Healthy Pad Thai (Chicken and Shrimp)

This Homemade Healthy Pad Thai (Chicken and Shrimp) is the cure for your takeout cravings.  You can use rice noodles, brown rice noodles, zucchini, or spaghetti squash. This recipe is gluten-free and has fewer calories, fat, and sugar than most versions. Feel free to load it up with your favorite veggies!

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This recipe is actually really easy to make, but it does require a nice amount of ingredients. This isn’t a dish you want to shortcut and substitute (to death!). Not if you want something that tastes close to an authentic version.

What Makes the Dish Healthy

Pad Thai isn’t really an unhealthy dish. There are some versions that may use ingredients that aren’t optimal, but I will go on record with saying I never use the words “unhealthy Pad Thai.”

Here are some things that you may find in recipes that are prepared by others that you won’t find in this version.

• MSG: It’s a flavor enhancer short for monosodium glutamate. It’s popular in Asian cooking and processed foods found in the West. Chemically, MSG is a white crystalline powder that resembles table salt or sugar. It combines sodium and glutamic acid, known as a sodium salt. According to Healthline, evidence indicates that MSG is safe in moderate amounts. However, megadoses may cause harm.
• Increased Sodium: The Chicken Pad Thai from PF Changs has over 2,500 mg of sodium. This recipe has 1/4 of that per serving.
• Excess Sugar: That same version of the recipe has 43 grams of sugar. This dish has 2 grams of sugar. Most of the carbs come from the rice noodles. If you’re trying to cut the carbs, use veggie noodles.

When you make this dish at home, you are in control of the ingredients. It’s also sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Key Ingredients for Pad Thai Sauce

This is the most important part of the dish. It honestly can make or break how good a recipe is! I’ve frequented plenty of Thai restaurants and only come back to 1 or 2. That’s because their sauce is on point! Many places will add ketchup to their sauce or make it entirely too sweet. It really needs the right elements.

The sauce has elements of sweet, salty, and sour.

For the sweet element, I like to use golden monkfruit. This keeps the recipe sugar-free. You can also use organic maple syrup, honey, or regular sugar if you aren’t concerned about lightening up the recipe.

For the salty component, I use fish sauce and soy sauce (you can substitute liquid aminos or coconut aminos). I use fish sauce in pretty much all of my Asian inspired recipes, including this Salmon Fried Rice. It does have a distinct smell, but tastes amazing in food. If you have ever dined in authentic Asian restaurants, then you have smelled fish sauce and you know they use it!

For the sour component, I use tamarind paste. Tamarind is a sour fruit. The paste combines the pulp of the fruit with water. You can find it in Asian markets or here on Amazon.

What Type of Sweetener to Use

The dish is traditionally made using palm sugar. Palm sugar is similar to coconut sugar, but they are different. Both come from Southeast Asia and are natural sweeteners that come from trees. You can use either of these in the recipe. You can use the same amount noted in the recipe.

I use golden monkfruit to eliminate the calories and carbs associated with the sweet element of the recipe.

You can used refined table sugar if you wish. You will use the same amount noted in the recipe.

If you use something like stevia, you will have to convert the serving using the standard conversion you follow for converting refined sugar.

You can use 1/4 cup of organic maple syrup.

You can use 1/4 cup of honey.

What Type of Noodles to Use

I use rice noodles and I look for noodles that don’t have added sugar! Many do, so pay attention to that. I find my favorites at a local Asian market. I go for thin rice noodles (sometimes called rice sticks) and in size Medium if the size is noted.

You can also use brown rice noodles. These typically have similar macros to standard rice noodles, but our body processes brown rice differently than white rice.

See below for low carb noodle substitutions.

How to Make Healthy Pad Thai

1. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a pan. Cook until the sweetener melts.
2. Cook the noodles in accordance with package instructions.
3. Cook the shrimp and chicken in a skillet with oil. Remove.
4. Saute onions and garlic. Add in the cooked noodles, Pad Thai sauce, bean sprouts, green onions, and crushed peanuts. Stir.
5. Scramble eggs to the side in the pan and combine the mixture.
6. Add in the cooked chicken and shrimp.

What is Fish Sauce? Can You Substitute?

Fish sauce is made from fermented fish, krill, or anchovies and is fermented for months up to 2 years. It has a salty, slightly sweet taste, and it does smell funky. It is widely used in Asian cuisine. If you dined in an Asian restaurant, you’ve likely consumed it. If you’ve visited one that is really authentic, I am sure you have smelled it.

What does fish sauce taste like? You only need a little bit of it when you use it. It’s salty. Do not taste it straight. It’s meant to be used in conjunction with food and other ingredients as an enhancement.

If you omit it in the recipe, the dish will have less flavor.

Once opened, I store it in the fridge.

What is Tamarind? Can You Substitute?

Tamarind comes from a tree grown in Africa and parts of Asia. The pulp produces a sour fruit. While cooking, it provides a sweet and spicy element and a little tartness. If you don’t want to use it, you can use fresh squeezed lime and adjust to taste. The recipe doesn’t taste as good! I’ve tried it.

It doesn’t have any added sugar and just a small amount of natural sugar as it’s a fruit.

Once opened, I store it in the fridge.

How to Make it Spicy

If you’ve ever dined out in a Thai restaurant you are familiar with the different levels of spice. Sometimes there’s a zero to 5 scale. I love this guide from Connect2Local.

• 0-1 Mild: This is definitely for the people who like little to no spice. It’s usually a comfortable level. You should start with 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper and build from there. Or omit completely if you aren’t a fan.
• 2-3 Medium: This is actually where I fall (and I feel like I can handle a good amount of heat). A 2 is typically moderately spicy and 3 is what many may find “uncomfortable.” To me, there is a big difference in even a 2 vs 3, and both are still considered medium. Start with 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Build from there to suit your tastes.
• 4-5 Hot and Thai Hot: This is very hot and often too spicy for even most adults. Add more crushed red pepper to taste and you can even add in spicy chilies or use to cayenne to create the flavor you are looking for.

How to Make it Healthier and Low Carb

You can easily swap out the rice noodles for veggie noodles. Here are my favorites

• Hearts of Palm: You can find brands here on Amazon and Trader Joe’s carries them as well. This is my FAVORITE pasta substitute. It’s a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. And it tastes darn good when made into pasta!
• Zucchini Noodles – Use a spiralizer to create these.
• Spaghetti Squash – Check out my post, How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash.
• Miracle Noodles – These are shirataki noodles. I have tried them once and they are ok. I’m not a huge fan. People swear by them!

What Type of Shrimp to Use

Shrimp can be found at the grocery store in a few different ways. There is raw, pre-cooked, raw and frozen, deveined, tails on, tails off, etc.

I never use pre-cooked shrimp. There is an obvious difference in taste due to the lack of quality. The shrimp is cooked and then frozen and you have to cook it/warm it up again. This usually overcooks the shrimp. Raw shrimp only takes minutes to make, just buy it raw.

Always look for deveined, that’s my preference. The black vein that runs along the back of the shrimp is the digestive intestinal tract. Is this shrimp poop, yes.

You can buy it with the vein and remove it using a sharp paring knife to make a slit along the back and lift out the vein with the tip of the knife.

Buy large shrimp. No one likes those baby shrimp and they are harder to cook with.

How to Thaw Frozen Shrimp

Place the frozen shrimp in a large bowl of cold water. The shrimp will thaw within minutes and will be ready to peel.

What Type of Chicken to Use

I use chicken breasts in this recipe, but you can use whatever you want, such as chicken thighs or chicken tenders. It won’t require much an adjustment to the cook time. Just ensure the chicken is fully cooked through.

You can test the internal temperature of the chicken using a meat thermometer. Ensure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Additional Vegetables to Substitute and Add-in

• Tofu (Traditional recipes are made with tofu!)
• Dried Shrimp (Also found in traditional recipes)
• Snap Peas
• Peas
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Green Onions
• Bell Peppers
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Bok Choy
• Carrots

How to Reheat It/How Does it Taste The Next Day

I reheat using the microwave or air fryer and I get similar results using both methods. It takes like leftover take-out, which isn’t a bad thing. Rice noodles absorb liquid and the sauce so it won’t be saucy. If you are into saucy pad Thai, you will definitely need to make additional sauce and keep it on hand to add to leftovers.

I always refresh my leftovers with bean sprouts, more crushed pepper, more crushed peanuts, and lime. These will add that crunch I feel I need.

Can You Freeze It?

You can! I actually like the taste of the dish reheated after freezing MORE vs reheating from the fridge. Freezing the meal flashes the current texture and state of the dish. I freeze my leftovers immediately, instead of letting them sit in the fridge for a couple of days (which dries out the dish).

Freezing it immediately will allow it to taste more like it does the first day you make it. I recommend freezing it using these freezer molds from Amazon. I defrost at room temperature for 30 minutes and then reheat.

Pair This Dish With

Shrimp Egg Rolls
Air Fryer Crab Rangoon
Air Fryer Southwestern Egg Rolls
Jerk Shrimp Recipe

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