The tofu stir-fry with peanut sauce that I’m sharing today is a relic from my fervent vegan days. It’s still one of my go-to items years later. It is flavorful, satisfying, and healthful!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground chili pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1 ½ cups cooked brown rice
Instructions
- Whisk coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, Sriracha sauce, and ground chili pepper together in a bowl until a smooth sauce forms.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and bell pepper; sauté until just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tofu and sauté until lightly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Add garlic and ginger; cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour sauce into the skillet and stir to coat tofu and vegetables. Cook until flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in spinach, 1 cup at a time, until wilted. Serve over brown rice.
- The best way to drain tofu is to freeze it ahead of time, then let it defrost on paper towels to soak up the water. If you don’t have time to freeze it, carefully squeeze it between your palms over the sink and let it drain on paper towels until you’re ready to cook. The more you drain it ahead of time, the faster it will brown in the pan.
- This recipe works just as well with chicken. You can also use different kinds of peanut butter for different flavor and texture in the sauce.
Reviews
We loved this! We used tamari instead of soy sauce, and it seemed fine. Next time we plan to add some sweet onions to cook with the pepper and carrot and also unsalted roasted peanuts.
Covered tofu with curb starch and fried separately. Set aside and then sauteed veggies. Doubled soy, lime juice and ginger. Added basil and red curry paste.
Great recipe that is simple for beginners. Thoroughly enjoyed this meal once it was ready
Based on reviews… used regular coconut milk, 1 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar, microwaved the sauce for 20 seconds, cooked tofu (in strips then cut into cubes) in a separate pan. It was AWESOME! Next time I’ll put more Sriracha in. Agree that any veg would work. Hoping to use the sauce in other recipes. Maybe Pad Thai.
Turned out wonderfully. I added a small amount of a Thai red curry paste that I really like. It spices it up nicely, but totally not necessary. I’ll try with pumpkin squash next!
This dish was a lot less flavorful than I was expecting. After tasting it, I added more lime juice, which helped a bit. If I were making it again, I’d add more of both lime juice and soy sauce, and I’d either use full-fat coconut milk or drain some of the watery part off of the low-fat kind. As many of the photos show, the dish is quite runny for a stir-fry (not necessarily bad for it to be like that, but it’s different that you might expect based on the name).
This recipe was a hit, I skipped the sriracha sauce, and still was pretty tasty.
I skipped Step 1 and just mixed the sauce ingredients in the pan. Easy!
I see why this has 5 stars. So good. First time using peanut butter when cooking. Excellent! I will make it again. Probably add some peanuts for crunch.
I’ve never made a Vegan recipe let alone cooked with Tofu. I didn’t know you had to dry the Tofu, but since I used Extra firm it didn’t seem to be a problem. Next time I would fry the Tofu by itself, then add to the veggies so that they don’t get over cooked. It was very flavorful and my family loved it. I will be making this again.
I’ve made this twice, both times excellent. The second time I made a few substitutions due to availability of ingredients in my kitchen. I ran out of coconut milk and used 2% cow milk. It’s no longer vegan, but tastes just as good. I added some fresh onions with the peppers both times. And I discovered Sriracha sauce! Yum!!
I love this recipe and made it a couple times as written. Just wanted to share a tofu tip that helped me. I baked the tofu cubes with 1T olive oil, 1T soy sauce, and 1T corn starch on 400 for almost 30 min. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat. The tofu held together better and had a nice crust even after I added it to the sauce and veggies.
This recipe was the best recipe I have ever made from All Recipes. I doubled the recipe because I have teenage boys, added chopped eggplant, and instead of tofu, I added chicken that I bought already cooked and cut. My son who is not big on dishes with a lot of veggies even went back for seconds. Really really yummy!
One of my favorite meals. This was incredible.
very delish…. diff will make this again.
Flexible recipe. Big solid items that I don’t have or don’t like, I leave out , and add the things I have and like. My last batch included celery, cauliflower, broccoli and cashews and red onion. The sauce is the important part. The sauce goes a long way too, so feel free to add lots of veggies.
One of my go to recipes. Even better the next day.
made with cabbage instead of spinach. delicious!
Sooo good!! I used coconut oil instead of olive oil and coated the tofu in cornstarch before pan frying. I used PBFit peanut butter and omg. Delicious. Thank you!
I was looking specifically for a brown rice & spinach dish. Happened to have all the ingredients (except tofu) so gave it a try. The sauce is nice, I added a bit of sambal oelek – Indonesian chili paste for more heat. Cooked trimmed pork loin chops & added to sauce while simmering. Yum.
Absolutely delicious! Will make again and again!