This easy vegan Pad Thai will feel like you're eating street food in South Asia, without breaking the bank on takeout or special ingredients!
I remember the first time I tried to make pad thai, and I was so incredibly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ingredients I needed. While the dish was super tasty, I felt like it didn't need to be so complicated to achieve the flavor I craved.
Because of it's nutty yet citrusy flavor, Pad Thai is one of the most popular dishes to order at Thai restaurants. You'll see it on nearly every menu. The dish is safe for both picky and adventurous eaters. It's even praised as the national dish of Thailand.
What You'll Need:
The dish traditionally consists of flat rice noodles, tamarind paste, fish sauce, garlic, chopped peanuts, some sort of protein, and more. You won't find peanut butter in a traditional Pad Thai!
- Rice Noodles
- Creamy/Runny Peanut Butter
- Soy Sauce or Tamari
- Lime Juice
- White Miso Paste
- Extra Firm Tofu
- Baby Bok Choi
- Enoki Mushrooms (Optional)
- Shallot or Yellow Onion
- Garlic
How to Make Vegan Pad Thai
So, let's be honest. This easy vegan Pad Thai dish is actually not very authentic. Like, at all. BUT, it's so delicious and so easy, because it uses mostly pantry ingredients!
First, Prepare the Pad Thai Sauce
This dish is great for when you're craving Pad Thai, but you're in a pinch and only have a few ingredients on hand. Most of these ingredients can be found in any grocery store. But, I would encourage you to look for them at your local Asian grocery! They usually have very unique and authentic ingredients, and it's usually very affordable! If you're in Greenville, I recommend Asia Pacific Super Market.
Ingredient substitutions:
The only obscure ingredients in this dish are the enoki mushrooms, the baby bok choi, and the miso paste. If you cannot find the mushrooms, feel free to omit them or replace them with bean sprouts. The baby bok choi can be replaced with kale or another dark leafy green. Miso paste is an ingredient I use very frequently. I find it at Whole Foods, among other places. If you can't find it, I recommend adding a bit more salt.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package rice noodles
- ½ cup creamy/runny peanut butter
- 2-3 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari coconut aminos work for GF options
- small amount of water
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 1 block extra firm tofu cubed
- 1 head baby bok choi
- ⅓ package enoki mushrooms (optional)
- ½ large shallot diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Mix together the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, miso paste, and water to form a sauce
- Cook rice noodles according to package instructions
- In a large pot or wok, add oil to the pan and sautée the shallots, then the garlic, then the bok choi
- Add drained noodles to the pot, and stir peanut sauce into the pot
- While stirring, add more soy sauce and other seasonings to taste (I love using vegan chicken flavoring and Trader Joe’s chili onion crunch!)
- Sear the tofu cubes with soy sauce and add to the noodles
- Add the enoki mushrooms near the end and stir into the dish.
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