Vegetarian Pad Thai

This plant-based version of Vegetarian Pad Thai takes just 30 minutes or less to prepare and yet tastes great. It’s a street-food style stir-fry noodle dish available everywhere in Thailand. This is the first dish that comes to mind when I sit in a Thai restaurant and also my favorite takeout dish. It has a very versatile texture and flavor.

It is made out of veggies, protein of your choice and rice noodles tossed in sweet, spicy and tangy sauces. It is easy to customize this dish with a variety of stir-fried veggies of your choice and protein of your choice. I used red rice noodles in this recipe but you can use regular rice noodles or even brown rice noodles. If you have all the ingredients, cooked noodles and veggies at hand this dish comes together in less than 30 minutes.

What you’ll need to make Vegetarian Pad Thai

• Red Rice Noodles
• Sesame Oil
• Carrots, shredded
• Bean Sprouts, frozen
• Green onions, white & green part separated
• Sambal oelek 
• Roasted Peanuts
• Green Onion
• Lime Juice

For the Sauce

• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp Tamarind concentrate
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (optional)
• Juice of 1 fresh lime

How to make Vegetarian Pad Thai with step by step photos & instructions

1. Cook the noodles – Cook the noodles al dente according to the package directions (I used red rice noodles but any kind of your choice works). Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drizzle two tablespoons of oil and toss the noodles so they won’t stick together.

**I already cooked the noodles ahead to make this recipe quick**

2. For the sauce – Mix together brown sugar, tamarind concentrate, soy sauce, lime juice and sriracha until combined well.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add white part of green onion, stir for a minute and then add shredded carrot. Saute for a couple of minutes.

4. Then add frozen thawed bean sprouts, 1 teaspoon salt and stir.

5. Add tofu and saute. I used leftover air-fried tofu from the previous night’s dinner for this recipe but you can use fried tofu or just diced tofu and let it cook for a while with other veggies.

6. Add Sambal Oelek, prepared Sauce and mix well.

7. Then add cooked noodles and combine everything well until the noodles are well coated with the sauces.

8. Top with chopped green onion, lime juice and roasted peanuts. Enjoy!

Watch how to make Vegetarian Pad Thai

Notes

• You can add protein of your choice like eggs or meat.
• Prepare all your ingredients and have them ready before you start cooking.
• Do not overcook the noodles as they might break or mash while stirring all the veggies and sauces to coat the noodles.
• You just need a very little salt for this dish because you already have salts in sauces and sambal oelek.

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know how it turned out. Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with hashtag #daily_foodhacks.