Best Frozen Pad Thai Meals Ranked: Trader Joe’s, Amy’s, Saffron Road & More

Hot take: You really don’t need to buy frozen Pad Thai. Takeout is far superior, and you can typically wring two meals out of one container, so the value pretty much evens out. “Then why am I even reading this article, Ariana? Thanks for nothing, I guess?” Because despite what I just said, it’s still worth talking about the best frozen Pad Thais currently available—with one standout in particular that is absolutely worth the price.

How we found each brand of frozen Pad Thai

I feel like I say this every ranking now, but it was pretty hard to track down frozen Pad Thai meals! There aren’t a ton of brands out there trying their hand at it, which is probably why most of them are pretty bad. Even hitting up East Asian grocery stores didn’t really help widen the search, so we stuck to everything and anything we could find in the frozen aisle. (Only seven products in total!)

What we looked for in the best frozen Pad Thai

What separates some sad sticky noodles from something that actually scratches an itch for Pad Thai? For us, the best frozen Pad Thai (which is NOT an oxymoron, despite everything I’ve said so far) should have the following:

A sauce that balances sweet, sour, and savory. If it doesn’t have tangy tamarind, it’s not really Pad Thai—that being said, too much tamarind is just as bad, if you ask me. The key word is balance!
A delicious peanut flavor and thin, flat rice noodles that remind you of takeout
Protein (chicken, tofu, etc.) that you don’t ignore on the plate because it’s texturally uninviting and pretty flavorless.
A crunch factor! We don’t want flavored microwaved mush here. Crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, and other veggies are all viable options!

And look, I’m not naive. I didn’t go into this taste test hoping for a miracle. Most of what I tried was pretty bad, you guys. By the end, I only had three frozen Pad Thais to recommend, and one barely made the cut. Let’s talk about it.

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Most Classic

Amy’s Pad Thai

Walmart

Target

This frozen vegetable Pad Thai from Amy’s is a closer approximation to the dish than most of what you’ll find at a grocery store, but overall, it falls a little flat. It’s not bad, but it is boring, and that’s the bar I had to set for this ranking. The individual components are there: broccoli, julienned carrots, tamarind, flat rice noodles, and cashews—yep, cashews instead of peanuts, but they still gave a nice noticeable nuttiness, so I let it slide. Plus, the fried tofu in this is especially yummy! (Amy’s usually does a great job with their tofu.) But the tangy flavor of the sauce doesn’t hit quite right. It’s a little bland and simultaneously too sour. Honestly, if you’re going for a nutty Asian noodle dish from this brand, their Chinese Noodles & Veggies in a Cashew Cream Sauce is the way to go!

Credit: Merc / Amy’s

Rating:

6.5/10

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Runner Up

Saffron Road Chicken Pad Thai

Albertsons

Sprouts

Okay, so I’m a hypocrite. This chicken Pad Thai from Saffron Road is my most controversial pick for this ranking. The problem here is a little ingredient called tomato paste. Instead of tamarind, Saffron Road uses tomato as the base for their sauce, and boy can you taste it. The result is a weirdly addictive, salty, sticky, and very nutty (thanks to the dry roasted peanuts and peanut butter) sauce that’s pretty far removed from Pad Thai… but still yummy enough that I couldn’t stop eating it. For whatever reason, a lot of brands used tomato instead of tamarind to make their frozen Pad Thai—and in my opinion, this is the only one where it tastes kinda good.

Credit: Merc / Saffron Road

Rating:

7/10

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Best of the Best

Trader Joe’s Vegetable Pad Thai

Trader Joe’s

I’m not surprised Trader Joe’s makes the best frozen Pad Thai you can buy right now. TJ’s is ahead of the curve on this kinda thing. Their Pad Thai is light and veggie-forward, but in a fresh, spring-roll-esque way. It’s loaded with bean sprouts, which contribute a really clean crunch, and big pieces of fried tofu that are so flavorful, you actually seek them out among the rice noodles. The sauce is very gentle, with a subtle tamarind sourness that, for once, doesn’t taste at all like tomato paste. (Bless you, Trader Joe’s.) My general note for more frozen Pad Thai does still stand here: I wish it was nuttier. This can’t compare to good takeout, but with a $3.49 price tag, it doesn’t have to! This genuinely makes for a good, cheap, easy meal—here’s hoping it paves the way for other brands to do the same.

Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

9/10

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