Craving Thai food, but short on time? Here are my top 10 easy Thai recipes that you can make in a jiffy!

Life has a way of getting busy.

In the last couple of years since I blogged regularly, hubby and I planned a beautiful wedding, got married, went on a magical honeymoon, and are now raising our family with a smart, handsome, and very energetic 3-year-old boy and a precious baby girl on the way.  It's definitely been a whirlwind!  Exciting, stressful, and everything in between, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

After our son was born, I stopped cooking for a while as I was trying to adjust to the "new normal" that a baby brings.  I've slowly gotten back into cooking more and more Thai food for our family.  But these days, instead of spending an afternoon creating a perfect bowl of khao soi or steaming endless layers of khanom chan, I find myself reaching for Thai recipes that are really quick and super easy to make.  So I thought I'd share with you my top 10 "go-to" quick and easy Thai recipes that are both hubby and toddler approved.

Top 10 Quick and Easy Thai Recipes:

1. Larb / Beef Waterfall

Both Larb and Beef Waterfall are delicious Thai salads composed of meat with plenty of fresh herbs tossed with a spicy and sour dressing. These salads take mere minutes to pull together, making them an all-time favorite in our household.  If we have chicken on hand, I tend to mince it into a quick salad of Larb Gai, but if we have a steak, then it goes on the grill to be sliced into a delicious Beef Waterfall. Pork can be made into either Larb Moo or Pork Waterfall.  The key to making this both hubby and toddler approved is to take the toddler's portion out before adding too much chili 🙂

2. Chicken with Roasted Chili Paste 

Another super easy dish to make is this stir fry with roasted chili paste known as Pad Nam Prik Pao. You flash fry little bites of chicken, then stir fry them with the delicious all-in-one seasoning paste known as Nam Prik Pao. Serve over rice with a steamed veggie on the side and voila, dinner is done!

3. Thai Fried Rice

Thai fried rice is one of the first dishes that hubby taught me to make when we started dating, likely because it is so quick, easy, and delicious.  Start with some leftover rice, add an egg, some seasoning sauces, and a few fresh herbs, and you're done!  If you want to make it into a one-pot meal, simply add a protein of your choice. Here are recipes for Thai Crab Fried Rice and Chicken Fried Rice.

4. Chicken Satay

Our toddler is a big fan of food served on skewers, so this easy chicken satay recipe is a definite winner in his book.  The fact that he can dip the skewer into a scrumptious peanut sauce with coconut milk is the icing on the cake.  The good news is that both the chicken satay and the peanut dipping sauce are also pretty quick and easy for mom and dad to make.

5. Fried Tofu with Peanut Sauce

Thai Fried Tofu is another delicious dipping option.  Because the tofu is flash fried in very hot oil, it takes no time at all to prepare.  We tend to make the same peanut dipping sauce that goes with satay for this tofu, so that our son can enjoy it as well (the one pictured here is a bit spicy for him).

6. Pad See Ew

Compared to Pad Thai, which has close to 20 different ingredients and requires a good amount of prep work, Pad See Ew with Chicken is pretty quick and easy to make.  Once your noodles, Chinese broccoli, and seasoning sauces are prepared, it's really just a matter of stir frying them all together over a nice flame to achieve this delightfully smokey, savory plate of noodles.

7. Pork and Tofu Soup 

In addition to being quick and easy to make, this Thai clear soup of pork and tofu is also quite healthy.  It starts with a clear base, with the main seasonings being soy sauce and white pepper powder.  For a little extra flavor, we love adding fried garlic and ground galanga powder.

8.Chicken Stir Fried with Holy Basil

Pad Ka Prao Gai is the absolute first thing we make whenever we can get our hands on holy basil.  It is a very simple stir fry of holy basil, garlic, and Thai chilis with chicken. This dish is also so delicious when made with pork for Pad Krapow Moo or even tofu for a Vegan Pad Krapow dish. It is so easy to make that it's not even too much to ask to make two separate dishes, one without much spice for the young'un and a spicier version for hubby and me.

9. Thai Omelet

The Thai omelette known as Kai Jeow is perhaps the easiest dish to make on this list.  In its most basic form, it is simply an egg beaten together with fish sauce and fried in lots of super hot oil.  Our current favorite add-in is just a thinly sliced green onion, or you can try even more complex flavors with the recipe above.

10. Chinese Chives with Tofu

With only 4 ingredients, this stir fry of Chinese chives and tofu is about as quick and easy as it gets.  Simply fry the tofu, add the chives, and season with soy sauce and white pepper powder.  Although it only takes minutes, the resulting flavor is surprisingly complex and delicious, not to mention healthy!

So there you have it: my top 10 quick and easy Thai recipes. I hope this list helps as you think about meals for the busy week ahead, or gives you inspiration for a quick and easy Thai dinner tonight!