Vegan Pad Thai With Tofu
This Vegan Pad Thai With Tofu is delicious, easy to make, and is ready in 45 minutes or less! It's the perfect Vegan Pad Thai recipe for anyone looking for a plant based version of those classic flavors. Rice noodles, tofu, veggies, and a quick sauce come together perfectly for this easy meal. *Note that From Start to Finish is an estimate that includes 20 minutes to prep your ingredients (including pressing your tofu and cooking your noodles), and 25 minutes to complete the recipe directions.
Ingredients
- ½ block extra firm tofu - pressed for 20 minutes* and cubed
- 1 medium red bell pepper - cut into long strips
- ½ medium yellow onion - cut into long strips
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 8 oz Pad Thai brown rice noodles* - (OR regular Pad Thai rice noodles) cooked according to package directions
- 2 small/medium carrots - julienned
- 2 green onions - chopped
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- ¼ cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts - roughly chopped
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoon tamari
- 4 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sriracha
- 1.5 tablespoon lime juice
- 1.5 tablespoon natural peanut butter*
Optional toppings:
- Cilantro, additional unsalted dry roasted peanuts, and/or additional lime juice (or a lime wedge)
Instructions
- Add all sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until very smooth.
- Bring a large nonstick pan (or wok) to medium-high heat on the stovetop. Add just a bit of water to prevent sticking, and add your tofu cubes. Allow to sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally but allowing them to sit for 1-2 minutes at a time in between stirs. Add small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.
- Add the red bell pepper and onion to your pan. Allow to sauté 5 more minutes, still stirring only occasionally and adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent sticking.
- Add garlic to the pan. Allow to sauté 2 more minutes.
- Add your cooked noodles, sauce, and carrots to the pan. Toss until everything is heated through and sauce is mostly absorbed by the noodles. (It may seem like a lot of sauce at first, but it'll reduce down after a couple of minutes).
- Add in the green onion, mung bean sprouts, and peanuts. Toss to combine.
- Serve and top with additional toppings if desired!
Notes
*Extra firm tofu, pressed for 20 minutes: You can press your tofu by using a tofu press, or by wrapping your tofu in paper towels and placing a somewhat heavy plate on top of it.
*Pad Thai brown rice noodles: you can use brown rice noodles or regular rice noodles here, just note that brown rice noodles will be more WFPB friendly!
*Natural peanut butter: ideally you want to use a peanut butter where the only ingredient is "dry roasted peanuts"
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