Easy Tofu Pad Thai

This is the best Pad Thai ever!!! And it’s SUPER easy too! :)
I cannot express how much I LOVE this recipe! I make it every 3-4 weeks & cannot have it enough!! I double the sauce, just to add a little more flavor, but however you serve it, it still tastes amazing!

I would totally recommended this to anyone!

Wow! This is the closest recipe I’ve found to restaurant style! Will definitely be making again!

This recipe was a hit with the entire family. I cut the amount of the chili garlic sauce in half because my 10 year old doesn’t like too much spice.

Thank you!

This was a challenging week night meal. Food 52 lulled me into the idea and as I wanted tofu rather than chicken thighs I ended up making this recipe. It was very tasty. But I struggled to get the tofu crisp in 4 minutes and ended up burning it on one side. This caused the tofu to break up. Then I used fresh rice noodles to save a step with soaking and they did not soften easily. I added extra water and used my tongs all of which caused the tofu to break up further. I would take the tofu out then stir fry, noodle fry and add the tofu back in. Or add a dredging step for the tofu with more oil to fry it in. Anyways. It looked a mess but tasted good.

This is such a great recipe and perfect as written. I could not find tamarind so I used the extra lime. The second time I made this I added more veggies because they needed to be cooked. It’s the best pad Thai I’ve found!!!!

Made this for dinner tonight and it was definitely a winner! I made part of the batch with chicken for my husband, and my part with the tofu. I also added in sautéed carrot ribbons, diced bell pepper, and diced mushrooms for some more veggies, along with extra bean sprouts. We didn’t have any peanuts on hand but I didn’t miss them since all the veggies were crunchy. Will definitely be making this regularly!

Superb and so easy to make. Tried the recipe for the 2nd time and Pad Thai was delicious.
I omitted vegetarian fish sauce and used jaggery for some sweetness.
Thank you for sharing.

This recipe came out so flavourful! My meat eating husband was full from the meal and the toddler loved it as well (win win!). Next time, I’ll toss the tofu in cornstarch for a crispier texture and add 2 eggs as well. I ran out of tamarind paste, but the additional lime made it just as tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

so good! I made it with broccoli, carrots and red bell pepper fried with the tofu. I didn’t have tamarind or fish sauce but it was good with lots of lime. We are peanut free so I used cashews and made a “peanut sauce” out of cashew butter and sunflower butter. I used mixed bean sprouts which we sprout ourselves and it was a great way to put them to use. I like to improvise a bit when it comes to spices and go with my gut so I made some other slight alterations. This will probably go in my dinner rotation!

We have made this several times now. Yesterday I made two different recipes, and had family members give a rating between this recipe and another one. Both came out with almost equal ratings, but this particular recipe pulled slightly ahead with the scoring. I buy our Tamarindo sauce online, and it really adds a great flavor!

Just made this and it was delicious! I had to omit the spicy ingredients because I was cooking for kids but it still turned out great! Thanks for sharing this recipe :)

I modified this to fit with what I had! I used all lime juice to replace the tamarind and used Tamari to replace the fish sauce. I couldn’t find bean sprouts anywhere so I steamed snow peas and sautéed bell pepper to add to the mix. I also subbed edamame for tofu and added in some shrimp for one of the non-vegans. Even with these changes, the dish was super tasty! It was pretty spicy so next time I will take out the seeds from the Thai chilis (I used 2 fresh ones).

I didn’t have Tamirand or the coconut stuff but all was easily replaced with lime juice and soy sauce. This is the best recipe I think I have ever made. I normally never comment or rate but this is a true 10/10.

This is very good! Just made it for the second time. Made the sauce as instructed except subbed brown sugar for coconut sugar and felt it was too sweet for me, so next time I used a bit less. Subbed in different vegetables each time (spiralized zuchinni per other reviewers recommendation, bok choy, cabbage). All very good. Also added egg and shrimp which might not work for others diets but worked for me. The suggested toppings were a must (extra lime, cilantro, more peanuts..). Oh and I made 1.5x the amount of sauce because of all the extra ingredients we added. Thank you! This is awesome.

just made this last night!! like all of your recipes i’ve tried, it was amazing!! my family all agreed we will be adding this into the cycle of recipes we make during the week. thank you for such a yummy recipe :)

This came together so quickly and tasted incredible! I will absolutely be making this again.

Great recipe! It was easy to follow and tasted excellent. Just a point of clarification though – chicken and shrimp aren’t great options – they’re actually incredibly cruel. They should be a last resort for those who have no other options. Thanks!

The whole family loves this. I add thinly sliced sweet peppers, snow peas, and a spiralized zucchini, and omit the bean sprouts and chilis (because I can’t find them in the store). You know it’s a winner when the kids both respond with “oh yes!” when I tell them what’s for dinner.

I tried this- added brocolli and red bell peppers.. turned out so so so yum!!

Great recipe. Couldn’t find tamarind paste so I substituted red curry paste and it tasted fine!

I made this recipe tonight! It was absolutely amazing. I did not have peanuts, so I used 2 tbs of crunchy peanut butter as another review had suggested. I topped with hemp hearts for a little extra added crunch. Thanks for a great recipe!

This is a great weeknight recipe – it tastes great and is fairly easy to make!

Mine didn’t taste QUITE like restaurant vegan Pad Thai but it’s significantly healthier so I can’t complain. Next time I’ll try adding more vegan fish sauce, tamarind, and (don’t hate me) msg to see if I can get it just right for personal tastes.

Thank you as always for the solid recipe!

I made this with the tamarind sauce and it turned out incredibly delicious. I sadly did not have any peanuts in my pantry, and that would’ve made it a seriously good pad Thai.

I made this with a few substitutions and additions. I added a dash of coconut milk to the sauce for an even *creamier* go, and a kick of coconut. I substitued texturized vegetable protein instead of tofu, just to imitate a more pad thai feel. Savory and delicious, I will be making this again!

Made this with everything except the chilies. Everything was great except I think I used too much lime juice. Otherwise a huge hit! It really helped with my insatiable Thai food cravings without always running to UberEats. For me this recipe yielded enough for more like 6 meals rather than 4

This is so good! Made this loads, both with and without the veggie fish sauce and I do have to say while it is still very good without it, using it does make a difference and makes it taste a lot closer to what you’d get from a restaurant. Very easy and very yummy!

Absolutely delicious! Sooo easy and flavourful! My mum is hard to please, but she couldn’t stop raving. I think she would have licked the peanut sauce out of the bowl if it were polite to do so. 😉

I made this for my family. Everyone loved it. I didn’t have vegetarian fish sauce so I left it out but it still turned out really well. Everyone thought that it was as good as our favourite take away place. I made a side of stir fried veggies to go with it to up the veggie content.

Delicious and easy to make. There were no leftovers with this one but only because my family had multiple servings

I recently had to start a low FODMAP (read: 100% gluten free) diet for my IBS, which is a little tough as a vegetarian who loves carbs, but this recipe made me miss real noodles way less!! i subbed 1/2 tsp sriracha for the chili garlic sauce in the pad thai sauce and used half garlic infused oil/half sesame oil instead of actual garlic in the stir fry to make it more FODMAP friendly. it was delicious!! i love how the tofu cubes soak up so much flavor and get a little crispy. thank you for this!!

This was a winner for our family! We made it without the oil and fish sauce and substituted for brown rice noodles. Added the chili garlic sauce and chili flakes just to the hubby’s dish. Will definitely make again. Have to work on my noodle cooking skills. Thank you.

This was so good and so easy, thank you!

Made this exactly as stated (minus the optional fish sauce). It was so delicious I struggled not to eat the left overs! I’m slowly making my way through all your vegan recipes and wanted to thank you for yet another great one- I can see myself making this often (woohoo saving money and calories by not getting take out!)

This was really yummy. I am vegan but love phad Thai and it is difficult to get without fish sauce in restaurants. This was really satisfying and perfectly hit my phad Thai craving. I made a few substitutes because of what I had available – I used lo mein noodles, thick chives from my garden instead of green onions, and crushed roasted salted cashews. I skipped the tofu and added sliced carrots to the stir fry step. The sauce is the magic. Finished with the cilantro and lime slices. This will definitely be added to the rotation.

Officially my new favourite Pad Thai recipe! Who needs takeout when you can make this?? I love how you frequently include substitution options in your recipes – I didn’t want to buy tamarind paste so your alternatives were perfect. I’ve made pad thai in the past and always ended up with mushy noodles that stick together. For anyone in the same boat here’s my tip: soak the rice noodles in warm water for 10-30 mins until pliable but not fully cooked; they’ll finish cooking in the pan while absorbing the delicious sauce. Killer recipe made only better by your peanut sauce on top :)

I made this tonight- it went together quickly as promised & was amazing! I did make the peanut sauce as we love sauce. It was a great addition, but your tamarind sauce can certainly stand on its own!
I didn’t have bean sprouts so substituted thinly sliced red pepper & I also doubled the amount of tofu- why not?
This will definitely be in the menu rotation from now on!
FYI-just got your cookbook this week & made the the Braised tofu tostadas- outstanding. My husband used the leftovers for a nacho lunch the nest day. A winner!
Thank you!

This recipe was yum. My only feedback is that if you don’t add the fish sauce and are subbing coconut aminos with tamari it ends up tasting sour even if you add the recommended amount of coconut sugar. Not sure why. I liked it as it is but my family preferred adding a bit of coconut sugar on top to counteract the sourness and it worked.

Finally made this Pad Thai recipe after eyeing it for months. Delicious! I will definitely be making this again soon.

Loved it! I’ve made this twice, once with tofu and once with chicken. Both delicious. My family loves sauce, so we doubled it for the second preparation and it was perfect. Great flavor! I didn’t have coconut aminos on hand and subbed low sodium soy sauce. I will look for the aminos in the future to reduce the saltiness a bit.

This was amazing! I added extra veggies- broccoli, bell pepper and carrots to make a better balance with the noodles. I used Braggs liquid aminos in place of the coconut aminos/soy sauce. The recipe for the peanut sauce to go with it was delish too!

Let’s just say that there were no left overs. I really was hoping to save some for my children’s lunch box but….they loved it loved it. The favors were so amazing together.

What did I sub? 1. No fish sauce 2. I did not have tamarind paste so I used the additional lemon juice 3. Used lemons 4. Used lemongrass powder 5. Used monk fruit sugar instead of coconut and used 1/2 tbsp less.

I made this recipe last night and it was amazing! The only thing I did differently is no fish sauce. Had the left overs today and they were just as good. This will definitely be a staple in my house. My boyfriend loved it as well!

This was amazing! I doubled the recipe to take with me for a couple of days. I’ve been on a huge Pad Thai kick and my husband said this tasted as good as one of our favorite restaurants! So thank you for the recipe and thank you for saving my lunch budget from my love of takeout.

Delish! I had a tamarind date sauce that I used and just added a larger amount as suggested. It came out good. I once used bbq sauce lol since its tangy and the right color and it was actually really good too! A bit bolder in flavor and I had mixed in a little peanut butter. Will def make this recipe again thx for sharing!

This is the first time I substituted firm tofu for a meat (usually chicken) and I was pleased with the results. I scrambled one egg and tossed it with everything while the pad thai was still hot enough to cook the egg coating instantly. Worked out very well.

My boyfriend and I love pad Thai. I’ve tried countless recipes for the right flavors. This by far is the best! Easy to follow. Great flavors. I made homemade spring rolls as well which topped it off. Also, did the almond butter sauce. It turned out great!
“This is amazing, taste better then the Pad Thai I grew up with at our favorite spot”
You win!

Hello,

Please warn your readers that if they are using the tamrinde paste that it has seeds inside the paste and it has to be prepared in a certain way that takes the seeds away from the paste. I was a first time user of tamrinde paste and I didn’t know. I wouldn’t want anyone to bite down on those seeds and it affect their teeth. Glad that didn’t happen! Maybe give instructions on how to use tamrinde paste and prewarn of the seed.

Thank you for your site!

This recipe turned out so well for me! For those nervous about difficult to find ingredients, I successfully used a mixture of lime juice and light brown sugar in place of the tamarind, skipped the vegetarian fish sauce, and used store-bought peanut sauce. Also a huge fan of the feature that allows you to adjust the serving size to see how much extra you would need–made this for 6 people instead of four and the measurements were spot on.

So delicious. Seriously tastes as indulgent as takeout. Added some shredded Brussels sprouts at my boyfriend’s request (this man ate chorizo, eggs, and potatoes everyday before we met?!?!)

Definitely a repeat recipe!

I made this and it was delicious! I also added broccoli and a mix of shredded broccoli/ cabbage/ carrot mix. Opted out of vegi fish sauce and added extra lime and was very yummy still. Used less noodles but with all the veggies it was a huge dish still! This was my first time making pad Thai and I am impressed:) thank you!

Hello!
I just made this! It was amazing! Dealt with my Pad Thai cravings perfectly! Will definitely make this again! I used half the amount of noodles, so the sauce was a bit too much, but that was my doing! But the recipe was excellent!

Thank you!!!!

This is delicious!!!!! I lived in Thailand a few years ago and this is the best pad thai I’ve had since leaving! Probably the healthiest I’ve ever had too! We added some brocolli for extra nutrients!

Yummy, best Pad Thai we have ever had…..and it’s vegan….go figure!! Followed this simple recipe exactly and it worked out perfectly. Wow Dana you never cease to amaze us. Thank you for converting us to tofu lovers.

Deeeelish! Such a simple, quick recipe and tastes legit.

I needed to triple the sauce and double the tofu for 8 oz of noodles. The noodles ripped and clumped together after following these directions with the recommended brand noodles

This is my new favorite recipe! Pad Thai usually takes me forever to make, so I usually only make it on the weekends when I’m feeling ambitious. This recipe is so good and easy enough to make on weeknights! I’ve made it twice now. Thanks!

Wow! The flavor of this pad Thai is over the top! I made the peanut sauce to go with but didn’t use it, there was so much great flavor already. I didn’t get my beans sprouted in time and somehow the green onions got left off my grocery list but the carrot curls and cilantro tasted great mixed with the noodles. Can’t wait to try this recipe again with all the vegetables! Yum!

Recently, I’ve started to eat plant-based and this recipe has become one of my absolute favorites to make and eat. I’ve made it 3 times so far and I’m getting better at it! I opt out on the bean sprouts (as I never know what to do with the left over sprouts), tamarind (can’t find it in the grocery store so just use the lime substitute) and used to use coconut aminos but found that I like the taste of the sauce with Tamari instead.

This recipe is one that I can make in a quick 20-minutes and that will be packed full of flavor. It’s been a great meal to have while adjusting to plant-based eating. It quick, easy, delicious, and makes plant-based eating fun! I really appreciate this receipt, Dana! Thank you!

I made this for the first time today and it was so good! The flavor really is that of pad thai! I didn’t have carrots to ribbon, so I used ribboned sweet potato. Very easy to make!! So good! thanks

Amazing recipe – I made this as written except for the vegan fish sauce, which I omitted because it wasn’t available in my grocery store, and it was not missed. I think using tamarind made the difference from any other pad thai recipes I’ve tried.

Love this recipe, tastes very similar to restaurant tofu pad thai!
The only changes I made was marinating the tofu in the pad thai sauce before stir frying it, and I added two eggs to the recipe–stir fried with the veggies.
I used the vegetarian fish sauce linked from this guide and it turned out very well!

We made this last night and it was outstanding. Thanks for this wonderful recipe, Dana! So glad to have found your blog.

Delicious as always! I’m not a vegan (or even a vegetarian) but I always come to your blog for recipes. Thank you!

This was so delicious! When I started eating more plant-based, I always used Minimalist Baker’s recipes. I started to venture out and try other recipes I found from other sites and they’ve never tasted as good as Dana’s! She is brilliant. This recipe was one of the best. Other favorites include her romesco soup and grillable black bean burgers!!!

Amazing! Tasted delicious even with me butchering the recipe. I misread the time to cook the sauce as 30 min instead of 30 sec! Thankfully I noticed before I set the kitchen on fire and added some water to thin it back out a bit. Also learned I should have cooked the noodles for longer before adding everything together. Haven’t been brave enough to try cooking tofu but excited to keep trying and get better each time. Thanks for the great recipes!

Made this for the first time last night – it was delicious and very flavorful. Added matchstick carrots, cilantro and the optional peanut sauce. No leftovers !!

This recipe is GOLD! Super easy to follow and so so good! I used extra lime juice instead of tamarind and tamari instead of coconut aminos. I also made the peanut sauce which was delicious! I’ll be keeping this in my recipe box for years! Thank you!!

This recipe came together so well! I used the extra lime juice instead of tamarind, and it worked well. Definitely recommend making the peanut sauce to top it all off! I also used the peeler on some Persian cucumbers for a topping as well. This was a hit!

This was really yummy as is, no peanut sauce needed. Thanks so much!

Overall, this recipe was so good and had much less oil than any restaurant version (a good thing). My partner and I found this to be a bit on the spicy side, although our 17-month-old didn’t seem to mind. Go figure. My partner, however, did like this dish, which is saying a lot because our tastes tend to widely differ.

I used chicken instead of tofu. I also just used avocado oil instead of sesame oil, and lime juice instead of tamarind.

Next time, I’m going to add a peanut sauce because it may tone down the spiciness, as well as give the recipe a bit more of that classic pad thai flavor.

This recipe was super easy to make. It’s easy to play around with add-ons, too, such as veggies. Thank you so much!

Soooo DELICIOUS. Love the versatility of this dish.

I used the sauce recipe, but subbed the fish sauce for Vegetarian oyster sauce.

I added tofu egg scramble and used carrots, zucchini and capsicum instead of Tofu.
It was delicious, and better than take out! (Cheaper too!!)

I made this a second time, and added 1 shredded Nori sheet. I found it gave it a ‘fishy’ taste some Pad Thai’s have. I think this gave it a more authentic flavour if not using the Fish Sauce. :)

delicious! thank you so much for this fabulous easy pad thai dish. I used lime instead of tamarind and it gave it that extra refreshing kick.

Made this last night and I loved it. Instead of using shredded carrot as a garnish I added a large handful to the skillet along with everything else. It made the dish super crunchy and a tiny bit sweeter which worked well with the tangy sauce. I also made the peanut sauce but this dish is so flavorful it doesn’t need it. Love the flavors & versatility of this recipe. I’ll absolutely make it again.

I am a huge lover of Pad Thai, and have never found an at-home recipe that satisfied. Until now. Thank you!

Hi Dana,

This was awesome. Compliments from the kids also. My eldest that’s one of his favs :o)

Thank you!!

loved this recipe — like all others on MB, always delicious. wish i would have made double the sauce to easily make a second batch later this week!

didn’t have tamarind, so used lime juice. also, added spinach and finely sliced red cabbage for extra veg. oh, and added avocado as garnish…because avocado is always welcome.

thanks for giving us an amazing option for pad thai that has so much flavor and without the heaviness of take out!

My husband and I tag-teamed this recipe tonight – yum! The prep ahead of time made the cooking easy and quick. We used extra lime juice instead of the tamarind sauce, soy sauce in place of the coconut aminos, sugar in place of coconut sugar, and only 1 tsp chili garlic sauce instead of 1.5. We did not include the fish sauce or chilies (I don’t like heat). Super easy and yummy! This will definitely be added to our rotation.

Possibly the best pad thai I was able to make. And the sauce is heavenly. Although I don’t like peanuts on my pad thai, but i like the nutty flavour, so I add a little of hemp seed oil on top of it.

I made this today. Very easy to prep and make. Loved how it turned out. Also, great for meal prep for several days. Thank you!

Made this tonight – and loved it. I added asparagus, red onion and broccoli between browning the tofu and adding the noodles, green onions (which I cut back on a bit), etc. because more veggies is always better. Even with the additional veg, there was plenty of sauce. We did use the optional carrots, peanut sauce drizzle and cilantro. All of this said, I was admittedly liberal with the chili-garlic sauce in the peanut sauce – and truly, I would do it all again. Thank you for the lovely recipe.

I made this tonight and it was great! Tip: if tou can’t find tamarind concentrate make a juice reduction. It’s easier to find tamarind juice or nectar in the Goya aisle of your supermarket. Bring it to a boil then reduce the temperature and let it thicken. I used two tsp and a half of the reduction instead of the amount recommended and a little bit less coconut sugar. It came out delicious.

Loved this! Will definitely make again. We needed to opt out on chili’s because my pre-schooler won’t eat it if it’s spicy, but we did make to peanut sauce to go with it, which I think is key, and the dish certainly wasn’t lacking on flavor. (We did do the chili garlic sauce in both recipes and it wasn’t spicy at all- used Trader Joe’s brand) We also topped it with cilantro and shredded carrots as suggested. My kid actually gasped and said how great it was, giving a thumbs up as she slurped noodles. Husband has been traveling and tired of eating granola and bananas at the airport, so was also really happy about this, & went back for thirds!

Tried two recipes from your blog today: toasted coconut oatmeal for breakfast and this amazing tofu pad thai for dinner. I think I’m in love!
Thank you for creating magic!

This Pad Thai was way better than take out! And healthier. This is going to be a go to weeknight meal for me and my boyfriend.

long time recipe-maker, first time commenter: omg SO good. i didn’t have tamarind so i used extra lime juice and it was delicious! i also didn’t have peanut butter so i subbed almond butter for the peanut butter sauce garnish and it was awesome!
got 4 meals total from this recipe so it was perfect for my lunches this week.
thanks!

-i forgot to rate on my first go around so here it is on this comment ;-)

This truly is a QUICK and delicious pad thai! It’s so hard to find pad thai recipes that have accessible ingredients and don’t take forever – but this does the trick! I didn’t have tamarind on hand so I used extra lime juice and it was just as yummy. My husband went back for three helpings :)

Very tasty recipe! I found that it is more like a recipe for 2 servings and not 4. I would double next time.

Wow!!! Huge fan (and very particular about) Pad Thai…..this is just fantastic! You nailed it yet again Dana!

My husband declared it was the best tofu dish I have ever made! I used tamarind paste (instead of concentrate), because it was what Whole Foods near me carried, but I used the same amount as specified for the concentrate and it worked out great. I used the recommended brown rice noodles and they were perfect and so easy to cook with the soaking method. Thanks for such a tasty and easy to follow recipe!

Oh my goodness, I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing! Rather than cooking the tofu as per this recipe, I made and added the baked, crispy peanut tofu instead. Holy moly, taste EXPLOSION! I also made the peanut sauce as a garnish which balanced the spicyness of the baked tofu. Thanks so much for the recipe! I don’t think we’ll ever go to a restaurant for pad Thai again!