This beautiful raw vegan Pad Thai salad is loaded with spiralized veggies and a flavorful, creamy peanut butter dressing. Try this crunchy 20-minute low-carb dinner!
If you cannot be bothered to cook but still want to make a healthy and satisfying dinner, try this raw vegan Pad Thai. It offers a fun noodle experience sans the grains and can be made heartier with some extra plant-based protein on top!
This recipe is a great eye-catcher at any picnic, potluck or party, and can make veggies more appealing to even the pickiest of eaters!
Thanks to handy kitchen tools like spiralizers, you can create colorful and fun salads like this Pad Thai that take veggies to the next level.
free 7-day vegan meal plan
Your next week of eating is planned out with these quick and delicious vegan bowls, meal prepping steps & full grocery list.
Spiralized carrots have already made an appearance in our quinoa veggie bowl and our rainbow Buddha Bowl can also be made with spiralized sweet potatoes and red cabbage!
Even though it looks really fancy, our raw vegan Pad Thai takes only 20 minutes and pretty accessible ingredients to make — and once the vegetables are slathered in creamy peanut sauce, everyone will devour this dish in no time!
Especially during spring and summer when we’re in the middle of zucchini season, whipping up an (almost) raw dinner makes perfect use of all the fresh produce that’s available this time of year.
Find more vegan spiralizer recipes, low-carb recipes and zucchini recipes on our website!
Look at the recipe
- High in fiber, minerals and antioxidants
- Crunchy, creamy and spicy
- Oil-free, gluten-free & low-calorie
- Encourages picky eaters to try more veggies
- Healthier twist of the traditional version
- Perfect during hot summer days
Fresh, crisp, vibrant and heavy on the veggies, this colorful raw vegan pad Thai just tastes freaking amazing — despite the fact that it’s pretty much 99% good old vegetables.
Let’s see what’s needed to make this plant-based recipe!
Ingredients needed
- Zucchini, Yellow Squash & Carrots — these get spiralized (or grated or thinly sliced) to create our raw veggie noodles.
- Red Cabbage & Bell Peppers — more sliced vegetables to help us “eat the rainbow”; you can swap them for other varieties you like to eat in a Pad Thai salad.
- Sprouts, Green Onion & Cilantro — authentic and nutritious toppings for our healthy raw vegan pad Thai; don’t forget to sprinkle some cashews on top, too!
- Peanut Butter Dressing — an easy 7-ingredient sauce that’s made within minutes to be slathered on your veggie noodles. The healthy fats help vitamins A, E and K from the vegetables to be absorbed better!
We love to add some baked tofu or tempeh to our crispy vegan Pad Thai for more calories and protein — not taking the whole “raw” part all too seriously here.
How to make the raw vegan pad Thai
Spiralize your veggies
The main part of preparing our raw vegan pad Thai is to make the veggie noodles — zucchini, squash and carrots get spiralized, bell pepper, green onion and red cabbage thinly sliced.
If you don’t have a spiralizer on hand, we’ll share sneaky ways to create similar shapes with different tools below!
How to Spiralize Vegetables →
Make the dressing
Once you have the colorful veggie base ready in a large bowl, blend your 7-ingredient homemade peanut butter dressing and pour it over the pad Thai salad!
Be sure to adjust the level of spiciness to your taste — the sweet, spicy, sour and salty balance of this dressing is heavenly but you need to be able to enjoy it without having tears rolling down your face.
Give your salad a toss so that all of the vegetables are coated evenly in the dressing.
Full Peanut Sauce Recipe →Add toppings
We like cashews, edamame or roasted tofu with our Pad Thai salad for some added protein and calories!
Feel free to add anything else you like.
Storage & serving suggestions
The spiralized vegetables can be patted dry and stored in a paper towel-lined container in the fridge for around 2-3 days. Be sure to store them separately from the dressing!
Especially the zucchini and summer squash might release water and become a bit soggy over time, so keep this in mind.
If you don’t like fully raw zoodles in your Pad Thai, simply sauté them in a pan for a few minutes to make them a bit softer and tender.
You can also mix in some cooked wheat or rice noodles so that your meal isn’t all too low-carb or low-calorie!
Tips & questions
Before we get to the exact ingredients and instructions, here are some ideas for how to modify this recipe to make it suit your personal needs.
- Make sure the veggies you use for this raw pad Thai are ripe (not overripe!) and in good shape for the best texture and look.
- Instead of using peanut butter, you can go for almond butter, tahini or cashew butter to create your Thai dressing. Any leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to a week.
- Make this vegan pad Thai with cooked rice noodles if you want more calories or satiety. You can swap out some or all of the spiralized zucchini and squash, just make sure that you have enough peanut butter sauce to cover everything nicely.
- You can use all kinds of veggies that you enjoy, not just the ones we listed!
- We like to add some plant-based protein like edamame, tofu or tempeh to our pad Thai — more nutrients, satiety and texture!
Don’t have a spiralizer?
For a quick and dirty version, simply shred all of your veggies and drown them in the peanut butter sauce!
You can also create different types of noodle shapes using a julienne peeler, mandoline or box grater. Even a sharp knife and steady hand can get you there!
Find out more in our guide “How to make spiralized vegetables”.
More easy vegan salads
If you liked this recipe, try these easy and delicious dishes next!
- Vegan Spinach Fig Salad
- Roast Pumpkin Feta Salad
- Lentil & Kale Winter Salad
- Sweet Potato Arugula Salad
- Quinoa Pasta Salad
Did you try our raw vegan pad Thai salad and like it? Share with us in the comments below, rate our recipe and Pin it for later.
Easy Raw Vegan Pad Thai Salad
Crunchy zucchini, carrot and squash noodles team up with other colorful veggies to create this light and fresh raw vegan pad Thai salad! Complete with an easy creamy peanut dressing to spice up your veggie dish, this quick, refreshing and low-calorie 20-minute recipe makes for the perfect light lunch or dinner. Add some edamame or tofu for plant-based protein!
Ingredients
Raw Vegan Pad Thai
- 2 zucchinis
- 1 yellow squash
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 red bell pepper
- ½ cup red cabbage, shredded (35 g)
- ½ cup mung bean sprouts (50 g)
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoons cashews
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 dates, pitted
- ½ teaspoon cayenne or red chili flakes
- ½ cup water (120 ml)
Optional Toppings
- Edamame beans
- Baked tempeh
- Tofu, baked or sautéed in soy sauce
Instructions
- Add all ingredients for the sauce into a blender jar and blend until smooth. Adjust to taste, then put aside.
- Make the vegetable noodles by spiralizing the zucchini, squash and carrots, then slice your bell pepper and red cabbage.
- Add all the veggies for your pad Thai salad into a large bowl and drizzle with your spicy peanut sauce. Mix well, then top with green onion, sprouts, fresh cilantro, cashews and lime.
- Transfer into serving bowls and add any additional toppings of choice if you want a higher protein or calorie meal. Enjoy!
Notes
- Wait to drown your raw pad Thai in peanut sauce until you’re ready to serve to prevent soggy vegetables.
- Store the raw veggies separate from the dressing if you have any leftovers or want to use this recipe for meal prep; the spiralized noodles keep well for 3 days, the peanut butter sauce for one week in the fridge.
- Have some kelp noodles on hand? Throw them in your raw pad Thai, they are a great addition!
- Find more tips & customization ideas in the article above.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 326Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 837mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 12gSugar: 23gProtein: 14g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed. Just focus on whole plant-based foods and eat until satiety!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
How long does the sauce last in the frig?
It usually doesn’t last that long in our household because it’s just way too delicious, sorry ;) I’d give it a couple of days.
Thanks for stopping by!
I finally tried this yesterday and this is a fantastic recipe! All the Thai flavors that your tastebuds will enjoy. I’m looking forward to trying more recipes that you share.
Thank you!
This recipe will become a staple for me. I followed this recipe exactly to the letter and I wouldn’t change a thing! With recipes like this, I can stick to my raw vegan lifestyle change. Delicious!
I would definitely make this again! SO tasty. Thanks!!
Made this last night and it was AMAZING!
I’m not a huge fan of raw veggie salads so we stir fried them all up and i think it was still perfect, just enough crunch. We swapped out the squash for snow peas, and the cashews for crushed peanuts cos thats what we had available. Also added satay marinated tofu for protein but next time i’ll just make extra sauce the day before and use that as a marinade because it is SO TASTY!!
I’m definitely putting this into my meal plan!
Where is the recipe? All I see is an entire article to read through with a separate page with a whole article for the sauce?
Maybe my phone is isn’t formatting correctly..
thanks so much for letting us know, there was an error on our end but it’s all fixed now :)
Literally the best thing I’ve had in a long time! Will be making this a routine dish. So flavorful.
sounds wonderful, thanks so much for the feedback!
Hello, where can I find more vegan raw vegetales recipes. Thank you
Hi Carolina, find more raw vegan recipes here: https://nutriciously.com/raw-vegan-recipes/
What can I substitute for dates?
use your favorite syrup instead!
excited to try this until I saw the dates in the sauce. might as well have been sugar :(
Hi Nancy, feel free to reduce or omit the dates entirely! If you don’t want to sweeten your sauce that’s great, otherwise, just use a spritz of any sweetener of your choice :)
Hi, this recipe sounds delicious but is it suppose to be Keto? It says 46g of carbs so I’m confused.
Hi Trisha, thanks for the feedback! You can make it keto-friendly when using a lower carb peanut sauce or swapping the dates for a non-caloric sweetener. However, our nutrition information plugin just calculates the nutrition automatically and I cannot check to see if it is correct!