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Vegan pad thai

Sweet & sour

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This Pad Thai offers classic flavours with a seaweed-based, vegan ‘fish’ sauce.

This recipe is:

  • Sweet & sour
  • Vibrant in flavours
  • A delicious vegan take on a classic recipe

If you love this Pad Thai, try our 5-minute Cashew Alfredo Sauce next.

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A plate of began pad thai with snow peas, red peppers, and rice noodles, garnished with green onion and cilantro, served on a speckled blue plate.

Vegan Pad Thai

Andrea Potter, Rooted Nutrition
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 411 kcal

Ingredients
  

Sauce

  • 3 tbsp vegan 'fish' sauce storebought or homemade – see recipe
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar or sub another sweetener
  • 3 tbsp vegetable broth sub water if you don't have broth on hand
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar or rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1+ tsp chili paste mild, such as sambal oelek
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste or tamarind paste optional

Pad Thai

  • 200 g thick rice 'stick' noodles
  • 1 bell pepper any colour
  • 1/2 onion medium
  • 1 large carrot or use 2 medium
  • 2 cups green vegetables choose broccoli florets, bok choy, chopped zucchini, snap peas, etc.
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed herbs Thai basil (sub for regular basic, green onion and/or cilantro
  • 1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts peanuts or cashews are my favourite
  • 2+ tbsp oil

Instructions
 

  • Soak dry rice noodles in plenty of water for about 30 minutes to soften – until they are limp but still firm to the touch. (You can skip this step if using fresh noodles)
  • While the noodles are soaking, prepare veggies by chopping fine – into stir-fry cuts.
  • Shake up sauce ingredients in a jar.
  • Add oil to heating pan and stir-fry veggies for about 3-5 minutes (depending on veggie types), until softening a bit.
  • Drain noodles and add them to the veggies, along with the sauce.
  • Cook until noodles soften but are not over-cooked. The noodles will have a darker appearance from soaking up the sauce and will break when pressed between two fingers.
  • Garnish with herbs and crushed nuts. Serve with stir-fried veggies and optional baked tofu.
    Vegan pad thai ingredients, including advocado oil, white onion, green onion, cilantro, red pepper, uncooked dry rice noodles, brown sugar, tamari soy sauce, and rice vinegar, displayed on a wooden cutting board.

Notes

This recipe works best when cooked in a wok. If you don’t have one, use the widest sauté or frying pan that you have.
This recipe does not easily double. If making more than 1X recipe, cook in batches for best result.
Use leftover ‘fish’ sauce in any recipe that calls for fish sauce. Makes a great savoury marinade for tofu for this or many other recipes. You can also freeze it in ice cube trays and pop 2 ‘fish’ sauce ice cubes into your next Vegan Pad Thai or other stir-fry.

Serving Information

Dish out the hot noodles and garnish with crushed nuts, herbs and a wedge of lime. Serve fresh.

Recipe Cost Breakdown

Ingredients Servings: 4
Quantity Measure Cost
Cashews 1/2 cup 2.88
Vegan ‘fish’ sauce 3 tbsp .22
bell pepper (red) 1 ea 2.42
tamari/soy sauce 3 tbsp .40
snow/snap peas (227g package) 1 ea 3.99
rice vinegar 2 tbsp .16
rice noodles (454g) .5 ea 1.20
oil 2 tbsp .21
onion .5 ea .21
coconut sugar 3 tbsp .40
cilantro, bunch .25 ea .63
carrots, medium 2 ea .72
Total     13.43
Cost/serving     3.35

Nutrition

Calories: 411kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 5gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 778mgPotassium: 394mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 5347IUVitamin C: 56mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 3mg
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Watch Andrea make vegan Pad Thai