Pad Thai Wonderpot Recipe - Meatless, or with Shrimp or Chicken (2024)

I mean, have you ever see the commercials for V8? The ones where they smack themselves in the head? That’s how I felt after I had made this so simple, so delicious meal for the first time. Like “duh! where has THIS been all my life?!”

Easy Wonder Pot Shrimp Pad Thai

I began the search for pad Thai recipes that would work in this one pot/wonder pot fashion and found a couple on Pinterest that I liked the looks of. Like always, I pulled some of this and some of that from each of them and my recipe for Shrimp Pad Thai Wonderpot was born.

The first time I blogged this recipe, I added shrimp. I have also made it with chicken. You don’t need to add meat to this at all, we love it meatless, as is.

The beauty of this meal is wonder pot recipes are one-pot meals that you can easily do in 30 minutes. It is called a “wonder pot recipe” because you cook everything in one pot and wonder why didn’t you ever do it anyway before. It is just that convenient to make and to clean up afterward.

What exactly is Pad Thai?

Pretty much everyone I know loves ordering pad Thai noodles in their favorite Thai restaurant. It is seriously just one of those dishes with universal appeal. Young kids eat without being fussy about it. Old folks love it (even though they may prefer it on the less spicy side). And it is just one of those dishes that you see on every Thai menu.

It is sort of like seeing some form of spaghetti on an Italian menu or enchiladas on a Mexican menu. Pad Thai apparently pays the bills.

In essence, pad Thai is a rice noodle dish that is a little bit salty and a little bit sweet. There is a bit of nuttiness from peanut butter and umami from the soy sauce. The red pepper flakes and curry add just a touch of heat. However, no flavor outpaces any other. The goal is balance and harmony.

Wonder Pot Pad Thai noodle creates a classic “street food” dish

Contrary to commonly held beliefs, pad Thai is not an ancient Thai recipe. In fact, in food terms, it is relatively modern. It became popular as street food back in the early part of the last century.

Traditional pad Thai is classic “one pot” style cooking. The classic version of pad Thai is cooked in a wok, but I just use a suitably sized pot to contain all the ingredients.

The pasta and most of the ingredients cook together until the end when you add the shrimp, or tofu, or thin strips of chicken. Then you let those cook quickly at the end, garnish and it is ready to serve. You are ready to set up your cart on the streets of Thailand… Well, maybe don’t go that far, but you are ready for a wonderful and easy pad Thai meal.

Ingredients in this Pad Thai Wonderpot Recipe

Gotta love all of those colorful veggies, right? Mung bean sprouts, sweet red bell pepper, onions, and matchstick carrots. (I cheat and buy the shredded carrots in the produce section.) Scallions, cilantro, and salty chopped peanuts top it off.

Instead of the traditional rice noodles, I use uncooked linguine pasta. You could most certainly use rice noodles if you prefer.

The heat comes from the red curry paste and the red pepper flakes, and it’s super easy to adjust the spice. The way my recipe is made is not spicy at all. So if you like the heat, add in more of those pepper flakes!

Ginger paste or fresh ginger root, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, chicken or vegetable stock, and peanut butter make up the red of the pot.

The chopping is the only time consuming part of this whole recipe. Almost everything goes into the pot to start, adding in the bean sprouts, and any protein later. Cover it with a lid and bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat and cook it for another 6 minutes, stirring to keep the noodles from sticking together.

Remove the lid and Ta-Dah! Dinner is ready.

Garnish with more cilantro, scallions, and more peanuts before serving. Only one pot to clean up, too! It’s a winner of a dinner!

LOVE IT? Pin it!

If you love this recipe and can’t wait to give it a try, pin it to your favorite recipe Pinterest board to find it easily.

Variations on Wonder Pot pad Thai

If you are allergic or have other dietary restrictions on eating shellfish, then you can always adapt this recipe easily. If you want to go with a vegetarian version, then add some cubes of tofu to add protein to it. Or, use strips of chicken breast meat or strips of lean pork too.

If you want to go gluten-free for the noodles or use any other style of linguine like spinach or tomato then those will do nicely, too.

You can also easily dial up the heat with the addition of a couple of deep red or dark green Thai chilies. Dice them in according to your heat preferences.

More Thai inspired dishes to check out

Thai food is so fresh and balances so many wonderful seasonings. You don’t have to go out to the restaurant if you want to make your own. Here are a few recipes to check out inspired by Thai classics.

• Thai Shrimp and Noodle Salad (pictured above)
• Thai Chicken Bowl
• Basil Garlic Fried Rice
• Spicy Thai Shrimp Soup
• Thai Red Curry
• Tom Yum Soup (Hot & Sour Soup)
• Grilled Thai Pork Tenderloin
• Thai Red Curry Chicken and Vegetables
• Red Rice Thai Wrap
• Thai Baked Chicken Meatballs

Let’s get to this simple Pad Thai Wonderpot Recipe!

This recipe was originally posted on March 5, 2014. It was updated to improve user experience and re-shared on July 21, 2020.