Almost two decades ago, I had Thai food for the first time, fell in love with it and was dying to learn more, but didn’t know where to start.
Is that you too? Or just need some fresh Thai recipe ideas for dinner?
Here’s a list of 35 popular Thai dishes you absolutely need to know about. Some you might know and love, and some might become your new favorite!
1. Pad Thai (ผัดไทย)
No list of popular Thai dishes is complete without Pad Thai!
This stir-fried noodle dish, with its perfect balance of sweet from palm sugar, salty from fish sauce, and sour from tamarind paste, is loved by the Americans I teach in my Thai Cooking Class, but also by Thai Hubby who always asks if there are any Pad Thai leftovers he can have after my class!
2. Tom Yum Goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง)
Tom Yum, a hot and sour shrimp soup is the ultimate comfort food with its tangy, spicy, and fragrant flavors that Thais adore.
I love to use fresh lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves from my garden, or if I need a quicker weeknight dinner, using my homemade Tom Yum paste is a great hack!
3. Som Tum (ส้มตำ)
Som Tum is a spicy green papaya salad and is a must-try, since it highlights all the intense Thai flavors I adore: spicy, sour, salty, umami, and a hint of sweet.
Since it’s hard for me to find unripe papaya where we live, I like to use cucumbers and carrots as a great sub!
4. Green Curry (แกงเขียวหวาน)
With its rich coconut milk base and spicy green curry paste, baby eggplants, and tender protein, Thai Green Curry is always a hit with my friends.
My favorite way to eat Thai Green Curry flavors though is by making Thai Green Curry Fried Rice! All those green curry flavors extra intensified!
5. Massaman Curry (แกงมัสมั่น)
Massaman curry is my favorite Thai curry to make for people who haven’t had Thai food before and are hesitant to try different foods because it’s not spicy, has meat and potatoes, is creamy from the coconut milk and has a touch of sweetness.
If you are looking for an easy meal, Massaman Beef Curry is my fav weeknight slow cooker recipe!
6. Pad Krapaw (ผัดกะเพรา)
If you ask most Thai people what their favorite Thai dish is, they will most likely say Pad Krapaw aka Thai Spicy Stir-Fried Holy Basil with Chicken or Pork and topped with a crispy fried egg.
It’s one of the most popular Thai dishes with Thais, easy and heart-warming and definitely Thai Hubby’s top request in the summer when we grow holy basil.
7. Tom Kha Gai (ต้มข่าไก่)
Tom Kha Gai is a coconut milk-based soup with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir limes, and chicken is one of my Thai cooking class students most loved dishes because it’s creamy and comforting and flavor packed!
8. Thai Khao Pad (ข้าวผัด)
Thai Khao Pad, aka Thai fried rice is one of our favorite ways to use up all the things in our fridge or pantry, and is so easy to make on a weeknight! It can be tricky though so if you’ve ever struggled with it, here are 5 tips for how to make perfect fried rice.
9. Moo Ping (หมูปิ้ง)
Moo Ping are marinated pork skewers, a popular street food that’s smoky and savory and served with Thai sticky rice.
One of my kids favorite breakfasts in Thailand every time we visit, and whenever we grill them and have friends’ over, it becomes one of their favorite Thai dishes!
10. Beef Panang Curry (พะแนง)
Panang Curry is packed with Thai herbs and Thai chilies, and often made with chicken or beef.
I teach how to make Panang curry paste in my Thai cooking class and students are shocked at how many ingredients are involved to make the paste!
11. Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย)
Khao Soi is a northern Thai specialty! It’s a coconut curry noodle soup is topped with crispy noodles and often served with chicken or beef. I love to make Khao Soi in the winter, so heartwarming and cozy.
12. Larb (ลาบ)
Larb is a spicy Thai salad made with minced meat, usually pork or chicken, and flavored with lime, fish sauce, and fresh herbs, easy to see why it’s one of the most popular Thai dishes.
It’s our favorite summer dish since my kids can pick the mint and cilantro for it from our herb garden!
13. Moo Nam Tok (น้ำตก)
Moo Nam Tok is similar to Larb, but often made with grilled pork and served with a spicy, tangy dressing, which also uses mint and cilantro from our herb garden. If I’m not up for grilling, I also make the pork in my cast iron and it comes out great!
14. Pad See Ew (ผัดซีอิ๊ว)
My oldest daughter says Pad See Ew is her favorite Thai noodle dish because she loves that it’s not spicy, and the wide rice noodles, which are stir-fried with soy sauce, garlic, and Chinese broccoli, or kale, and often made with chicken.
15. Thai Stir-Fried Morning Glory (ผัดผักบุ้งไฟแดง)
Love how Thai morning glory, aka water spinach, is so easy to make and so full of umami flavor from Thai yellow bean paste plus a spicy zing from Thai chili peppers!
Easy week night veggies don’t get better than this!
16. Sweet and Sour Shrimp (กุ้งผัดเปรี้ยวหวาน)
Thai Sweet and Sour Shrimp is a quick week night meal full of a rainbow of veggies and fruit like cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions and pineapples that with each bite I always feel like I’m getting transported to the beaches of Thailand!
17. Son-n-Law Eggs (ไข่ลูกเขย)
After a long day of school, my Thai Hubby’s grandma would make him Son-in-Law Eggs (aka Kai Look Keuy), which are hard boiled eggs that are fried, sliced and then a lip-smacking, tangy, tamarind sauce is ladled on top and sprinkled with fried shallots and Thai dried chilis!
Now I make them for Thai Hubby and my kids after a long day of work or school, soooo heartwarming!
18. Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken (ข้าวผัดสับปะรดไก่)
Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken is the first Thai dish I ever had, and my life was completely transformed after my first bite!
I loved all the flavors, and still do: the sweet from the pineapple, the sour from the lime, the savory from the fish sauce, and the spicy from the Thai chilies!
19. Pad Kee Mao (ผัดขี้เมา)
Pad Kee Mao, aka Drunken Noodles, is often made with wide rice noodles, fresh holy basil, and we like to put in red bell peppers and Chinese broccoli or kale.
It’s always been my favorite Thai noodle dish, and especially in the summer when our holy basil is in season since that’s one of the main flavors!
20. Khao Man Gai (ข้าวมันไก่)
Khao Man Gai is Thai-style Hainanese chicken and rice, served with a flavorful ginger sauce and a side of chicken broth. It looks boring, but seriously tastes out of this world.
My American friends who went to Thailand with us came home saying it was their favorite Thai dish!
21. Yum Woon Sen (ยำวุ้นเส้น)
Yum Woon Sen is a spicy salad made with glass noodles, shrimp, and fresh herbs, that I love to make it as a light refreshing weeknight meal that does well at a potluck or after getting home from all the evening activities.
22. Jok (โจ๊ก)
Thai jok is a savory porridge that sounds super boring, and looks like a bowl of gruel, but tastes out of this world heartwarming. It’s often served at breakfast in Thailand, but really you can eat it anytime, but I always make it on any special holiday for breakfast for Thai Hubby since it’s his fav!
23. Thai-Style Omelette (ไข่เจียว)
A Thai-style omelette that’s crispy on the edges and fluffy inside, often served with rice and a drizzle of chili sauce. Another Thai comfort food for most Thais and especially my Thai Hubby!
We make it either as a side dish or main dish every week at least twice a week!
24. Sukhothai Noodle Soup (เกี๋ยวเตี๋ยวสุโขทัย)
If you ask my oldest son his favorite Thai dish, he will say Sukhothai Noodle Soup, which originates from Thai Hubby’s hometown of Sukhothai!
We love the heart-warming broth, and all the toppings: tender crisp green beans, crispy fried garlic topping, cilantro, green onion, Thai chili paste, peanuts and lime, perfect for a fall or winter night!
25. Thai Satay (สะเต๊ะ)
Thai Satay is grilled skewers of chicken or pork, served with a rich Thai peanut sauce and a tangy cucumber salad.
At home I like to bake it in the oven and then broil the last few minutes if we aren’t in the mood to grill.
26. Pad Woo Sen (ผัดวุ้นเส้น)
Pad Woo Sen is one of my favorite Thai dishes to take to a potluck since it’s made with bean vermicelli noodles they do well at room temperature, unlike rice noodles which start to clump up if not served quickly.
It also isn’t spicy, and has simple flavors, so kids to grown ups all love it!
27. Pad Mama (ผัดมาม่า)
If you ask all my kids their favorite Thai dish, Pad Mama would be it, which is Stir-Fried Thai Instant Ramen that Thai Hubby makes most Sunday nights for us.
If you’ve never had Thai instant ramen Mama brand, it’s out of this world compared to Marchuan, and it’s packed with all the Thai flavors you love! It’s the easiest Thai meal there is, and you don’t even have to use any Thai sauces if you don’t want to!
28. Garlic and Pepper Chicken (ไก่ผัดกระเทียมพริกไทย)
Garlic and Pepper chicken is my go-to weeknight stir-fry!
I love that it doesn’t take many ingredients, but the ones that are used like the crispy fried garlic and white pepper and oyster sauce are some of my favorites because of how flavor-packed they are!
29. Mango Sticky Rice (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง)
Want to know one of the most popular Thai dishes from my Thai cooking class?
Mango Sticky Rice, which is sticky rice soaked in a sweet coconut milk sauce, and served alongside fresh golden mango slices. I’ve had Thai cooking class students say they dream of it at night and even lick the coconut sauce off the plate because they love it so much!
30. Stir-Fried Thai Cashew Chicken (ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์)
Thai Hubby loves Thai Cashew Chicken, especially now that I fry up the chicken in our air fryer, so it’s healthier, but still has that magical crunch and coating that holds the savory sweet sauce so well!
31. Thai Beef Jerky (เนื้อแดดเดียว)
Thai Beef Jerky is one of those dishes that is time-consuming, but after your first bite and seeing the joy on everyone’s faces after their first bites, you declare that it was worth all the effort!
Mind-blowingly better than American beef jerky!
32. Thai Milk Tea (ชาไทย)
You can’t have a list of popular Thai dishes without Thai Milk Tea! You probably have your favorite version of it from your favorite Thai place, but my favorite way to have Thai Milk Tea or Cha Yen is to make it at home, so I can add however much sweetened condense milk or milk to it that I want.
33. Thai Sausage Sai Ua (ไส้อั่ว)
Sai Ua is a northern Thai sausage that’s packed with Thai herbs and chilies, and served with a smoky, spicy Thai dipping sauce and sticky rice.
Here’s a week night version of Thai sausage that you can make on the stove in patties that makes us happy!
34. Nam Prik Ong (น้ำพริกอ่อง)
Nam Prik Ong, is a life-changing, spicy, sweet, sour pork and tomato Thai stir-fry from northern Thailand, and it goes perfect in a lettuce wrap.
This recipe is how Thai Hubby’s grandma would make it for us and makes me miss her every time it starts to sizzle in the wok!
35. Pad Ped Tua Fak Yao (ผัดเผ็ดตัวฟักยาว)
Thai Hubby is weird and doesn’t love Thai curries because he prefers coconut milk in sweet desserts rather than savory dishes.
But Pad Ped Tua Fak Yao, aka Stir-Fried Red Curry with Green Beans is a curry he loves since it doesn’t have coconut milk, but is more of a stir-fry with Thai curry paste and all the protein and veggies you love!
What’s your favorite out of these 35 popular Thai dishes? Let me know in the comments, dear!
And if you’re longing for more Thai food adventures, be sure to check out our Thailand trip highlights on Instagram @thaifoodie!
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