Vegan Thai Recipes

While Thai food can/should be vegan-friendly, many popular dishes including tofu pad Thai include fish sauce, shrimp paste, or meat-based broths.

To adapt these dishes, substitute you can use the VERY GOOD vegan fish sauce from Ocean's Halo, or use my vegan Vietnamese fish sauce recipe and use fermented soybean paste or miso in place of shrimp paste. Replace meat with tofu, tempeh, or seitan, and use vegetable broth for soups and curries.

Traveling in Thailand as a vegan can be 100% manageable with some preparation, though it requires attention to hidden animal ingredients like fish sauce and shrimp paste, which are common in street food and traditional dishes.

When my wife and kids were volunteering at an elephant sanctuary near Chiang Mai, the LOVED the vegan Thai restaurants in the area. Larger cities and tourist areas often have vegan-friendly restaurants and health food stores, while rural areas may offer fewer options. Learning key Thai phrases or carrying a translation card can help a lot in communicating dietary needs clearly!

So so so sadly, Tofu Pad Thai is not usually vegan by default. Most traditional recipes contain fish sauce, dried shrimp, and often boiled eggs. To make it vegan, ask for no fish sauce, no egg, and no shrimp, and confirm that soy sauce or tamari is used instead.

I've found non-veg Thai restuarants to be kinda sketchy for sticking to a strict vegan diet. Many use premade curry pastes and aren't cooperative (or just don't care) about actually checking if those pastes contain animal-based ingredients.