20 Thai Recipes Full of All the Hot, Savory, Sour, Sweet Flavors We Love

If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area with access to a variety of great Thai food you know that it’s way more than a generic plate of stir-fried rice noodles with a smattering of vegetables and nonspecific Asian-y sauce, labeled “Pad thai.” Thai food is a complex blend of hot, spicy, salty, sour, sweet, smoky, herbaceous, and aromatic flavors that vary throughout different regions of Thailand. We’ve tried to capture some of that diversity in our favorite Thai recipes—from an array of curries to Chinese-influenced stir-fries to light and fresh green papaya salad.

Don’t be daunted by the ingredients list. You can find many items at an Asian grocery store or online, which has become much easier in recent years—plus, pantry items such as chile jam and fish sauce have a decent shelf life. So dive in and give these recipes a try. You might find yourself ditching takeout for homemade real-deal Thai food for your season three White Lotus watch party.

Guaydtiaao Tom Yam Moo Saap (Tom Yam Noodle Soup With Minced Pork)

This noodle soup is a hearty one-bowl meal built on an umami-rich pork-broth base that’s flavored with additional seasonings and condiments, and loaded with a variety of mix-ins, like soft-boiled eggs, pork balls, minced pork, fried wontons, bean sprouts, and fresh greens.

Guaydtiaao Reuua Neuua Dtoon (Thai Boat Noodles With Braised Beef)

Originally served on boats floating down canals, this Thai noodle soup is bright, savory, slightly sweet and sour, and packed with morsels of tender beef, meatballs, and garlicky noodles. Don’t be intimidated by the ingredients list—you can break the recipe into manageable chunks, like cooking the broth and beef ahead of time. Trust us, this soup is worth it!

Guaydtiaao Bpet Dtoon (Thai Duck Noodle Soup)

Tender duck is braised in an aromatic soy base, then deboned and combined with garlicky noodles, fresh greens, and a robust duck broth to create a complex and comforting soup. Drizzle on a little or a lot of sharp and spicy homemade chile vinegar at the end to cut through the richness of the duck.

Guaydtiaao Moo Nam Sai (Thai Clear Pork Noodle Soup With Pork Meatballs)

This Thai soup features pork in three ways: a rich savory clear pork broth, marinated sliced pork, and fish sauce-infused rustic pork meatballs. Cooked noodles are tossed in garlic oil before being transferred into serving bowls to enhance their flavor and the sensation of slurping each oil-slicked noodle.

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut and Galangal)

While most people are drawn to the creaminess and sour and salty flavors of tom kha gai, what truly makes this soup is galangal (after all, its name is literally “boiled galangal”), which is front and center in this recipe. We add the aromatics in stages and combine chicken stock and coconut cream to create a perfectly balanced light and creamy broth layered with flavor.

Pad Kee Mao (Thai Drunken Noodles)

There’s no need to order takeout when you can whip up this intensely spicy and aromatic Thai restaurant favorite in 30 minutes at home. We scale back on the noodles to keep the focus on the aromatics, vegetables, and protein. A base of Thai chiles, garlic, and makrut lime leaves ensures every saucy bite hits you with flavor.

Crying Tiger (Thai-Style Grilled Steak With Dry Chili Dipping Sauce)

The origin of the moniker “Crying Tiger” is dubious at best, but there’s no denying this is one of the best versions of the classic dish. Instead of deep-frying or sautéeing the beef and serving it up as a salad, as restaurants tend to do, we coat the steaks in a mixture of soy, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and vegetable oil, and grill them over charcoal to a gorgeously smoky medium rare. Sliced up and served simply with a tomatoey dried chile dipping sauce and some steamed rice, this beef is so good it would make even tigers weep with joy.

Goong Pad Nam Prik Pao (Thai Stir-Fried Shrimp With Chile Jam)

Store-bought or homemade chile jam is the star ingredient that transforms shrimp, long beans, and oyster mushrooms into a standout stir-fry. Cooking the components separately keeps the wok hot and prevents steaming so you capture all the smoky flavor of stir-frying.

Makheua Yao Pad Tao Jiao (Stir-Fried Eggplant With Minced Pork)

Arguably one of my all-time favorite Thai takeout orders, this classic Thai-Chinese dish of stir-fried eggplant and minced pork is flavored with fermented yellow bean paste, garlic, fresh chiles, and Thai basil for an aromatic punch. You don’t need much more than a bowl of steamed rice to complete the meal.

Gaeng Khiao Waan Gai (Thai Green Curry with Chicken)

Green chile, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, dried spices, and shrimp paste form the aromatic base of this bright, spicy, savory curry. Coconut milk and palm sugar provide a subtle sweetness that beautifully balances the spicy, savory elements, and a richness that pairs well with the relative leanness of chicken meat.

Gaeng Massaman Neua (Thai Massaman Curry with Beef)

Gaeng massaman has a bit of everything: fresh Thai ingredients like lemongrass, warm dry spices like cardamom and cumin, along with sour from tamarind, sweetness from palm sugar, salty funk from fish sauce, and richness from coconut milk and beef fat. It all comes together in a hearty beef and potato braise that is Thai comfort food.

Gaeng Garee Makheua Yao (Thai Yellow Curry with Eggplant)

Its South Asian-influenced warm spice profile and characteristic orange-yellow hue distinguish this heavily spiced and relatively mild coconut-based curry from its punchier green cousin prik gaeng khiao waan. While gaeng garee is often paired with chicken or beef, this version is 100 percent vegetarian, with soy sauce replacing the fish sauce and shrimp paste. You can use store-bought or homemade yellow curry paste—just be sure it says gari/kari or karee/garee on the label if you opt to purchase it.

Kanom Jeen Nam Ya (Thai Fish Curry with Rice Noodles)

What differentiates kanom jeen nam ya from other styles of curries is that it doesn’t start with creating a paste from fresh ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Rather, the ingredients are roughly chopped up and simmered with fresh fish in coconut milk and then blended to produce a thick, noodle-coating sauce. Of course, you can’t have kanom jeen nam ya without rice noodles, an assortment of vegetables, herbs, and other accompaniments.

Laab Moo Isan (Thai Isan-Style Minced Pork Salad)

If you love your salad laden with protein then laab is for you. This bright, spicy, and refreshing northeastern Thai meat salad is made from simmering ground pork in a small amount of water to prevent browning, then seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice, and ground dried chiles. The dressed meat is tossed with shallots, culantro, cilantro, and scallions, then coated with khao khua, or toasted rice powder, to give it a nutty aroma.

Som Tam Thai (Central Thai-Style Green Papaya Salad)

A ubiquitous Thai street food and restaurant menu item, green papaya salad is refreshing, light, and quick to prepare at home—especially if you have a julienned peeler. A sequence of ingredients is pounded in a mortar and pestle to form the sweet, sour, savory dressing, then the julienned green papaya is added last and given a light pounding to help it absorb the dressing while still retaining its crunch.

Yam Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad With Shrimp)

This noodle salad works well as a light lunch or part of a larger ensemble of dishes and comes together in minutes. We cook the shrimp and ground pork in stages in the same pot of water used for the noodles for efficiency and to add flavor to the noodles. Glass noodles act like a sponge to absorb all the bright, punchy flavors of the dressing, while shallots, tomatoes, Chinese celery, and roasted peanuts provide a refreshing crunch.

Yam Khai Dao (Thai Fried Egg Salad) Recipe

The shallow frying of eggs in a wok with ample oil produces a wonderous textural contrast between the crispy, lacy texture around the edges of the whites, and the soft, runny yolk. Here, we top the fried egg with dressed sliced aromatics and fresh herbs to add brightness and crunch. Fat from the runny yolk adds body and tempers the punchy dressing.

Khao Niao Mamuang (Thai Coconut Sticky Rice With Mango)

If you want to end your meal with something sweet, but not too sweet, this dessert hits all the right notes: tender, but not mushy steamed Thai sticky rice drenched in a creamy salty-sweet coconut milk sauce and sliced ripe mango. It’s worth getting Ataúlfo mangoes for this dessert because they’re sweeter, less fibrous, more flavorful, and more fragrant.

Thai Iced Tea

Sure, you can find Thai iced tea at just about any tea and boba shop these days. However, nothing beats making it fresh at home. For one thing, you control the quality of the brew and the levels of sweetness and creaminess, which ultimately guarantees you a Thai iced tea that’s full-bodied and flavorful.

Pad Thai

Last but definitely not least is real-deal pad Thai. Maybe the most famous Thai noodle dish outside of Thailand, a well-made pad Thai has a balance of salty, sour, and sweet flavors. Here, we break down how to make great pad Thai at home with an in-depth look of its key components: aromatics, noodles, sauce, and fresh finishing touches.