Dinner, Easy Recipes, Pasta + Noodles, Side Dish, Vegetarian + Vegan

Vegan Pad Thai

Vegan Pad Thai is absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to make! You can have these yummy Asian noodles ready in 15 minutes!

Vegan Pad Thai
Pad Thai

Pad Thai is a simple dish, but the flavors are complex and it tastes so good! It is also a very versatile dish. You can easily adjust this recipe with extra ingredients and serve it as a main course for dinner or as a side dish.

This really is a great simple Pad Thai all by itself, but you can also enhance it with so many things. If you are vegan, you can add various vegetables or tofu if you would like. If you are a meat or seafood lover, it would be great with some chicken or shrimp. Either way, this is a seriously yummy dish! It’s also quicker, easier, and far less expensive than running to your local Thai restaurant… you also actually know what is in it, and that’s always a plus!

To keep this Pad Thai vegan, I used a few different ingredients than “authentic” Pad Thai calls for. Since I did not use fish oil, it does not have that “fishy” taste. I also think it is less oily than traditional Pad Thai. Both of these things are a plus to me personally. I also used ingredients that are easy to find at the store, not everyone has an Asian market near them. However, this Vegan Pad Thai is so good that I don’t think you will even notice the substitutions. If you do, I don’t think you will care since it’s so darn tasty! Please let me know what you think.
Vegan Pad ThaiIf you like this recipe, you might also want to try my Low Carb Lo Mein Noodles, which is also vegan.

Note: The printable recipe is located at the end of this post. Please visit The Scoop for my latest posts or you can search or browse my Recipe Index to find more yummy recipes.

Vegan Pad Thai Ingredients

  • rice noodles
  • peanut oil
  • minced garlic
  • bean sprouts
  • roasted unsalted peanuts – finely chopped

Pad Thai Sauce

  • light soy sauce
  • light brown sugar 
  • white vinegar
  • lime juice
  • peanut oil
  • ground ginger
  • siracha

On the side:

  • fresh limes – Cut into wedges for squeezing over the Pad Thai. Don’t skip this, it’s so good!

How to make Vegan Pad Thai

First, finely chop the peanuts either by hand or in a food processor and set aside. Personally, I used my mini food processor to keep things quick and easy. Note: You will be using half of the nuts as garnish so you might want to split the 1 cup of nuts into two 1/2 cups now to avoid a mistake while cooking. Only use unsalted peanuts.

Chopped Peanuts for Vegan Pad Thai

Now, fill a large pot with 6 – 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from heat then add the rice noodles to soak for 8 – 10 minutes. Rinse the noodles with cold water and drain well.

While the noodles are soaking, add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl and whisk to combine then set aside. If you like your noodles saucier or are adding lots of extra veggies or tofu, double the sauce.

Pad Thai Sauce

Once the noodles are ready, heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat and saute the minced garlic for about 30 seconds. Then add the soaked rice noodles and bean sprouts to the wok and slowly pour the sauce over everything. Stir-fry over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, tossing or stirring to combine and allowing the noodles to absorb the sauce. Add a half cup of the chopped peanuts to the wok and toss to combine all of the ingredients. Remove the wok from heat.

Pad Thai in wok

Serve the Pad Thai with the lime wedges and the additional chopped peanuts to sprinkle over the top. I hope you enjoy it!
Pad Thai with peanuts and lime

Print Recipe
5 from 4 votes

Vegan Pad Thai

Vegan Pad Thai is absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to make! You can have these yummy Asian noodles ready in 15 minutes!
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian, Vegan
Keyword: Pad Thai
Servings: 4
Author: Christi

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces rice noodles
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced
  • 2 cups bean sprouts
  • 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts finely chopped

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon siracha

On the side:

  • 2 fresh limes quartered for squeezing

Instructions

  • Chop the peanuts, unless yours are prechopped, either by hand or in a food processor and set aside. Personally, I used my mini food processor to keep things quick and easy. Note: You will be using half of the nuts as garnish so you might want to split the 1 cup of nuts into two 1/2 cups now to avoid a mistake while cooking. Only use unsalted peanuts.
  • Fill a large pot with 6 - 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from heat then add the rice noodles to soak for 8 - 10 minutes. Rinse the noodles with cold water and drain well. While the noodles are soaking, add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. *see notes
  • Once the noodles are ready, heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or skillet over medium - high heat and saute the minced garlic for about 30 seconds. Add the rice noodles and bean sprouts to the wok and slowly pour the sauce over everything. Stir-fry over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, tossing or stirring to combine and allowing the noodles to absorb the sauce. Add a half cup of the chopped peanuts to the wok and toss to combine all of the ingredients. Remove wok from heat.
  • Serve the Pad Thai with the lime wedges and the additional chopped peanuts to sprinkle over the top.

Notes

  • You can easily adjust this recipe by adding extra ingredients and serve it as a main course for dinner or as a side dish.
  • If you like your noodles saucier or are adding lots of extra veggies or protein, you can easily double the sauce.

(Note: This recipe was originally published on September 15th, 2018, and has been updated with a new recipe card.)

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If you make this Vegan Pad Thai, please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you and I truly appreciate your feedback! I will always do my best to respond to every comment ASAP. Thank you and happy cooking!

7 thoughts on “Vegan Pad Thai”

  1. 5 stars
    My brother suggested I might like this and he was totally right. The pad Thai was so good and so easy to make!

  2. 5 stars
    Really good pad thai recipe. I had everything I needed to make it and it was quick and easy. Thanks!

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