Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce
This broccoli and tofu stir-fry is incredibly savory, a little sweet, and loaded with flavor. The most valuable player in this dish is my homemade peanut sauce, which has a ton of fresh garlic and ginger for the ultimate umami flavor. Double the recipe and use this delicious peanut sauce for dipping fresh vegetable rolls or for a simple noodle dish or salad — you’ll be blown away by how flavorful a vegan dinner can really be!
What is Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry?
This broccoli and tofu stir-fry is just how it sounds; it is a blend of broccoli florets and extra-firm tofu that are stir-fried together and combined with a robustly flavored peanut sauce. The tofu ensures that this stir-fry can be a complete meal, as it adds plenty of protein and substance to the dish.
This dish’s Chinese-inspired creamy, spicy peanut sauce is so easy to make – simply whisk your ingredients in a bowl, no blender necessary! The whole recipe uses just one pot, so it’s super-easy to make when you don’t have a lot of time to cook and clean during a busy work and school week. It’s also kid-approved — my two teenagers are constantly requesting this for dinner, which makes me very happy given how healthy it is!
Ingredients
This broccoli tofu stir fry recipe uses very few ingredients considering how complexly flavored it is. You will love the Chinese-inspired peanut sauce filled with tangy rice vinegar, umami-rich soy sauce, and spicy garlic and ginger. Here is how you can make this vegan stir fry:
- water
- peanut butter – natural, smooth
- rice vinegar
- low-sodium gluten-free soy sauce
- maple syrup
- ginger
- garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- broccoli
- scallions
- tofu – extra-firm
Instructions
The wonderful things about stir-fry recipes is that they come together fast, making them an excellent option on busy weeknights. They also include an abundance of vegetables in addition to high-quality protein. Here is how to make this broccoli & tofu stir-fry:
- In a small bowl, whisk the water with the peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, and garlic. Set it aside.
- Drain and rinse the tofu. Pat it dry and slice it horizontally.
- Cut the tofu vertically into quarters. Then, cut it crosswise. You should end up with 1-inch x 1-inch pieces of tofu.
- In a skillet, heat the oil over high heat.
- Add the tofu, and cook it in one layer, without stirring, until the bottom is golden, about 5 minutes.
- Gently turn the tofu and cook it until golden on the other side, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- In a separate skillet, add the peanut sauce and broccoli, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tofu to the skillet and allow it to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the heat, garnish it with the scallions, and serve.
Variations
Once you have mastered this healthy tofu and broccoli stir-fry recipe, you can use it as a model for stir-fries in the future. Here are some suggestions for how you can modify this stir-fry recipe to suit the ingredients you have on hand in the future:
- Make the Stir-Fry into a Noodle Dish: If you love eating Asian-style noodle dishes, you can boil some spaghetti, rice noodles, or Chinese-style noodles, and toss them with the stir fry before serving. Feel free to make some extra sauce in case you find that the noodle mixture is too dry.
- Add Other Vegetables: If you have other raw or cooked vegetables you need to use up, you can add them into this stir fry. Feel free to add snowpeas, bell peppers, mushrooms, bok choy, and more into this recipe.
- Use Another Type of Nut Butter: Since not everyone can have peanut butter due to allergies, you may decide that you would like to use another type of nut butter. Almond butter or cashew butter are both great options as they have a similar color to the peanut butter.
How to Store Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry
If you have leftover broccoli and tofu stir-fry, you can store it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then, to reheat it, you can gently warm it up in a skillet on the stove until heated through.
Broccoli & Tofu Stir-Fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons peanut butter, (natural, smooth)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium gluten-free soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons ginger, (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic, (minced)
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups broccoli, (blanched)
- 4 scallions, (thinly sliced)
- 14 oz tofu, (extra-firm)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water, peanut butter, rice vinegar, gluten-free soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, and garlic. Set aside.
- Drain and rinse the tofu, then pat dry and slice it in half horizontally.
- Cut the sliced tofu vertically into quarters, then crosswise. You should end up with tofu cubes roughly 1 inch by 1 inch.
- In a skillet, heat oil over high heat.
- Add tofu and cook in a single layer, without stirring, until the pieces begin to turn golden brown on the bottom (about 5 minutes).
- Gently turn the tofu and cook until both sides are golden brown (about 5-7 minutes).
- In a separate skillet, add the peanut sauce and blanched broccoli, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tofu to that skillet and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the heat, garnish with scallions and serve.
Bon appétit!
FAQ
Because stir-frying often involves high temperatures, it’s imperative to use an oil that bears a high smoke point, otherwise, the oil will burn and impart a burnt flavor to the food at hand. A surefire (pun intended!) way to tell if your oil has reached its smoke point is when you start to see smoke coming up from the pan.
When cooking dishes that require high heat, try to use neutral-flavored oils such as canola oil, refined avocado oil, refined coconut oil, or grapeseed oil (made from the seeds of grapes after the wine has been pressed). Also, if you can get your hands on it, peanut oil provides a nutty flavor to any stir-fry that requires high heat due to its smoke point. Another common oil used in Asian cooking is toasted sesame oil, which will make the dish even more fragrant and smoky — just be sure to use it as a finishing oil, drizzling it at the end of the cooking time as it oxidizes easily! In this broccoli and tofu stir-fry, I use extra-virgin olive oil simply because it’s always on hand in my house and I pan-fry the tofu on medium heat.
To blanch broccoli, cook the broccoli in boiling water for a brief moment before plunging it into an ice bath (just a large bowl with ice and water in it) to halt the cooking process and lock in the bright green color and flavor. This process will brighten the color of the broccoli but it will still be crunchy. If you prefer your broccoli more tender, you can blanch it for a few minutes until it reaches the doneness you prefer.
Peanuts and peanut butter are an absolute staple in my vegetarian household. I use raw peanuts to make simple snacks such as my Spicy Cocktail Peanuts, in sauces by way of peanut butter, and often just roasted, crushed, and used as a garnish for savory dishes. While they’re high in calories and fat (albeit healthy fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), they make up for it in protein — just two tablespoons of peanut butter give you eight grams of protein, which is about 16% of your total daily value, according to livestrong.com.
Peanuts are legumes (not nuts!), and when combined with grains such as rice and quinoa daily provide all nine essential amino acids, which is important to take note of when following a vegan or vegetarian diet.
As with other vegetable stir fry recipes, you can serve this broccoli and tofu stir-fry over jasmine rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.
This peanut sauce is so delicious that you may decide you would like to use it for other dishes. Consider scaling up the recipe so that you can drizzle it over salads as a dressing or on top of bowls full of grains, healthy protein, and vegetables. It also makes a wonderful dipping sauce for lettuce wraps, rice paper rolls, or crispy spring rolls.
This peanut sauce is a flavorful blend of peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, and rice vinegar. However, if you or someone in your family can’t have peanuts, you can feel free to replace the peanut butter with another type of nut butter. Additionally, the soy sauce can be replaced with tamari for a grain-free alternative.
Related
If you are looking for other tofu stir-fry recipes, consider trying these dishes:
Maria
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s sooo good!
veggiecurean
Thanks Maria. Our family favorite.
Chinese Takeout-Style Black Pepper Tofu - Veggiecurean
[…] Broccoli & Tofu In Peanut Sauce […]
Lee Ann Rummell
I’m making this right now and there Isn’t an amount of honey in the ingredient list but it is mentioned as one in the things that are whisked together?! HELP!!
veggiecurean
No honey. Apologies. Hope you like it, Share your thoughts please.
Easy & Vegan Takeout Style Spring Rolls - Veggiecurean
[…] and sour sauce, but they also taste delicious served with the spicy and tangy peanut sauce from my Broccoli and Tofu Stir Fry recipe. These vegetable rolls are pretty much effortless to put together. Bundling them together […]
Gil Holdrinet
I followed this recipe religiously, like it was the bible, only to realize at the very end that there is absolutely no spice. I tried to rescue it by adding spicy Chinese sauces after it was cooked but that did not blend in like it would have if integrated into the peanut sauce at the beginning. As it is, it’s boringly bland
veggiecurean
Glad you added the spices. Yes, the recipe is suppose to be bald. If you like it spicy, add some chili flakes to the peanut mix.
Kurt Geissel
How on earth can this take only 10 minutes for prep and 10 minutes for cooking?
I want to start a cooking show where the “authors” of these recipes can only prep for the allotted time, then cook for the allotted time, then they have to eat it. Looks good though! But I’m going to use a wok. 🙂
veggiecurean
o! that would a good show. Do let us know how the recipe comes out for you and how long it takes. I am going to make the recipe this week again and will have the timer on.