Pad Thai Noodles substitute

Best substitute

Any other width of dried rice stick

Use the same amount by dry weight as the pad thai noodles you are replacing

Best for pad thai

Different texture

The same product in a different size, labelled S, M or L, or thin, medium and extra large, on most packets.

Other pad thai noodles substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fresh rice noodles (sen yai, ho fun)
Different texture
Use roughly 2:1 by weight, about 8 oz fresh for every 4 oz dried
Soft ribbons cut from steamed sheets of rice batter, sold in refrigerated blocks and usable straight away.
What changes
Best for
pad thai, pad see ew, drunken noodles
No soaking, and a lovely silky slipperiness, but far more fragile: they shred if you stir them hard and they shatter into fragments if used cold from the fridge. Microwave the sealed block for 30 to 60 seconds first so the sheets peel apart, then lift and fold in the pan with a wide spatula rather than stirring. They also brown and blister more readily against hot metal, which is a bonus.
3Linguine or fettuccine
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by dry weight
Flat wheat pasta of roughly the right width, for when there is no rice noodle available.
What changes
Best for
weeknight pad thai, pad thai sauce with what you have
Structurally this is the best pantry answer: the same flat ribbon shape and enough strength to be tossed hard. It tastes different, wheatier and sweeter, and it is firmer where a rice noodle is soft and yielding. Boil two minutes shy of the packet in unsalted water, rinse in cold water to strip the starch so the sauce does not go gluey, toss with a teaspoon of oil, and add it to the pan at the end. Obviously not gluten-free.
4Thin rice vermicelli
Different texture
Use the same amount by dry weight
Fine thread-like rice noodles, the kind used in spring rolls and Vietnamese noodle bowls.
What changes
Best for
pad thai in an emergency, noodle salads
Same rice flavour, wrong build. The threads are so thin that they tangle into a solid nest and turn mushy the moment they meet a hot wok and a wet sauce, and a plate of it eats more like a noodle mash than pad thai. Soak in warm water for five minutes only, drain very dry, and add it to the pan for no more than 30 seconds with the sauce already reduced. Handle it gently and it is edible and quick.
5Mung bean glass noodles (pad woon sen style)
Different texture
Use the same amount by dry weight
Thin transparent noodles made from mung bean starch, which is a genuine Thai noodle in its own right.
What changes
Best for
pad woon sen, stir-fried glass noodles, gluten-free noodle stir-fries
Not pad thai, but not a downgrade either: pad woon sen is a real dish made with exactly this noodle and the same sort of seasoning. The bite is springy and slippery rather than soft and chewy, and glass noodles drink up sauce fast, so hold back a third of the sauce and add water if the pan tightens. Soak 10 minutes in warm water, no boiling.
6Sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon)
Different texture
Use the same amount by dry weight
Thick chewy Korean starch noodles, gluten-free and very robust.
What changes
Best for
gluten-free stir-fried noodles, saucy noodle dishes
By far the sturdiest gluten-free option, because pure starch noodles do not break down in a hot pan the way rice noodles do. They are much chewier and bouncier than a rice stick, so the dish feels distinctly Korean rather than Thai, and they are thicker so each mouthful carries less of the tamarind sauce. Boil six to eight minutes, rinse cold, then stir-fry.

What is Pad Thai Noodles?

Pad Thai Noodles is Pad thai noodles are dried flat rice noodles about a quarter of an inch wide, made from nothing but rice flour and water, and sold under names including rice stick noodles, banh pho and chantaboon noodles.

Cooking tips

Soak, do not boil. Cover the dried noodles in warm tap water for 30 to 45 minutes until they are pliable and bendable but still opaque and firm in the centre. They finish cooking in the pan. Boiled rice noodles are already fully cooked, so they disintegrate into paste the moment they meet the sauce and the heat.
If you are short of time, use hot but not boiling water and check every five minutes from the ten minute mark. The test is bending a strand around your finger: it should wrap without snapping and still look chalky white inside. This is faster than soaking cold but far easier to overshoot.
Drain the noodles thoroughly and toss them with a teaspoon of neutral oil before they go anywhere near the pan. Wet noodles carry water into the wok, which stops the sauce reducing and clinging, and unoiled rice noodles fuse into a single lump within a couple of minutes of draining.
Cook one or two portions at a time and no more, even for a crowd. Pad thai needs the noodles in contact with hot metal so they take on a little colour and a faint smoky edge; a crowded pan steams them instead, which is the main reason home pad thai turns out pale and soggy.
Get the sauce in early and let it reduce onto the noodles over medium-high heat, adding a splash of water if the pan tightens before the noodles are tender. Rice noodles will not soften properly in a dry pan, and they will not taste of anything if the sauce is added at the last second. Reckon on 2 oz of dried noodles per person.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use spaghetti or linguine for pad thai?

Yes, and linguine or fettuccine is the better choice because the flat shape matches a rice stick. Boil it in unsalted water two minutes shy of the packet, rinse it under cold water to remove the surface starch, and toss it with a little oil so it stays separate. It tastes of wheat rather than rice and stays firmer, but with a proper tamarind, fish sauce and palm sugar dressing it makes a genuinely good dinner. Adding a teaspoon of baking soda to the water does not help here; that trick is for Chinese noodles.

Should I boil the noodles or soak them?

Soak them, in warm tap water, for 30 to 45 minutes, until they bend easily but still have an opaque firm core. This is the single most important thing about cooking pad thai at home. Boiled rice noodles are already fully cooked, so when they hit the hot wok and the wet sauce they break down into a starchy mush no amount of technique can rescue.

What are pad thai noodles called on the packet?

Rarely pad thai noodles. Look for rice stick noodles, rice sticks, banh pho, chantaboon noodles, sen lek or simply flat rice noodles, usually with a width code such as M, L or 5mm on the front. The classic pad thai width is around a quarter of an inch, or 5mm, but any flat rice noodle in the packet will work if you adjust the soaking time.

Can I use rice vermicelli instead?

You can, and it will taste right, but the texture is a real step down. Vermicelli threads are so fine that they tangle into a nest and go soft almost instantly in a hot pan, so the finished dish is soft and clumpy rather than made of distinct chewy ribbons. Soak for five minutes only, drain very dry, and add them at the very end with the sauce already reduced.

Can I just leave the noodles out?

Pad thai is a noodle dish, so no, but the sauce, egg, tofu, beansprouts and peanuts make an excellent stir-fry over rice, which is a perfectly normal Thai way to eat. Shredded cabbage stir-fried until barely wilted also carries the sauce well if you are avoiding starch. What does not work is using an unsuitable noodle badly, because a mushy plate is more disappointing than a rice bowl.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Pad Thai Noodles substitute

Other pad thai noodles substitutes

2Fresh rice noodles (sen yai, ho fun)

3Linguine or fettuccine

4Thin rice vermicelli

5Mung bean glass noodles (pad woon sen style)

6Sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon)