Prepare Healthier Thai Recipes at Home

By Maris Callahan for DietsInReview.com

Did you know the Pad Thai from your local take-out spot has an average of 500 calories per cup? If you actually traveled to Thailand, the food you’d find there is quite different—and better for you. In fact, there are tons of healthy Thai food options if you just know what to pick.

Joy Buasi, food blogger from Joy’s Thai Food, told us that Thai cuisine is well known for its fresh ingredients, robust spiciness, and complex flavors and aromas. While chili powder, fresh citrus juices and fish stock are common healthy Thai food flavorings, the cuisine is also famous for including peanuts, coconut milk and oil. To create a more authentic—and healthier—Thai cuisine experience, we’ve put together some tips on how to make your own Thai food at home. You’ll avoid high-calorie ingredients and get to enjoy the soul of these traditional meals. Delish!

Healthy Thai food is fresh and tasty!

3 Tips to Make Healthy Thai Food Recipes at Home

1. Add spice for better health. Many Thai dishes are flavored with herbs that have been linked with health benefits. “Lemongrass, ginger and turmeric help with stomach problems like indigestion, ulcers and inflammation,” says Buasi.

Lemongrass offers an earthy flavor and antimicrobial properties, while turmeric, a member of the ginger family, provides natural yellow coloring in Thai food. Garlic, a common base in Thai dishes, has properties that reportedly boost your body’s immunities.

2. Be cautious with curries. One of the most popular dishes in Thailand and amongst Thai food enthusiasts in the U.S. is green curry—a pale, creamy curry dish typically made of chicken, lemongrass, coriander, lime and eggplant. Because this dish is loaded with coconut milk and vegetable oil, you’ll want to enjoy healthier versions of curry like this delicious Beef Curry.

If you have your heart set on a certain recipe but want to save calories, fat and saturated fat, halve the oil and use a substitute for coconut milk. Many grocery stores carry reduced-fat or light coconut milk. If you’re in a pinch, just combine equal parts of low-fat cow’s milk, chicken broth and a teaspoon of brown sugar as a substitute. Some home cooks swear by low-fat almond milk or soy milk flavored with unsweetened coconut milk.

3. Emphasize fresh ingredients. Pad Thai is the dish people think of when it comes to Thai food. Because many noodle dishes are loaded in starch and oil, you can reduce a lot of fat and calories from your healthy Thai food dishes by working a little outside your comfort zone, like with this Thai Lobster Salad.

“There are a lot of simple Thai recipes that a lot of people don’t know about, but that are very easy to prepare,” says Buasi. Buasi recommends that cooks new to healthy Thai foods start with simple soups and salads that use classic preparation techniques with exotic herbs and spices. For example, Yum Ta Krai is a spicy lemongrass salad and Khao Yum is a low-calorie Thai rice salad believed to help control cholesterol.

Happy and healthy Thai food eating! What’s your favorite healthy Thai food recipe or dish? Share in the comments!