Pad Thai Noodles with Shrimp - make it at home! Homemade delicious sauce is made with fish sauce, honey, tamarind paste (or lime juice), rice vinegar and red pepper flakes.
Shrimp Pad Thai is one of my most favorite Asian meals, along with Tom Ka Soup - Thai soup with coconut milk, red curry, lemon grass and Thai Red Curry Chicken. I've been making my own Pad Thai for the last 4 years now: it has become a staple meal at our house. We hardly even order Thai food take-outs any more.
What's nice about Shrimp Pad Thai is that it is so easy to make! Even the ingredient list is not very long or complex.
First, you prepare a sauce by simply combining together fish sauce, honey, tamarind paste (or lime juice), rice vinegar and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan on medium heat.
Next, you cook veggies in peanut oil, add eggs and scramble them, then cook shrimp. In the meantime the noodles are cooked according to package instructions. Then, you combine everything together: the sauce, veggies with eggs and shrimp, and rice noodles (or pasta)! Make sure the sauce coats the pasta, and that's basically it! Nothing complicated in making Shrimp Pad Thai! I did provide the detailed instructions below, but the whole preparation and cooking process should not take more than 30 or 40 minutes! Especially on the second or third try when you'll get the hang of it.
Shrimp Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons tamarind paste or lime juice
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- 5 green onions , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- ½ pound shrimp , peeled and deveined
- 8 oz rice noodles or fettuccine pasta
- reserved pasta water
- ¾ cup roasted peanuts chopped
Instructions
- In a small pan, combine tamarind paste (or lime juice if you don’t have tamarind paste) with fish sauce, honey, and rice vinegar over medium heat until honey gets really soft and all ingredients are mixed. Mix in red pepper flakes.
- In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of peanut oil over medium heat, add chopped green onions, garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and scramble them until just done. Add shrimp and bean sprouts – continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, just until shrimp turns red.
- In the mean time, cook pasta or noodles according to package instructions. Drain but do reserve a good amount of cooked pasta water.
- Add drained noodles to the large skillet with eggs mixture, on low heat. Also add the sauce from step 1 and ¼ cup of chopped toasted peanuts. Stir everything to combine well. Add a bit of cooked pasta water, if necessary, to make the sauce less thick and easier to coat the noodles.
- To serve, place ¼th of Pad Thai noodles on each plate. Top each serving with remaining chopped toasted peanuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hi! I love thai food and pad thai in particular! I finally learned how to make a simple version of it not long ago and it's so nice to make a lighter spin of it to enjoy at home. Yours absolutely delicious! I am happy looking at all the bright pictures on your blog right now. : )
This looks amazing, Julia! I've never made Pad Thai before. I'm pinning this recipe to try for later.
Mmmmmm!! That is the sound that I'm making as I stare at this scrumptious dish!!!
This looks so good but I've never made asian food and not sure what fish juice is or where I would find it in the grocery store. I looked today in the Asian section and saw fish sauce, is that the same? It looks like it has tons of sodium. Thanks!
Yes, you would find fish sauce in the Asian section. It has a very distinct stink 🙂 when you open it but it really adds flavor! I think it does contain a ton of sodium, because it is generally used in Asian cooking as a way to make things salty (plus flavor it imparts).
I love anything pad thai, and these photos are just beautiful Julia!
Mmmm... this looks so comforting and relish! I could never not order a pad thai whenever we dine out 🙂
I love Pad Thai, too...but can never seem to find tamarind paste...so glad to know there's a substitute. I'll have to comb our Whole Foods to see if I can spot some...it's been way too long since I've made this and your recipe looks amazing.
I've never used honey in Pad Thai...I can't wait to try your version.
Just a little bit of honey (1/4 cup) balances well with salty stuff (fish sauce) and sour ingredients (lime juice or tamarind paste). 🙂
Julia, this sounds amazing! I love Pad Thai and I'm glad I can now make them at home. Thanks for the recipe. Pinning!
We love pad thai, but we haven't made it at home. This post is totally inspiring me! I'm printing off the recipe now so I can go grocery shopping. Thank you for sharing! Another delicious post and a great start to the week. I hope you had a beautiful Monday!
Love this dish, but never cooked myself. Yours looks so good! Yummy-))
The Pad Thai is stunning, so are the pictures!
What a great post, Julia.
Cheers.
This looks amazing. I have been craving Asian food lately. This dish makes me so hungry right now. I used to have all the ingredients ready in my pantry but since I moved it takes a bit of time to stock up my pantry again. Next shopping trip I'll add these ingredients though... Looks too good. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
This looks outstanding! We love pad thai and this would a big hit at my place. Yummy!
Love this dish Julia. Beautiful photography, gorgeous colours, freshness abounds! Perfect for the change of season over here - I'm bookmarking this for our first week of gorgeous sunshine (with a nice cold beer!) x