Ok have you tried making pad thai at home but you didn’t have tamarind or fish sauce and it just never stacked up to your favourite take-out? Us too! But guess what! We finally figured it out! And this quick, easy, homemade vegan pad thai is one recipe we won’t be messing with! It:
- Has that take-out feel
- With simple ingredients you likely have on hand
- It’s ready in less time than ordering
- And costs less than CAD $8 for 4 servings!
My Key Ingredient
This isn’t an authentic pad thai recipe but Pai at Hot Thai Kitchen has a Classic Pad Thai and a video tutorial to walk you through a traditional version!
Our sauce is made up of ingredients we always have on hand and use in lots of our recipes. This way, we find we don’t have bottles of condiments that we use once and don’t come back to for months. So for us, the addition that made this sauce really sing?
Rice Vinegar!
Rice vinegar was the trick to replacing the tang tamarind gives a traditional pad thai. Soy sauce, maple syrup, and some spice just didn’t give our pad thai experiments that zing the traditional versions have.
Ingredients For The Sauce
In addition to the rice vinegar:
Tamari or soy sauce: sub in for the saltiness of fish sauce
Maple syrup: replaces the palm sugar
Chilli garlic sauce: replaces needing to add garlic and chillies separately
And lime juice: just like the classic!
And The Rest?
We load up this homemade vegan pad thai with:
Rice Noodles
Tofu
Bean Sprouts
Julienned Carrots
And top with…
Green Onion
Roasted, Crushed, Peanuts
And Cilantro
Why Make Vegan Pad Thai
Well here’s where the thrifty part comes! You can absolutely add shrimp or chicken to your pad thai but it’s just so tasty as is!
And just like how the tofu and veggie version will typically cost less from your favourite take-out restaurant, it will cost less making it at home.
Recipe Cost
This recipe costs us approximately: CAD $7.63 for 4 servings! That’s $1.91/serving.
- Adding 200g of shrimp would bring the cost to: $9.49
- Adding 1 pound of chicken brings it to: $11.19
- And many recipes call for 2 eggs which would add around: $0.98
So, are the savings unreal… no. But are they nice? Mhmm. AND we’re not sacrificing on flavour because all the flavour comes from the sauce, all the heft comes from the veggies and noodles, and the awesome bonus fun on top is the peanuts!
So give this super tasty homemade vegan pad thai a try and let us know in the comments below if it delivers that take-out taste you’ve been missing! Serve it up with our Thai Mango Salad!
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Homemade Vegan Pad Thai You Need To Try
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Quick and easy take-out worthy pad thai you can make anytime! This homemade vegan pad thai will tick all your boxes and help you save!
Ingredients
- 8oz medium rice noodles
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 350g extra firm tofu (if not using extra firm, see notes)
- 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- ½ thai red chilli pepper, deseeded and minced
- 1–2 medium carrots, julienned (about 4 handfuls)*
- 225g bean sprouts*
- ¼ cup green onion, sliced (plus more for topping)*
- ⅓ cup chopped peanuts
Sauce:
- ¼ cup tamari (or soy sauce)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 ½ tsp chilli garlic sauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (or palm sugar for a more authentic version)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar (see notes if using the more traditional tamarind!)
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Prepare a large pot with water and bring to a boil for your noodles.
- While your water is heating up, julienne your carrots, slice your green onion, and slice the tofu into cubes.
- Cook your rice noodles according to the package instructions (usually 5 minutes). Stir frequently so they don’t stick together. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking. You can also toss them in a bit of sesame oil but I find this usually isn’t needed.
- Heat a large skillet with 1 tablespoon sesame oil over medium heat. Add your tofu cubes and cook for about 4 minutes until they are nicely browned. Give the skillet a shake every so often to prevent the tofu sticking.
- While your tofu browns, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- When the tofu is lightly browned, add 1 tablespoon tamari and ½ red chilli pepper. Toss to coat.
- Then add your carrots, bean sprouts, and green onion. Cook for 1 minute or so to soften slightly.
- Add your noodles and sauce. Stir and cook for about 4 minutes until everything is evenly coated, heated through, and slightly softened.
- To serve, divide among bowls and top with more green onion and chopped peanuts. Looking for a starter? Try our Thai Mango Salad!
Notes
Cost Comparison: CAD $7.63 ($1.91/serving) with 350g tofu vs. CAD $9.49 with 200g shrimp & CAD $11.19 with 1lb chicken. Add about CAD $0.98 for 2 eggs if you were to make a traditional pad thai.
Extra firm tofu is best because it won’t break apart. If your tofu is quite wet you can press it for 10 minutes or so. Use either a tofu press or wrap the tofu in a clean cloth and lay something heavy (like a cast-iron skillet) on top. After 10 minutes unwrap the tofu and slice into cubes.
If you have tamarind in your pantry and want a sauce closer to the traditional, try decreasing the tamari/soy sauce to 1-2 tablespoon and replacing the rice vinegar with 2-4 tablespoon tamarind. Since we don’t tend to stock tamarind in our pantry we haven’t tried this version but taste test your sauce until you get it to your liking! Water can be used to thin the sauce and increase the volume without adding more sodium or sugar if needed!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Thai
Nina
Wow this was definitely the best pad thai I’ve made at home and the simplest recipe to follow. Thank you! I liked the bit of spice (next time I’ll probably do less for the kids and add some more to my own plate!)
Kathryn Alexandre
I’m so glad it was easy to follow and turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for your comment and the star rating!