Chicken Pad Thai
This post may contain affiliate links.
Pad Thai while camping? It’s easier than you think! We made this recipe using just a standard camp stove and it was so simple and delicious!
Up until now, our Pad Thai consumption had been limited to going to Thai restaurants. It was sort of a specialty dish we’d only get when we’re eating out. We’d never make it at home, and we’d definitely never think to make it at a campsite.
But all that changed when we started going to a local Thai food truck for our Friday date night (StirFriday for any Archer fans out there!) Inside the food truck, crammed into a tiny kitchen with just two burners to work with, was this young lady who was whipping up all sorts of noodle dishes to order.
There she was, making these incredible tasting Thai noodles with just two burners! “This could totally be a camping recipe,” we thought.
So we tried it out and came up with this camping-approved Chicken Pad Thai. Here are the main key concepts.
How to make camping Pad Thai
The recipe can be made with either a one or two-burner stove, but you will need a pot to cook the noodles and a pan large enough to hold all the chicken and the finished noodles. We used a cast-iron skillet which worked alright, but it would have been better if it were a non-stick pan – particularly for the scrambled egg part.
The first step is to bring the pot of water to a boil. Once you have a nice rolling boil, turn the heat off, and drop in your noodles (we used these). Try to keep the noodles together in a bundle when dropping them in (aka don’t scatter them all over the place). That will just sit there and cook over the next 8-10 minutes while you are cooking all the other ingredients. If you’re using a one burner stove, just take the pot off and set it to the side. If you’re using a double burner, move over to burner two and start heating your skillet.
In a well-oiled skillet, you’ll cook the chicken and onions. Once they’re starting to look properly browned, turn the heat to low and push the chicken to one side. Then dump in your beaten eggs and scramble using a fork or spatula. Once the eggs begin to firm up, mix them together with the chicken.
All of that should have taken about 8-10 minutes, so your noodles should be just about ready. So with a pair of tongs, lift the noodles out and place them in the skillet with the chicken. It’s fine if they’re still a little wet still as it will add to the sauce.
With noodles, chicken, onions, and eggs combined, now is the time to add your Pad Thai sauce. If you want to make your own at home and bring it with you, we have a recipe below. But if you just want to pick up some from the store that’s fine too!
Toss it all together, top with sliced green onions, cilantro, and peanuts. And that’s it! You’ve got a quick and easy Pad Thai that takes only about 15 minutes of active cooking.
So if you want to try something different and spice up the menu for your next car camping trip, give this Pad Thai recipe a try!
More one-skillet camp meals
↠ One-Pot Bacon Pesto Pasta
↠ Cajun Blackened Shrimp Tacos
↠ Thai Green Curry with Tofu
↠ 15 Minute Stir Fry
↠ other great easy camping meal ideas
Ingredients
- 7 oz Pad Thai noodles
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 large chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 1 small onion, diced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ⅔ cup Pad Thai sauce, store-bought, or see recipe below
- ½ cup sliced green onions
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts
Pad Thai Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce, or Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and submerge the noodles for 8-10 minutes. Noodles are done when they are soft but “al dente.”
- Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons sesame oil (or regular vegetable oil if that’s what you’ve got) in a skillet over medium. Once hot, add the chicken, onions, and salt. Saute until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are starting to brown.
- Move the chicken to one side of the pan, lower the heat, then add the eggs to the skillet, stirring them frequently to scramble.
- Once the noodles are done (see step 1), the chicken is cooked through, and the eggs are scrambled, use tongs to lift the noodles out of their soaking water. Add noodles to the skillet, then pour in the pad thai sauce. Stir to coat the noodles.
- Top with green onions, fresh cilantro, and chopped peanuts. Enjoy!
Optional Step At Home (if you’re not using store bought pad thai sauce)
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small, sealable jar or bottle and shake to combine. Pack in your cooler.
A fun way to mix this up is to fill spring roll rounds with the pad Thai mixture. Wrap them up and eat whenever you need a snack.
We often do corn on the cob in the fire (roasting them with the husks on) & I do an extra cob, then cut the kernels off that sweet summer corn into our camping pad thai. Yum!
We generally use shelf stable tofu or canned chicken in our & save it for a night far into the trip, for a lovely dinner.
chicken pad thai is fantastic. i need to try and surprise my family with the dish
Looks delicious! We are about to go camping and there’s a burn ban in effect, so this looks like a perfect camp stove recipe to try!
What size skillet is used in the video?
It’s a 10″ skillet.
Is this an individual serving?
Thanks for catching that – it’s 2 servings.
I just discovered your blog and I love it!!! Very nice/delicious and easy ideas for cooking outdoors! good explanations for the recipes I will try in the next days . A great thank you for sharing
This is great, thanks for sharing! I thought I’d share a tip to actually make this a one-pot meal! The rice noodles you use for pad Thai can actually be soaked in water instead of boiled. It takes a little longer, but if you do it first, then prep everything else, they’re usually ready to go! It’s about 30 mins in lukewarm water. I actually think it works better because it keeps them a little more firm to be softened when added to the chicken skillet.
That is given you have access to potable water at your campsite!
Keep up the good recipes, love them!
Hmm, we have never tried that before, but we love the idea! Thank you so much for sharing. We’ll have to give that method a try next time we make this or any rice noodle dish for that matter. Thank you! ????????
Just reading already gave that hunger! I loved article
Loved the recipe and the blog! Today I will prepare for my wife.