Learn to make Chicken Pad Thai at home with a healthy recipe by Sarah Lenert (@healthyish_sarah).
How many times have you been determined to make a new dish at home, but when you start googling recipes or searching through cookbooks, everything seems too hard? I am a firm believer that ANYONE can be a great cook. It doesn’t take skill, it just takes confidence. And confidence comes from practice, just like anything else. With that said, I cook all the time, multiple times a day, and I still get intimidated from time to time.
Interestingly it’s not techniques that seem to intimidate me, but more often ingredients. In this instance: fish sauce. I mean, does it get scarier than that?!? I hear fish sauce and immediately envision one of my kids knocking it over in the kitchen, my dog licking it up and myself fighting the smell for weeks to come. Ok, it probably wouldn’t be this dramatic, and fish sauce is probably lovely, but this is what I see and thus, no fish sauce for me (for now).
Fish sauce isn’t my only scary ingredient. I do have others such as whole vanilla beans, chipotle peppers, and saffron ribbons. Friends, I can’t explain it. It just is. I used to be scared of ginger, but I have overcome that fear. I digress … there’s a reason I’m on the topic of fish sauce. Before we had kids, my husband and I lived in Chicago. In those carefree days, we would often get carry-out Thai food. There was a lot more ISH in my healthy-ish back in those days. Chicken Pad Thai was my go-to, and I miss it dearly. A few years ago, I set out to make it at home. I studied many recipes in my research to create my own, but that dreaded fish sauce kept popping up. Goodness knows that wasn’t going to be in my recipe, so after some trial and error, I created what I think is a great pad thai dish, sans fish sauce, and with MOSTLY ingredients you have on hand. Let me know what you think! And please, if you give it a try, post it and tag me @healthyishsarah! Nothing makes me happier than seeing my recipes making other people happy! Not scared!
Ingredients
8 oz pad thai/rice noodles
2 eggs
1 batch pad thai sauce (see below)
2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs
½ cup cilantro chopped
½ cup green onions, chopped
Directions
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, cube it and saute in olive oil until cooked through (you could also use already prepared chicken from leftovers or rotisserie chicken).
2. Meanwhile, scramble two eggs and prepare pad thai/rice noodles as directed on packaging (eggs and noodles can be done prior to the chicken)
3. Combine pad thai sauce ingredients in a small dish:
○ 3 tbsp soy sauce
○ ½ – ¾ tbsp sriracha (less or more based on the desired spiciness)
○ 1 tbsp almond or peanut butter
○ 2 tbsp lime juice
○ 2 tbsp sesame oil
○ 2 tbsp brown sugar
4. Add noodles and pad thai sauce to the chicken and heat through, allowing the sauce to thicken a bit (3 to 4 minutes).
5. Turn off heat. Add scrambled eggs, cilantro, and green onion. Mix to warm up eggs and serve.
