Easy vegetarian Pad Thai can be a speedy weeknight staple when you have a straight forward recipe that uses mostly pantry staples.
It’s easy to find family favourite cookbooks on a bookshelf. They’re the dog-eared ones on with cracked spines, corners of pages folded over and notes in the margins. One of my favourite cookbooks, Moosewood Cooks at Home, has a broken spine, loose pages and spatters all over the most used recipes.
The book arrived in the mail in the spring of 1994, hot off the press and a week before I was to write a major statistics exam. Never was statistics more painful. I sat this much-anticipated cookbook on the table beside me, unopened, while I worked through practice problems. I decided it would be my reward for completing the exam. I have cooked all sorts of recipes from the book but none more than pad Thai. I still love take-out pad Thai but it’s a treat to know that it’s a simple dish to make at home too.
How to make Pad Thai the easy way
I have adapted this pad Thai recipe slightly over the years. I don’t always have fish sauce so substitute with soy sauce or tamari. Sometimes I add a cup or two of shredded Savoy or Napa cabbage and I love tossing in some julienne red pepper for colour. Feel free to make your own additions, depending on what you have in the fridge.
Green tips:
Are you looking for more 30-Minute Meal ideas? Try my Easy Fish Curry recipe.
- If you’re in the market for a wok, skip those with a non-stick coating. Teflon is known to be toxic when heated to medium-high temperatures. (There are similar concerns with newer non-stick coatings that are Teflon-free.) Plus, scraped off bits of the coating end up in your food.
- Waste less: When you buy scallions use the whole thing, not just the white parts. The green adds colour and more nutrition to your dish.
Easy Vegetarian Pad Thai
Course: VegetarianDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes15
minutes30
minutesThis easy recipe is made mostly with pantry staples.
Ingredients
6-8 ounces rice noodles (1/4”wide)
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbs. brown sugar
¼ cup fish sauce or soy sauce or tamari
3 Tbsp. oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
½ to 1 ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (depending how hot you like it)
2 cups grated carrots or half grated carrots and half shaved cabbage.
4 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz. mung bean sprouts
½ cup chopped peanuts or toasted sunflower seeds
6-8 scallions, sliced (white u0026 green parts)
¼ cup snipped cilantro
Directions
- Soak rice noodles in boiling water until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. (Careful not to let them get too soft).
- Combine lime juice, ketchup, brown sugar, and fish sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and swirl them in the oil. Add the carrots and stir-fry for one minute.
- Push carrots to the side and make a hollow in the centre. Pour beaten eggs into the centre and quickly scramble them.
- Pour in the sauce mixture and combine. Add the drained noodles and sprouts and toss to distribute evenly.
- Stir in the peanuts and scallions. Sprinkle with cilantro.
- Serve at once.
I had to laugh. The picture of the cookbook looks *exactly* like our copy!