Gluten Free Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai recipe

Originally posted on March 12, 2009 as “Time to Try Pad Thai”

Think your family won’t eat Thai food? Have you tried Pad Thai? It’s basically noodles in a sweet sauce. At some point, we realized our kids liked it when they tried it in a restaurant. They are not crazy about cilantro (at the time) but they love the rest. (For the record, they love it now)

Hmm, sautéed shrimp or chicken with some scrambled egg and a few veggies? Sounds good to me. Introduce this to them when they can eat noodles. If they aren’t as adventurous, try keeping things separate for them; some kids just like it that way. Peanut allergies? Either omit or use cashews if you can.

If you can buy the ingredients over the weekend, this dish is really very quick. I use pre-shredded carrots, frozen shrimp which thaw quickly and I just chop the cilantro and scallions while everything else is cooking up in the wok. I like my mini processor for the peanuts. Sure, you can make the sauce yourself but if you are looking for easy, this is the answer.

Hope you like it. Apparently, my kids sure did!

Time to Try Pad Thai

Serves 3-4

• 8 ounces gluten-free pad thai rice noodles
• 3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil like avocado, divided
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh, cut into cubes
• 8-10, or about 1/2 lb, medium sized shrimp, cleaned and deveined, thawed if frozen
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts (if you don’t like them or don’t have them, just leave them out)
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 8 ounce bottle gluten-free pad thai sauce (Thai Kitchen is an option)

Garnishes:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts or cashew (omit for nut-free)
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

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1. Fill a large pot a little more than half way with water. Bring to a boil. Add rice noodles and turn heat off. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Strain noodles and rinse with cold water. You can keep these in the colander while you make the stir fry.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add eggs and scramble, using a spatula to move around the pan (otherwise it will burn). It should cook very quickly. Once cooked, remove from pan and place in a bowl or on a plate.
3. Heat remaining oil and add onion and chicken to the pan. Cook until chicken is golden (if using chicken thigh, cook 3-5 minutes more). Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Add ginger and garlic and cook for one minute. Transfer to the bowl with the eggs.
4. Reduce heat to low, add sauce and bring to a simmer. Add noodles to pan and mix well. Then, add the eggs, chicken, shrimp, carrots, and bean sprouts to noodles and toss.
5. Place on a large serving platter. Garnish with cilantro, peanuts, scallions, and lime wedges. Serve and enjoy.