Thai Recipes
137 recipes found
Satay-Style Grilled Chicken Thighs
A familiar sight on many Thai menus in the U.S., chicken satay typically involves grilled skewers of marinated chicken, charred and stained with spices, and served with peanut sauce and perhaps a cucumber relish on the side. This recipe gives the dish a one-plate remix by bringing all the same flavors together, in slightly different proportions, and placing them atop rice. Because of its sugar and fat content, the coconut milk in the chicken marinade chars up beautifully on the grill, while the chile in the cucumber relish — served as an abundant garnish here — balances out the sweetness of the dressing. Replacing the traditional peanut sauce, chopped peanuts add pops of crunch. Get ahead by putting together the salad and marinade the day before and storing them in the fridge until you’re ready to make the chicken.
Kai Jiew (Crispy Fried Thai Omelet)
This classic Thai omelet — with just enough fish sauce and sugar to enhance its pure eggy flavor — is equally friendly to home cooks, serving as a staple in dorm rooms and home kitchens alike. Unlike its French cousin, cooked softly in butter, kai jiew is cooked through in a generous amount of oil, making it delicately crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Beaten with cornstarch and poured into a hot pan, the eggs puff and sizzle as they cook. Serve this as is over a pile of fragrant jasmine rice or alongside curries or stir fries.
Pork Laab
The magic of pork laab (also known as moo larb or laap) lies in the simple yet strikingly effective combo of fresh herbs and toasted rice to season this ground meat salad. Cilantro, scallions and mint balance the richness of the meat, while the nutty flavor of the ground rice — an essential component of laab — complements the zingy lime juice. Many Thai recipes call for ingredients that can be tough to find in the U.S., but this northern Thai salad is an outlier. You can opt for dried Thai chiles, if you’ve got them, or you can achieve your desired heat level by grinding up crushed red pepper.
Pad Prik King (Red Curry Chicken and Green Beans)
There are very few ingredients that can electrify a dish the way a spoonful of curry paste can. In this recipe, which is adapted from “Kiin: Recipes and Stories from Northern Thailand” (Penguin Canada, 2020) by Nuit Regular, store-bought red curry paste and lime leaves season sliced chicken and long beans in a salty-sweet dry curry. At her Toronto restaurant, Ms. Regular makes the curry paste from scratch, and in Thailand, you can purchase fresh curry paste by weight, but stateside, you’re more likely to find it in shelf-stable cans or jars. Salt and heat levels vary widely, so start with a little, then add more gradually, as desired. Citrusy, herbal Makrut lime leaves are essential to classic pad prik king (see Tip 2), but rest assured, this recipe is still delicious without them.
Vegetarian Pad Thai
When dining out or ordering in, a vegetarian pad Thai can be hard to come by, as fish sauce is often used to attain the signature salty, savory flavors of this popular dish. While the complex umami of fish sauce can be difficult to replicate, this combination of lime juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, miso and tamarind creates a comparable sauce that effectively delivers pad Thai’s balance of sour, sweet and salty notes. The seasoning sauce keeps well, too, so it can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Soaking the noodles in boiling water softens them quickly, just enough to make them pliable enough to stir-fry without overcooking and breaking apart. The broccoli and snow peas, sugar snap peas or green beans can easily be replaced with whatever vegetables you have on hand. To make this dish vegan, simply omit the eggs.
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Curried Squash Soufflé
This vegetarian riff on traditional Thai hor mok features butternut squash. It’s luxuriously creamy, with a light, airy texture similar to a French soufflé.
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Tod Man Khao Pod (Thai Corn Fritters)
With crispy edges and a chewy interior, these sweet and slightly spicy fresh corn fritters are the perfect easy party appetizer.
Chicken Satay
Bursting with warming flavors and scents of spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric, this is a weeknight-friendly Thai chicken satay adapted from Canadian cookbook author and YouTube chef Pailin Chongchitnant. Satay, a popular street food of skewered marinated meats, made its way to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries from Indonesia. Though it was originally prepared with beef, pork is now the most popular meat for satay in Thailand (and chicken is used more commonly outside of Thailand). In this version, adapted from Ms. Chongchitnant’s cookbook “Sabai” (Appetite by Random House, 2023), skewers of boneless marinated chicken breast are cooked on the grill or stovetop. A rich and sumptuous satay dipping sauce is prepared with roasted peanuts, coconut milk and red curry paste. Serve chicken satay with ajaad (tangy and crisp quick-pickled cucumbers) and a side of rice.
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Gaeng Hunglae (Northern Thai Pork Curry)
Seasoned with palm sugar, tamarind paste, and hunglae powder—a regional variation on garam masala—this sweet and sour pork curry is deeply aromatic, and one of northern Thailand’s most iconic dishes.
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Pad See Ew (Thai Stir-Fried Noodles)
Pad see ew is a classic stir-fried noodle dish made with chewy rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg, and pork, all coated in a savory soy- sauce blend. It’s a one-plate meal enjoyed as much in Thailand as it is in the US.
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Pad Kee Mao (Thai Drunken Noodles)
Featuring an intensely aromatic and fiery sauce tossed with slivers of tender pork and a balanced amount of noodles, this version of drunken noodles is closer to what you’d find in Thailand than in most US restaurants.
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Winter Squash Panang Curry
Panang curry is a staple of Malaysian and Thai cuisine, renowned for its ultra-rich, nutty sauce and well-balanced sweetness from coconut cream and panang curry paste. While it's traditionally made with beef, this plant-based version swaps in winter squash, such as kabocha, transforming the dish into a comforting autumn meal or side dish.
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Sangkaya Faktong (Thai Kabocha Pumpkin Custard)
The Thai dessert sangkaya faktong features a creamy pandan-scented coconut milk custard cooked inside a kabocha squash—aka a kabocha pumpkin—until tender. This recipe swaps the traditional steaming for baking, for sangkaya faktong with a more intense flavor. Once sliced into wedges, it’s even better than pumpkin pie.
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Thai Iced Tea
On a hot day, a sip of this Thai iced tea—which gets its creaminess from evaporated milk and sweetness from condensed milk—feels like a luxury.
Stir-Fried Bitter Melon and Eggs
Bitter melon lives up to its name. The oblong gourd is renowned for its robust health benefits and even more profound bitterness. However, when enveloped in creamy scrambled eggs and seasoned with soy sauce and brown sugar, it creates a complexity of flavor that will grow on you. This quick stir-fry is a home-cooking favorite of Chutatip Suntaranon, who is known as Nok, the chef-owner of the Thai restaurant Kalaya in Philadelphia. The recipe can easily be halved to serve one or two.
Kai Yang
There’s hardly a definitive recipe for any dish, and certainly not kai yang, which is sometimes referred to as Thai barbecue chicken. Variations abound, but you’ll always find salty notes (often from fish sauce, soy sauce or Thai seasoning); sweet notes (from palm sugar or coconut milk); and a range of accents like lemongrass, garlic and galangal or ginger. This recipe is adapted from Sheree Sarabhaya, the chef and owner of Kai Yang restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey. She refrigerates whole chickens in a fragrant, salty marinade with turmeric, ginger, lemongrass and cilantro for 24 hours, then roasts them in a rotisserie oven, allowing the scent to permeate the dining room. You can achieve spectacular results at home by basting the chicken as it cooks, encouraging it to soak up the seasoning. Traditionally served with green papaya salad and sticky rice, this chicken can also be used as a substitute for standard rotisserie chicken to liven up soups, sandwiches and salads.
Pad Woon Sen
As textural as it is colorful, Thai pad woon sen (stir-fried glass noodles) builds deep, nuanced flavor, one component at a time, but comes together quickly enough for a weeknight. Delicate, springy glass noodles get stir-fried with garlic, eggs and vegetables, and readily absorb the punchy flavors of this simple sauce (oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce and a pinch of sugar). Though you’ll often find meat or seafood variations, this recipe omits the meat and focuses on the vegetables. (If you want to add meat, cube whatever you use into small chunks, stir fry them until golden brown and cooked through, then incorporate into the noodles with the vegetables.) The convenience of this dish is that it can be eaten at any temperature: hot, room temperature or cold, straight out of the fridge. For authenticity, be sure to source a glass noodle where the main ingredient is mung bean; check the ingredient list on the package to be sure.
Massaman Curry
Thicker than other Thai curries, massaman curry is rich with coconut milk, peanuts and warm seasonings like red curry paste, cardamom, coriander, cumin and cinnamon — flavors that reflect the dish’s Central and South Asian influences. You can buy premade massaman curry paste at Thai markets and online, but it’s easy to make from scratch, starting with store-bought red curry paste and adding toasted and ground spices. (Don’t shake the can of coconut milk before opening, so you can use the thick cream on top to fry the curry paste.) This version calls for boneless chicken thighs, but feel free to substitute beef, shrimp or tofu as you wish. Finally, it’s important to make sure the flavors — salty (fish sauce), sweet (sugar) and sour (tamarind) — are balanced, so towards the end of cooking, taste and tweak as needed. Serve alongside a pile of fluffy jasmine rice.
Panang Curry
Rich with coconut milk and crushed peanuts, panang curry, also known as phanaeng or panaeng curry, is subtly spiced with coriander and cumin. This version is made with chicken, but you’ll often find it made with beef and sometimes prawns. Panang curry is sometimes mistakenly linked to Penang, a Malaysian island, but it actually originated in Thailand. According to Pim Techamuanvivit, the chef and owner of Nari and Kin Khao restaurants in San Francisco, and the executive chef of Nahm Bangkok in Bangkok, it’s important to use thick coconut milk for the creamiest results, and be sure to break the sauce by simmering until a layer of bright red oil shimmers on top. Purchase panang curry paste online or at an Asian market and add crushed peanuts to it if it doesn’t include them (not all of them do), or prepare your own paste, as is done here.
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Guaydtiaao Reuua Neuua Dtoon (Thai Boat Noodles With Braised Beef)
This Thai soup is loaded with tender morsels of braised beef, bouncy meatballs, and garlicky noodles. Its flavors are bright, savory, a little sweet, and a little sour.
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Guaydtiaao Bpet Dtoon (Thai Duck Noodle Soup)
This Thai soup features tender duck with its soy sauce–based broth, topped with garlicky noodles and fresh greens.
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Guaydtiaao Tom Yam Moo Saap (Tom Yam Noodle Soup With Minced Pork)
A spicy, salty, porky, sour Thai noodle soup topped with soft-boiled eggs, pork balls, minced pork, and fried wontons that is a hearty one-bowl meal.
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Guaydtiaao Moo Nam Sai (Thai Clear Pork Noodle Soup With Pork Meatballs)
This Thai soup features a clear, savory pork stock with marinated sliced pork, rustic meatballs, garlicky noodles, and an array of final garnish and seasonings.
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Nam Cheua Gradook Moo (Thai Pork Stock)
This clear, umami-rich pork stock serves as the backbone to some of the tastiest Thai noodle soups you’ll ever eat.