Vegan Pad Thai

Thai food is our favorite and we have experimented for so long to perfect this pad this recipe.

We have been pretty specific about sharing the brands of ingredients we use here and, for good reason. We have been making pad thai for over 10 years and tried so many variations and brands of ingredients. This combo is the winner. If you don’t have the exact brands mentioned, it’s ok; however, I highly recommend getting your hands on the Yellowbird brand of Sriracha, you can purchase it online or have a great excuse to travel to Austin, TX to buy it locally!

Also, the Kalo brand vegan fish sauce is the only version we have ever tried, so let us know if you have a delicious experience with another brand. I did get really adventurous one day and make homemade vegan fish sauce, then, I just did not want to risk ruining a good batch of pad thai, so stuck with the Kalo brand. Maybe one day soon, I will get more brave. You know I will share all about it when I do!

Until then, we hope you love this dish just as much as we do!

Vegan Pad Thai

Servings

4

servings

Cooking time

10

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 8 ounces brown pad thai rice noodles*

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed

• 4 Tablespoons safflower oil**

• 1 cup bean sprouts, optional

• Pad Thai Sauce
  

• 5 Tablespoons light brown sugar

• 3 Tablespoons Kalo vegan fish sauce***

• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar ****

• 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter, salted *****

• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce******

• abundant love

Directions

• Press the tofu for 30 minutes and then cut into 36 pieces (photo below).
• Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
• Cook noodles for 6 minutes, the package says 5 but this just leaves the noodles a bit too chewy for us.
• While the noodles are cooking, pan fry the tofu. Put the safflower oil into a medium hot pan, then place the tofu in the pan to brown on both sides. Once done, remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Once the tofu cools enough to handle with your hands, cut each piece in half (this will allow better absorption of the sauce).
• Pour the sauce into the pan you boiled the noodles in and warm the sauce a few minutes. Once it starts to blend, add the noodles and continue to mix gently. The sauce will continue to blend and cover the noodles. Toss in the tofu and mix for another minute or two until the tofu is coated. Add 2/3 cup of the bean sprouts (if using) and mix one minute more.
• Serve topped with peanuts, scallions, fresh bean sprouts, and/or a little more Sriracha. Enjoy!

Notes

• * We love Lotus Foods brand brown pad thai rice noodles.
• ** Safflower is our favorite for frying, olive oil will work too.
• *** We were so happy to find this at our local market, other brands may be great too.
• **** Plain rice vinegar, we like Trader Joe’s brand.
• ***** We find it best to use peanut butter at room temperature for this recipe. It just combines quicker. So, if I plan ahead and remember, I will take the peanut butter out of the fridge in the late afternoon before I start preparing dinner.
• ****** Yellowbird brand. Enough said, if you have not discovered it yet, please seek it out. If you don’t have it, use the brand you have!