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Making An Allergy-Friendly Chicken Pad Thai

One of the hardest things about developing a soy intolerance or allergy is missing out on some of your favorite foods. Considering how much Isabelle used to love chicken pad Thai, she found it hard not being able to go get it at a restaurant because of all of her food sensitivities. Being celiac/coeliac and having multiple allergies—including corn and soy—getting some good pad Thai didn’t seem like an option. It also seemed like it would be such a challenge to make. With all of the components it required, including soy sauce, it took us a while to get around to making this dish.

But now that we’ve actually made pad Thai from scratch without using soy, corn, or gluten, we’ll let you in on our little secret: it’s really not that hard to make.

This pad Thai is seriously addictive. The first time we made it we couldn’t stop eating it. We’ve made it a few times since then and it’s definitely one of our favorite meals. Although it can take a number of pots and pans to create, it’s not all that difficult. It’s also well worth the effort and makes for amazing leftovers (if you happen to have any left). We use coconut aminos as a substitute for soy sauce and it tastes great in this recipe. Because pad Thai includes a number of sauces and ingredients, you can’t even tell that it’s soy free when you taste it.

The other part about this recipe that we love so much is that you can really adapt it to your needs. When we’ve made it for one of our vegetarian friends, we just left the chicken on the side to add in. If you have a shellfish allergy or sensitivity like Isabelle, then this version is great because it’s chicken-based. This recipe is also relatively healthy, since it contains a lot of veggies but it doesn’t feel like it.

If you don’t have the same food sensitivities or you don’t need to make this dish gluten free, then feel free to substitute. If you have other food allergies, like peanuts, then you can always leave those out or substitute them with something else (like sunflower seeds or almonds).

To learn how we make our classic chicken pad Thai, keep on reading.

How to Make Chicken Pad Thai

INGREDIENTS

*This recipe serves 4 people. Adjust the ratios as desired.

• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp cooking oil (we use canola)
• 2 cups bean sprouts (1 bag)
• 1 tsp red chili flakes (or your desired amount)
• 4 eggs
• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 8 ounces rice noodles (1 package)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos (soy substitute); we like Coconut Secret, Big Tree Farms, and the Trader Joe’s brand
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 limes (cut into wedges)
• Salt & pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. Starting with the chicken, cook the thighs whole in a pan on medium-high heat with 1 tbsp of the oil for about 6 min. per side. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste.
2. Remove the chicken from the heat and cut into bite-sized pieces.
3. In a large pan, add the remaining cooking oil with the garlic and green onions and cook on low-medium heat until they start to soften.
4. Add the bean sprouts to the garlic and green onion and add the chili flakes, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Cover and let simmer.
5. While the veggies are cooking, boil water with the rice noodles for 4-6 minutes. When they are done cooking, drain them and put them aside.
6. Add the cut up chicken to the veggies and mix through.
7. Cook the eggs either in the middle of the veggie and chicken pan (clearing the middle) or in a separate pan (with a little extra oil). Crack them into the pan and cook them on medium heat, scrambling them as you go. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. When everything is cooked, combine the noodles, veggies, chicken, and eggs in a pan or pot and stir everything through thoroughly.
9. To serve, add crushed peanuts and cilantro on top, with a couple of lime wedges on the side for an added taste.