Vegan Pad Thai made with pumpkin seed tofu!

I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand for this delicious, easy Vegan Pad Thai! In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have a flavor-packed, nutrient-dense, gut-friendly dinner that all your family & friends will love! Using pumpkin seed tofu, aka Pumfu, this recipe puts a spin on classic pad Thai!

What the heck is Pumfu?

If you’ve never heard of “Pumfu”, it is like tofu, but instead of being made out of soybeans, it is made out of pumpkin seeds! The pumpkin seeds are blended, then pressed into a big block! It’s perfect for people who might be allergic to soy, or just want to try something new! I’ve found that since it is made out of pumpkin seeds, it has a more fatty, full flavor, which is SO good in the Pad Thai!

If you don’t have access to Pumfu, (my Whole Foods doesn’t even carry it! I get it at my local health food store!) you can 100% use regular tofu! I use organic extra firm for this recipe when I’m not using Pumfu!

How do you make a Vegan Pad Thai?

Pad Thai is traditionally made with eggs, tofu, shrimp, fish sauce, and veggies. However, it’s SO easy to make plant-based!

Instead of egg, we use tofu! You can crumble tofu from a more eggy texture, or keep it in cubes for a meatier texture!

The rest of the flavors are in the garlic and the tangy Thai sauce!

This recipe is:

  • Fast & Simple
  • Filling
  • Good for you / Gut-friendly
  • Customizable
  • & Delicious

Let’s Make Some Vegan Pad Thai!

What you’ll need for this recipe:

  • Pumfu OR organic extra firm tofu
  • Veggies of choice, I like using garlic, carrots, broccoli, and bell pepper! You can use all, some, or none of these!
  • Pad Thai noodles, I use brown rice noodles
  • Sauce ingredients: Tamari (soy sauce), maple syrup, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, & green onions

Vegan Pad Thai - with Pumkin Seed Tofu

Print Recipe
Seared or crumbled pumpkin seed tofu, in a tamari, maple syrup, lime juice, and creamy sunflower butter sauce.
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine thai
Keyword easy dinner, noodle bowl, nut free, oil free, tofu
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 package brown rice Pad Thai noodles
  • 1 package Pumfu - pumpkin seed tofu
  • 2 carrots chopped
  • 1 small head broccoli chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 small bell pepper
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage
  • 1 pinch chili flakes

Sauce ingredients

  • ⅓ cup soy sauce/tamari I use low sodium Tamari
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 heaping tbsp sunflower butter nut or seed butter of choice
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • pinch chili flakes

Instructions

  • Start by chopping all of your veggies
  • You can either chop the pumfu into small cubes, or crumble it. Crumbling it will make it comparable to the egg that is usually in pad Thai. Chopping into cubes will give a more meaty feel.
  • Cook the noodles according to package. Start boiling the water at this point
  • Heat a medium-large sauté pan over medium heat for the pad Thai
  • Add in chopped garlic, and your pumfu. If you crumbled it, sauté until its dried up a little bit like a scrambled egg. If you did bite size cubes, let them pan sear on both sides until they have a little golden brown crunch on the outside!
  • Next, add the chopped veggies
  • If the pan is getting dry, add a splash of water and deglaze the pan (scraping the dried flavor bits from the bottom)
    Add a pinch of salt while everything is sautéing
  • While everything is starting to sauté, mix together the sauce ingredients
  • I like to add a little bit of sauce to the veggies as they are finishing cooking, BUT keep most of it to add with the noodles
  • Strain your noodles and add them to the sauté pan. Drizzle on the sauce over the noodles and veggies.
    Stir everything and let flavors meld on the heat for a minute or two. I chop a few green onions in the meantime
  • Scoop into bowls & add chopped green onions on top! you can also add peanuts, cashews, or sunflower seeds to add a little crunch!

Notes

* Frozen or fresh veggies, either will work!
* If you can't find pumfu, use regular tofu!

If you make this recipe, I would LOVE it if you could leave a comment on this recipe page sharing your thoughts! It will also help other people find this delicious recipe!

If you enjoyed this recipe, I also have a delicious sweet & sour / chili garlic sauce recipe you can use for anything from fried rice, to sweet & sour tofu! Plus it is SO easy!