Baked Crispy Tofu & Peanut Sauce Stir Fry
Posted Sep 21, 2017, Updated Oct 20, 2024
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This baked crispy tofu is an easy, healthy dinner recipe. Tofu and vegetables are roasted and then tossed with a delicious homemade peanut sauce for a nutritious weeknight meal.
I never get tired of Asian-inspired dishes loaded with veggies cooked in bold sauces, like this baked crispy tofu & peanut sauce stir fry! This recipe will make all of your dinner dreams come true!
This Baked Crispy Tofu recipe is easy to make with a few ingredients. It’s healthy and flavorful and delicious.
Baked Crispy Tofu: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Veggies. Substitute your favorite veggies if you wish. Recommendations: baby corn, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, etc.
- Coconut milk. If you don’t have coconut milk water can be used instead. However, the coconut milk gives the sauce a rich and creamy texture that is SO good! If you are wondering what to do with the extra coconut milk, try this thai slow cooker ground turkey recipe.
- Sesame oil. You can substitute peanut, olive, or canola oil, however, sesame oil adds important flavor.
- Honey. You can use agave or maple syrup.
- Hoisin sauce. There’s really no substitute for hoisin sauce.
How to Make Baked Crispy Tofu
I chose to make this recipe in the oven because roasting the tofu and veggies in the oven creates the perfect crispy tofu.
I love eating tofu but it has to be crispy. When we go out I order it “well done.” That’s why, in this recipe, the tofu is roasted alone before the rest of the vegetables and sauce are added to the pan.
In a small bowl whisk together the peanut sauce ingredients until smooth.
Then, in a small bowl combine the spices for the tofu.
Next, coat the tofu in peanut oil and then add the spices and stir to combine. Spread the seasoned tofu evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
While tofu is baking, put the veggies in a large bowl and toss with remaining peanut oil.
After tofu has baked for a total of 20 minutes, add veggies to the pan and place it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir and add ¼ cup of the peanut sauce to the pan. Stir until the veggies/tofu are evenly coated.
Bake for 10 additional minutes, or until the peanut sauce coats the veggies/tofu, stirring halfway through.
To keep everything crispy, wait to add the sauce until the veggies & tofu are golden-brown. By tossing it in during the last 10 minutes of baking, the peanut sauce has time to thicken up just enough to coat all the ingredients beautifully without making them soggy.
Serve
Serve this this baked tofu warm with noodles like vegetable lo mein, or rice, like the best homemade fried rice!
I also love serving it after some Asian recipes like fresh spring rolls and peanut sauce or asian chicken lettuce wraps.
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheat in the oven to restore crispiness, or in the microwave.
Baked Crispy Tofu & Peanut Sauce Recipe FAQs
Yes you can opt ot make it in a wok or large fry pan on the stovetop instead. I suggest cooking the tofu until it’s crispy, then set it aside while you cook the veggies and combine it all with the sauce at the very end.
If you struggle with making crispy tofu be sure to drain it and press out the water. I’ll often put it in a colander with a heavy glass measuring cup on top and let it sit for a few hours to press out the water.
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Baked Crispy Tofu & Peanut Sauce Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra firm tofu (cut into ½” cubes)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 green pepper (cut into thin, 1" strips)
- 1 red pepper (cut into thin, 1" strips)
- 2 cups broccoli (chopped into small pieces)
- ½ onion (finely sliced)
- 3 Tablespoons peanut oil (divided)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Peanut sauce:
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. Set aside.
Make the Peanut Sauce
- In a small bowl whisk together sauce ingredients until smooth. If your peanut butter is more solid, microwave for 30 seconds to melt it. Set aside.
Tofu and Veggies
- Mix together garlic powder, garlic salt, black pepper onion powder and ginger, set aside.
- Put the tofu in a large bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon peanut oil and stir until all the pieces are coated.
- Add spice mixture and stir until evenly distributed.
- Spread tofu evenly on greased pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
- While tofu is baking, put the veggies in a large bowl and toss with remaining peanut oil.
- After tofu has baked for a total of 20 minutes, add veggies to the pan and place it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, stir and add ¼ cup of the peanut sauce to the pan. Stir until the veggies/tofu are evenly coated.
- Bake for 10 additional minutes, or until the peanut sauce coats the veggies/tofu, stirring halfway through.
- Remove from oven and serve warm with remaining peanut sauce.
Video
Notes
- Veggies. Substitute your favorite veggies if you wish. Recommendations: baby corn, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, etc.
- Coconut milk. If you don’t have coconut milk water can be used instead. However, the coconut milk gives the sauce a rich and creamy texture that is SO good! If you are wondering what to do with the extra coconut milk, try this thai slow cooker ground turkey recipe.
- Sesame oil. You can substitute peanut, olive, or canola oil, however, sesame oil adds important flavor.
- Honey. You can use agave or maple syrup.
- Hoisin sauce. There’s really no substitute for hoisin sauce.
- Peanut oil. Olive oil is a good substitute.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So this recipe turned out really great and I thoroughly enjoyed it! However the prep time is super misleading. I cook a lot and not even an iron chef could prep that sauce, and cut all the veg and tofu in five minutes. Realistically more like twenty.
This is the best peanut sauce I’ve made, and I’ve made a lot of peanut sauce!
This recipe was amazing and the sauce, divine! Will definitely make again!
I just used the selection of veggies in the fridge and did not press out the tofu either.
Thank you so much Di!
I don’t normally get around to rating recipes, but this has been in constant rotation in our house for years now. We seriously make it ALL THE TIME. If I were asked what my favorite recipe is this would be it. The sauce is amazing, the timing of the tofu and then veggies… Just everything about it. Make it, you won’t regret it! Thanks Di! It’s fabulous.
Delicious! I did not press out my tofu and the timing was great! I think it depends if your tofu was moist when putting in oven. The sauce is yummy!
I finally found a way to cook tofu that I like, really like. I stir fried the dish in a frying pan so I was able to keep an eye on how the cooking was progressing. Also didn’t have broccoli so used up some snow peas I had on hand. The sauce is fantastic. I think any combination of veggies you like, or have, would work. Also it was easy to make which gets a lot of points from me because I am generally cooking two separate dinners (one vegan, one omnivore).
Giving three stars because I really liked the sauce but the tofu was overbaked, following the times in the recipe. I don’t cook tofu often enough to know when it’s ready just by looking, I need more practice. Will make again with shorter bake times, probably putting the veggies in earlier. Or maybe use the wok, in spite of how you say this technique avoids it.
I’m so sorry that happened Helen! All ovens bake differently and the size of your tofu chunks also effect baking time!
The recipe is really good – but I agree, cut the tofu cooking time to a third! Otherwise so yummy!
Could I cook the tofu for 40 minutes (stir every 10min) then cook the vegetables for 20 and just toss in the sauce? I wouldn’t be able to cook both at the same time without over crowding my pan.Or should I 30min for the tofu, 10 for the veg then add sauce and combine the two and cook at the same time on an overcrowded pan?
Would be interested in trying this recipe in the future as it looks delicious, but would have to work out this multi-step process before doing so.
Wonderful! Great change on regular sheet pan dinner!
Delicious!
This was delicious! The tofu was crispy, as promised, and the peanut sauce delicious! My only addition was some red pepper flakes to the peanut sauce, added early enough so they’d have time to release some spice into the oils before pouring over.