Pad Thai Tacos
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If you love bold fusion recipes that are fun, flavorful, and easy to make, these Pad Thai Tacos are about to blow your mind! They take everything you love about classic pad thai, savory-sweet sauce, tender chicken, and plenty of veggies, all wrapped up in a warm tortilla for an easy, handheld twist. This recipe is easy to make in 30 minutes, packed with plenty of Thai-inspired flavor, and perfect for weeknight dinners!
Why you’ll love this recipe
I don’t know about you all, but I love a good fusion recipe! Taking two different cuisines and combining them together to make something that’s new, but still familiar, is such a fun way to mix things up in the kitchen. After making these Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos, I was inspired to try more smash taco recipes, and that’s how the idea for these pad thai tacos began!
After testing and perfecting the recipe, I can tell you that you’re absolutely going to love them and here’s why!
- So much flavor!! I happened to make these tacos one day while my neighbors were working from home, so I took some over to them for lunch. Their immediate response was, “wow, the flavor is amazing!!”
- So easy to make! These tacos deliver big flavor without a complicated recipe. You can easily whip them up in 30 minutes, perfect for a quick and simple meal.
- You get the best of both worlds! All the bold flavors of pad thai combined with the fun, handheld ease of tacos makes this an unexpected and exciting meal, perfect for anyone bored of the same old dinners!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this recipe for pad thai tacos, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Ground chicken – you could also make this recipe with ground pork or ground turkey. I usually order pad thai at restaurants with chicken, so using ground chicken seemed like a natural fit for this recipe.
- Thai seasoning – I like to find any excuse to use this homemade Thai seasoning mix. It’s easy to mix up in 5 minutes and you can keep it in the pantry for up to 6 months to use in any Thai recipe to add bold flavors. If you don’t have all of the ingredients for the seasoning on hand, you can simply use a combination of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and red pepper flakes (if you want some heat) to season the chicken.
- Flour tortillas – you’ll want to pick up “street taco” tortillas that are 4.5 inches wide, or “fajita size” tortillas that are 6 inches wide. Both will work for this recipe, but you don’t want anything larger.
- Bean sprouts + green onions + shredded carrots + shredded cabbage + red bell peppers – one of the great things about pad thai is all of the delicious textures in the dish. To replicate that in these tacos, we’re combining all of these crunchy veggies to top the tacos.
- Soy sauce + sesame oil + peanut butter + brown sugar + lime juice + sriracha + Thai red curry paste – combined to make the pad thai sauce for the tacos.
- Fresh cilantro + chopped peanuts – to garnish the dish with bright flavors and more crunch.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Combine the veggies. Add bean sprouts, diced green onions, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and sliced bell peppers to a large bowl. Toss the vegetables together.
- Make the pad Thai sauce. In a small mixing bowl, or mason jar, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter, brown sugar, lime juice, Sriracha, and red curry paste. You can either whisk all of the ingredients together or shake them up in a mason jar.
- Prep the tacos. Combine ground chicken and Thai seasoning. Divide the mixture into 12 small balls. Use a fork to press each ball of ground chicken onto a tortilla.
- Cook the tacos. Heat a non-stick pan, like the griddle pan that I used, on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add each tortilla, meat-side down, to the pan. Press down on the tortilla with a spatula and cook for 2-3 minutes. Flip the tortilla and cook for another 1-2 minutes. You will probably have to cook the tacos in 2 or 3 batches, unless you have a large griddle available. Or you can use two pans to cook them at the same time.
- Assemble the tacos. After you’ve cooked the tacos, remove them from the heat. Add some of the vegetable mixture to the middle of each taco, then pour pad Thai sauce over the vegetables. Finish with fresh chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts. Serve immediately for the best flavor and texture.
Chicken Pad Thai Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- ½ cup green onions, diced
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup red bell peppers, julienned
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon Thai seasoning, click link for the recipe, or see notes below
- 12 small tortillas, recommended: street taco size that are 4.5 inches wide
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts
Pad Thai Sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, approximately 1 small lime
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
Instructions
- Combine the bean sprouts, green onions, purple cabbage, carrots, and bell peppers in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the pad thai sauce. Set them both aside.
- Combine the ground chicken and Thai seasoning. Divide the mixture into 12 small balls.
- Use a fork to press a ball of ground chicken mixture on each tortilla.
- Heat a non-stick pan, like this griddle pan, on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, cook each tortilla meat-side down for 2-3 minutes, pressing down with a spatula.
- Flip and cook each taco for another 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the mixed veggies to each taco. Top with the pad thai sauce, fresh cilantro, and chopped peanuts.
Notes
- Thai seasoning: you can mix up my homemade seasoning in about 5 minutes. If you don’t have all of the ingredients, simply combine 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and (optional for spice) 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to season the chicken before cooking.
- You can mix up the veggies and pad thai sauce up to 2 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the tacos.
- This recipe makes 12 small tacos, I recommend 3 tacos per person for a meal.
- To make this recipe gluten free, use corn tortillas and gluten-free soy sauce.
- The pad Thai sauce has a nice kick of spice. If you’d like less spice, reduce the Sriracha from 1 tablespoon down to 1 teaspoon.
Nutrition Facts
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