This Pad Thai is definitely one of my new favourites. It only uses a few simple ingredients which we all usually have in our homes! The recipe from start to finish takes me about 20 minutes, which is perfect for when I get home from work and don’t want to spend hours cooking. The dish is absolutely delicious and has a great nutty flavour from the peanut butter, chopped salted peanuts and the toasted sesame oil. I cannot recommend this recipe enough. My family (who are not low FODMAP) absolutely loved this dish and couldn’t tell that it was low FODMAP and made without onion or garlic!
Ensure that you cook the rice noodles according to the packet’s instructions. Different brands may have different cooking times and methods, so ensure you read the packaging carefully! I had to cook mine in boiling water for 5 minutes. Then I chose to rinse them under a cold tap for a minute to ensure they stopped cooking. It is important that the noodles don’t become over cooked and soggy, as this will not work well when frying. You want strong noodles that hold their shape, since you are mixing them alongside a sauce and veggies later on.
If I’m completely honest with you, I could just eat this sauce on its own. It is so incredibly well balanced with the soy sauce, lemon juice and toasted sesame oil. A great mix of light flavours and deeper ones! I truly think that this sauce tastes exactly like the Pad Thai sauce you get from a restaurant or takeaway. It is so rich and aromatic, it has the perfect comforting taste you expect from a good Pad Thai. I will add, that if you do not have lemon juice to hand, you can substitute it for an equal amount of lime juice. This can be freshly squeezed or from a bottle.
Extras you could add into your Pad Thai:
- Tofu
- Chicken
- Beef
- Tempeh
- Scrambled egg
- Frozen edamame (do not use if this causes your IBS to flare up)
- The tops of spring onions (again, be wary that these can irritate IBS)
- Fish sauce
It’s important to have all of your ingredients at the ready and chopped up because this recipe is quite fast paced. On the side, I had my bell pepper chopped, measured out my beansprouts, coriander and had pre-mixed my peanut sauce. This made it easier for me to quickly toss them into my pan and fry them, rather than prepping throughout. It is important that you keep stirring the ingredients in your pan to ensure that nothing sticks. The noodles will be likely to stick if you’re not paying attention, which can lead to burnt edges and mess!
Have patience when you mix in your peanut sauce. It is very thick, and can be tedious distributing it amongst the noodles since they are probably lumped together. Gently mix all your Pad Thai ingredients around until pretty much everything is covered in the sauce. Make sure to be gentle because you don’t want to break and rip the noodles. I found that the best way to do this was to treat it like folding a cake or brownie batter- swiping round the edges and gliding through the middle of the mix. Additionally, I found it helpful to dig up the bottom of the mix and fold that over the top to ensure that the sauce reached the bottom.
Recommendation:
If you enjoy this recipe and love how it tastes, I highly recommend you try out my chicken stir fry recipe. In addition, it is just as quick and easy, and equally and yummy! I love a stir fry noodle dish because they have a great balance of proteins, carbs and fats- a great and healthy way to round off your day! They also take such minimal effort and don’t require a big clean up since the entire meal is made in one pan! You can also fully customise which veggies you put in these dishes with whatever you have in your fridge. I’ve experimented with putting long carrot peels in, and other thinly sliced vegetables, it all tastes great”
Ingredients: (serves 4)
- 1 pack of 400g rice noodles
- 2 1/4 cup of cooked prawns
- 2 cups beansprouts
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 4 tbsp gluten free soy sauce
- 4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- Handful coriander
To serve:
- chopped peanuts
- lime wedges
Method:
Step 1: cook your rice noodles to instructions. Rinse them briefly in cold water once you have cooked them.
Step 2: in a small bowl, mix your lemon juice, light brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and peanut butter.
Step 3: add your cooked meat to the pan and quickly stir fry to reheat it.
Step 4: then, add your bell pepper and beansprouts to the pan and fry them briefly.
Step 5: after your veggies have tenderised a little, add in your rice noodles and stir.
Step 6: now, add in your sauce and fry for a couple minutes until the veggies tenderise slightly. Ffry for only a couple minutes.
Step 7: finally, add your coriander and mix it in briefly.
Step 8: serve immediately after cooking with a wedge of lime!
You can store this Pad Thai in an airtight container for 48h. Reheat by frying on the stove or microwaving until piping hot.
Make sure to send me in your Pad Thai recreations, my Instagram is TheLazyLowFODMAP. Dm me your images or tag me so that I see them!
