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30 Minute Garlic Butter Chicken Pad Thai. An easy, weeknight dinner that’s better than any takeout. Quick-cooking rice noodles tossed with a Thai-inspired sauce, fresh vegetables, scrambled eggs, and garlicky chicken that’s pan-seared with a touch of butter. This Pad Thai is saucy, salty, and has just the right amount spice. It’s sure to become a family staple!
If there’s a cuisine my family loves universally, it’s anything Thai-inspired. Mexican too, but today we’re focusing on Thai since everyone has been requesting it nonstop lately. If it’s not some kind of rice bowl, then it’s stir-fry noodles. Or the most requested, chicken fried rice. Asher and Creighton can’t get enough Thai dishes.
I’ve made pad Thai a handful of times too, but each time I never felt the noodles were saucy enough. I always felt a little more flavor, spice, and color could be added.
Ω
After my younger brother Red requested Pad Thai a few weeks ago, I decided to perfect a good chicken pad Thai (I got the shrimp just right).
I took my time with this, like 3 or 4 weeks time, slowly making tweaks. In the end, a few tablespoons of salted butter ended up being the secret to the pad thai sauce.
And fewer noodles, which I certainly don’t usually recommend. But with this particular recipe, fewer noodles work better. It’s all about getting the portions just right!
Details
This recipe has a longer ingredient list but manages to come together in 30 to 40-ish minutes. The noodles should be a thicker-cut rice noodles, or find a box of Pad Thai noodles. Pretty much all grocery stores should carry one or the other.
Soak the noodles just as the box states. But I like to drain them for around 6 minutes to ensure they don’t get soggy while cooking.
While the noodles soak, make the sauce. It’s a pretty simple mix of tamari, maple (used to sweeten), fish sauce (don’ skip), rice vinegar, black pepper, and chilies.
Now we can cook! Cook the chicken and pepper together. Using ground chicken is ideal, it soaks up the sauce nicely and cooks quickly. Some other veggies that work nicely are carrots and broccoli.
Next, add the butter, toss in the shallots and some chopped garlic, and cook until golden.
Push everything to the sides of the pan and add the eggs to the center. Give them a scramble, then toss them with the noodles.
At this point, you should remove the noodles from the heat to ensure the noodles do not get overcooked. Add lots of sprouts, or you could use your favorite chopped greens, but sprouts are our first choice. And plenty of green onions!
Serve each dish of noodles topped with Thai basil, cilantro, roasted peanuts, and lime. Oh, and then I add Korean chili flakes too.
Yum!
If you plan to eat the noodles as a leftover, you can certainly add a touch of soy sauce to loosen the noodles back up. The noodles will be a little less saucy, but all the flavor is still there!
Looking for other dinner ideas?
Sesame Ginger Orange Chicken Salad
20 Minute Korean Beef Sesame Noodles
20 Minute Red Curry Basil Garlic Oil Noodles
Red’s Favorite Spicy Tuna Poke Bowls
Skillet Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice
30 Minute Pineapple Chicken with Coconut Rice
Weeknight Sesame Teriyaki Chicken with Ginger Rice
Lastly, if you make this 30 Minute Garlic Butter Chicken Pad Thai, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
30 Minute Garlic Butter Chicken Pad Thai
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 567 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 6 ounces Pad Thai/wide rice noodles
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- black pepper and chili flakes, to taste
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil (or olive oil)
- 3/4 pound ground chicken
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly slice
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2-3 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups mung bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro or Thai basil
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Soak the rice noodles according to packaged directions. Drain.2. To make the sauce. In a bowl, combine the tamari/soy sauce, maple syrup, fish sauce, rice vinegar, black pepper, and chili flakes.3. Add the oil, chicken, and red bell pepper to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the chicken is browned all over, about 5 minutes. Add the butter, shallot, garlic, and a pinch of chili flakes and black pepper. Continue to cook the chicken in the butter until the garlic begins to turn golden, 1-2 minutes.4. Add the noodles and sauce, tossing to combine. Cook until the noodles are warmed through and begin soaking up the sauce, about 1 minute. Push the noodles to one side of the skillet and add the eggs to the other side. Let cook until the edges start to set, 1 minute. Roughly scramble the egg, then toss it with the noodles. Remove from the heat. 5. Add the bean sprouts, cilantro, and green onions, and toss again.6. Serve warm noodles topped with basil, green onions, peanuts, and chili flakes. Add a squeeze of lime juice.
This post was originally published on February 20, 2023
This was so delicious and easy! Yum!
Thanks so much Raquel, so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! xT
This was delicious! I will be making it again soon. I didn’t have bean sprouts so added thinly sliced Persian cucumbers as a garnish. I would double the sauce recipe next time – it’s so flavorful but the meat and noodles soaked up too much. I was a little confused – the recipe simply says to soak (and drain) the noodles but some comments have asked about cooking them before adding to the dish. Can you clarify?
Hey Mary,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! The soaking and draining of the rice noodles is how they cook:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Thank you for clarifying. They were a *bit* chewy so maybe I need to soak them longer than the 30 minutes recommended on the package. Or maybe I can partially cook them. Either way, loved the recipe.
I made this last night and I can’t stop thinking about it! Generally I’m not the biggest pad thai person, but my husband adores it-plus I completely trust you Tieghan-so I knew I had to try this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, except I used pea shoots instead of sprouts because they looked much fresher at my local grocer. Worlds better and brighter than takeout!!
Hey Lauren,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was a winner! Have a great Wednesday! xx
Loved it! Very tasty and simple to make. Will definitely be making again!
Hey Heather,
Awesome!! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for trying it out! xx
So good!! First time to make Pad Thai. It was really easy and delicious. Thank you!
Hey Molly,
Happy Tuesday! I’m so glad this dish turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xx
My daughter passed this recipe to me. We loved this dish. The family is already asking for me to make it again.
Thanks so much Deborah!! I love to hear that you enjoyed this dish, thanks for making it! xT
This recipe was awesome! I’m always so amazed at how quick, easy, and DELICIOUS your recipes are! I immediately recommended this dish to my 8 sisters and my coworkers.
My husband told me to add this meal to the “list” (which is a list of meals I refer to when I can’t think of anything to make). He said “this is so good” at least 5 times during dinner.
Hey Annah,
Fantastic!!🌺 I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks so much for making it! xT
This is a slamming recipe, it was so full of flavor and easy to make. Delicious. Oreo was easy. I doubled the recipe and there were very little leftovers! So good.
Hey Kary,
Fantastic!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I’m thrilled to hear that it turned out well for you:)
Up in MI in an ice storm and I have everything to make this rn..except maple syrup! Do you think sugar could be used as a sub??
Hey Rachelle,
Sure, you could try that or honey! Let me know how this dish turns out! Stay warm! xx
This recipe was not good. I followed it to a t and it just lacked flavor and didn’t come together well.
You screwed it up. Try tasting and adjusting as you go along. It’s your responsibility to manage your flavors.
Why such a harsh comment? I wonder if you even made the recipe. Get a life!
Hi Jen,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Made this recently, excellent! Used venison tenderloin as we didn’t have chicken. Excellent flavor and really easy for a relatively quick meal. Will make again.
Hey Elizabeth,
Amazing! So glad to hear that the venison worked well for you, thanks for giving this dish a try! xx
Too salty. I noticed both people who reviewed it as too salty got their comment deleted.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear you found this salty, I can promise you I didn’t delete those comments:) Let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
This was a huge hit! We haven’t had pad thai since we lived in Boston and went to a particular favorite restaurant just for it. This was exactly like that experience! So easy to make. I did double the recipe to have leftovers (and the rice noodles came in a 14 oz. package so, why not?). Other than adding a generous squirt of sriracha to make it “country-style” like our favorite restaurant, I followed the recipe exactly. I only ever use low sodium soy sauce so did not find it too salty at all. Thanks again, Tieghan!
Hey Susan,
Happy Monday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx
This recipe isn’t clear whether you need to cook the noodles in advance or not. I followed this recipe exactly and it was a disaster. I think you are supposed to cook the noodles in advance and add the cooked noodles to the dish.
Always soak your rice noodles in lukewarm water…that softens them. When you add them into the Pad Thai, they will cook and soften some more. Tieghan’s recipe is the correct way to do it.
Hi Megan,
Sorry to hear you had issues here, but the very first step is to cook the noodles:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
This was SO good! It was easy to make and I will certainly make it again.
Thanks so much Adrienne! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit! Have a great week! xx
Another winner from my girl HBH! Super easy and delicious!
A tip I learned recently that helps in browning ground chicken: mix it with a tsp or two of liquid (soy sauce is what I use) before browning, it really helps with the separation!
Also, I will probably increase the noodles next time: my supermarket (Kroger) sells them in packages of 8.8 oz (recipe calls for 6 oz), and I felt like this recipe could use a *bit* more noodlage, and it’s a million times easier to just use the whole package. When I do this, I will probably also up the sauce ever so slightly as a result, as I thought the sauce-to-noodles/meat proportions as written were perfect.
I also wanted a bit more spice, so I would probably add some sriracha or chili garlic sauce next time I make this. (Or maybe my chili flakes are just old!)
Finally, this was my first time buying/using fish sauce: just a PSA for anyone else who might be slightly nervous (sounds so lame, but hey, it was me) — it doesn’t taste or smell fishy, but definitely adds an umami level I don’t think could be achieved otherwise!
Yet another keeper!!
Hi Sammie,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for making this dish and sharing all of the items and adjustments that worked well for you! I appreciate you making the recipe! xT