot of that is thanks to cooking at home a lot more and ditching the takeout. And although I am happy with my homemade food, I do miss a few things like pad Thai. It was always a favorite takeout dish, so I was really excited to find this Chicken Pad Thai recipe on Pinterest. It promises to be better than takeout, and that’s a bold claim. Join me as I give it a try!

Rave reviews have been pouring in for years for this better-than-take-out Chicken Pad Thai. It’s a quick-and-easy family favorite ready in just 30 minutes!

Recipe Author: Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb
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The Ingredients

The list of ingredients for this recipe is on the long-ish side at 17, but I didn’t have any trouble finding what I needed at my regular grocery store. I had a few things on hand like the soy sauce, fish sauce, ketchup, sugar, eggs, and spices.

That left me with a good amount to shop for, but nothing was unusually expensive. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the flat rice noodles, but the store actually had several brands, types, and sizes available. I found an 8-ounce box for $3.29.

Chicken Pad Thai Ingredients
Chicken breast, lime, white onion, peanuts, eggs, bean sprouts, green onions, red chili flakes, ketchup, flat rice noodles, cilantro, peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, and garlic

The Process

I’ve never made pad Thai before, and for some reason, I imagined it would be complicated. Oh, but no. This recipe was pleasantly quick and easy to make, and I had it ready in the time listed. Here’s how my time was spent:

  • 13 minutes to prep
  • 17 minutes to cook
  • 30 minutes total

I started things off by prepping, measuring, and heating water for the noodles (I used a 4.5-quart pan). This recipe moves quickly, so it really helped to have everything ready to go.

Next, I started cooking the chicken. Since it needed to be stirred constantly, I really wasn’t able to do much else for about 8 minutes. However, I did have a quick moment to add the rice noodles to the boiling water towards the end. The noodles only take 4 minutes to cook, and I timed it so they would be ready right after the chicken.

Once the noodles were safely draining in a colander, I moved onto frying the eggs. (The next step in the recipe is mixing up the sauce, but I did that with the rest of the prep work.) Things moved quickly from there, and I had my Chicken pad Thai mixed up in just a few more minutes, complete with a garnish of crushed peanuts.

The prepped ingredients and sauce
The prepped ingredients and sauce

Do I need a wok?

Let’s take a moment to talk about equipment, specifically the pan. This recipe gives the option of using a wok or a large pan, and I seriously considered buying a wok. What stopped me? My cabinets are already stuffed with pots and pans, and I can’t justify buying a pan I would rarely use and have no room to store.

I decided to do a quick search for the best alternative to a wok, and I found a couple. One was a sauté pan because it has high sides. The more popular option was a plain old skillet because it has sloped sides, similar to a wok.

I have both types of pans, but I ended up using my 12-inch non-stick skillet after reading 10 Reasons to Stir Fry with a Frying Pan Instead of a Wok by Maggie Zhu. I did have to be more cautious when I was stir-frying because of the shorter sides, but I think it worked very well. A few bits of food jump did out of the pan when I stirred too hard, but it wasn’t any worse than usual.

Chicken Pad Thai

So how was it?

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I expected homemade Chicken Pad Thai to be complicated and not as good as takeout, and I was wrong on both counts. This simple recipe was ready in 30 minutes and just as good as my favorite takeout! It's a savory dish with a sauce that's sweeter than hot, which is typical of Americanized pad Thai. Finding the ingredients was easy at my usual grocery store, and making it turned out to be very easy. Plus this version was far healthier than the typical takeout. It will definitely be a regular on my menu!
The Hungry Pinner
The Hungry Pinnerhttps://www.hungrypinner.com
I'm Candice, and I'm The Hungry Pinner. I created this blog to share my love for cooking and my experiences with the MANY recipes I've found on Pinterest over the years. Join me as I blog my way through those recipes to find out if they are worth trying yourself.

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I expected homemade Chicken Pad Thai to be complicated and not as good as takeout, and I was wrong on both counts. This simple recipe was ready in 30 minutes and just as good as my favorite takeout! It's a savory dish with a sauce that's sweeter than hot, which is typical of Americanized pad Thai. Finding the ingredients was easy at my usual grocery store, and making it turned out to be very easy. Plus this version was far healthier than the typical takeout. It will definitely be a regular on my menu!Chicken Pad Thai