Healthy Chicken Pad Thai
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Skip takeout and make this Healthy Chicken Pad Thai recipe instead! A gluten free pad thai recipe that is high protein and delicious! Packed with veggies, chicken and brown rice noodles.
This post was originally shared in 2016 but has since been updated.
This Healthy Chicken Pad Thai is everything you love about traditional pad thai, made better for you!
Jam packed with ALL the veggies, lean protein, and healthy carbs thanks to brown rice noodles – it’s an easy meal everyone will love! The pad thai sauce is full of flavor, and naturally gluten-free!
Savory, filling and delicious – this is one of my absolute favorite healthier dinners!
Liz’s Tips for the Best Healthy Pad Thai:
- Pre-cut your veggies to save time: You can cut your veggies up to 2 days in advance to save time when it’s time to make dinner.
- Slightly undercook the noodles: The noodles will continue to cook as the absorb the sauce in the pan, so it’s ok to undercook them just a bit!
Ingredients
Substitutions
Oil: You can sub olive oil with avocado oil or canola oil
Chicken: Boneless skinless thighs or chicken tenders will also work. We also have a Thai Chicken Wings recipe that is delish!
You can sub in shrimp for the chicken if you’d like. Shrimp take much less time to cook, depending on their size I would cook about 2 minutes on each side until shrimp begin to turn pink. You can also use shaved steak/beef if you prefer! I have not tried this recipe with cooked tofu but I think it would work!
Egg free: You can simply omit the eggs.
Bean Sprouts: You might have a hard time finding bean sprouts. You can just skip them or sub in more vegetables.
Vegetables: You can omit the bean sprouts if you’re having a hard time finding them. Bulk up the dish by adding more carrots or peppers! I’ve also added in mushrooms and sliced zucchini and it was yummy!
Vegetarian: Feel free to skip the chicken and bulk up on veggies to make this vegetarian!
Fish Sauce: If you can’t find or don’t have fish sauce you can sub it in for more coconut aminos or soy sauce. It won’t taste the same but it will still be good! I promise you will not taste the fishy-ness of fish sauce.. I don’t eat fish and absolutely love the flavor it gives! (It does have a bit of an off-putting smell if this is your first time cooking with it, don’t be alarmed!)
Coconut Aminos: If you don’t have coconut aminos – substitute soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos. If you use Bragg’s use 1/2 the amount as it is much saltier.
Peanut Butter/Peanuts: I have not tried making this recipe without peanuts/peanut butter. Sunflower butter or cashew butter may work but I’m not sure how they will affect the taste. I don’t think almond butter will taste good in this recipe.
Tamarind Paste: Typically pad thai is made with tamarind paste, but it’s not something that I often cook with. I find that the lime juice helps give it that tangy taste!
How to make Healthy Chicken Pad Thai:
- In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil. Cook chicken over medium heat.
- While the chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil + cook rice noodles.
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients + set off to the side. Chop vegetables.
- Add in carrots, peppers, onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in bean sprouts and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Push vegetables to one side of the pan + crack eggs into the pan. Scramble eggs until cooked, then remove from the pan and set aside with the chicken.
- Add the sauce mixture to the empty pan and bring to a boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. The sauce should bubble and thicken.
- Add cooked veggies, cooked chicken and cooked noodles into the pan with the sauce and toss to combine. Garnish with peanuts.
The next time you’re craving takeout, try making this instead.
It takes the same amount of time to make as you’re probably going to have to wait for delivery anyways, so you might as well try it!
What Makes this Recipe Healthier?
- Lower in salt: Some Thai dishes are high in salt (most restaurant meals are!) This dish is lower in salt than most Pad Thai recipes, but it is still higher in sodium than most recipes on our site.
- Simple ingredients: This recipe is only made with a few ingredients, all of which can be found at the store,
- Extra Veggies: I always order my pad Thai with extra vegetables – so I loaded this recipe up with veggies too!
Do you need to use fish sauce in this recipe?
If you can’t find fish sauce near you, you can sub in more coconut aminos for it. It definitely will not taste as good as the fish sauce adds such a yummy flavor, but it will be ok!
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Storage & Reheating
Storing: This healthy pad thai will last for 3-4 days in an airtight container in a refrigerator.
Reheating: You can reheat this pad thai in the microwave or on the stovetop, but we recommend reheating on the stove. Sauté over low heat on the stove. You can add a splash of water to loosen up the sauce.
Freezing: I haven’t tried freezing this pad thai, but I don’t think it would work well. I think the noodles will get very mushy.
Can you use zucchini noodles instead of brown rice noodles?
Yes, I’ve also tested this recipe with zucchini noodles and it was delicious. I definitely prefer brown rice noodles, but the last time I made it I did a 50/50 split zoodles to brown rice noodles and it was so yummy!
Make sure to really squeeze all the liquid out of the zucchini noodles with a paper towel. You can squeeze most of the liquid out, then leave them on top of a paper towel to absorb more liquid while you are cooking. Add them at the very end, and do not pre-cook them.
Other healthy takeout recipes:
Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Healthy Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into ½ inch cubes
- 5 oz brown rice noodles
- 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
- 1 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
- ½ cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 2 eggs
Sauce:
- ¼ cup coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Garnishes:
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ⅓ cup chopped peanuts
- lime wedges optional
- cilantro optional
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the cubed chicken to the pan. Cook the chicken over medium high heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally until completely browned on all sides and cooked through.
- While the chicken is cooking, bring a separate pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Cook the noodles per the package directions. We recommend cooking 1 minute less than the package recommends.
- While the chicken and noodles are cooking, make the sauce. Whisk together coconut aminos, fish sauce, honey, lime juice, peanut butter and rice vinegar until well combined. Set aside.
- Once the chicken has cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside in a large bowl. Try to leave the oil in the pan. You can add a little olive oil if necessary or spray your pan with olive oil for cooking the vegetables.
- Add the carrots, peppers, onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Once the vegetables start to soften, add in bean sprouts. Stir together and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Once the bean sprouts have cooked, push the vegetables to one side of the pan and crack the eggs directly into the hot pan. Scramble the eggs until cooked, approximately 2 minutes.
- Stir cooked eggs in with the vegetables. Remove the eggs and vegetables from the pan and set aside with the cooked chicken.
- Add the sauce to the empty hot pan (you don't need to clean the pan!) and turn the heat to high. Bring the sauce to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. The sauce should bubble and slightly thicken.
- Add the cooked chicken, vegetables, eggs and noodles into the pan with the sauce. Toss with tongs until everything is coated in the sauce.
- Garnish with peanuts and green onion.
Instant Pot Instructions
- To make this in the instant pot – it is important to DOUBLE the sauce recipe. All other ingredients remain the same.
- Bring a separate pot of water to a boil (outside of instant pot) and cook the rice noodles according to package directions. While the rice noodles are cooking, turn instant pot on Sauté- High. Heat 1 tablespoon. of the olive oil, add the eggs in and scramble them quickly. Put them on a plate and set aside.
- Drizzle in the other 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the whole chicken breasts. Sear them 2 minutes per side to get them nice and golden brown. Meanwhile mix together your sauce ingredients. Make sure to double sauce ingredients from recipe.
- Move the chicken breasts onto a cutting board and chop them into one inch pieces.
- Add the garlic and onion into the instant pot. Saute for 30 seconds then add in the chicken, peppers and carrots. Mix it all together and pour the sauce over top.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure and Cook for 3 minutes. Keep in mind the Instant Pot takes 3-5 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 3 minutes you’ve set.
- When the time is up quick release the steam. Remove the chicken and vegetables with a slotted spoon. Set aside.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the high sauté setting once more and bring the sauce up to a bubble. Allow it to bubble for 10-12 minutes until it thickens slightly. You’ll know it’s done when it begins to look darker and when you drag a spoon across the bottom of the pan and it takes just a second or 2 to come back together.
- Add in your noodles, eggs, chicken and veggies. Toss it all together. Garnish with peanuts, green onions. Note – nutritional facts will vary slightly because of the increase in sauce.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to cook the chicken whole and then cut it into cubes. Due to shape, the instant pot just doesn’t have the browning power of a wok or skillet when doing small pieces of chicken.
- DO NOT cook the noodles in the Instant Pot. They are just too starchy and will not work.
- Add in your noodles, eggs, chicken and veggies. Toss it all together. Garnish with peanuts, green onions. Note – nutritional facts will vary slightly because of the increase in sauce.
Nutrition Facts
Important Note: This is not an authentic pad Thai recipe. My goal is always to share recipes that are a bit healthier and made with affordable, accessible ingredients so everyone can enjoy them regardless of their food allergies or dietary restrictions. If you are looking for an authentic pad thai recipe – check out this recipe!
I made this tonight with shrimp instead of chicken because I didn’t have any chicken thawed, and it was delicious!! I liked that it only used one pan to cook everything. I love that it didn’t have sugar in it like traditional recipes. It’s definitely much healthier and was still a delicious meal!
Sounds awesome, Alyse! So happy you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this recipe so many times, it’s one of our favorites!! Simple to make and delicious!
So glad you like it, Reina! Thank you!
Can you sub a different nut butter instead of peanut butter? Husband can’t have peanuts but not sure what it would do to the flavor? Thanks!
Hi Kim – I haven’t tried this. If I were to suggest anything I would probably sub in cashew butter/chopped roasted cashews for the crunch at the end, and I think it would be fine but without trying it I can’t be sure how it will affect the taste!
This is the best chicken pad Thai recipe I’ve ever found. I make it exactly as suggested and my family loves it and it’s so healthy!
So glad you liked it, Lisa!
Love, love, love this recipe!!!! once you buy all the staples like fish sauce,, coconut aminos and brown rice noodles (all from thrive) it’s super easy and all other ingredients I always have on hand. So good leftover as well!
Thanks, Liz! So glad you enjoy it!
We love cooking at home and only ordering take out on special occasions. We prefer to know what all the ingredients are in our food. This recipe is AMAZING! Seriously – try it. It could be considered a bit labor intensive, but trust me when I say it’s totally worth it!! Pad Thai is one of my favorite Thai food choices and I’ve missed the great pad thai I could get when I lived in Chicago. This recipe is better then the paid thai we can get locally. We also love that we can use brown rice noodles and that the recipe is healthy 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
So glad you liked it, Melanie! Thank you!
This recipe was so easy and delicious! I didn’t have bean sprouts so I just used whatever veggies I had including zucchini and water chestnuts. I would have never thought to use brown rice noodles, great option! Thanks again for a great and easy to follow recipe.
That sounds perfect!! So glad you liked it!
Bomb .com. I think it tastes better than most Pad Thai at restaurants, and way cleaner too.
So glad you liked it! Thanks Amara!
I made this last night for my family, it was delicious, very easy to make, I will definitely be making this again😃
Thanks, Terralynne! Glad you liked it!
I love Pad Thai, but have never tried making it at home before because my husband has been hesitant to try it. I decided to try it and hope he would like it. He LOVED it and I did too! Next time, I will definitely make sure to have fresh limes for topping.
So happy you both enjoyed it!!
Made this again and I still love it! I used Thrive market brown rice spaghetti (just broke in 1/2 before boiling) and tasted great. I didn’t have fish sauce so I added toasted sesame oil instead. Can’t wait to eat leftovers for lunch again today !
I made this recipe with shrimp instead of chicken, and it was DELICIOUS! I also substituted mushroom for bean sprouts, and used white wine vinegar rather than the rice vinegar just because I had it on-hand! I didn’t have fish sauce so used some additional soy sauce instead, and it turned out absolutely perfectly. Thanks for a great recipe!!
So glad you liked it! Thanks, Lauren!
This was so good!!! I’ve been putting off trying to make it because I wasn’t sure that my husband would like it but he did. Now I wish I would’ve tried it sooner. I appreciate your recipes because they are straightforward, use ingredients that are clean, easy to find and don’t cost an arm and a leg. Thank you!
So glad you liked it, Sarah! Thank you so much!
I was already to make the pad Thai recipe tonight I realized I had all the ingredients necessary and I was going to switch up the chicken to shrimp. But then I saw the calories in the fat content and cholesterol and sugar oh my gosh, honestly I don’t understand how this can be considered a healthy meal. I just started weight watchers a few months ago. Help me out here please. It looks amazing along with fried rice!!
Hi Lyn – This is not a low calorie food. It’s a healthier option when compared to takeout per the reasons listed in the post. I’ve pasted them here.
Lower in salt: Some Thai dishes are high in salt (most restaurant meals are!) This dish is lower in salt than authentic Thai food.
Few ingredients: This recipe is only made with a few ingredients, all of which can be found at the store,
Extra Veggies: I always order my pad Thai with extra vegetables – so I loaded this recipe up with veggies.
As for WW – WW Freestyle note: Save 1 SP per serving by using olive oil spray instead of actual olive oil to cook. Save 4SP by using zucchini noodles instead of brown rice noodles
So darn good. I don’t think I’ve actually had real pad Thai so was not actually sure What o was expecting. But so good. Love the pb flavor. But not overwhelming. Great way to use up veggies that need to be cooked.
So glad you liked it, Jess! Thank you!!
Literally my favorite Pad Thai recipe ! My husband asks all the time for this !!!!
Thank you so much, Jeanette! So glad you both like it!
My husband said this is the best he’s ever had!
So happy to hear this!
THE BEST CHICKEN PAD THAI!!! We loved it!!
Thanks, Mollie!
Whether I’m making pad Thai or any kind of stir fry, this is my go-to sauce to use. It’s so easy and delicious!
Easy and tasty!
Glad you liked it!
This is my go-to Pad Thai recipe! It’s sooo delicious!
Thanks, Vasso! So happy you enjoy it 💙
This is the perfect HEALTHY weeknight recipe. This came together so quickly – it was easy and l so delicious. I walkways struggle after working long days for a healthy yet quick and delicious recipe to whip up. THIS IS IT!!! I substituted hearts of palm linguini for rice noodles and omitted the eggs. 5 stars!!!!!
So glad you liked it, Michelle! Thank you so much!
This was amazing!!! Came out delicious and whole family loved! Thanks for this fantastic recipe that I’ll always be making. So healthy!
Love to hear this, Molly! Thank you so much!
Really good except I think there is too much fish sauce for me at least. I would use about half of the fish sauce and maybe use a little more of the other ingredients. I used cauliflower rice instead of noodles and it was delicious
Thanks, Jenna! Appreciate the feedback.
This pad thai is fantastic!! I just made it and am already looking forward to making it again. I used natural local honey and it definitely makes a difference. 10/10 recommend!
So glad you liked it, Anthony! Thank you so much!