Full of bright, fresh dishes with intense flavors, Thai cuisine is incredibly satisfying to cook at home. Staple ingredients in Thai cooking range from pungent fish sauce and funky shrimp paste to fiery chiles and sweet-and-sour tamarind. Once you’ve stocked your pantry, dive into this collection of our favorite Thai recipes. From the ubiquitous-for-a-reason pad Thai and papaya salad to regional specialties such as the pounded salads and chile-based dips (nam phriks) of northern Thailand, there’s something for everyone.
It’s worth investing in a traditional steamer pot to make this staple of northern Thai cuisine.
Thai Pomelo and Crab Paste Salad (Tam Som Oh)
Get the recipe for Thai Pomelo and Crab Paste Salad (Tam Som Oh) »
Thai Pounded Jackfruit Salad (Tam Khanun)
Sour Curry Soup with Shrimp
Light, tangy, and cooked with a modest amount of heat and any available seafood and fresh vegetables, kaeng som is an elemental and satisfying dish, and this curry from Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker is an easy recipe to master. Learn to make the shrimp-enriched broth, which leads with tart, pungent flavors but also delivers measured amounts of sweetness, salt, and spice, and you’ll begin to understand the balance in Thai cooking. Get the recipe for Sour Curry Soup with Shrimp »
Steep it for Killer Custard and Ice Cream
Often used in southeast Asian curries and Indian rice dishes, pandan leaf lends a subtly exotic savory note to this coconut ice cream.
Thai Fish Burger
“Combining a mild fish like cod with store-bought curry paste, cilantro, and kaffir lime makes for an incredibly flavorful patty, and serving it with a simple topping of thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion, and cilantro tossed with nuoc cham (a classic Vietnamese dipping sauce made from garlic, chile, sugar, fish sauce, and lime) is my ideal summer meal.” —Farideh Sadeghin, Test Kitchen Director Get the recipe for the Thai Fish Burger »
Gai Hor Bai Toey (Thai Pandan-Wrapped Chicken)
Pandan, the aromatic leaves of a perennial grass, are wrapped around chunks of coconut-milk-marinated chicken, steamed, and finally deep-fried in this sweet-savory Thai recipe. Steaming the chicken in pandan leaves imparts a floral fragrance, while deep-frying caramelizes the sugary marinade and browns the leaves, imbuing the meat with a nutty flavor. See the recipe for Gai Hor Bai Toey (Thai Pandan-Wrapped Chicken) »