A quick and easy recipe can yield a surprisingly tasty result — and by that we mean this Instant Pot Pad Thai recipe. The familiar flavors of the famous Pad Thai we all love can now be recreated in just 20 minutes, including preparation and cooking time!
What Is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai is a well-known street food in Thailand and one of most popular dishes in the world. It’s a spicy stir fry noodle dish that exhibits the true essence of Thai cuisine with meat and rice noodles mixed in a spicy-sweet sauce and topped with crushed peanuts.
You’ll get to enjoy thin and flat rice noodles, chicken and/or prawns, and a veggie mix of choice in an original Pad Thai. The ingredients are usually sautéed and tossed together in a large wok or frying pan.
By making an Instant Pot version of Pad Thai, we’re recreating this famous dish with the hope of reducing the cooking time and effort spent. The result is this simple, 20-minute recipe!
Is This Instant Pot Pad Thai Healthy?
Yes, it is. This Pad Thai contains 502 calories per serving and only 83mg of cholesterol.
Generally, pressure cooking offers a healthy way to prepare food as it requires less oil than stovetop cooking. This helps food retain nutrients and saves you time in the kitchen.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Chicken breast: Skinless boneless chicken breasts are cut into bite-sized pieces. After searing, the chicken will have some time to marinate in the cooking juice while you handle the vegetables and the noodles. This will allow the meat to absorb the liquid and become juicier.
- Rice noodles:Flat and thick rice noodles are usually the choice for Pad Thai. They’re starchy and cook fast, so you’d better watch the timer so they don’t turn to mush. In this recipe, the rice noodles will need 3 minutes to cook to perfection in the broth and then another minute sitting in the sauce to fully soak in all the flavors. Sometimes, Pad Thai is also made with vermicelli rice noodles. They’re thinner and less firm than the flat type, but cook in the same amount of time.
- Garlic: A necessary ingredient in Asian cuisine.
- Vegetables: Red onions and red bell peppers are thinly sliced, and carrots are cut into matchsticks.
- Crushed peanuts: Nutty and crunchy, they add a perfect finishing touch to the dish.
Sauce
Our Pad Thai sauce is made with a mix of brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, cornstarch, water, and Dijon mustard. It’s easy to adjust the sauce to your taste and create the flavor profile you desire by adding more of one ingredient and less of another.
Let’s take a look at each:
- Peanut butter becomes infused with other ingredients over heat and leaves a pleasant creaminess lingering on the noodles.
- Fish sauce and soy sauce add a depth of umami flavor to the Pad Thai without becoming overpowering.
- Lime juice, rice vinegar, and mustard add a kick of acidity to balance out the rich flavors. Apple cider vinegar can also work great as a substitution.
- Brown sugar is for sweetness, and sriracha adds a mild spiciness. There’s always a touch of heat in Thai cuisine, so feel free to add more if desired.
How to Store and Reheat
You can store the leftover Pad Thai for up to 5 days in the fridge. If frozen, it can keep well for up to 3 months.
To reheat, first let the leftover portions defrost in the fridge overnight. Sprinkle a little oil or liquid on the surface, then microwave or heat it on the stovetop for a couple of minutes until warmed through.
In case you are now craving more healthy chicken recipe, our chicken roundup and chicken thigh recipes are lovely options.
What to Serve With
We can’t think of any other side dish that makes a better match for our Instant Pot Pad Thai than this Thai mango salad.
This recipe takes little time and effort to make, yet produces a delicious and vibrant result. With the incorporation of shrimps, fresh green mangos, and cherry tomatoes, you can now feast with your tastebuds and also your eyes!
Saucy, Juicy Pots of Chicken Dishes
You can use the Instant Pot to recreate the popular and beloved tikka masala. Each piece of meat is drenched in flavor and cooked to perfection, thanks to the high pressure. There are also peas, peppers, and onions in the sauce, which is served with cooked rice.
And if honey and garlic are your favorite ingredients, you’ll probably love this Instant Pot honey garlic chicken recipe. It features juicy chicken cooked in a lip-smacking, fragrant glaze.
Instant Pot Pad Thai Recipe
A quick and easy recipe can yield a surprisingly tasty result — and by that we mean this Instant Pot Pad Thai recipe. The familiar flavors of the famous Pad Thai we all love can now be recreated in just 20 minutes, including preparation and cooking time!
- cook TIME 10 mins
- prep TIME 10 mins
- total TIME 20 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Thai
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 502 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 16 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
- 8 oz rice noodles
- 4 oz carrots (diced)
- 2 oz red onions (diced)
- 2 oz red bell pepper (chopped)
- 1/4 cup peanuts (crushed)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp unsalted peanut butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup unsalted chicken broth
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp traditional Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp scallions (chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the Pad Thai sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp sriracha, 1 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tsp lime juice, 1 tsp fish sauce, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard. Stir to combine.
On the “Sauté” setting, sauté 1 tbsp garlic for 30 seconds in 1 tbsp olive oil.
Add 16 oz skinless boneless chicken breast and 1/2 tsp paprika. Stir for 2 minutes.
Add 2 oz red onions, 2 oz red bell pepper, and 4 oz carrots. Stir for 3 minutes. Remove from the Instant Pot, place into a clean bowl, and set aside.
Keep the Instant Pot on “Sauté” mode. Add 1 cup unsalted chicken broth and 8 oz rice noodles. Cook for 3 minutes.
Return the chicken and veggie mixture to the pot with the Pad Thai sauce. Cook for 1 minute until the sauce thickens.
Transfer the Pad Thai onto serving platters. Garnish with 1/4 cup crushed peanut and 2 tbsp freshly chopped scallions and enjoy.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer