If you are looking for the perfect vegan pad thai recipe, then this easy and delicious meal will be perfect for you tonight!
Is you love stir-fry but maybe looking to switch it up or just wanting to know how to veganize your beloved pad thai, then you will absolutely love this amazing easy vegan pad thai dish.
What is Pad Thai?
Pad Thai is a traditional street food offering in Thailand. It is a stir-fry that has a rice noodle base instead of actual rice.
Traditionally, ingredients like shrimp, scrambled eggs, peanuts, bean sprouts and other vegetables are combined with rice noodles and fried inside a wok.
Today, some street vendors add chicken or pork and more.
To make vegan, we are using tofu as the base, along with a healthy dose of vegetables and omitting ingredients like fish sauce.
We don’t claim that this is an authentic recipe, however, we will show you how to make a delicious recipe easy that’s accessible to all!
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Why You’ll Love Vegan Pad Thai
Flavorful
There is a mixture of spices, sauces, and natural flavors used to bring this dish to life.
The end results is a magnificent stir fry that you are going to love over and over again!
Packed with Vegetables
We are adding zucchini, carrots, onions, and broccoli to this dish to not only stretch it, but add volume and flavor. The dish is vibrant with beautiful colors and full of nutrients from the vegetable additions.
It’s fun to switch up the vegetables you are using to clear out your pantry too!
Comes Together Quickly
Despite seeming like a lot of ingredients, this dish is ready in under 30 minutes. It also reheats well and will be a hit with both kids and adults alike.
Vegan Pad Thai Ingredients:
Gather your ingredients!
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make tofu pad thai:
- Rice Noodles – you can use white or brown rice noodles for this recipe. The biggest thing is to follow the package instructions and not overcook your noodles
- Tofu – in the video we are using super firm tofu as it has the best results of not breaking apart; however, you can just use extra firm tofu and drain and press it
- vegetables – we are using onions, broccoli, zucchini and carrots for this dish.
- Tamarind Paste – Tamarind is a unique fruit that has a variety of flavors. The paste really helps bring out the flavor in this dish and create something most dishes don’t have
- Soy Sauce – helping with that umami flavor, we prefer a low-sodium soy sauce
- Vegan Fish Sauce – traditionally pad Thai uses fish sauce or oyster sauce, we are using a vegan version here
- Garlic Chili Sauce – adding more depth of flavor and a little heat
- Coconut Sugar – balance out our flavors, we’re adding a little sweetness here with the sugar
- Peanuts – help to give it a bit of a crunch while adding another layer of flavor as well
- Green Onions – we cook the green onions directly into the dish, but also on top as a way to heighten the flavors of the dish
- Lime Juice – the acidity of the lime really helps balances everything together at the end
Substitutions and Variations:
- Rice Noodles – while rice noodles are traditional in pad thai, you could switch it up with ramen, or a thinner wheat noodle like angel hair
- Tofu – if you need to swap out tofu, try Pumfu (pumpkin tofu), jackfruit, seitan, chickpeas, or even a vegan meat option or something else similar
- vegetables – feel free to swap out the vegetables from what we used, just keep in mind flavors and cooking time.
- Tamarind Paste – the most simple tamarind paste sub is more lime juice. Otherwise you could do a mix of 3 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoon water, 3 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, and ½ cup tomato paste – this makes a full batch so you’ll only need to use a bit of it and then store the rest.
- Soy Sauce – swap with coconut aminos, liquid aminos, tamari, or a no soy soy sauce
- Vegan Fish Sauce – omit or use more soy sauce or soy sauce alternative
- Garlic Chili Sauce – this is adding spice, so you can omit if you don’t want spice or swap with some tomato paste, garlic and red pepper flakes
- Coconut Sugar – swap with brown sugar or date sugar
- Peanuts – can omit if you can’t have peanuts or add something else crunchy on top after the dish is completed
Step by Step Instructions:
The biggest tip for making sure this dish goes successfully is to have all your vegetables chopped and all other ingredients pulled out.
This dish moves fast and you don’t want to risk burning anything or having to start and stop multiple times because you don’t have everything out.
Add all your sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and cook until your coconut sugar has dissolved. Then set aside and turn off the heat.
Into a wok or high walled skillet, add oil over medium heat. You want to make sure you are using a high heat oil.
Add your carrots and broccoli and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until they start to soften. Stirring often to prevent burning.
Add onions and cook another 3-4 minutes. Then, add tofu cubes and saute for another 4 minutes, stirring so all sides get cooked.
Add zucchini slices, red pepper flakes and soy sauce and stir to combine.
Either before starting your stir fry or while that’s cooking, add noodles to a large bowl and pour boiling water over top. Stir to separate noodles and let set according to package instructions.
Do not overcook your noodles. Drain immediately and toss with oil to prevent sticking if you aren’t adding directly to the stir fry when they are done.
Add in sauce you set aside earlier, green onions, and peanuts, as well as your noodles. Then, cook until heated through, about 3-4 more minutes.
Serve with any additional ingredients on top.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes. You can swap out the soy sauce for coconut aminos or no soy soy sauce if needed. Tofu can be replaced with Pumfu or another ingredient like chickpeas or jackfruit. The peanut can be omitted.
Yes. This dish will last in the fridge for up to 3-4 days, so you can prepare it that far in advance.
Yes. Just increase each amount as called for. Ensure that the skillet you are cooking in is large enough for all the ingredients.
We would not recommend freezing this dish.
What other vegan take out inspired ideas could I make?
If you love take out, but have a hard time finding take out dishes that are vegan near you, give some our our take-out inspired vegan dishes a try!
- Vegan Mongolian Beef Noodles
- Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
- Vegan Sesame Garlic Noodles
- Easy Cheesy Crispy Black Bean Tacos
- Vegan Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
- Vegan Sofritas (Chipotle Copycat Bowl)
Pin this vegan pad thai recipe for later!
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Vegan Pad Thai
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 3 ½ tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste *may also say concentrate
- 2 teaspoon vegan fish sauce (can add more soy sauce or omit)
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce
Noodles
- 8 oz Rice Noodles (regular or brown)
Stir-Fry
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (not toasted or sub with avocado oil)
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces
- ½ large sweet onion, sliced into wedges and separated
- 14 oz extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced and halved
- ½ teaspoon red pepper chili flakes, optional
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 cup green onions, chopped
- ⅓ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped
Optional Serving Ingredients
- lime juice
- bean sprouts
- toasted sesame oil
- chili garlic sauce
- vegetable stock
Instructions
- Make sure all vegetables are chopped and ingredients out prior to starting this recipe.
- Over medium heat, add all the sauce ingredients and heat until the coconut sugar has dissolved. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Add noodles to a large bowl and pour boiling water over top. Stir to separate noodles and let set according to package instructions. Do not overcook your noodles. Drain immediately and toss with oil to prevent sticking.
- Into a wok or high walled skillet, add oil over medium heat. Add your carrots and broccoli and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until they start to soften. Stirring often to prevent burning. Add onions and cook another 3-4 minutes. Then, add tofu cubes and saute for another 4 minutes, stirring so all sides get cooked.
- Add zucchini slices, red pepper flakes and soy sauce and stir to combine. Add in cooked noodles, sauce you set aside earlier, green onions, and peanuts. Cook until heated through, about 3-4 more minutes. Serve with any additional ingredients on top.
Randi Hanna
So tasty, quick, and easy to make! definitely the closest to restaurant pad Thai that I have gotten.
Larisha Bernard
yay!
Vickie
great recipe! Thankyou!
Larisha Bernard
Thanks!
Karin Davies
I love this recipe and your photos are amazing!
Larisha Bernard
Thanks Karin!
Richard Leibel
Very good, thanks for sharing. I’m eating this as I leave the review. I used soba noodles, because that’s what I had in my pantry. I added some mushrooms too. Next time I think I will add extra broccoli and carrots. But very good just as the recipe says.
LarishaBernard
Glad to hear that you enjoyed and want to make again!