Whether you are dining in or taking out food, everyone's favorite go-to option at a Thai restaurant is phad thai. As basic as this staple menu item is, how can you not fall in love with the creamy rich peanut flavor, variety of vegetables, and savory rice noodles? It’s always deliciously satisfying and hard to mess up. After eating phad thai for years at numerous restaurants, I’ve always left feeling like I was conned for the small amount of vegetables and protein mixed in with the dish. To add to that, the dish costs around $10-14 every time and I instantly fall into a food coma from the added oil and carbs they unknowingly add.

For any foodie who doesn’t want to indulge on the calories yet still enjoy the mouthwatering flavors of this amazing meal, I have recreated the dish with zucchini noodles and all natural ingredients. Who says you can’t have the best of both worlds? Most importantly, this recipe only takes 10 minutes to make at home AND it only costs half of what you would pay for if someone else made it for you.

Just as a guestimate, it costs $2 for peanut butter, $2 for two zucchinis, $1 for the additional vegetables (red bell pepper, carrot and bean sprouts), $1 for the sauces like sriracha, sesame oil, soy sauce (I used coconut aminos), $2 for tofu, and $0.50 for peanuts as garnish. I would be lying if I said this was calculated accurately but since most of the sauces here are kitchen staples most vegans/vegetarians have in their pantry, it would cost barely anything if you broke the price down to the exact number. All in all, you can save money and know exactly what you are putting into your body by making this dish the way YOU want to.

Made with shirataki and rice noodles instead of zoodles

GLUTEN-FREE PHAD THAI

Makes for 2 | 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Vegetables and protein:

2 zucchinis, spiralized OR rice noodles (I used shirataki noodles)
1 carrot
1 red bell pepper
1 head of broccoli
1 cup of bean sprouts (or half a bag from the grocery store)
1 block of tofu pressed and drained of the liquid
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of roasted peanuts, cashews, or almonds (optional for garnish)

sauce:

1/4 cup all-natural peanut butter *make sure the ingredients are ONLY peanuts. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is usually hidden in the ingredients list which creates plaque build up in your arteries
1/8 cup of rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
2 tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp water (to thin)

DIRECTIONS

Press the liquid out of your tofu if you haven’t done so already. To do this, place a paper towel or regular towel encompassing the surface area and place a heavy weight (a book, a cast iron pan, etc), to get all the moisture out for 10 minutes. You can leave this as you prepare your other ingredients.
Spiralize your zucchini into noodles if you haven’t done so already. *A pro-tip here is to rip off the zoodles in increments because they will turn out too long in length otherwise. If you are using rice noodles, soak them in water for 10 minutes then boil in hot water then remove and drain when they’re soft.
To soften your zoodles, microwave in a bowl with a 1/8 cup of water and a wet paper towel on top for 30 seconds.
Wash all of your vegetables (beware the USDA allows wax on produce to prolong the shelf life) and chop them.
Mix the sauce ingredients and microwave for 30 seconds
Heat your pan on the stove top to medium heat and put a splash of sesame oil once it’s fired up. Throw on the garlic and sauté until fragrant
Cube your pressed tofu or cut however you like. You can either a) place your tofu in the air fryer for 10 minutes like I did or b) pan fry here for 5 minutes on each side or until it’s browned. When that’s done, remove from the pan or air fryer.
Throw your chopped vegetables except the zoodles onto the pan and sauté until softened.
Lastly, turn the heat to low-medium and throw the zoodles in. Now you can drizzle your peanut sauce into the pan and coat all of the contents. Throw the cooked tofu in as the final step
When all of the sauce is evenly distributed, plate your meal and garnish with peanuts and limes to squeeze all over for that citrus kick as desired.

DVF: Gluten-free Phad Thai with Zoodles