Instant Pot Pad Thai with Chicken

Instant Pot pad thai with chicken is easy and quick to prepare. Asian pasta made in your pressure cooker is a new dinner treat we all love.

Pad Thai Instant Pot

You could make this in your Crockpot Express pressure cooker or as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe. The brands are almost identical and directions stay the same.

Cubed chicken breast is here but thighs would be wonderful too. The latter is cheaper and more tender but everyone has their preferences.

Do you have to soak Pad Thai noodles?

Typically yes. If you are making something similar on the stovetop it is best to do so briefly to quickly soften them up. Using this method you don’t need to. With the liquid inside they’ll be steamed essentially.

Pressure Cooker Pad Thai

1. Chicken or small cuts of tender beef are optional but a great add in.
2. Olive or sesame oil
3. Soy sauce
4. Garlic
5. Water or broth
6. Carrots
7. Green onions
8. Bell pepper
9. Thai sauce
10. Rice noodles

Cilantro can be chopped and served on top or added into the mix while cooking. Some like a light squeeze of fresh lime juice at the end when served.

Similar to our Instant Pot stir fry you’ll want to cut the boneless chicken into bite size pieces. I started doing it this way a while back so each piece cooks evenly and really fast too.

If you don’t the outside will be cooked with the insides possibly underdone depending on the thickness. It works well with pasta or rice since those don’t take too long and you want it all to be done at the same time.

How do you make Pad Thai sauce from scratch?

It makes it a lot easier if you just use the ready made jarred, but if you want to go all out you can whisk together; 3 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 5 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp Sriracha, 2 Tbsp peanut butter. The last is optional if you want more of a peanut sauce.

Once you have sauteed the meat a bit you just kinda’ dump it all together to make this one pot meal. Even though the noodles are hard they’re also so thin that the high heat will create steam to make them tender.

At the end use tongs to mix it all together and once submerged in the sauce they will continue to soften. Be careful to release the steam right away or else even one minute longer will make them quite a bit softer.

Instant Pot Chicken Pad Thai

You can really load this up with veggies too. That is, they need to have the same cook time. More bell peppers works great, even snap peas would work too if you wanted a good mix of a few.

What meat is best with Pad Thai?

You could dice up chicken, pork or thinly sliced beef. To add more flavor use the corresponding broth vs. just water for the liquid. Serve with pressure cooker broccoli or Instant Pot bok choy and enjoy.

Serve with diced green onions, bean sprouts and cilantro on top. If you have already added a protein you don’t need much more. Just serve in a bowl and it’s a complete meal.

Rice noodles and this sauce are in themselves gluten free so everyone can enjoy this pad Thai recipe. I haven’t used brown rice noodles so I’m unsure of the pressure cooked times for those.

What is a good side dish for Pad Thai?

If you feel like you need more beyond what’s in your one pot I would suggest more vegetables personally. You can not really eat too many of those. Makes you satiated with very few calories such as;

1. Air fryer vegetables are great with just about anything really.
2. You can make a batch of sweet and/or savory pressure cooker carrots. My husband prefers them cooked separately instead of with everything else.
3. On that note, you could make air fryer chicken wings instead of inside the pot too. We even have tips on how to make Instant Pot frozen chicken wings if you are forgetful in nature like me.

I feel like this is a complete dinner with nothing else needed other than a drink and something sweet after.

Ninja Foodi Pad Thai

As I said earlier you can make this in any brand of pot. You only use the saute and pressure function and they all have that. I never use the presets that some offer, I’d rather adjust myself so it’s absolutely perfect.

Looking for other things to make with this or throughout the week? I have a couple suggestions like our air fryer wontons! Yes the filling is homemade but super simple to make. Want something else unusual but delicious? Give our Instant Pot peanut butter chicken a whirl. Seriously weirdly yummy.

We love air fryer potstickers too. I just use frozen in the box for those, but our egg rolls are from scratch.

How do you bring noodles back to life?

If you do have leftovers let it come to room temp. first. Then store in airtight containers or freezer bags in the fridge. When reheating put in a microwave safe bowl with a few Tbsp. of broth over the top.

Heat for 45 seconds, stir, another round of heat, stir and continue until it is warm all the way through. The liquid will steam it and moisten them up so they don’t dry out and get crispy and hard.