12 Thai Recipes You Can Make at Home

Few cuisines hit every flavor note in a single bite the way Thai food does. Spicy, sour, salty, and sweet — not as separate sensations that take turns, but as a simultaneous, perfectly balanced collision that keeps you going back for another forkful before you’ve even swallowed the first. That kind of cooking sounds intimidating from the outside, but the truth is that most Thai dishes are built on a handful of core ingredients and a few techniques that any home cook can pick up fast.

The dishes you’ll find at your favorite Thai restaurant didn’t start in a fancy kitchen. The vast majority of them come from street stalls, home kitchens, and market vendors who cook the same dishes every single day with nothing more than a wok, a mortar and pestle, and a well-trained palate. That context matters, because it means these recipes are meant to be approachable — and many of them are far quicker to make than you’d expect.

Thai cooking does ask something from you, though: it asks you to taste constantly. Unlike baking, where precision is non-negotiable, Thai food is adjusted by feel. A squeeze more lime here, a splash more fish sauce there, a pinch of sugar to smooth a sharp edge. Once you understand that tasting is part of the process — not a sign that something went wrong — cooking Thai food at home becomes one of the most satisfying things you can do in a kitchen.

The 12 dishes below span soups, curries, noodles, salads, and desserts. Some take 20 minutes. Some need an hour. All of them are genuinely worth making.

Building Your Thai Pantry Before You Cook

Before diving into individual dishes, there’s one thing that will make every recipe on this list easier: having the right pantry staples on hand. A single trip to an Asian grocery store can stock you for weeks of Thai cooking, and once you have these basics, most dishes come together without any extra shopping.

Fish sauce is non-negotiable. It’s the salt of Thai cooking — deeply savory, with a fermented depth that regular salt simply cannot replicate. Don’t smell it straight from the bottle and panic; cooked in a dish, it transforms completely. Look for brands like Tiparos or Megachef if you want quality without hunting for specialty items.

Oyster sauce adds a sweet, caramel-like umami to stir-fries that no substitute quite matches. Soy sauce (both light and dark) is essential for noodle dishes and fried rice. Coconut milk — full-fat, always — is the foundation of every curry and many desserts. Jasmine rice is the everyday staple, while glutinous rice (sticky rice) belongs to northern and northeastern dishes.

For aromatics, keep lemongrass, galangal (not ginger — they’re related but distinctly different), and makrut lime leaves in your freezer if you can’t find them fresh. A tube of good-quality red curry paste and green curry paste handles the heavy lifting in curries without requiring you to build a paste from scratch every time.

With those on hand, you’re already 80% of the way to making every dish below.

1. Pad Thai

Pad Thai is Thailand’s most internationally recognized dish, and for good reason — when it’s made well, it’s a masterclass in textural contrast. Chewy rice noodles, crispy-edged eggs, crunchy peanuts, and tender protein all come together in a sauce that’s simultaneously tangy, sweet, and salty. The street vendors who make it in Bangkok cook it over flames so intense the wok practically glows, but a home version done with patience and a good sauce hits remarkably close.

Why the Sauce Is Everything

The sauce is where most home versions fall short. Authentic Pad Thai sauce uses tamarind paste as its sour base — not lime juice, not rice vinegar, though both work as substitutes. Tamarind brings a rounded, fruity acidity that’s distinctly Thai. Combine it with fish sauce for saltiness and a little palm sugar (or brown sugar) for sweetness, and you have a sauce that works. If you add a spoonful of creamy peanut butter, the sauce gets a silkier texture that clings beautifully to the noodles.

The Noodle Technique Most People Miss

Soak your flat rice noodles in room-temperature water for 30 minutes, not boiling water. They should be pliable but not fully cooked when they go into the wok — they’ll finish cooking in the sauce. If you boil them to softness first, they’ll turn to mush when stir-fried. Rinse them under cold water after soaking to stop any carryover cooking.

Key Tips

• Cook in batches if your wok is small — crowding kills the char
• Push everything to one side before scrambling the eggs directly in the pan
• Toss bean sprouts in at the very end so they stay crunchy
• Serve with lime wedges, dried chili flakes, fish sauce, and sugar on the side — the Thai way

Protein options: shrimp, chicken, tofu, or a combination of shrimp and chicken together.

2. Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Waan)

Green curry is, by a wide margin, the most popular Thai curry recipe searched for outside of Thailand — and it’s also one of the most misunderstood. True green curry paste gets its color from fresh green chilies and herbs, not from artificial coloring. The name “green” doesn’t mean mild; a properly made green curry packs real heat underneath all that creamy coconut richness.

Store-Bought Paste Is Completely Fine

Let’s put the debate to rest: most Thai people use store-bought curry paste on weeknights. Making paste from scratch requires a mortar and pestle, a solid 30 minutes, and fresh ingredients that aren’t always easy to source. Mae Ploy and Maesri are the two brands that deliver results close to homemade. The key is to bloom the paste properly — fry it in a little coconut cream over medium-high heat until it’s fragrant and the oil separates out, about 3 minutes. That step activates the spices and makes an enormous difference in flavor.

Building the Curry

Add coconut milk gradually rather than all at once. Start with half a can to create a concentrated sauce, add your protein and cook it through, then thin the curry with the remaining coconut milk to your preferred consistency. Thai eggplant (the small round green ones) is the traditional vegetable addition, but zucchini, bamboo shoots, and bell peppers all work. Always finish with makrut lime leaves sliced into thin ribbons and a handful of Thai basil added off the heat — both of these aromatics lose their brightness quickly when cooked too long.

What to Serve With It

• Jasmine rice is the standard pairing
• Plain steamed rice, not flavored, so it doesn’t compete with the curry
• A simple cucumber salad on the side cuts through the richness

3. Tom Yum Goong (Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup)

If one dish represents Thai cuisine in a single bowl, it’s tom yum. The broth is built on the “holy trinity” of Thai aromatics — lemongrass, galangal, and makrut lime leaves — and it’s seasoned with fish sauce and fresh lime juice to achieve that iconic hot-sour balance. There’s nothing subtle about tom yum; it announces itself the moment it hits the table.

Building the Broth From Scratch

The broth is simpler than it looks. Bruise lemongrass stalks with the back of a knife — just smash them — and add them to chicken or shrimp stock along with sliced galangal and torn makrut lime leaves. Simmer for 10 minutes to extract their flavor. These aromatics are not meant to be eaten; they’re removed or pushed aside in the bowl. Add mushrooms (straw mushrooms are traditional, but oyster mushrooms work beautifully), then the shrimp, which cook in about 2 minutes.

Season at the end: fish sauce for salt, fresh lime juice for sour, and a teaspoon of Thai chili paste (nam prik pao) if you want the “creamy” version that’s popular in restaurants. The clear version skips the chili paste; both are authentic depending on the region.

The Timing That Makes or Breaks It

Add lime juice after the heat is off, or at the very last moment. Lime juice turns bitter and flat when boiled. This single tip separates good tom yum from great tom yum.

Pro tip: Fresh Thai bird’s eye chilies, lightly crushed, go in with the aromatics for heat. Start with 3-4 and adjust from there.

4. Pad Kra Pao (Thai Holy Basil Stir-Fry)

Pad kra pao is the dish that Thais reach for when they want something fast, satisfying, and deeply flavored. It’s the Thai equivalent of comfort food, sold at every street stall and ordered with such frequency that some food vendors make nothing else. Ground pork or chicken is stir-fried with garlic, chilies, oyster sauce, and fish sauce, then finished with a heap of holy basil that wilts into the hot pan and releases an almost clove-like, peppery fragrance.

The Holy Basil Problem (and the Solution)

Holy basil (horapa in Thai, krapao specifically for this dish) has a distinct anise-and-pepper character that Thai basil and Italian basil don’t replicate exactly. If you can find it at an Asian grocery, use it without hesitation. If you can’t, Thai basil gets you 80% of the way there, and Italian basil — added generously — is a workable substitute. The dish still tastes wonderful with either.

The Crispy Fried Egg

The dish is traditionally served over jasmine rice with a crispy fried egg on top. Not a soft fried egg — a properly crispy-edged egg with lacy browned whites and a runny yolk in the center. Achieve this by heating a thin film of oil in a small pan until it shimmers, then cracking the egg directly into the hot oil. The whites will puff and crisp at the edges within 60-90 seconds. Slide it onto the rice and stir-fried basil below.

Customizing the Heat

The dish is supposed to be spicy. Bird’s eye chilies, roughly crushed, are the traditional choice — start with 4-6 per serving for a real kick. For a milder version, use fresno chilies or reduce the count, but don’t eliminate them entirely; the chili flavor is structural, not just heat.

5. Tom Kha Gai (Coconut Galangal Chicken Soup)

Where tom yum is bright and aggressive, tom kha gai is warm and enveloping. The coconut milk base softens every edge, and galangal — not ginger, a distinction worth making — gives the broth an earthy, almost medicinal warmth that’s entirely its own. It’s the soup you want when the weather turns cold, or when you need something that feels genuinely restorative.

Galangal vs. Ginger: Why It Matters

Galangal looks like ginger’s harder, woodier cousin, and that’s essentially what it is. It has a piney, citrusy sharpness that ginger doesn’t have. If you substitute ginger, the soup will still taste good — but it won’t taste like tom kha. Frozen galangal (sliced) is available at most Asian grocery stores and keeps for months. It’s worth seeking out at least once so you know what you’re aiming for.

The Coconut Milk Technique

Don’t let the coconut milk boil aggressively for an extended period. A gentle simmer keeps the broth creamy; a rolling boil can cause it to separate and look oily. Add chicken thighs (more forgiving than breast), simmer until just cooked through, then add mushrooms and cook another 3 minutes. Season with fish sauce and finish with fresh lime juice off the heat — the same lime-timing rule as tom yum applies here.

Finishing touches: fresh cilantro, sliced Thai chilies for heat, and a squeeze of lime in the bowl right before eating.

6. Thai Red Curry with Chicken

Red curry is the most pantry-friendly Thai curry — red curry paste, coconut milk, and fish sauce are increasingly available at regular supermarkets, making this one of the most accessible starting points for anyone new to Thai cooking at home. The flavor profile is slightly earthier and less herbaceous than green curry, with a deeper chili heat and a rounder sweetness.

Getting the Ratio Right

For a single can of coconut milk (400ml), use 2 to 3 tablespoons of red curry paste for a medium-heat curry. Bloom the paste in 3 tablespoons of the thick cream from the top of an unshaken coconut milk can, over medium-high heat, until fragrant — about 2-3 minutes. Add sliced chicken thighs, coat them in the paste, then pour in the remaining coconut milk. Simmer for 12-15 minutes.

Vegetables That Work Best

• Bell peppers add sweetness and hold their texture
• Zucchini softens nicely and absorbs the sauce
• Baby eggplant is traditional and melts into the curry beautifully
• Cherry tomatoes added at the end bring brightness and acidity
• Bamboo shoots (canned, drained) add chew and an earthy note

Finish with fish sauce, a little palm sugar or brown sugar, makrut lime leaves, and Thai basil. Taste and adjust — you want the sauce to be balanced, not one-note spicy.

7. Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum)

Som tum is the most popular salad in Thailand and one of the most misunderstood dishes outside of it. The raw green papaya isn’t sweet or ripe — it’s firm, almost bland, used purely for its crunchy texture as a vehicle for the aggressively flavored dressing. That dressing — fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, chilies, and a little tamarind — is what makes the whole thing sing.

How to Shred Papaya Without a Mandoline

Traditional som tum uses a mortar to lightly pound the papaya, creating irregular shreds with rough edges that grab the dressing. At home, a julienne peeler or the julienne attachment on a box grater gives you thin, matchstick-like shreds that work perfectly. If you can’t find green papaya, shredded cabbage with carrot, or even green mango, works with the same dressing.

The Pounding Method

The Thai way to make som tum is to lightly pound garlic and chilies in a large mortar first, then add tomatoes (halved cherry tomatoes work well), palm sugar, and fish sauce and pound lightly to combine. Add lime juice, then toss in the papaya and green beans (cut into 2-inch pieces), and use a combination of pounding and tossing with a spoon to bruise — not completely crush — the vegetables. The dressing should pool at the bottom of the mortar and coat everything when tossed.

Serve with: sticky rice, grilled chicken, or any grilled meat. The salad wilts quickly, so eat it soon after making.

8. Massaman Curry

Massaman is a curry unlike any other in the Thai repertoire. Where green and red curries lean into fresh herbs and bright chilies, massaman is warm, aromatic, and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise — a reflection of Persian and Indian influences that reached southern Thailand through trade centuries ago. The result is something closer to a rich, slow-cooked braise than a typical Thai curry.

The Long-Braise Advantage

Massaman benefits from time. Chicken thighs, beef chuck, or lamb — all tough, flavorful cuts — become genuinely tender after 45 minutes of gentle simmering in the curry sauce. Potatoes added in the final 20 minutes absorb the sauce and become incredibly creamy. Roasted peanuts stirred in near the end add crunch and richness. If you have an Instant Pot, pressure cook the meat with the sauce for 25 minutes and you’ll get the same result in a fraction of the time.

Making It From Store-Bought Paste

Maesri’s massaman paste is excellent and available at most Asian grocery stores. Bloom it in oil with a small handful of dried chilies for 2 minutes, then add coconut milk, your protein, and a cinnamon stick. Fish sauce and palm sugar balance the spices at the end. A splash of tamarind paste adds the subtle tartness that rounds everything out.

This is the curry to make for guests — it reheats brilliantly, actually improving in flavor overnight as the spices continue to develop.

9. Pad See Ew (Wide Rice Noodle Stir-Fry)

Pad See Ew has a cult following for good reason. Wide, flat rice noodles, stir-fried with egg, Chinese broccoli (gai lan), and a combination of light and dark soy sauces — it’s simple enough to sound boring and complex enough to be completely addictive. The key flavor note is wok hei, the smoky char that comes from high heat and confident cooking. Without it, Pad See Ew tastes fine. With it, the dish is extraordinary.

Chasing Wok Hei at Home

Restaurant woks run on flames you can’t replicate on a home stove. But you can get close by doing a few things: heat your wok or largest skillet over maximum heat for 3-4 full minutes before adding oil. Cook in small batches so the temperature doesn’t drop. And crucially — let the noodles sit undisturbed against the hot pan surface for 30-45 seconds at a time rather than tossing constantly. That contact time creates the caramelized char that makes the dish.

The Noodle Situation

Fresh wide rice noodles are the correct choice and are sold refrigerated at Asian grocery stores. They clump together, so separate them gently by hand before they go into the wok. If you can only find dried wide rice noodles, soak them according to the package and cook them with slightly more sauce to compensate for their drier texture.

Ratio note: Dark soy sauce gives color and a subtle sweetness; light soy sauce adds salt and umami. Use both — dark soy alone will make the dish too sweet and dark, light soy alone won’t color it properly.

10. Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple fried rice looks like a party dish — especially when it’s served inside a hollowed pineapple half — but it’s genuinely fast to make and delivers a flavor profile that’s more sophisticated than the presentation suggests. The sweetness of fresh pineapple plays against the savory fish sauce and a hint of curry powder, while cashews add a buttery crunch that ties the whole thing together.

The Leftover Rice Rule

Fried rice needs cold, day-old rice. Freshly cooked rice is too moist and sticky; when it hits a hot wok, it clumps and steams rather than frying. If you don’t have leftover rice, spread freshly cooked rice on a baking sheet and refrigerate it uncovered for at least 2 hours. The surface dries out enough to fry properly.

What Makes the Thai Version Different

Thai pineapple fried rice uses a small amount of curry powder — unusual for Thai cooking, which typically uses fresh curry paste — along with fish sauce instead of just soy sauce, and often includes raisins for a sweet chewiness alongside the pineapple. Shrimp is the most common protein, but diced chicken breast works equally well. Don’t use canned pineapple; the syrup makes the rice wet and the flavor is flat. Fresh pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks, holds its shape and gives the dish its bright, tropical character.

Serving in the Pineapple Shell

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise through the leaves. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon, cube it, and set aside. Once the fried rice is ready, pile it back into the hollowed shell. The shell holds the heat, looks striking on the table, and adds a faint extra pineapple fragrance to each serving.

11. Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Thai chicken satay is not the same as Malaysian or Indonesian satay — the marinade is coconut milk-based and scented with turmeric and lemongrass, giving the chicken a golden color and a gently aromatic flavor before it hits the grill. The real star, though, is the peanut dipping sauce. A genuine Thai peanut sauce is made from scratch, not peanut butter — ground roasted peanuts, red curry paste, coconut milk, and a little palm sugar create something with more texture, depth, and authenticity than any shortcut version.

Marinating for Maximum Flavor

Thread chicken thigh strips (not breast — thighs stay juicy on skewers) onto soaked bamboo skewers after marinating for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. The marinade: coconut milk, fish sauce, turmeric, lemongrass paste, and a pinch of palm sugar. The turmeric gives the characteristic golden crust; don’t skip it. Grill over medium-high heat, turning once, until the chicken has golden-char marks — about 3-4 minutes per side.

Building the Real Peanut Sauce

Toast raw peanuts in a dry pan, cool, and pulse in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs — not smooth paste. Cook a tablespoon of red curry paste in a little oil until fragrant, add coconut milk, then stir in the ground peanuts, a splash of fish sauce, and palm sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes, taste, and adjust. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon but still pourable. A squeeze of tamarind paste or lime juice sharpens the flavor beautifully.

12. Mango and Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang)

If there’s one Thai dessert that converts skeptics, it’s mango sticky rice. Sweet coconut-infused glutinous rice, paired with ripe, fragrant mango and drizzled with a salted coconut cream sauce — it’s a combination that sounds simple and tastes transcendent. The contrast between warm, creamy rice and cold, silky mango is the whole point, and it only works when both components are made properly.

Getting the Sticky Rice Right

Glutinous rice (not regular rice — they are entirely different) must be soaked in cold water for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Without soaking, the grains won’t cook evenly. After soaking, steam it in a bamboo basket or steamer lined with cheesecloth for 20-25 minutes, until the grains are translucent, tender, and slightly chewy.

While it steams, make the sweetened coconut milk: combine full-fat coconut milk, palm sugar (or white sugar), and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and warm gently until dissolved. Pour this over the hot steamed rice and fold it in gently. Let the rice absorb the coconut milk for 15-20 minutes before serving — this resting step is non-negotiable. The rice should be lusciously creamy, each grain distinct but holding together slightly.

Choosing the Right Mango

The variety matters. Nam dok mai mangoes are the traditional Thai choice — honey-sweet, with almost no fiber and a buttery texture. Outside of Thailand, Ataulfo (Champagne) mangoes come closest in sweetness and creaminess. Avoid Tommy Atkins mangoes for this dish; they’re too firm and tart. The mango should be fully ripe — fragrant at the stem end and giving slightly to gentle pressure.

To serve: slice the mango off the pit and fan it alongside a mound of sticky rice. Drizzle with a second batch of coconut sauce made with a little extra salt for contrast, and scatter toasted sesame seeds on top.

How to Balance Thai Flavors Like a Thai Cook

Understanding balance is the single most useful thing you can learn from Thai cooking. The goal isn’t to make something spicy, or something sweet, or something sour — it’s to make something that is simultaneously all of those things, with none of them dominating. This is what “balanced Thai flavor” actually means.

The four pillars:

• Salty → fish sauce (primary), soy sauce, shrimp paste
• Sour → lime juice, tamarind, rice vinegar (in a pinch)
• Sweet → palm sugar, coconut milk, fresh fruit
• Spicy → fresh chilies, dried chili flakes, curry paste

When a dish tastes flat, it usually needs an acid hit — lime juice wakes everything up. When it’s too sharp or sour, a pinch of sugar rounds the edges. When it tastes dull despite everything, fish sauce adds the depth (not saltiness, but depth). When it’s too one-note, fresh chilies cut through richness and add complexity.

Taste every dish at least twice while cooking — once partway through, once at the end. Adjust in small amounts. A dish can go from good to genuinely great in one small tweak, and learning to recognize which element is missing is a skill that develops quickly once you start paying attention.

Fresh garnishes aren’t decorative — they’re functional. A handful of fresh cilantro adds brightness. Lime wedges served on the side let each person control their own acid level. Bean sprouts add crunch and freshness. These finishing touches are built into the dish’s flavor architecture, not afterthoughts.

Final Thoughts

Thai cooking rewards curiosity and forgives mistakes. Start with whichever dish on this list you’ve already tasted and loved — that familiar reference point makes it much easier to know when your version is on the right track.

Build your pantry gradually. Fish sauce, a couple of curry pastes, coconut milk, and jasmine rice will carry you through most of these recipes without a special shopping trip. As you cook more, the fresh aromatics — lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves — will become familiar ingredients rather than exotic-sounding extras.

The most important habit to build is tasting. Not just at the end, but throughout the process. Thai cooks season in layers, adjusting constantly, and the results reflect that ongoing attention. A dish that tastes flat mid-cook is an invitation to problem-solve, not a sign of failure.

Cook one dish this week. Make it again next week. By the third time, it’ll feel intuitive — and that’s the moment when Thai cooking stops feeling like following a recipe and starts feeling like cooking.