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Vegan Pad Thai
30 min
Main
Servings
Total
30 minPrep
15 minCook
15 minContains
soy
Swap out
gluten
Free from
peanut
tree nut
sesame
Ingredients
Crispy tofu
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2 Tbsp (30 mL)vegetable oil
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16 oz (450 g)firm tofu, pressed, cut into 1 cm cubes
Pad Thai base
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5.3 oz (150 g)dry brown rice noodles
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1 Tbsp (15 mL)vegetable oil
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6cloves garlic, minced
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2medium shallots, diced
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2stalks green onion, sliced
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1red hot chili pepper, minced
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1½ Tbsp (14 g)pickled radish (optional)
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1carrot, julienned
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1red bell pepper, julienned
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1 cup (64 g)shredded green cabbage (optional)
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3 Tbsp (45 mL)tamarind paste
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2 Tbsp (28 g)granulated sugar
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1 Tbsp (15 mL)rice vinegar
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½lime, juiced
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1 cup (90 g)fresh bean sprouts
Optional garnishes
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fresh cilantro
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lime slice
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roasted unsalted peanuts
Directions
- To a large pan on high heat, add the oil. When hot, add the tofu and cook until lightly crispy on all sides*, about 8 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl.
- Add the rice noodles to a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit to soften, and drain when 1 - 2 minutes before al dente. Rinse under cold water.
- To a sauté pan, add the oil. When hot, add the garlic, shallots, green onions, chili, and pickled radish. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes.
- Then add the carrot, bell pepper, and cabbage and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, tamarind paste, sugar, vinegar, sriracha, and lime juice. Stir.
- Add the rice noodles to the pan, and toss to combine. Cook until everything is warmed through and the noodles are fully cooked.
- Add the bean sprouts and tofu to the pan, and toss to coat.
- Serve while hot, top with desired garnishes, and enjoy!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Let us know what you think
Plate method
The Plate Method is a visual tool that helps us ensure our dietary needs are on track. Touch the image below to see how this recipe measures up.
Grains & Starches 41%
• dry brown rice noodles
Proteins 16%
• firm tofu
Fruits & Veggies 43%
• clove garlic
• medium shallot
• stalk green onion
• red hot chili pepper
• pickled radish
• carrot
• red bell pepper
• shredded green cabbage
• lime
• fresh bean sprouts
Calcium
• firm tofu
Fat
• vegetable oil
• vegetable oil
Nutrition info
We believe that focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. If you require specific nutrition information due to a medical condition, please consult with a dietitian or physician. The nutritional information provided is composed with the utmost care. However, we cannot guarantee the correctness of the displayed values, see also our disclaimer.
Watch it step-by-step!
Discussion & Rating
I loved this recipe SO MUCH. Never had much Asian food growing up with my disabled sister and my family overall, lots of southern/autism friendly food. had no idea what pad Thai was. Made this recipe and for the first time in my life, I went OUT OF MY WAY to eat tofu. I burned it (I think) so it was really crispy, and I put garlic, chili powder, and soy with my tofu as a little sauce. 10/10 I’ll make again this week!
This recipe is so good! I love recipes that have a great base, but can easily be swapped around to use what is already in the house.
This recipe has been in our meal rotation for years! Delicious every time.
Delicious 💚
Hey! Can’t wait to make it
Is there an alternative to tamarind paste if I don’t have it? Is silan an option?
Thank you!
A very tasty pad thai recipe - I made it this week for my meal preps! Thank you! I was able to find a tamarind paste at a local asian market and I'm glad I did as it added a delicious flavour!
Just made this! I didn't have tamarind paste, so I read you can use Balsamico vinegar. I swapped it and it was so delicious, will do it again!
This was amazing! Honestly I was surprised to take the first bite, amazed that I could this by myself using this recipe! Feels worthy of a restaurant, yet not even difficult to make!
Due to allergies I replaced the bell pepper with canned baby corn, which was a good substitute!
Very delicious dish ! And very easy ! Thank you very much.
If I would just recommended to add what texture or results we should have after the 5 or 8 min cooking as we don't have the same hotplates. :)
amazing! Thank you
This recipe is the best for cooking up weird leftover veggies. I rarely have the veggies on hand mentioned in the recipe. I tend to just julienne anything on hand and the sauce will make it amazing. Here are some substitutions I experimented with in case you are also missing ingredients:
mushrooms instead of tofu (oyster mushrooms especially)
leek/red onion for spring onion
zucchini/pok choi/spinach/napa cabbage/sugar peas for cabbage
kohlrabi/turnip/sweet potato for carrot
exchange bamboo and soy bean shoots
edamame/sesame/peanut butter for peanuts
(I recommend bell pepper and carrot though)
I googled vegan pad Thai in the AH, saw this from PUL and got very excited. A delicious and easy to prepare mid week dinner. It also works extremely well with pre-made AH tempeh ketjap and ramen noodles. Definitely a new staple in the repertoire.
Excellent! My mom doesn’t like spicy so I didn’t add any of the spice flavor.
I couldn’t find tamarind paste at my local store so I made my own. Pretty easy. It seemed too sour for me so I didn't put as much as the recipe called for.
Subbed vinegar for lemon.
Loved the idea of pouring hot water over the noodles. Worked perfectly!
Another winner!
'Delicious!' says 9 year old Anouk. Dad is the only vegan in the family but this dish has become our favourite Saturday dinner dish. Thank you! Merci!
What can you use as a substitute for tamarind paste.
A staple in our house. Thanks for the great recipe. So yummy!
Had been looking for a good vegan Pad Thai recipe. This was so easy to make and it turned out to be delicious! Got to introduce my family to Thai food through this! Thanks a ton!
Pick Up Limes Team! This ✨ recipe ✨ is ✨ a ✨ winner !! So delicious! Next time I’m going to replace the cabbage with celery for a little extra crunch.
We love Pad Thai and never found a vegan recipe we liked but this one is a game changer! So so delicious thank you!
Loved this recipe! Thank you for sharing! We will definitely make it again and next time we might add some edamame!
Such a lovely recipe, will definitely make again!
So excited to make this! I know that non-vegan pad thai recipes use fish sauce. Since we are not completely vegan, if we wanted to put a little bit in the sauce would that be ok do you think?
C’est la première fois que je laisse un commentaire à une recette. C’est parce qu’elle est vraiment très bonne!
Cela m’a pris environ 60 minutes, mais vaut le temps impliqué.
Merci beaucoup Sadia pour cette recette! C’est certain que je la recommencerai ☺️.
Delicious! The “large shred” setting on my food processor made for light work, so this recipe was less chopping than I’d planned for. I did not have tamarind and also used a jalapeño, subbed for the red chiles- but it still turned out great! Excellent, Sadia!
Amazing! We made this for ourselves and our family and even my grandma liked it! We used sambal oelek instead of sriracha and a combination of coconut aminos and dark soy sauce. The second time we made it with 1/2 a tablespoon of sambal oelek, 2.5 tablespoons of dark soy sauce and 1.5 tablespoons of coconut aminos and found this flavor profile a bit closer to our liking. I also like topping it with a generous amount of roasted peanuts. I was a bit hesitant tamarind paste and wasn’t sure how I’d use the whole jar, but now I can’t wait to make and eat this again.
Made this and it was so good! Very tasty and I love the spicy kick! Going to make it again this week :)
Tasty!
I made this tonight and my non-vegan husband said "Dang that's delicious! Can I have some more?" We will definitely be adding this to our regular menu.
The best recipe to make with friends who “can’t cook”! Made this with some college friends in our dorm kitchen & we LOVED it, plus it proved to them that cooking isn’t that hard after all!
Loved this!
The best pad thai recipe ever!! My husband asks me to make this each week. I replace the sriracha with vegan thai red curry paste (as husband doesn’t like as much spice). So delicious and addictive!!
LOVE IT SO MUCH. It's my go-to meal when I'm feeling lazy.
Being a newbie to cooking, I left several ingredients out but a solid base of the recipe was there. One addition was mushrooms.
Ingredients omitted either by choice or circumstantial were the following:
Tofu
Tamarind paste
Pickled radish
Dry brown rice noodles (used spaghetti ^.^ )
Cabbage
Fresh bean sprouts
~and~ three of the four optional garnishes
WHEN I make this again, I will not skip out on the cabbage, tamarind paste, the peanuts, and a substitute for tofu
I really enjoyed cutting the veggies as recommended because it was wonderful to enjoy them so crisp. The only thing I would do differently is cut them into a bit smaller pieces just out of preference.
Thank you so much for the walk-through and making cooking fun and inspirational! :D
I loved this recipe!!! Very easy and so tasty. I prefer this Pad Thai with a lot of veggies, than a restaurant’s Pad Thai. I’m always checking de PUL website for new wholsesome recipes!! Thank you for doing this!!!
This recipe is easy and delicious! I personally add more soy sauce for my husband and I. All the recipes that Pick Up Limes create are made with love and nutrition out the ass. I always tell my vegan friends about their Youtube channel and share their recipes because of this. It can be hard to get all the essentials in one's diet but never fear, Pick Up Limes is here! Thank you guys for all your hard work. It is very much appreciated by me and many others. ^_^
I think I made this one a 1000 times. It is so delicious!
Love it! This is also one of my go-to recipes on those days where I have a ton of work and cannot spend a lot of time on cooking. I love that there are so many veggies in this recipe, definitely prefer this recipe to a restaurant pad thai.
I made it for my family and everyone liked it, it's amazing!!!
If you're waiting for a sign to make this, this is it! Haha try it!
Thank you Sadia 💚
I've made this several times and its absolutely delicious! PUL is my go-to page to try new recipes :)
I made this last night and it was very delicious. I couldn't find tamarind paste so I left it out (which I think it definitely needs so I'll try it again next time). My grocery store didn't have bean sprouts and I was devastated, that's the best part! Overall, this was still a really delicious and easy recipe once you prep all of the ingredients. It comes together pretty quickly. Still figuring out tofu though, haven't been able to squeeze out the water without it ripping. How long would you recommend having it be pressed down by a pot or something heavy to get the water out? I think that will help it get crispy for next time. Another delicious dinner, thank you!
Another of my top favorites from the PUL website! Stunning! 😁🤤
Love the tasty delicious flavors in this recipe. Def will make this again. Thank you.
So just made this and I'm so impressed. It really packs a punch with flavor. My sister, who never really likes vegan food, actually loved this recipe so thanks so much for sharing!