Want to learn more about traditional Thai food? During a recent trip, I had the pleasure of trying some delicious Thailand food traditions. In this article, learn more about some of the most popular Thai dishes, and find some recipes you can make at home.
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines of all time. And I'm not alone. According to CNN, Thai is one of the most popular cuisines in the United States. This is evident in the fact that there are more than 10,000 Thai restaurants in the US. And in a study conducted among 130 countries, more than 63% of people voted Thai food as the most delicious food in the world.
Even if you are familiar with authentic Thai food, there is always something new and exciting to try. And when I first traveled to Thailand, I was overwhelmed by the amazing complexity and variety of the textures, flavors, and aromas of Thai cuisine.
I've eaten Thai food a lot over the years, and have developed quite a few Thai recipes, but I learned so much and became even more of a Thai food superfan after visiting Thailand.
Now I'm excited to share some of the most popular Thai dishes with you. These 20+ dishes give you a good overview of some of the more traditional Thai foods. These are dishes you'll find throughout Thailand and in Thai restaurants around the world.
If you're intrigued by the food and want to try making the same dish at home, I've got Thai recipes for most of the dishes listed here. Let's dive in to the deliciousness of Thai cuisine!
✈️ Interested in traveling to Thailand? Read my Thailand travel articles for travel inspiration and travel planning guides.
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🇹🇭 What is Thai cuisine?
Authentic Thai cuisine is a study in balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet flavors and aromas. In some of the most popular Thai dishes, you'll likely find fresh herbs, spices, and locally available ingredients to create vibrant and flavorful dishes.
In Thailand, you'll find a mix of flavorful soups, noodles, rice, stir-fry dishes, and curries. Desserts tend to include one or more of Thailand's delicious tropical fruits.
🧄 Common Thai ingredients
Ingredients like garlic, shallots, cilantro, and Thai basil form the foundation of Thai cuisine. These Thai food staples contribute to its bold flavors and aromatic profiles.
Here are five more ingredients you will find in most traditional Thai food.
- Fish sauce - Fish sauce is a staple in Thai cuisine, made from fermented fish and salt. It adds a distinct umami flavor and saltiness to dishes. We use it in a lot of our Thai recipes, especially in marinades, stir-fries, curries, and dipping sauces.
- Chili peppers - Chili peppers are essential for adding heat and spice to Thai dishes. They come in various forms, including fresh, dried, and in paste form. Thai cuisine often utilizes both red and green chilies to achieve different levels of spiciness.
- Coconut milk - Instead of cow's milk, you'll usually find coconut milk adds creaminess in many Thai dishes. It's a key ingredient in many Thai curry pastes, soups, and noodles.
- Lemongrass - Lemongrass is a tall, fragrant grass with a lemony flavor. It's often used in Thai soups, curries, and stir-fries to impart a fresh and citrusy aroma. The tough outer layers are usually discarded and the remaining tender white core of lemongrass is added to dishes for flavor.
- Thai basil - Thai basil is more pungent than Italian basil, and you'll find it in both green and purple leaves. It's often used in curries, stir-fries, noodles, and spring rolls. Holy basil is a type of Thai basil that has an almost licorice flavor to it.
Next up: some of the most popular Thai food that you will find throughout Thailand.
🍲 Thai appetizers and soups
I could make a whole meal out of Thai appetizers. Crispy spring rolls, savory Thai fish cakes (Tod Mun Pla), vibrant and refreshing Thai salads like Som Tum (green papaya salad)... there is so much variety to the appetizers you'll find in Thai cuisine.
And Thai soups, such as the iconic Tom Yum Goong, are hearty and full of spicy, sour, and fragrant flavors. Thai soups often feature ingredients with bold flavors, like lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, and chili peppers.
Here are a few Thai soups and appetizers to try.
Tom Kha Gai (Coconut Soup)
Tom Kha Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup) is usually made with chicken, coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, mushrooms, and chili peppers. It's a creamy, tangy, and fragrant soup that's often served hot with rice.
Karipap (Thai Curry Puff)
Thai curry puffs, known as "Karipap" in Thai, are a popular snack in Thai cuisine. They are small, savory pastries filled with a flavorful mixture typically consisting of curry-spiced potatoes, chicken, or beef, along with onions and sometimes carrots or peas. The filling is wrapped in a thin pastry dough and then deep-fried until golden brown and crispy.
Kanom Krok
Kanom Krok are small, coconut-based pancakes cooked in a special cast-iron pan. They're crispy on the outside and soft inside, often sweetened with sugar or filled with savory ingredients like corn or scallions.
These bite-sized treats are a popular street food snack in Thailand. I had never had one before visiting Bangkok, and I was surprised how much I liked these tasty snacks!
Chicken satay with peanut sauce
Chicken satay is a popular Thai dish that you'll often see as an appetizer on Thai restaurant menus. It's usually served with a peanut sauce.
Spring rolls
Like many different cuisines in the Asian diaspora, Thai cuisine also has their version of spring rolls. These are crispy fried wrappers that can contain either shredded vegetables on their own, or with ground meat or seafood.
Thai spring rolls are often served with Nam Jim Po Piah sauce. It's a tangy vinegar-based dipping sauce.
🍜 Thai noodles and rice dishes
Noodles hold a significant place in Thai cuisine. They're versatile and beloved staples that reflect the country's culinary diversity and cultural heritage.
From street food stalls to fine dining establishments, noodles can be found all throughout Thai cuisine and culture. Thai noodle dishes are usually made ofrice noodles or egg noodles. You'll find noodles stir-fried, boiled, or served in soup.
Here are some of the most popular Thai noodle dishes you'll find in Thailand and around the world.
Pad Thai
Pad Thai is one of the most popular dishes in Thai cuisine, beloved around the world.
This noodle dish dates back to the 20th century when Thailand underwent a period of cultural and culinary transformation under the government's modernization efforts. To promote Thai identity and unity, Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram launched a campaign to establish a national dish. This resulted in the creation of Pad Thai. This dish was created to embody the essence of Thai flavors while incorporating modern cooking techniques and ingredients.
Pad Thai typically consists of stir-fried rice noodles, with tofu, shrimp or chicken (sometimes beef), and eggs. The noodles and protein are bathed in a sweet and tangy sauce made from tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar. It's then served with bean sprouts, lime wedges, and peanuts.
Pad See Ew
Another popular Thai noodle dish is Pad See Ew. Unlike Pad Thai, Pad See Ew is made with wide rice noodles. The noodles are then tossed with a soy sauce-based sauce, Chinese broccoli or bok choy, eggs, and a choice of meat such as chicken, beef, or pork. This is a savory, slightly sweet, and smoky Thai noodle dish that's served hot stir-fry style.
Khao Soi (Thai Red Curry Noodles)
Thai red curry noodles, also known as "Khao Soi" in Thailand, is a delicious and comforting noodle dish that originates from Northern Thailand. It typically consists of egg noodles served in a rich and creamy coconut milk-based curry broth, loaded with vegetables and topped with peanuts and fresh herbs.
Khao Pad (Fried Rice)
Thai fried rice is usually made with Jasmine rice. Like other fried rice recipes found in Asian cuisines, it has eggs, onions, garlic, peas, carrots, and a choice of meat or seafood.
🍛 Thai curries
Thai curries play a pivotal role in Thai cuisine, serving as quintessential representations of the country's rich culinary heritage and diverse flavors.
I just love these vibrant and aromatic dishes. From the fiery heat of red curry to the mellow sweetness and nuttiness of Massaman curry, each curry variety offers a balance of spicy, savory, sweet, and tangy flavors.
Thai curry is usually enjoyed with a side of rice, but can also be served with noodles. Here are some of the most popular Thai curry dishes.
Gaeng Kiew Wan (Green Curry)
I fell in love with green curry while traveling through Thailand. It's usually made with chicken or beef, green curry paste, coconut milk, eggplant, Thai basil, and kaffir lime leaves.
This bright green, creamy, spicy, and aromatic curry is often served hot with steamed rice.
Gaeng Massaman Curry
Southern Massaman curry is usually made with grilled chicken or beef, Massaman curry paste, coconut milk, potatoes, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and peanuts. This is a rich, usually mildly spicy, and aromatic curry that's served hot with rice or roti bread.
🦐 Thai stir-fries
Thai stir-fries are some of my favorite dishes to make on busy weeknights. They cook up quickly and are full of delicious Thai flavors.
They typically feature a combination of meat, seafood, tofu, or vegetables, cooked quickly in a wok or skillet over high heat. Then they're tossed with aromatic herbs, spices, and sauces.
Common ingredients in Thai stir-fries include garlic, chili peppers, Thai basil, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and lime juice. The result is a dish that is savory, fragrant, and bursting with umami flavors.
Thai stir-fries are often served with steamed rice or noodles and can be customized to suit individual preferences for spiciness and ingredients.
Pad Krapow (Thai Basil Beef)
Pad Krapow, or Pad Kra Pao, is ground beef stir-fried with Thai basil, garlic, chili peppers, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. I like to serve this with a side of white rice.
Pad Krawpow Kung (Thai Basil Shrimp)
Pad Krapow Kung - Thai Basil Shrimp - is a popular Thai street food that can also be found in various restaurants. It's a stir-fry of shrimp, Thai basil, peppers, and is served over rice.
🍗 Popular Thai chicken dishes
Gai Yang (Thai Lemongrass Chicken)
Gai Yang (Grilled Chicken) is a smoke, savory, slightly sweet Thai chicken dish. It's made with marinated chicken, lemongrass, garlic, cilantro roots, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
Phad Phrik Gai
Phad Phrik Gai is a spicy Thai stir-fry dish with chicken, chili peppers, garlic, and basil. It's savory, aromatic, and fiery. Served hot with rice, it's a favorite comfort food in Thailand.
🍨 Thai desserts
In Thailand, many of the desserts feature the country's sweet tropical fruits. And because of the warm weather climate, many Thai desserts are frozen or served cold. Here are two of our favorites.
Kao Niew Ma Muang (Mango Sticky Rice)
Mango Sticky Rice is one of my favorite desserts! It's a beloved Thai treat featuring ripe mangoes atop sweet glutinous rice. It's popular for its creamy texture and tropical flavor. Served with a drizzle of coconut milk, it's a refreshing and indulgent treat.
Kluai Khaek (Thai Fried Bananas)
Kluai Khaek (also spelled Kluay Kaek) is a popular street food that you'll find being made on sizzling hot woks throughout the country. Thai bananas are dredged in a rice flour batter then fried to crispy perfection. Sometimes you'll find sesame seeds and coconut added to the batter for extra texture and flavor.
Thai coconut ice cream
Coconut is an important part of Thai cuisine, in both savory and sweet dishes. Thai Coconut Ice Cream can be found on many menus throughout Thailand. At the Jim Thompson House restaurant in Bangkok, it's served in a hollowed out coconut shell.
👩🏻🍳 Common FAQs about traditional Thai food
Thai food is known for its bold and spicy flavors, but not all Thai dishes are inherently spicy. Thai cuisine is characterized by a delicate balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy elements. And there are varying degrees of heat depending on the dish and personal preference. While some dishes like Tom Yum soup or Green Curry are famously spicy, others like Pad Thai or Mango Sticky Rice are milder in heat.
Traditional Thai foods rarely include dairy products because historically, dairy farming was not common in Thailand. Instead, Thai cuisine relies heavily on coconut milk for richness and creaminess. Wheat also is not a staple grain in Thai cuisine, so bread is not a prominent feature in traditional dishes. Instead, rice and rice-based products like noodles are more prevalent. Finally, while beef is eaten in Thailand, it is not as widely used as pork, chicken, or seafood in traditional Thai dishes. This is partly due to historical and cultural factors, as well as the availability and preference for other protein sources.
Thailand is a beautiful country rich in food culture. From its vibrant street food to Michelin star fine dining establishments, authentic Thai food highlights the country's fresh produce and bold flavors.
I hope you get to travel to Thailand sometime to enjoy them in person. But if you can't, the Thai recipes you'll find on our site are easy to make, so you can enjoy a taste of Thailand at home!
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