What do you know about healthy Thai food? Is Thai food Thailand in healthy? That’s a pretty loaded question, not so much because of Thai, but because there are so many types of Thai food in Thailand, from the processed, greasy, sweet, all the way to fresh, packed full of spice, and vegetables here and there.
As someone whose body must have half of it made up of Thai food, I’ve had the chance to try out and taste a lot of Thai food.
In this article I’ll be sharing some of my thoughts on what are among the healthiest Thai foods you can eat, when you are in Thailand (or even if you prepare Thai food at home or are eating Thai food at a restaurant, wherever you may be).
We all know that traditional Thai food is actually quite healthy with fresh, natural ingredients, plenty of spices, herbs and veg. The thing is, some Thai dishes are delicious, but then shock you how much sugar, oil, or MSG they put in.
Understanding what to order — and how to order it — can give you the edge when it comes to eating healthy Thai food.
Here are some of the healthiest dishes you can eat, in my opinion.
Disclaimer: Just to get this out of the way before I begin, I am not a nutritionist or a doctor, so don’t take any of this seriously if you have legitimate health issues (see a real doctor).
20 Healthy Thai Food Dishes to Try
1. Som Tam ส้มตำ
Perhaps the best-known, and best-available dish in the country is Thailand’s tangy green papaya salad, better known as som tam (ส้มตำ)
The fresh ingredients that go insom tam (ส้มตำ) usually consist of: shredded green papaya, tomatoes, string beans, dried shrimp, garlic, shop-bought and sometimes fresh raw Thai eggplant, and carrots.
There are different variations of som tam (ส้มตำ), some with fermented fish sauce or crab. These are some of the versions you can taste:
Som tam thai — Thai green papaya salad, and this is the less fishy-flavored kind, it’s basically shavings of green papaya dressed with a sauce that’s sweet and sour from lime juice The full recipe is pretty healthy, though sometimes, because it uses palm sugar, it can be a bit too sweet. So if I order som tam thai, normally I’ll go for, “mai wan,” which translates to not sweet.
Som tam boo pla ra – This is probably the most favourite by local Thai and especially those who are from Isan, a northeastern province of Thailand. The salad, which uses green papaya, is also made with fermented fish sauce and crab.
Som tam Laos – You probably know that som tam (green papaya salad) is popular in Thailand, but my favorite region, Isan, has Laos version of som tam too, which can be found almost everywhere in Thailand. Som tam Laos uses the shrimp paste, but not the crab. What I love most about it, though, is its bold, spicy flavor, none of the floaty sweetness (and no sugar is usually added).
Green Papaya Salad — A fresh, vegetable-packed Thai meal, eaten with sticky rice and various Thai Isan dishes.
2. Yam Mamuang ยำมะม่วง
Yam mamuang (ยำมะม่วง) is very similar to som tam thai, but the main ingredient is shredded sour green mango instead of green papaya — so it’s Thailand’s version of sour green mango salad.
The flavor that I love most about yam mamuang (ยำมะม่วง) is the sourness of the mango, paired with the saltiness of the fish sauce and a hint of sweetness from palm sugar. When you’re in Thailand at a restaurant, once again, you could request “mai wan,” not sweet, or “sai nam tan nidnoy,” with just an itty-bitty amount of sugar.
Yam mamuang (ยำมะม่วง) was another healthy Thai dish you could try when in Thailand — If you like your food sour and flavor-packed.
3. PAD PAK RUAM MITผัดผักรวมมิตร
There’s a word in Thai, “ahan dtam song,” which translates something like “made to order,” and it typically applies to fresh stir-fried Thai food, because you place your order before it gets cooked.
Many Thai food restaurants of this ilk will wok fry nearly whatever combinations of things you’re in the mood to eat, be it a lone fried vegetable (with or without a protein), or a mix of whatever is in stock.
Pad pak ruam mit is simply a stir-fried pile of whatever vegetables are in the house, hanging around at the moment. To make it a little healthier when you order, you may want to request nam man nidnoy, or a little oil, with it.
4. Pad Pak Bung Fai Daeng ผัดผักบุ้งไฟแดง
A classic vegetable dish that’s a frequently requested item in Bangkok is pad pak bung fai daeng, stir fried morning glory with the addition of tasty red chillies and a lot of garlic.
Pad bung is the Thai name for morning glory, which is also widely known as ong choy, or water spinach.
Its a vegetable that almost every Thai person loves, and that’s why almost all Thai restaurants and street food stalls that serve stir fried dishes will have it on the menu. It’s a classic Thai dish, and in general, I find it to be quite healthy.
This green stalk-oriented vegetable is stir-fried on an office murderously high flame, then usually served flaring hot, and charred just enough that the vegetable is wilted, but retains a nice crispness. As for the seasoning, oyster sauce, and sometimes a touch of fermented soybean sauce.
It must be Pad Pak Bung Fai Daeng (meaning with chilies), located, and it is an excellent and somewhat healthful Thai safe food.
5. Pad Pak Gachet ผัดผักกะเฉด
One of my own favorite vegetarian Thai dishes is pad pak gachet, or stir-fried water spinach.
The rough-textured veggie is succulent both-in taste and in- flesh, often it is stir fried with a truckload of garlic, chillies, sauces. Its texture is tougher and chewier than most vegetables, which is the whole point!
6. Nam Prik น้ำพริก
Nam Prik is the catch-all name for a number of some different Thai chili dipping sauces that are generally served with a garden of freshly boiled and steamed vegetables (and sometimes fried fish).
For one, I believe that nam prik makes a superb Thai meal, and I feel like it doesn’t always get the love it deserves on menus outside of Thailand.
Nam prik comes in numerous varieties, some more meat-based, like nam prik ong (to me it nearly tastes like spaghetti sauce), to vegetable-based versions like nam prik noom (think roasted green chili salsa).
In terms of healthy Thai food, for example, eating nam prik combined with a variety of steamed vegetables — such as eggplant, string beans, cucumbers, bitter melon, okra, cabbage, winged bean – can be considered relatively healthy.
Usually, local Thailand, you would get nam prik at market stalls where you would buy nam prik in a plastic bag and select your vegetables to go. At restaurants, nam prik is usually ordered as an appetizer-type dish, a bowl of the chili sauce with an array of vegetables surrounding it.
7. Jim Jum จิ้มจุ่ม
Jim jum is the Thai street incarnation of a personal hot pot — a medley of ingredients that each and every table self cooks.
A mix of fragrant herbs stewed together creates the broth base of jim jum and after it’s up to you how many pieces of pork, vegetables go into the pot.
You won’t have also hard to order a pot of jim jum without them, you can just eat the basket of vegetables and the fried egg (with the basket of vegetables), and the fried salad leaves, and the fried moong bean clear noodles without the bizniz.
8. Pla Chon Lui Suan – Healthy Thai Fish
Within the world of Thai food in a remarkable variety of different fish and types of preparation of fish. One of the most popular types of fish eaten on the streets of Bangkok is pla chon, or snakehead fish.
In pla chon lui suan, the fish is steamed, coated in garlic, chillies and mint leaves and served on a plate of steamed garden vegetables, making it a very healthy Thai food.
It’s also typically served with a killer sauce that brings out mighty flavor!
Use Marinated Pork to make a nice fish sauce to dip.
9. Kuay Teow Lui Suan ก๋วยเตี๋ยวลุยสวน
This is a Thai version of fresh spring rolls (not the deep-fried ones) where a handful of fresh raw vegetables are wrapped in something that resembles a rice noodle wrap, only to hold it together.
You can usually find a variety of fillings at the places that serve kuay teow lui suan (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวลุยสวน), mackerel fish, tofu (for the fully vegetarian version) and sometimes pork. I generally enjoy either the mackerel filling or the tofu filling.
In addition to the tofu or fish that gets wrapped up inside of a Thai noodle roll like kuay teow lui suan (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวลุยสวน), there will also normally be seen leaves of lettuce, carrots, and lots of Thai sweet basil.
Negative — as finally, this relatively wholesome Thai dish arrives with a souring chili dipping sauce, spiked with lime juice to give everything a pucker. It’s not quite a meal for me, but it makes a lovely healthy, and flavorful snack (dare I say, Thai snack) for sure.
10. Gaeng Liang แกงเลียง
The sheer elements comprising a bowl of gaeng liang must make it one of the healthiest Thai dishes available.
The vegetable herbal soup has a mix of things like pumpkin, corn, squash, ivy gourd, mushrooms, and a bunch of other herbs and random veggies.
This herbal medley is akin to shoveling healthy detoxification medicine into your body — and it tastes amazing!
