If you're one of those people who thinks tofu is completely devoid of flavour or texture, you'd be absolutely correct. But this crispy tofu stir-fry changes things.
Instead of sinking your teeth through a blobby cube of gelatinous sponge, you'll have bite, crunch, and taste in abundance. Better yet, you can get all those things without having to deep-fry the stuff to within an inch of its life.
In the mood for crispy tofu stir-fry? C'mon then, let's go for a wok.
I create new content every single week. Subscribe to keep in touch and get a free download of The Vegan Kitchen – My Top 10 Tips.
What is tofu?
Tofu is a bean curd made from soy milk. High in protein, low in fat, and available in varying degrees of firmness, it has been a staple of Asian cuisine for centuries.
You'll also find tofu in my recipes for vegan fish pie, smoked tofu risotto, and tofu jalfrezi curry, to name a few.
How to make tofu crispy
To make this crispy tofu, you need to drain it, coat it, and cook it in the oven at a decent temperature. You could also fry the tofu in copious amounts of oil, but baking is much healthier.
How to drain tofu
Depending on the type of tofu you're using, it may need to be drained and pressed to remove the extra water. In this recipe I've used the Cauldron brand.
In some other recipes, I'll recommend freezing and defrosting as a method to get the water out of the tofu. But in this case, it's fine to just drain it and then press it between two plates.
- Place the block of tofu between a larger plate and a smaller plate.
- Over a sink, press the plates together to squeeze out the water. Do this for a minute or two.
- The idea is to not break it apart when pressing, but don't worry if the odd bit falls off.
- Once there's no more water coming out, pat dry with kitchen roll and then it's ready to chop up.
Making a stir-fry at home
In this recipe, I've provided instructions on how to make a basic stir-fry sauce. If you don't have time to make it yourself, feel free to just use a store-bought sauce and mix it through towards the end.
If you are making the sauce, it's a simple case of whisking all the ingredients together and adding to the pan for the last couple of minutes of cooking time.
The veg
The key to a good stir-fry is cooking everything quickly on a high heat, and so you'll want to cut all the veg to roughly the same size. Here I've used mushrooms, red peppers, and green beans, but you could use any veg you like.
Keep in touch
Subscribe below to receive a weekly newsletter with my latest recipes. Nice and simple. No pesky pestering. No spam (which wouldn’t be very vegan anyway).
More vegan recipe ideas
If you liked this recipe, you may also enjoy:
- Teriyaki Tempeh Stir-Fry
- 5-Minute Peanut Noodles
- Singapore Noodles with Tofu
- Grilled Teriyaki Tofu Steaks
- Asian-Inspired Cucumber Salad
- King Oyster Mushroom Steaks
- Eggy Scrambled Tofu
- Cucumber Stir-Fry
You can also check out my full list of vegan mains.
Crispy Tofu Stir-Fry (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
For the crispy tofu
- 200-300 g firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce (see recipe notes)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 tablespoons cornflour (or arrowroot)
For the sauce
- 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped or grated
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced (I include the seeds, but remove if you don't like any heat)
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (plus more if necessary – see recipe notes)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (or arrowroot)
For the stir-fry
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil (coconut oil is great if you have it)
- 1 red pepper, finely sliced
- 200 g green beans, trimmed
- 200 g mushrooms, finely sliced
- Rice or rice noodles, cooked to package instructions
- Sliced spring onions and sesame seeds to serve
Instructions
Crispy tofu
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- To drain the tofu, place it between a larger plate and a smaller plate and press over a sink for 1-2 minutes. Once the water has stopped coming out, pat dry with kitchen roll and transfer to a chopping board.
- Slice the tofu lengthways so you have two slabs, then cut each slab into 4x4 cubes. This will give you a total of 32 cubes.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the tamari/soy sauce (1 tablespoon), oil (1 tablespoon), and garlic powder. Add the tofu and gently coat it in the mix.
- Next, add the cornflour (4 tablespoons) a little at a time and turn the tofu pieces so that they're evenly coated.
- Add a little oil to an oven dish and spread the tofu pieces out across it. Bake for 30 minutes, turning half-way through. If the tofu sticks, add a little more oil and turn down the heat slightly.
Sauce
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to a measuring jug or bowl. Whisk and set aside.
Stir-fry
- If you're cooking rice, remember to get that going at some point depending on its cooking time.
- Heat a pan or wok on a high heat and add the oil. Once hot, add in the veg and stir/toss frequently for 6-7 minutes.
- After 6-7 minutes, add in the stir-fry sauce and mix well. If necessary, adjust the seasoning by adding a little more tamari or soy sauce.
- Once the stir-fry is done, turn off heat. Remove the tofu from the oven. Stir through half of the tofu and save the other half for serving on top.
- Serve with rice, sliced spring onions, sesame seeds, and a drizzle of tamari/soy sauce.
Notes
- Teriyaki Tempeh Stir-Fry
- Chickpea Stir-Fry
- 5-Minute Peanut Noodles
- Singapore Noodles with Tofu
- Grilled Teriyaki Tofu Steaks
- Vietnamese-Style Rice Paper Rolls
- King Oyster Mushroom Steaks
- Smoked Tofu Risotto with Lemon & Basil
Nutrition
Social follow
🌱 Follow along @thepeskyvegan on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Further reading
📩 Fancy keeping in touch? Subscribe to my weekly newsletter.
📖 Find out more about my story.
🍽️ Want to get straight to the food? Hop aboard the recipe train.
🌿 Got a question about veganism? You might find the answer in these vegan FAQs.
Grace
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but this came out extremely salty! I used reduced sodium soy sauce and only used as much as the recipe called for. All of my measurements were exactly like the recipe called for, but I just couldn’t finish eating because of how salty it was. I’m thinking next time I’ll try adding honey or sugar to the sauce to cut the saltiness of the sauce and the tofu. Regardless, the tofu came out perfectly crispy and the veggies were cooked to perfection!
The Pesky Vegan
Hi Grace, thanks for your comment and I'm sorry to hear that this was a little salty! Especially if you used reduced-sodium soy sauce - it will depend largely on the soy sauce you use and factors such as how much rice the stir-fry is served with (i.e. the sauce should taste a lot more balanced once mixed through boiled rice). I've added a new recipe note based on your feedback, thanks again!
Simon
Thanks for sharing this recipe its really nice
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed!
Lisa
"a blobby cube of gelatinous sponge" HA You are hilarious! This was delicious! Thanks for sharing it.
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed the humour/tofu combo - thanks for the review!
Louise
This was such a gorgeous recipe! Would highly recommend. I added a little bit more water to the sauce but was lovely. Thanks so much.
The Pesky Vegan
Hi Louise, glad you enjoyed and thanks very much for taking the time to leave a review!
Kasia
Hi 🙂 I'm going to try this recipe, and I have a question regarding the cornflour. Is it a cornflour or corn starch? I'm planning to replace it with potato starch, as this is what I have on hand.
I'm new to vegan cooking and your recipes are really inspiring. I've made a vegan haggis and it was delicious. Thank you 🙂
The Pesky Vegan
Hi there! Apologies for the confusion - it's corn starch (i.e. the powdery white stuff that you would use as a thickener). It seems to have different names depending on where you are in the world. I haven't tried it with potato starch but hope it goes well!
Vicky
This is really yummy - thanks
The Pesky Vegan
Good stuff, thanks for the review!
Y the Wait
It looks delicious I loved it Thanks for sharing
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed, thanks for leaving a review!
Ann
Thanks for this. We really enjoyed it. It’s so lovely to find a site where I want to try all the recipes and already have most of the ingredients. I found your site searching for vegan haggis. I’m planning on trying that soon.
The Pesky Vegan
Hi Ann, thanks so much for the kind words! Feedback like this is so nice to hear and I'm glad you find the site useful. Can definitely recommend the vegan haggis!
Liz Wright
Loved this recipe...so tasty and I actually got crispy tofu without frying!
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed - thanks very much for leaving a comment!