Easy Vegan Pad Thai
A classic brought back to life - plant-based style. This vegan Pad Thai is so easy - throw it together in 20 minutes or less, and be prepared for compliments all round (because you’re gonna get ‘em). Add a few of your favourite vegetables, a bit of tofu, and a kick of heat, and you’ll be a Pad Thai Pro in no time.
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Introduction
Pad Thai - the dish that holds a top 3 spot in all of our take-out go-to’s. Too tired after work to hit the kitchen? Pad Thai. Ordering for your friends and family and need a reliable powerhouse of a dish? Pad Thai. Hungover? You guessed it.
But the big question is, why order in when you can make it for a tenth of the price? Save yourself some money, and more importantly, save yourself some time and put this dish together by yourself (how you like it) in less than the time it would take the delivery guy to get to your door.
Similar to a few of my past recipes - the Pad Thai is a carte blanche meal. A blank canvas. I’ve written down my favourite vegetables, but if you’re not a fan of, say, broccoli - leave it behind in the produce section. Make this dish your own. You might like this recipe just the way it is, but your way is always the best whatever - whichever way that may be.
The trick to the Pad Thai is adding in ingredients based on their hardness. For example, I add my tofu in at the start - always. It gives me time to chop my vegetables while it fries away. It takes a pretty long time. But when I’m using carrots, I’ll toss them in at the same time. Carrots are hard, and you don’t want to plate up only to have to gnaw your way through a half dozen sticks of carrot. Time your ingredients, use a bit of technique, and you’re on your way.
Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take this dish to the next level.
Before we Get Started
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Rice Noodles
1 Block Tofu (350g)
1 Bell Pepper
1 Green Onion
1/2 head Broccoli
1 medium Carrot
Handful of Bean Sprouts
3 cloves of Garlic
Thumb-Sized piece of Ginger
1 Red Chili
1 Lime
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
1 tbsp. Maple Syrup
Splash Lime Juice
4 tbsp. Soy Sauce
Method
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt.
Don’t add your noodles yet. Look at the instructions on the package and factor the time into when you will drop the noodles.
For reference, the cooking of all the vegetables takes approx. 10 minutes, so if your noodles take 3 minutes, drop 7 minutes through.
Preheat a pan to medium-high heat with oil.
Cut your tofu into small cubes. Thinly slice your carrots. Add them both into the pan with a splash of soy sauce.
Finely dice your garlic and ginger. Add to the pan.
While those cook, cut your 1/2 head of broccoli into florets. Add them to the pan.
Chop up your bell pepper (or slice it), and throw it into the pan, too.
I’ll slice one half of the bell pepper, and dice the other.
While that’s cooking, mix together the peanut butter, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, lime juice, maple syrup, and some warm water in a separate bowl.
Make your sauce a bit looser than you’d like the final consistency. It will reduce slightly in the pan. Do this by adding more warm water until you’ve achieved your desired viscosity.
Thinly slice your green onions and your red chili. Add your red chili to the pan but save the green onions for plating.
Cook your noodles. Drain, and add to the pan with the veggies. Add your sauce, and toss to coat everything.
Have a quick taste, and add more of soy sauce to taste.
Begin plating. Sprinkle your green onions over top, and add a big handful of bean sprouts. Drizzle a bit more lime juice.
Enjoy.
Spruce it Up
Crumble some peanuts on top of the dish.
Sprinkle some crushed red chili flakes for a bit more spice.
Add your favourite vegetables.
Throw in a tbsp. of Red/Green/Yellow Thai chili paste.