Instant Pot Pad Thai with Tofu

This Instant Pot Pad Thai with tofu can also be made with chicken. It’s packed with veggies and a quick dinner recipe on the stove or in any electric pressure cooker.

This is one of our favorite vegetarian Instant Pot recipes! It’s so easy to pull together on a busy weeknight, and if you decide to prep your veggies ahead of time it’s even quicker to make.

This meal is a great alternative to takeout and barely requires a trip to the grocery store. I usually have everything on hand to whip up this healthy Vegetarian Pad Thai recipe in my Instant Pot.

Where’s the recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life, we have written recipes to be so easy that anyone can make them–no matter what your kitchen experience!

Each post has information about ingredients, detailed cooking instructions, and recipe tips as well as special diet information. If you’re looking for more straight to the point instructions, scroll right down to the easy to print recipe at the bottom. 

Ingredients in this Tofu Pad Thai

For ingredient amounts, please scroll down to the printable recipe.

• Sesame oil: Roasted is best, if you can find it–the flavor is so much better.
• Garlic: Fresh is best here!
• Fresh ginger:  Fresh ginger has an authentic Asian flavor that will make this recipe amazing.
• Onion: Any color will do, but I’m a fan or red or white.
• Extra firm tofu: The extra firm part is important so it has more of a meat-like texture and doesn’t fall apart while cooking.
• Egg: If you’re vegan, leave this out. If you’d like, you can use an egg substitute like Just Egg or silken tofu.
• Rice vinegar: If you don’t have it, I’d just skip it entirely instead of using another vinegar.
• Coconut aminos: Or tamari, or soy sauce – whatever you have on hand works.
• Honey: If vegan, use a different sweetener like maple syrup or agave nectar.
• Zucchini: See the note below about swapping out veggies if you don’t love the ones listed here!
• Carrots 
• Bell peppers
• Rice noodles (brown rice if you can find them!)
• Low sodium vegetable stock: Or water if you don’t have any stock.
• Fresh basil
• Optional garnish:
  • Crushed red pepper 
  • Peanuts
  • Cilantro
  • Lime wedges or lime juice
  • Green onions

How to make this recipe vegan:

You can easily make this recipe vegan by replacing the honey with a vegan sweetener such as maple syrup or agave nectar. Other meat alternatives such as seitan can be used, or protein can be left out entirely.

Also, you’ll want to remove the eggs entirely or use a vegan egg substitute.

Instant Pot Tofu Pad Thai Instructions

I love this easy recipe on nights when we are craving Thai food. It’s quick to pull together and tastes like authentic Pad Thai–only lighter!

1. Set pot to sauté and add in sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger, and onions. Sauté for about a minute, or until you begin to smell the spices.
2. Add in your diced tofu and then push the contents of the pot to one side of the pot so you have room to scramble the eggs.
3. If you’d like a spray of olive oil so your eggs don’t stick (eggs always stick to the bottom of the Instant Pot!), spray that now. Add the egg and scramble it with a spatula, keeping it on one side of the pot if possible.
4. Once your eggs are cooked, mix together the tofu, onion, and eggs.
5. Add in the rice vinegar, coconut aminos (or soy sauce), and honey. These make up your pad thai sauce. If you’d like to add peanut butter for flavor, I’d add a teaspoon to your sauce ingredients now.
6. Add in the zucchini, bell peppers, and carrots and continue to sauté until they begin to soften.
7. Place the rice noodles (the entire package) on top of the contents of the pot and then pour the vegetable stock (or water if you don’t have stock) over the noodles. The noodles will not be submersed–that’s ok.
8. Close the lid of the pot and allow the noodles to cook using the steam in the pot for 1-2 minutes.
9. If you feel that you’d like to cook the noodles for longer, or if you’re using thicker noodles, I recommend pressure cooking for 0 (yes, zero) minutes. This cooking time will allow the pot to come to pressure (it cooks while coming to pressure), and it will begin to release pressure afterwards. Immediately release the pressure valve (by carefully turning the valve from Sealing to Venting) after the pot comes to pressure so your noodles don’t overcook.
10. Add the chopped basil and serve immediately garnished with red pepper flakes, cilantro, peanuts, and lime (if desired).

Recipe Tips

Stovetop Directions

The Instant Pot instructions can be used for the stovetop, since this recipe is primarily sautéing. The following notes should be followed:

• Use medium high heat for the sautéing.
• In step 7, do not add the broth/water. Cook your noodles on the side according to package directions.

Healthy Eating Plans

Since we are skipping the brown sugar, fish sauce, and other heavy ingredients commonly used in this stir fry dish, it’s perfect for almost any healthy eating plan!

Weight Watchers: This Weight Watchers Pad Thai is 7 2025 Plan Points | 12 Blue Plan Points | 14 Green Plan Points | 12 Purple Plan Points | 7 2023 Plan Points per serving, not including optional garnish options.

21 Day Fix: Per Serving (Recipe serves 6): 1/3 teaspoon, 1 1/2 green containers, 1/3 red container, 1 yellow container per serving.

2B Mindset: This recipe is a perfect lunch, with 50% veggies, 25% protein (tofu), and 25% FFC (noodles).

More Vegetarian Instant Pot recipes

• Blueberry Lemon Oatmeal
• Vegan Pineapple Fried Rice
• Amish Baked Oatmeal
• Healthy Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Greek yogurt Mac and Cheese

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