This easy pad ped is made with eggplant, snap peas, and tofu, smothered in a spicy Thai red curry coconut sauce and finished with whole peppercorns and fresh basil. It’s a delicious vegan, Thai-inspired meal that’s better than takeout and almost as easy. Ready in about 30 minutes!
Do you consider yourself more of a curry person or stir-fry person? I can never decide. Fortunately, I no longer have to, because pad ped is both! This classic Thai dish features juicy, tender, crisp stir-fried veggies and pan-fried tofu in spicy red curry sauce. It's like my Thai basil tofu stir fry and my vegan red curry had a DELICIOUS love child.
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This scrumptious dish doesn't get enough attention if you ask me, but you may have had it once or twice if you frequent Thai restaurants for dinner. But I bet you didn't know how simple it is to make! Like most stir-fries, this one cooks up in record time. And like other Thai curries, the sauce is a pretty simple mixture of curry paste and coconut milk. It uses less coconut milk than your typical curry though, and this means all those tasty seasonings in the curry paste get extra concentrated.
This tofu pad ped is truly a flavor-bomb, and it's simple enough for the busiest of weeknights!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Vegetable oil. You can use any high-heat oil you typically use for stir-frying. Peanut oil, corn oil, and canola oil are all great options!
- Tofu. The recipe calls for super-firm tofu, because it's easy to work with and has a great texture that's perfect for stir-frying. Extra-firm tofu can be substituted, but you'll need to press it before cooking.
- Eggplant. Most eggplant varieties will work here. If you can get ahold of Thai eggplant — great! If not, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian eggplant are all fine options.
- Snap peas.
- Garlic.
- Ginger. Regular ginger is fine if that's what you've got, but Thai ginger, also known as galangal, will take the flavor to the next level if you can get it.
- Red curry paste. Be careful, as many brands of red curry paste contain shrimp paste or fish sauce. Maesri is my go-to vegan brand, but it's quite hot. Thai Kitchen works if you need a milder option.
- Brown sugar. We're using organic brown sugar to keep the recipe vegan, since conventional brown sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Coconut milk. Use full-fat coconut milk from a can to give your stir-fry the best flavor.
- Soy sauce. Tamari and liquid aminos can be substituted, if needed.
- Whole peppercorns.
- Fresh basil. Thai and holy basil are the best options for authentic flavor, but Italian basil also works fine (and I use it myself most of the time).
- Salt.
- Rice. Jasmine rice would traditionally be served with pad ped, but any variety will do. If you really love coconut, try serving your pad ped with my coconut rice.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook the tofu. Heat some oil in a wok or skillet, then add the tofu cubes in a single layer. Cook them in batches if they won't all fit at once. Let the tofu cubes cook for about 8 minutes, flipping them at least once, until they're browned and crispy. Move them from the wok to a plate.
Step 2: Cook the eggplant. Add some more oil and turn up the heat, then add diced eggplant to the wok. Stir-fry the eggplant for about 5 minutes, until tender. As it cooks, let the eggplant sit for about 30 seconds at a time, then stir. This helps the pieces to brown.
Step 3: Cook the snap peas. Add your snap peas to the wok and stir-fry them with the eggplant for about 2 minutes just to start softening them. Stir constantly.
Step 4: Cook the aromatics. Push your veggies to the side, then add minced garlic, fresh ginger, curry paste, and brown sugar. Sauté the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Step 5: Cook in sauce. Return the tofu to the wok, then add your coconut milk, soy sauce, and peppercorns. Continue to stir-fry the mixture for a minute or two to thicken the sauce and heat it through.
Step 6: Finish the dish. Take the wok off of heat, then add some fresh basil and season the stir-fry with salt to taste.
Step 7: Serve. Pile your pad ped onto plates and serve it with rice. Dig in!
Variations
- Protein swaps. Seitan and tempeh both make great alternatives to tofu in this recipe.
- Veggie swaps. Just about any stir-fry veggies will work in this recipe. Try carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, broccoli, or cherry tomatoes. Just keep in mind that softer veggies need less cook time, while firmer veggies require more.
- Serve over noodles. Enjoy your vegan pad ped over some cooked rice noodles instead of rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can! Use gluten-free tamari in place of soy sauce, and make sure your curry paste is gluten-free.
Yes, pad ped is spicy and can pack a good deal of heat. Most red curry pastes are pretty hot, but Thai Kitchen is a comparatively mild option. You could also use a milder variety of curry paste, like yellow or massaman.
Leftover pad ped will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. It can be reheated in the microwave or briefly in a skillet on the stove.
More Vegan Thai Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Tofu Pad Ped (Thai Red Curry Stir-Fry)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 16 ounces super-firm tofu, cubes (½-inch)
- 12 ounces eggplant, diced (½-inch)
- 1 cup snap peas
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or galangal, if available)
- 2 tablespoons vegan red curry paste, or to taste (up to 4 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon organic brown sugar
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns (or more, to taste)
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
- Salt, to taste
- Cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
- Coat the bottom or a large wok or skillet with 1 tablespoon of the oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the tofu cubes in a single layer. Cook the tofu for about 8 minutes, flipping the pieces once or twice, until they're browned on multiple sides (Note 1). Remove the tofu from the wok and transfer it to a plate.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok. Once the oil is hot, add the eggplant and begin stir-frying it. You can let the pieces sit, undisturbed for about 30 seconds at a time so they brown. Resume constant stirring if they begin to char. Continue until the pieces are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the snap peas to the wok and stir-fry them with the eggplant until they become bright green and tender-crisp, about 2 minutes.
- Push the vegetables to the side and reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, ginger, curry paste, and brown sugar to the space you just created. Sauté the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Return the tofu to the wok. Very carefully pour the coconut milk over the vegetables and tofu, then add the soy sauce and peppercorns. Cook the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes more, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly and clings to the tofu and vegetables.
- Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in the basil and season the mixture with salt to taste.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
- Cook the tofu in batches if it won't all fit in a single layer.
- Nutrition information does not include rice.
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Great! I used ginger syrup instead of maple syrup, and left out the soy and salt and used light coconut milk all for healthier option. Then added onion, mushrooms, jalapeño and lots of crushed dry chili peppers.it was delish!
Any suggestions on best Thai red curry paste to use? I've used the Thai Kitchen red curry paste several times and it just seems very bland, and not spicy at all despite the label of "hot". I loved this recipe though, great veggie choices! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it! I find Thai Kitchen to be pretty bland as well. Have you tried Maesri? It's vegan and much more flavorful. Amazon usually has it.
Love this!!! Made it a number of times already and keep coming back! Wondering if it can be modified to be cooked in an Instant Pot? Any ideas? :)))
So glad you like it! I'm afraid I don't have much experience working with the instant pot (it's on my 2020 list though), so I'm not sure.
.😋😋😋😋 ABSOLUTELY DELISH! Added some red pepper and dried crushed chilli, served with udon noodles. Definitely be added to my favourite recipes.
Yay! I'm so happy to hear that!
Can I substitute curry for the curry paste?
The flavor will be totally different if you use curry powder, but it might work. :) If it seems like it's missing something try adding a little lime juice or extra soy sauce!
I'm getting everything ready to go now-mise en place- but I don't know when to add the garlic and ginger. I'm guessing with the peas?
Oops! Sorry about that! They go in right before the eggplant, but I think if you added them with the peas they should be fine - just a bit more intense in flavor.
Thanks, it was delicious! I think I will add a bit of Thai chili next time.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!!