This veggie-filled spin on the traditional Pad See Ew sees your plate loaded with rice noodles and spiralized veggie noodles. It is fantastic for all the veggie smugglers out there, or even those just trying to cut back on the carbs, and get some more vegetables into their diet.
Vegetarian Pad See Ew
Jump to:
These days when a recipe says it is 'loaded' you will be expecting it to be loaded with all sorts of goodness like blue cheese, cream, and bacon.
Here, we are going to go in the totally opposite direction, and instead, load a pad see ew with lots of extra vegetables.
Vegetable noodles to be exact.
I for one am in love with spiralized veggie noodles and have been using them in everything lately.
My kids (and most kids if we are being honest) are in love with normal noodles.
So a combination of both was inevitable, and it works brilliantly.
NOTE: This is not a traditional Pad See Ew that you would find in Thai restaurants. I am not in any way, shape, or form saying that it is. This is a spin on the traditional dish using more veggies and everyday ingredients that are easy to find in the grocery store.
You will need:
- flat rice noodles: these can be found in the Asian or International section of most well-stocked grocery stores. They come in dried form and if you are lucky enough to find them you can buy fresh noodles too. Please be mindful that cooking directions will differ greatly between brands and between dried and fresh rice noodles, so please cook the noodles according to package directions;
- carrot: choose a carrot that is shaped well for spiralizing;
- zucchini: choose an average-sized zucchini that is a good size for spiralizing;
- dark soy sauce;
- honey or maple syrup: you can use another liquid sweetener of choice if preferred;
- vegetarian oyster sauce: this can easily be found alongside soy sauce in the grocery store;
- tamari: you can use light soy sauce here if preferred. There are lots of different types of soy sauce so just check how salty it is before adding it to the dish;
- white cooking vinegar;
- coconut sugar: brown sugar or coconut palm sugar can be used here instead;
- avocado oil or other cooking oil of choice;
- fresh garlic: fresh is best, but dried garlic or pre-prepared garlic can always be used in a pinch;
- egg: choose an average-sized egg;
- Chinese broccoli (known as gai lan if buying from your local Asian market): this is becoming more and more widely available in good grocery stores and farmer's markets, however, you can sub in some broccolini or regular broccoli if Chinese broccoli cannot be found.
TIP: want to make a vegan pad see ew? Simply leave out the egg and replace the oyster sauce with vegan oyster sauce or hoisin sauce.
At first glance, this looks like a pretty long list, but other than the Chinese broccoli most ingredients should be stuff you will have on hand if you have a well-stocked pantry and fridge.
Tips, Tricks, and Substitutions
This vegetarian pad see ew recipe is a super quick and easy dish that will work great on a busy weeknight.
TIP: Why not add some crispy tofu strips to change things up?
If you are into veggie smuggling then this is a great dish for you.
Otherwise, it's just a great way to get more veg into your own diet, which can't be a bad thing at all!
Use a large nonstick wok and have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before starting to cook, as these pad see ew noodles come together very quickly.
How To Make Vegetable Noodles
You will need a vegetable spiraliser to spiralize the carrot and zucchini.
These can be found in most kitchenware shops or on Amazon.
As we are not spiralizing a lot of vegetables, a handheld device would be fine.
Simply chop the top off the carrot and zucchini so that you have a flat edge to work with. Pop into the top of the vegetable spiralizer and twist until the whole carrot and zucchini have been spiralized.
After spiralizing the carrot and zucchini into noodle-like shapes, they are gently boiled in hot water for 1-2 minutes with the rice stick noodles so that they become soft and slippery like regular noodles and become virtually unnoticeable.
Alternatively, you can leave the vegetable noodles raw, but they will be a lot crunchier, something which I find kids don't tend to enjoy.
Additional Optional Ingredients
Depending on what ingredients you have on hand, you may want to consider adding one or some of the following to your vegetarian pad see ew:
- bok choy;
- your choice of protein or plant-based protein;
- crispy tofu like this Crispy Asian Baked Tofu;
- bean sprouts stirred through at the end before serving so that they are just slightly softened;
- sriracha sauce for a bit of kick.
Storage and Meal Prep
This vegetable-loaded pad see ew should be served as soon as it is ready.
The heat from the dish will continue to cook the vegetable noodles, so leaving it for too long may lead to soggy vegetables.
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Meal Prep Tips
If you like to have elements of your meal prepped in advance you can:
- Make up the sauce and keep stored in a glass jar with a lid in the fridge until needed;
- Spiralize the vegetables and keep them stored in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.
Top with some chopped Thai basil before serving and you are good to go.
More dishes using lots of vegetables
We love adding lots of extra veggies to our meals.
If you loved this Thai noodle recipe then please leave a 5-star rating on the recipe card or comment below.
Check out these recipes:
- Leek Noodles with Hazelnut Oil and Crème Fraîche
- Lemongrass Beef Brisket Noodle Soup
- Vietnamese Pork and Riced Broccoli Bowl
- Vegetable and Pork San Choy Bow
- And for something not so vegetable loaded try this Char Siu from Allways Delicious
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a simple combination of soy sauce (here we use tamari), oyster sauce, vinegar and a touch of sugar to balance everything out.
This version of pad see ew is loaded with lots of extra vegetables, which makes it healthier nutrient-wise than a dish with more noodles added in place of the vegetables.
Happy Eating
xx
Recipe
Vegetarian Pad See Ew
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz rice stick noodles
- 1 large carrot spiralized into noodle shape
- 1 large zucchini spiralized into noodle shape
- 1 ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoon tamari sodium reduced soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon white cooking vinegar
- 2 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 cups Chinese broccoli leaves separated from stems (stems cut vertically into thin sticks)
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Prepare noodles according to packet instructions. Add in the spiralized carrots and zucchini and cook with the noodles for the last 1-2 minutes. Drain when ready.3.5 oz rice stick noodles, 1 large carrot, 1 large zucchini
- Combine the sauce ingredients (dark soy sauce, maple syrup, vegetarian oyster sauce, tamari, vinegar, coconut sugar, and water) and set aside.1 ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup, 2 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 tablespoon tamari, 2 teaspoon white cooking vinegar, 2 teaspoon coconut sugar, 2 tablespoon water
- Place wok on high heat. Add the oil and garlic. When the garlic starts to turn a golden color, add the Chinese broccoli stems. Stir fry for a minute or so.2 tablespoon avocado oil, 2 cloves garlic, 4 cups Chinese broccoli
- Move the Chinese broccoli to the side, crack the egg in, and scramble. It will stick to the wok, this is fine.1 large egg
- Add the noodles, the Chinese broccoli leaves and the sauce. Mix everything together to ensure the sauce coats everything. Once the leaves start to wilt, turn off the heat and serve.
- Enjoy! (I like mine with some chilli sauce, but that's up to you )
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Amber says
Great recipe idea! I'm so going to try this!
Whole Food Bellies says
I hope you enjoy Amber 🙂
Shannon Peterson says
This is definitely the most creative way I've seen the spirulizer used and it looks so stinkin scrumptious!!
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Shannon 🙂 I sneak my spiralized veggies into everything!
Dani says
This looks delicious! Your comment "she will try them (a rule that she actually listens too)" made me laugh, whenever I watch kids who are picky eaters I make them take a "no thank you bite" saying that in order to decide they don't want the food they have to take a bite BEFORE they can say "no thank you"! Works like a charm.
Whole Food Bellies says
A 'no thank you bite' - I LOVE it!! Most of the time, once they try, they realise they like it and are happy to keep going. My little one is two, so she is definitely trying to test the waters! She tries everything and has even started telling the 10 month old that he has to 'try new food' if he happens to reject something (which rarely happens as he is a food monster) 🙂
Amanda Cross says
This looks absolutely amazing! I will definitely have to pin this for a later use! The colors look so pretty.
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Amanda!! Yeah the extra colours from the veggie noodles make it look so pretty 🙂
Pam @ Hodge Podge Moments says
While I'm not entirely sure if I would like this (I'm not big on Asian food), I am thinking about giving it a try. I've recently discovered that I like veggies in place of pasta (zucchini lasagna was a hit last week!) and I'm looking to try new recipes. I need to get a spiralizer in order to convert veggies into noodles first though!
Whole Food Bellies says
I don't think I have ever met anyone that doesn't like Asian food 🙂 This recipe is fairly mild in flavour, so a good one if you want to try and ease yourself in! Oh and spiralizer's are awesome!! I am totally addicted 🙂
Iryna Bychkiv says
It look really good. Thai recipes is something I have yet to try making.
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Iryna 🙂 It's definitely not traditional Thai, but it works 🙂
Mary says
This looks delicious! Wish I had the ingredients to make it for dinner tonight.
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Mary 🙂 Hope you give it a try sometime!
Chelsie says
YUM! Pad See Ew is my FAVORITE Thai dish! I seriously could eat if every day if I could. Thanks for the recipe; maybe I'll be brave enough to try it!
Whole Food Bellies says
Oh it's so easy - no bravery required 🙂
Laura says
Pad See Ew is one of my FAVOURITES (one, because of the name, and two because of the egg addition)
This recipe looks great. super healthy and really delicious. Pinning for later!
http://www.cookwineandthinker.com
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks Laura! The egg is great in there hey - def one of my favourites as well 🙂
Lisa @ Strum Simmer Sip says
Mmm this looks so good! I love thai cooking - it's so delicious and relatively easy as long as you have the right ingredients! And I'm a huge fan of zoodles so I'm DEFINITELY going to have to try this! Thanks for sharing 🙂
♥ Lisa
Strum Simmer Sip
Whole Food Bellies says
Very welcome Lisa, I hope you give it a go! Thai food is one of my favourite cuisines - the easy dishes anyway!
Lisa Riggs says
Oh my goodness!!! This looks delicious! My husband would love this 🙂
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks 🙂 I hope he enjoys if you give it a go Lisa!
Kat from curlsnchard.com says
I had never heard about Pad See Ew, but when I read the title in my head, I wondered "what could be 'ewww'" about that? Lol, and as I see the recipe, nothing is! 😉 It sounds so delicious and such a great way to smuggle more veggies into a dish!
Whole Food Bellies says
I know, it's a weird title hey! Definitely not ewww though 🙂
Vicky @ randomlittlefaves.com says
This looks so good!! I haven't tried spiralized noodles yet, but I have been intrigued by them. I love that this mixes it with regular noodles as a nice way to get introduced to them :). I will add this to my must-try recipe list! Thanks for sharing!
Whole Food Bellies says
Mixing with the regular noodles definitely makes the veggie ones hard to spot - even my 2 year old couldn't tell there were green things smuggled in 🙂 She loves carrot noodles though, so no smuggling needed there 🙂 You should def give spiralized noodles a go!!
Cheyenne @Rosevine Cottage Girls says
Looks yummy!
Whole Food Bellies says
Thanks!
Angela Tolsma says
This looks so yummy! I never would have thought maple syrup would be in the recipe!!
Whole Food Bellies says
I needed something to give me the stickiness of kecap manis, and I initially tried honey, but i found the flavour of the maple syrup to be a lot more subtle, so I went with it 🙂