Featuring colorful vegetables tossed in a sweet and savory sauce, this Pad Pak Thai, or Thai stir-fry vegetables, makes a great weeknight dinner! Easy to prepare and ready in 15 minutes, everyone will love this simple yet flavorful vegetable dish.
This pad pak is my go-to recipe whenever I crave a good vegetable stir-fry! It is jam-packed with flavors, mildly spicy, and is a great way to use up leftover veggies before my next grocery trip. I love pairing it with my tofu pad Thai or green curry fried rice!
💚Why you will love this recipe
- An authentic Thai recipe that is bold in flavor and incredibly appetizing
- Highly adaptable and forgiving - feel free to use whatever veggies you have!
- Quick and simple to prepare - ready in 15 minutes
- The perfect clear-out-your-fridge meal to use up leftover veggies
🤔What is Pad Pak Thai
Pad Pak is a vegetarian Thai dish that consists of stir-fry vegetables. Traditionally, this dish consists of seasonal veggies stir-fried in a flavorful sauce made from soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and various other seasonings. Sometimes, tofu, seafood, or meat are also added.
🧄What you will need
📃Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Vegetables - Feel free to use other veggies you have on hand! My favorites include mushrooms, water chestnut, asparagus, long beans, and napa cabbage. You can also use a bag of frozen or pre-chopped vegetables to simplify the prep process.
- Oyster sauce - Opt for a vegan oyster sauce to keep this recipe vegan. I highly recommend using Lee Kum Kee’s stir-fry sauce. (Although it is labeled as a stir-fry sauce, it is a mushroom-flavored sauce imitating oyster sauce)
- Sambal oelek - It is essentially a ground chili paste. Substitute it with sriracha or omit it completely to make this Pad Pak spice-free.
- Sugar - Any granulated sweetener will work.
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🔪How to make
Heat a pan, then saute garlic until fragrant.
Add in carrot, red pepper, broccoli, and cauliflower. Saute for a few minutes or until they have softened slightly.
Stir in snow peas and mushrooms next. Cook for another few minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in stir-fry sauce and toss until everything is well combined. Remove from heat and taste it, adding more seasonings if needed. It is ready to be served!
✔Helpful tips
- Shorten the prep process - To reduce prep work further, use frozen or pre-chopped vegetables.
- Use a large enough pan - This is to ensure that ingredients can be cooked evenly and there is sufficient room for the vegetables to move around.
- Adjust the spice level - If you have low heat tolerance, reduce the amount of sambal oelek added or omit it altogether. For a spicer dish, add some chopped bird’s eye chilies or a generous pinch of chili flakes to your pad pak.
- Taste before serving - Adjust the seasonings to taste towards the end, adding more sugar for sweetness, soy sauce for saltiness, etc.
- Storing suggestions - Leftover pad pak Thai can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. Reheat it either in the pan or microwave oven.
🍽How to serve
Toppings - Some of my favorite garnishes to top my pad Thai include chopped peanuts, cashews, green onion, cilantro, or a generous pinch of chili flakes.
Rice or noodles - The best way to serve pad pak is alongside some Jasmine or brown rice. I also love pairing them with Thai fried rice or my vegan pad see ew for a Thai-inspired meatless meal.
Curries or other Thai mains - If you love spice, I highly recommend checking out my Thai red curry or yellow curry! Tofu basil stir-fry is another one of my go-to's.
❔Commonly asked questions
Traditional pad pak might not be vegan due to the addition of fish sauce and/or oyster sauce. However, you can easily modify it to be vegan-friendly by using vegetarian oyster sauce and omitting the fish sauce.
This Pad Pak Thai is only mildly spicy and can be tolerated by most. If you prefer it to be spice-free, simply omit sambal oelek. Add some chopped chilies or red pepper flakes to make it spicier.
You should stir-fry frozen vegetables straight from the freezer instead of thawing them beforehand. This will help prevent soggy stir-fry.
📖 Recipe
Pad Pak Thai (Thai Stir-fry Vegetables)
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari (use gluten-free if needed)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce *(regular or vegetarian)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek or chili garlic sauce/sriracha
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar or other granulated sugar
For stir-fry
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper julienned
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 6-8 button mushrooms sliced
- 1 medium carrot sliced
- 1 cup snow peas
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients needed for the sauce. Stir to mix.
- Heat up about a tablespoon of neutral-tasting oil in a cast iron/non-stick pan over medium high heat. Once heated, add in garlic and fry for a minute, until fragrant.
- Next, add in broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper and carrot. Saute for 3-4 minutes, or until they are partially cooked.
- Toss in snow peas and mushroom. Cook until veggies have softened to your liking, about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour in stir-fry sauce and toss until everything is well combined. Remove from heat and give it a taste, adding more seasonings if needed. Your Pad Pak Thai is ready to serve!
Notes
- Shorten the prep process - To reduce prep work further, use frozen or pre-chopped vegetables.
- Use a large enough pan - This is to ensure that ingredients can be cooked evenly and there is sufficient room for the vegetables to move around.
- Adjust the spice level - If you have low heat tolerance, reduce the amount of sambal oelek added or omit it altogether. For a spicer dish, add some chopped bird’s eye chilies or a generous pinch of chili flakes to your pad pak.
- Storing suggestions - Leftover pad pak Thai can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. Reheat it either in the pan or microwave oven.
Save this recipe!
Email yourself a link to this page and come back later.
Also get a FREE high-protein vegan recipe eBook + weekly new recipes! Unsubscribe anytime.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
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