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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
I really enjoyed this dish! It was very flavourful and easy to prepare. I did drain the liquid as I cooked the ground chicken as one person recommended. I had brown rice ramen noodles at home and they worked well. I also added some tamarind and chili crisp to the marinade since I had it. I topped with the chili crisp also instead of the chili flakes. The only part that didn’t work well for me was the egg, it didn’t scramble properly. I would definitely make this dish again! Probably add a few veggies!
Hi Sharon,
Happy Monday!!🌞 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Absolutely fantastic. My husband and I loved it. Thank you!
Hi Michelle,
Happy Monday!!🌞 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
My husband made this tonight and he occasionally cooks in our house. It came together easily for him, and it fantastic! The flavor matched the restaurants we go to for Pad Thai. I thought the ground chicken was interesting compared to using shredded, but it really turned out wonderful and the exterior was golden with a nice crispy edge. My husband soaked the noodles, which I never do I usually boil them, and they turned our surprisingly well. They did have to soak a bit longer than the package, but then cooked up well in the pan. The entire dish was excellent. Definitely will add to our rotation. Love your recipes, Tieghan!
Hey Lindsey,
Happy Sunday!!🍀 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and sharing your comment! xT
This was fairly simple but i was looking for more phad thai flavor…maybe lime juice mixed in and less soy sauce? Not sure. I also think we would have enjoyed this more if it had chicken pieces vs ground chicken or subbed shrimp in. Entire family including picky child ate it though and no real complaints, just not amazing for us.
Hi Amy,
Thanks for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it wasn’t a fave! xx
I made this for dinner tonight, and the family loved it. Thanks for sharing this. Printing it out and clipping it to the fridge. Yay!
Hey Penny,
Love to hear this! Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! xx
Absolutely delicious! I was certain that my husband would dislike, but served with a hot sake, he enjoyed immensely!😆
My one tweak was when sautéing chicken and red pepper, a lot of liquid seeped from chicken, so it pretty much was braising in boiling juices. I removed from heat and drained the liquid. Only then was the meat permitted to brown.
Will make again!
Hey Nanette,
Happy Sunday!!🍀 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and sharing your comment! xT
Delish! Came together quickly and had great flavor. I’ll make it again. 🙂
Hi Meredith,
Happy Sunday!!🍀 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and sharing your comment! xT
This was a terrific recipe! Very tasty and it came together quickly. This one will be on rotation. Thank you!
Hey Kathy,
Happy Sunday!!🍀 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and sharing your comment! xT
I’ve never commented on a recipe, but I had to for this! I have tried many Pad Thai recipes and none of them have checked all of the boxes I was looking for. This one did! It was so delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Hey Lacey,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it!! Have a great weekend! xx
Made this for dinner this evening — it was so delicious and I wouldn’t change a thing! I had to take just one more bite (okay, maybe two) as I was putting the leftovers away! Thank you for sharing it!
Hey Debra,
Lol love to hear this!! Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback! xx
I screwed up the noodles, but oh my the flavors… still delicious!! I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for giving this recipe a try Amy!! Sorry to hear about the noodles! Rice noodles can be tricky:) xx
Oh man, I followed this recipe to a T. I don’t know what I did, but it bombed. I have never cooked with those rice noodles so when she said soak them according to instructions, I looked at the package, and there were no cooking instructions only boiling instructions. So I googled a generic how long should I soak pad Thai noodles in it said 30 minutes. So that’s what I did and then I followed the rest of the recipe. Everything stuck together in a giant glob. I made myself a bowl and tried to eat the edges and then finally decided to add a little water and microwaved my part it didn’t make a difference. The remainder of it is in the oven with a little bit of water poured on top I’m hoping those noodles soften up. Also, it was really really salty and I didn’t add salt.
Hi Lucille,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you had some issues! Rice noodles can bet very finicky, but 30 minutes of soaking is definitely too long. Let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
Yum! Made this last night. We both enjoyed it very much. It is going on my list: dinner for company choices.
I did not have meat and it was yummy without it. I think tofu would be good too.
Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Tammie,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it!! Have a great weekend! xx
OH. MY. GOSH! Made this for dinner tonight and had to put half of it away after my first bite so we would have leftovers! HUGE hit. All my kids loved it! And it was SO EASY TO MAKE! Will be making again!! 🤤
Hey Tiffany,
Happy Friday!!🍀 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad to hear it was delish! xT
This tasted yummy and was flavorful! The 3 adults in my household all voted that we would double the amount of noodles next time. Thanks!
Hey Jen,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback, glad to hear it was enjoyed! xx
This is so good! quick and easy. I would recommend problem starting with 1T of Fish Sauce and then build.. (just because I used some crappy brand and it was it little over powering)
Thanks for always bring delicious dinner to the table, was just what the family needed 🙂
Hey Heather,
Happy Friday!!🍀 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad to hear it was delish! Thanks for your kind message:) xT