Thai food

Momof2grls75

What is the healthiest thing to eat at a Thai restaurant?

hellohappylisa

Most Thai food is pretty healthy but who the hell knows how much crap they add at a restaurant...

DMZ_1

Not sure, but looking forward to seeing other responses. I like Thai food.

samblanken

thai beef salad.

Debbe2

Bump

bathsheba_c

Could you give us some more details on what your goals are? The advice changes if you are trying to reduce carbs, or reduce fat, or increase protein.

In general, healthy things could include dishes like chicken satay, which is basically grilled chicken. You might want to avoid the noodle dishes, and tofu tends to be fried.

jesse1379

Thai food is great if you like ****ting fire.

Beezil

Spring rolls with shrimp.

coffeeQ2hrs

pad thai with tofu. stay away from sauces, they have a lot of calories usually.... my aunt is from thailand so i eat and cook a lot of thai food. many thai dishes are loaded with vegetables, so that's always great!

2BhappyBhealthy

I usually order the shrimp spring rolls with chicken (or tofu) tom yum soup. or any of the stir fries with meat and veggies. just stay away from the egg rolls and pad thai

AverageAngel

Pho or any soup really.., Spring rolls, any salad. curry~ any color. The coconut milk which adds a lot of the caloric value, is actually good fats and calories. .. Just about anything that is not deep fried. Thai is really some good stuff. It can be high in sodium,if that is an issue for you . It is my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE food..

affabletoaster

Anything that hasn't been pan fried or deep fried will be lower in fat. Thai food is often full of great vegetables and fiber -- try fresh spring rolls, for instance. If you can, minimize your intake of straight-up carbs like rice, potatoes, or noodles, and aim for something with bamboo shoots, peppers, bean sprouts, and lean meats or seafood. Sauces for curries and pad thai are usually made with salt, fat, and sugar, so go light on them if you can. Satay -- meat on a stick -- is usually pretty good, though again watch the peanut sauce it comes with.

When I make Thai food at home I use low fat coconut milk, and the very minimum of oil for frying (water can help lubricate the pan). Basmati rice is lower GI than Jasmine or most other rices. Brown rice is a little bit lower GI than basmati.

BlackKat75

If you like hot and spicy, I'd go for Tom Yum soup - with chicken or shrimp. Unlike Tom Kha, it's not a coconut-based soup, so you don't have to worry about the high fat and calories. I love Tom Yum - spicy and lemony grassy flavor. Most Thai curries use a coconut-milk base (Red, Yellow and Green Curry), so they will be higher in fat and calories. Masaman curry isn't coconut-based so it's a possibility. (Personally, I'm not a huge Masaman curry fan). Fresh spring rolls (i.e., not fried) are also pretty good.

Ginnyesq

I like Tom Yum soup as well. Especially with shrimp.

eatcleanNtraindirty

Anything that hasn't been pan fried or deep fried will be lower in fat. Thai food is often full of great vegetables and fiber -- try fresh spring rolls, for instance. If you can, minimize your intake of straight-up carbs like rice, potatoes, or noodles, and aim for something with bamboo shoots, peppers, bean sprouts, and lean meats or seafood. Sauces for curries and pad thai are usually made with salt, fat, and sugar, so go light on them if you can. Satay -- meat on a stick -- is usually pretty good, though again watch the peanut sauce it comes with.

When I make Thai food at home I use low fat coconut milk, and the very minimum of oil for frying (water can help lubricate the pan). Basmati rice is lower GI than Jasmine or most other rices. Brown rice is a little bit lower GI than basmati.

^This.

Just be careful of all the "delicious" sauces because they can really pack on the calories from the sugars and fats. I personally like to make my own thai food. They have great seasoning packs at most grocery stores that you just need to add coconut milk to. Get the reduced fat coconut milk if you do this... it doesn't taste any different but is much less calories than the normal canned coconut milk.

I made my own peanut satay sauce that I cooked chicken in the other night. It was 1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt, 1.5 cup crunchy peanut butter, 3 tbs coconut butter, 3 tsp onion powder. It's a little bland so I might add more onion or garlic powder in it. But it tastes pretty dang good for just taking a stab at making my own sauce since I ran out of the packets.

Saezimmerman

My favorite tip for any resturant eating is to find the menu item with the most veggies.

It's also good to talk to your server when you're reviewing your options. They have great insight on portion sizes and can always ask the kitchen to use a less oil or substitute a fried meat for another option.

giggitygoo

Tom yum, sping rolls (easy on the peanut sauce)


I usually order a chicken satay appetizer (usually grilled), a cup of tom yum, and a shrimp spring roll.

melsmith612

Not sure about what's healthiest but I'd avoid Thai curries, they're typically made with coconut milk. Maybe Tom Yum Soup or Pad Thai but watch the portions and sodium.

gauchogirl

The best one is the one you love, enjoy and look forward to eating. Otherwise why eat it? If it's not the healthiest one, eat less or move more to compensate. I'd rather enjoy my food. I personally only like 2 things at a Thai restaurant and I get them both when I go: Spring rolls with shrimp and peanut sauce and beef satay with sweet chili sauce.

Rubie81

Just be careful with your portions. I love me some Thai food. I usually order Chicken Pad See Yew.

cllovesdw4eva

I love Thai, and just came from a lunch of fresh basil rolls, peanut sauce, and veggie drunken noodles. I thought that was pretty healthy until I logged it in MFP.......3000 friggin mg of Sodium in one meal YIKES! I will need to go hard on fruit to get potassium to counteract this LOL

Acg67

pad kee mao

SarahofTwins

Love Thai soups but mainly shrimp pad Thai. Yummy :bigsmile:

zaph0d

Whatever fits

Tw1zzler

Pad see ew is my favorite... but it is a noodle dish.

Laces_0ut

Pho or any soup really.., Spring rolls, any salad. curry~ any color. The coconut milk which adds a lot of the caloric value, is actually good fats and calories. .. Just about anything that is not deep fried. Thai is really some good stuff. It can be high in sodium,if that is an issue for you . It is my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE food..

pho is vietnamese.

secretlobster

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Thai food, but I know it can often be really high calorie. I'd avoid anything with curry sauce, it's mostly coconut milk, which is very calorie-dense. Also avoid noodle dishes (pad thai, "drunken noodle", etc). Obviously getting an order of fried rice isn't the best choice.

Good options to consider if you're limiting calories:
Tom kha gai soup - Chicken and mushrooms with lemongrass
Green papaya salad
Marinated beef salad (it's actually quite filling)
Jungle curry (it's stir fried vegetables with meat or tofu with curry but without the coconut milk, not all Thai places have this)
Most Thai places have some kind of grilled pork chop
Chicken or beef satay (grilled on skewers with peanut sauce)
I've also seen lots of Thai places have steamed vegetables and chicken with peanut sauce. I ate this a lot and lost weight :P

And yes obviously "anything, if it fits in your calories" is a legitimate answer. But I was trying to give you lower-calorie ideas because it seemed that's what you wanted

LizL217

I usually get soup or summer rolls and green papaya salad. I avoid anything described as "crispy" (which usually means fried).

alpine1994

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this topic! Thai is my favorite!

I usually get the fresh basil spring rolls and/or chicken/tofu and vegetable red curry (no rice/noodles). It fits into my daily cals quite nicely. The other day I got a shrimp and veggie stir fry in a light sauce (no rice/noodles) which was delish.

Basically anything without a really heavy sauce and rice/noodles is a good choice. I know the curry has fat from coconut milk but it's healthy fat and I hardly eat any fat not coming from natural sources.

kennethmgreen

The healthiest thing to eat at a Thai food restaurant is anything on the menu while staying within your calorie and macro goals, lifting weights and occasionally doing cardio. Also, green curry.

VorJoshigan

All of it! NOM NOM NOM!

Or just soup.