This easy ground beef pad Thai is a fast and flavorful twist on the classic Thai noodle dish. It’s made with rice noodles, tender beef and a savory-sweet sauce that hits all the right notes. Ready in just 20 minutes, it’s the perfect no-fuss weeknight dinner. No takeout required!
Craving more easy noodle recipes? Don’t miss my Mongolian beef or Chili chicken noodles next.
Why you’ll love this beef pad Thai recipe
This ground beef pad Thai is weeknight-friendly and made almost entirely from pantry staples. The sauce is quick to mix up and because we use ground beef makes the whole dish comes together in just 20 minutes. Toss in your favorite veggies and dig in!
A quick note – This isn’t a traditional pad Thai recipe, but it’s a favorite in our house! It’s made to be approachable and doable for the home cook. I swapped the tamarind paste for oyster sauce simply because I couldn’t find any tamarind at my local grocery store. And I know many of you might have the same problem.
No dried shrimp either, this version skips hard-to-source ingredients without sacrificing bold flavor. That said, if you do have tamarind on hand, go ahead and use it!
And if you love pad Thai flavors, you should try my chicken skewers with pad Thai noodles recipe.
Watch the recipe video
Let me show you how to make this recipe step by step, come cook with me in THE VIDEO or follow along on YouTube!
🔥Pro tip
Soak the rice noodles in hot water until they’re just pliable and soft enough to stir-fry with the beef, but not so soft they turn mushy. It’s the secret to perfect noodles that hold their bite. I once boiled the noodles and ended up with a pudding, don’t do that :)
Ingredients
- Rice noodles
- Ground beef
- Peanut oil
- Garlic
- Bean sprouts
- Eggs
- Scallions
- Peanuts
- Chili flakes
Sauce ingredients
- Fish sauce
- Lime juice
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Oyster sauce – or tamarind
- Brown sugar – or palm sugar
What you’ll need for this recipe
Large skillet – A good non-stick skillet helps you sear the ground beef without drying it out.
Customize this recipe
This ground beef pad Thai is super flexible, here’s how you can make it your own:
Switch up the protein – Swap the ground beef for ground chicken, pork or turkey.
Turn up the heat – Use Thai chili flakes or finely chopped bird’s eye chilies instead of regular chili flakes for an extra fiery kick.
Add more veggies – Toss in what you have on hand. Carrots, broccoli, snow peas, sugar snap peas, green beans or bell peppers all work great.
Storage
Storing – Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate. For the best flavor and noodle texture, enjoy within 1 day.
Reheating – Warm the noodles in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until heated through. Add a splash of water if needed to loosen the sauce.
Freezing – I don’t recommend freezing this dish, rice noodles tend to get mushy and the texture of the sauce can change once thawed.
Ground Beef Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 2 tbsp peanut oil - or avocado oil
- 1.1 pound ground beef
- 6 garlic cloves - minced
- 4 scallions - chopped
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup toasted peanuts - chopped
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce - or tamarind
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- Soak the rice noodles in hot (not boiling) water for about 15 minutes.
- Combine the soy sauce with fish sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce and lime juice.
- Mince the garlic cloves, chop the scallions and the peanuts.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high, add ground beef and break up into pieces. Add garlic and white parts of the scallions. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Push the meat to one side of the skillet and add the eggs. Briefly scramble the eggs and toss with the meat. Pour in the prepared sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in bean sprouts and the remaining scallions. Reduce heat to medium.
- Drain the noodles and combine with beef. Finish off with peanuts and chili flakes. Enjoy!
Video
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