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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-fried noodles. Or the most requested, chicken fried rice. Asher and Creighton can’t get enough.
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 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.
Next, add the butter, toss in a shallot 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 bowl 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.
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.
Made this last night for the family. Was afraid my husband, who has access to a fantastic Tai restaurant near his work would be a little judgy, but he really liked it! Super easy, not intimidating and fast! Will be making this over and over again.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Have a great week! xT
So good and so easy. Perfect week night dinner. Used tamari and glad I did. Would likely be overly salty with soya. Craving more already.
Hi Yvonne,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was a hit! xx
Quick, easy, and delicious. Will for sure be adding this to our repeat recipes.
Hi Cody! Thank you so much! So glad you loved this recipe 🙂 xT
I used a regular 16 oz box of noodles, so I doubled the sauce (since the recipe called for 6oz of noodles). But 2/3 cup of soy sauce made this WAY too salty. Otherwise it was flavorful, but watch out for that salt content. (And that’s coming from a salt lover).
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! Thanks for letting me know! xT
Made this last night and made zero changes!! Was so FREAKING amazing!!! We loved it. Did all the toppings as well. So much FLAVOR!!! Thank you
Hi! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! I’m so glad you loved it! xT
Another HBH Dinner Showstopper!
I surprised my wife with your Pad Thai this evening. Said she: “sorry, I didn’t hear a thing you said because this Pad Thai is so unbelievably delicious!”
The flavor was so authentic we could have been sitting on tiny plastic chairs on a sidewalk in Bangkok! We will be returning to this recipe again and again.
Thank you Tieghan and Team!
Michael
Hey Michael,
Amazing!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and sharing your feedback! Thanks for making it:) xx
Great recipe!! So delicious!
Hi Cara,
Happy Friday!!🇺🇸🫐🍒 Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out and your comment, I love to hear that it was a winner! xx
This is a good one to get added to the rotation! Yum!
Hi Kristen,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad it was a hit! Happy Memorial Day weekend!🇺🇸
made this with a few substitutions for red bell pepper (savoy cabbage & grated carrot). sauce was excellent. no leftovers for us.