Name: Pad Thai (GF, DF)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 180g rice sticks (uncooked rice noodles) - I use Red Drago noodles from Amazon; 1 tbsp sesame oil (peanut or vegetable oil also fine); 5 spring onions; 2 carrots; A handful of beansprouts (OR a small courgette); 2 large eggs (OR 3 medium eggs); Fresh chives (approx 15g); 4 tbsp light brown sugar; 2 tbsp tomato ketchup; Juice 1 lime (approx 2 tbsp); 2 tbsp gluten free tamari soy sauce; 0.5 tbsp fish sauce; 1 clove garlic (OR 0.5 tsp garlic granules); 1 packet cooked prawns (approx 200g); To serve: extra chives, crushed salted peanuts and fresh red chilli.

Pad Thai (GF, DF)

Jump to Recipe

I’ve been working on my gluten free pad thai recipe for ages, but have finally hit on my perfect recipe! Pad thai originates from Thailand, where it is a hugely popular stir fried noodle dish and it is absolutely delicious.

Lots of the ingredients used in authentic pad thai need to be bought from specialist Asian food stores in the UK. I decided to try to recreate the flavours of pad thai using ingredients that are readily available in UK supermarkets and I am very happy with the result. It happens to be naturally dairy free too.

You might think I have lost it slightly with some of the changes (ketchup and lime juice instead of tamarind?!), but trust me, it works! It also cuts the cost of making pad thai at home too, as you can get everything in the supermarket.

Which Rice Noodles Do You Use?

I get asked this a lot and my current favourite are Red Drago Rice Sticks, which I buy on Amazon. If you follow my cooking instructions in the recipe you’ll find they won’t fall apart during stir-frying, as other brands can.

Otherwise, any dried rice noodle brand should work well for these noodles. Simply remember to only cook them al dente before you add them to your wok, otherwise you’ll end up with a stodgy mess!

Gluten Free Pad Thai Recipe

Time for the recipe! If you enjoy this gluten free pad thai dish, I would be really grateful if you could review the recipe on the card below.

Feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have about making this recipe – laura@mygfguide.com – or DM me on social media @myglutenfreeguide.

Laura xxx

Serves 2

Pad Thai (GF, DF)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

180g rice sticks (uncooked rice noodles) - I use Red Drago noodles from Amazon
1 tbsp sesame oil (peanut or vegetable oil also fine)
5 spring onions
2 carrots
A handful of beansprouts (OR a small courgette)
2 large eggs (OR 3 medium eggs)
Fresh chives (approx 15g)
4 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
Juice 1 lime (approx 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp gluten free tamari soy sauce
0.5 tbsp fish sauce
1 clove garlic (OR 0.5 tsp garlic granules)
1 packet cooked prawns (approx 200g)
To serve: extra chives, crushed salted peanuts and fresh red chilli.

Instructions

Start by preparing the rice noodles and your other ingredients, so that you have everything at your fingertips when it's cooking time. Place the rice sticks into a pan of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes until they are al dente (i.e. only just cooked, with a bit of bite). Drain the water off, pop the noodles back in the pan and fully immerse them in cold water. This will rinse off any excess starch and prevent them from sticking together before they are stir fried. Set them aside (still in the cold water).

While the noodles are cooking, you can make the sauce and prep the veggies. For the sauce, simply mix the brown sugar, ketchup, lime juice, tamari soy sauce, fish sauce and grated garlic together in a small bowl until smooth.

The prep the veggies, slice the carrots into very thin strips and chop the spring onions roughly into rounds. If you are using a courgette instead of bean sprouts, slice into thin strips.

Now we are ready to get cooking! Place a wok or high-sided frying pan over a high heat and add the oil. Heat for a couple of minutes then add the carrot, spring onions and courgette/bean sprouts. Cook for 3-4 means, stirring constantly.

Drain the noodles and add them to the pan, before pouring the sauce over the top and stirring through.

Once the noodles have absorbed the excess sauce, push them slightly to the side to make a gap at the edge of the pan. Crack the eggs into the space and scramble them with the spatula for a a minute before stirring through the noodles.

Finally add the cooked prawns and chives, stir through and cook for a final two minutes.

Serves in bowls topped with crushed peanuts, a few sliced chives and sliced red chillis. Add a wedge of lime on the side.