Tofu
134 recipes found
Grilled Tofu Salad With Honey Chile Dressing
This vibrant salad features a beautiful platter of tofu and bountiful summer vegetables that are kissed on the grill just until lightly charred and smoky. It’s equally delicious warm or at room temperature and can be prepared a few hours ahead (cover and keep at room temperature until ready to serve). A spicy vinaigrette with tart lime juice, briny fish sauce and hot chiles, inspired by nước chấm, is balanced by sweet honey and brightens the grilled vegetables. Cherry tomatoes add pops of natural sweetness that balance the dressing. Roasted peanuts (or even roasted almonds) are a nice addition, too, for crunchy texture and nutty flavor.
Masala Chickpeas With Tofu and Blistered Tomatoes
Like a warm and gentle nudge, masala spice gives onions and chickpeas a distinctively comforting heartiness. Glimmering with droplets of ghee, they become rich in this any-season dish. Tearing the tofu allows for ample crooks and crannies that cradle and accentuate the aromatic goodness of the spice. Cherry tomatoes, slightly and delicately blistered, are welcome as juicy bursts of acidity in every bite. Serve this over rice, or with a gently poached egg, along with a few slices of lime for squeezing.
Asparagus and Tofu With Black Bean Sauce
While asparagus shines with light spring-like flavors, it also carries bigger and bolder seasonings extremely well. Here, tender asparagus is quickly seared to unlock its juiciness and then tossed with a salty, spicy and funky Chinese black bean sauce. Known as dou si (Cantonese) or dou chi (Mandarin), fermented black soy beans are made by inoculating cooked black soy beans with a mold similar to koji (which is used to make miso paste), followed by salting and drying them. While they look like wrinkled and shriveled watermelon seeds, they are intensely savory, with multidimensional umami that also hints at sweetness and bitterness. While store-bought black bean sauce is an easy convenience, making your own at home using fermented black beans allows more control over salt and spice levels (see Tip). This sauce will quickly become a weeknight workhorse, a quick way to inject a savory kick to vegetable or meat stir-fries, stews like mapo tofu and even salad dressings.
Kale, Couscous and Tofu Salad With Carrot-Ginger Dressing
This satisfying no-cook salad demonstrates that taking cooking shortcuts need not come with any compromise when it comes to taste. Shortcut number one: You can skip massaging the kale; tearing it vigorously softens the leaves sufficiently. Shortcut number two: Save time with store-bought baked tofu, as it has been pre-cooked, which results in a firmer texture that stands up well in salads. And, lastly, shortcut three: Rather than actively monitoring couscous on the stovetop, you can simply season it and rehydrate in boiling water (or even hot vegetable stock, for even more flavor). The punchy, golden-hued carrot and ginger dressing takes cues from the simple salads served at Japanese American restaurants. This version adds miso, which softens the heat of the ginger.
Vegan Zha Jiang Mian
Zha jiang mian is a popular Chinese noodle dish that is the quintessential pantry meal: Staples in many Chinese households, the fermented soybean pastes are like richer, deeper misos, and add significant depth to this quick dish. Traditionally, zha jiang mian is made with pork belly, but this vegan version captures a similar texture with sautéed eggplant, which cooks down to become soft and creamy, adding to the body of the sauce. Crumbled tofu helps the sauce coat the noodles when mixed. Chinese soybean pastes vary in saltiness, so season lightly with salt in the beginning to help build flavor without overdoing it. (You can always adjust the seasoning at the end if you need more salt.) These noodles are typically served with mung beans and slivered cucumber, but a variety of fresh vegetables could step in; shredded romaine lettuce or carrots would also be delicious.
Tomato and Ginger Braised Tofu
Tomatoes and tofu may not be an obvious pairing, but they belong together in this speedy braise. A brave amount of ginger provides a robust flavor foundation for this sauce, imparting verve. (If you’d like to increase the heat, you could add some crushed red pepper, too.) Halving the cherry tomatoes helps them break down faster, transforming them into a rich sweet, savory and tangy sauce in minutes. This recipe works any time of year: If fresh cherry tomatoes are unavailable, 28 ounces of canned cherry tomatoes will also work. Pan-frying the tofu first makes the slices sturdier and locks in moisture, creating the perfect texture to carry and soak up the braising sauce.
Crunchy Noodle and Tofu Salad
With crisp noodles and vegetables coated in a tangy dressing, this salad is reminiscent of the ubiquitous Chinese chicken salad, which isn’t actually Chinese in origin. Stripped of the chicken and given a more accurate name, this vegan take is a fresh salad with lots of textures and no active cooking. Fridge stalwarts carrot and celery combine with robust cabbage to provide heart and heft, while store-bought crispy fried noodles (sometimes sold as chow mein noodles) bring mouth-watering crunch. (They’re worth keeping in your pantry to use as a fun, effortless topper for salads or soups.) Another store-bought timesaver is baked tofu, which has already been marinated and baked, and is ready to use straight from the packet. It often comes in several flavors, and any of them will work for this recipe. The dressing is sweet, savory and acidic, and can be easily adjusted to your liking. Maple syrup adds richness, but honey, agave or sugar would all make suitable substitutes.
Zucchini Tofu Udon
Fuyu, or fermented tofu, is the umami star of this quick noodle dish, delivering a briny, tangy saltiness that is also creamy. Also called furu or doufuru, it is made by fermenting soybean curds in a brine of rice wine, water, salt and spices. It has a strong flavor on its own, but when used to stir-fry noodles (or greens, as it is commonly employed in Chinese cooking), its punchiness mellows into a subtly sweet hum that is redolent of buttery blue cheese. This dish is finished with a generous amount of black pepper, giving it unmistakable cacio e pepe vibes. In a dish where black pepper is front and center like this one, freshly ground is preferred, but measuring it can be cumbersome, so if you are using a grinder, 1 teaspoon amounts to about 50 to 60 turns.
Liángbàn Gāndòufusī (Shredded Tofu Salad)
Take a stack of sturdy, nutty-tasting fresh tofu sheets (gāndòufu in Mandarin) and cut them up into noodle-like ribbons to combine with cucumber, cilantro and a spicy, garlicky sauce. The stunningly good, satisfying result is a northeastern Chinese treat, a favorite of cookbook author Hannah Che. This recipe was adapted from her debut, “The Vegan Chinese Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter, 2022). Look for vacuum-sealed packages of tan-colored, nubby gāndòufu, often labeled as “soy tofu sheet” in the refrigerated tofu section in Chinese markets. Enjoy this salad with dumplings or a cozy soup. Change things up by stuffing it into a baguette or featuring it in lettuce wraps.
Crudités With Lemongrass-Fermented Tofu Dip
For rau củ sống chấm chao, a Vietnamese take on crudités, serve raw, seasonal veggies with a tangy, spicy, umami-rich sauce featuring chao (fermented tofu), a wondrous ingredient that’s akin to creamy, winy cheese. Fermented tofu typically punches up stir-fried greens or a bowl of porridge, but Vietnamese cooks love to let it shine as a sauce. The dynamite nước chấm chao (fermented tofu dipping sauce) could be paired with grilled goat or lamb, but it’s fantastic as a dip. For this recipe, from my cookbook “Ever-Green Vietnamese” (Ten Speed Press, 2023), choose at least three vegetables from the crudité options. The sesame seed addition isn’t standard, but adds body and richness to the sauce, uniting the ingredients. Make a double batch of sauce, if you like, so you have extra to dress grilled romaine; top it with fried shallots for a summertime salad.
Bulgogi-Style Tofu
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredient list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Here's the prompt: bulgogi-style tofu. It’s simple. Press some firm tofu to extract as much liquid as you can. Make a marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, a spoonful of gochujang, a splash of neutral oil, some sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Slice the tofu into bite-size cubes, and slide them into the marinade. Let that sit — a half-hour works; a few hours works better. Then roast them in a hot oven on an oiled foil-lined pan until they’re crisp. Serve with bibb lettuce cups to wrap them in, with rice, kimchi and a dipping sauce of ssamjang and a little bit more gochujang thinned out with neutral oil and sherry vinegar. (If not, go with sesame oil and ground white pepper.) That’s a fine dinner. For more recipe recommendations from Sam Sifton, Melissa Clark and New York Times Cooking, sign up to receive the Cooking newsletter. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Pad Thai
Pad Thai is Thailand’s national dish, but not because it is traditional. The government codified it in the 1930s as a way of encouraging national pride in the unique ingredients of Thailand. It has been adopted and adapted all over the country, but one constant is that the dish is made almost entirely of long-lasting ingredients like rice noodles and tamarind, making it easy on the home cook. The savory, tart sauce is very simple to assemble, and it lasts well in the fridge. Watcharee Limanon, a cooking teacher in Yarmouth, Maine, who shared this recipe, said that although salty dried shrimp are used in the original recipe, many Thai cooks (and most of her students) now prefer fresh shrimp.
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Simmered Frozen Tofu Soup With Pork and Cabbage
Freezing and thawing tofu transforms its texture, making it the perfect vehicle for flavor.
Stinky Tofu Ratatouille
This Stinky Tofu Sauce is a fusion dish, inspired by the summer harvest and one of my favorite Taiwanese recipes. The pungent aroma isn’t for the faint of heart!
Baked Cilantro Tofu
A quick tofu bake to add salads and sandwiches, can't guarantee you won't snack on it as well.
Vietnamese Tofu Lettuce Wraps
Such a simple, easy & healthy lunch or dinner to throw together in less than 20 minutes
Black and White Tofu
Caution: contains century egg, the source of umami so intense that most cannot handle. Proceed at your own discretion. Also, it's dangerously addictive.
Crispy n' Crunchy Vegan Buns
Don't be fooled by the simplicity of these little buns! They have a crispy top, soft center, and irresistibly crunchy bottom!
Panko Fried Tofu
This recipe makes easy and delicious weeknight dinner, taking slices of panko-crusted tofu and frying until golden brown. These are crispy on the outside.
Leek soup with black rice soba and tofu
This is one of those 5 minute lunches. The leeks are literally cooked in 5 minutes, so are everything else. You just have to do a bit of multitasking, we're not talking about roasting pine nuts here (don't mess with those). It's nutritious, cozy and delicious.
Miso Soup
A basic Miso Soup recipe that can be easily doubled or tripled. It calls for miso paste, which can be found in the Asian section of almost any grocery store.
Crispy Tofu Chips
As someone who likes the idea and taste of bacon but not the texture (or the pork!), I love this accidental - and vegan - discovery: a crispy tofu chips recipe!
Hot and Sour Seared Tofu With Snap Peas
Impatience was the main reason I failed at searing tofu. For years, I had given in to the temptation to poke it, turn it, examine it, annoy it. Then I finally learned that, like any very moist ingredient (fish, mushrooms, tomatoes), the less you bother it, the browner and crisper it will get. Once I figured that out, searing tofu was easy. These days it’s a fixture in our something-quick-for-dinner arsenal. In this recipe, I stir-fry it with sliced sugar snap peas. But any vegetable cut into small pieces (asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, green beans) works well, too.
