Crispy Orange Tofu Recipe

This simple tofu recipe will become a favorite if you are into Asian dishes that come together quickly and use simple ingredients. In this recipe, crispy tofu is coated in delicious orange sauce and served over steamed rice. Getting hungry already?

Jump to:

• What is Crispy Orange Tofu?
• Our Orange Tofu recipe is:
• How to make our Easy Orange Tofu Recipe
• Variations to our Crispy Orange Tofu Recipe
• Serving Suggestions
• FAQ and Tips
• Easy Orange Tofu Recipe
• More delicious Tofu recipes:

What is Crispy Orange Tofu?

Our Orange Tofu aka Vegan Orange Chicken is a vegan and healthier alternative to the American-Chinese Orange Chicken.

This recipe for Orange Tofu combines the crunchy texture of the pan-fried tofu with a sweet and tangy sticky orange sauce. Pan-frying gives the tofu cubes a crispy outside and a tender inside. The sauce uses fresh orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and other aromatic ingredients to create a balance of flavors.

This dish, just like our Spicy Peanut Tofu, comes together quickly and is a lighter alternative to heavy takeout. We love serving it over rice and along with some pan-seared broccoli for a complete meal.

Our Orange Tofu recipe is:

• Vegan
• Family-friendly
• Takeout-style food
• American-Chinese
• Umami-packed
• Can be made gluten-free
• Quick to make
• Delicious

How to make our Easy Orange Tofu Recipe

Ingredients

Crispy Tofu

Tofu. Tofu is a versatile ingredient that's been a staple in Asian cuisines for centuries. Made from soybeans, tofu is an excellent source of protein and contains no cholesterol For this recipe, you'll need firm or extra-firm tofu. You can find tofu in most supermarkets, and we always recommend to get organic tofu when possible. If you're looking for a soy-free alternative, you can follow our red lentil tofu recipe to make this recipe.

Five-spice powder. We love adding some five-spice powder to season the tofu before cooking it. It adds a lovely Chinese-style flavor to your protein.

Cornflour. This ingredient is optional. We use a little cornflour or corn starch to coat the tofu before pan-frying it. This helps take away the excess moisture of the tofu, and helps to achieve a crunchier texture.

Orange Sauce Ingredients

Orange Juice and Orange Zest. To make a delicious orange sauce, you will need to get good-quality oranges (preferably during the orange season). If you get sweet juicy oranges, you'll need to add less sugar to the recipe, otherwise, if the oranges are still sour, you may need to increase the amount of sweetener to your taste.

Garlic and ginger. These are basic ingredients when cooking an Asian-style dish. You can use them finely chopped or pressed. If you are making this dish for kids, you may want to reduce the amount of ginger.

Soy sauce. We use regular soy sauce but you can use tamari for a gluten-free option, or low-sodium soy sauce for dietary restrictions.

Rice vinegar. This ingredient may be a bit more difficult to find in your local supermarket. You can leave it out, but if you can find it, or already have it at home, adding it to the sauce, will enhance the flavor of the rest of the ingredients.

Turmeric powder. We add turmeric to every recipe we possibly can, and orange cauliflower really calls for it! This ingredient adds a lovely color and has some really good health properties, a win win!

Sweetener. For this recipe, we use whole cane sugar but you can use regular sugar, maple syrup, agave, monk fruit, or your favorite sweetener.

Vegetable Stock, vegetable broth, or water. We prefer using vegetable stock as it gives the orange sauce a more intense flavor but you can use water instead.

Cornflour slurry. Combining water with cornflour you get a slurry that will help to thicken the sauce. If you don't have cornflour, you can use arrowroot starch, potato starch, regular flour, or even tapioca flour.

Sesame oil. We use sesame oil to finish the dish. This ingredient adds a unique taste to your orange tofu.

Step-by-Step Method

1. Wrap the tofu in a paper towel to remove any excess water. Leave for a couple of minutes, change the paper to a dry one, and repeat. You can also use a tofu press for this part. Cut the tofu into medium-sized cubes and place them in a large bowl. Coat the tofu with the five-spice powder and corn flour. Mix well until all the pieces are equally coated.
2. Using a frying pan or a wok, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat and add the coated tofu pieces in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan or wok. You will need enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan or wok so the tofu doesn't stick to the bottom. When the tofu is evenly cooked and golden brown, remove it from the pan using a slotted spoon and place it on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
3. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat and add garlic and ginger paste (you can use the wok or pan used for the tofu, but make sure you leave just a little oil to cook with). For this part, we use our garlic and ginger presser. You can finely chop them instead, but we find that you get more flavor when pressing them. After cooking for 1-2 minutes, add the turmeric powder and cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add freshly squeezed orange juice, vegetable stock or water, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave simmering for 4-5 minutes.
5. Dilute the cornstarch in lukewarm water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering sauce and mix well until it thickens. Cook for 5 more minutes and turn the heat off. If you like your orange sauce thicker you can always add some more cornstarch. We like to have enough sauce to coat all the tofu and some extra sauce to serve on top of the rice so our recipe makes a good amount of sauce.
6. Add the cooked tofu and sesame oil to the sticky sauce. Combine well, and your orange tofu will be ready to serve.

Variations to our Crispy Orange Tofu Recipe

• Use another plant-based protein. We have a delicious alternative to Orange Tofu: Cauliflower Tofu. You can make this dish using the same sauce, but changing the protein to your taste. Some variations include tempeh, seitan, vegan chicken pieces, soy curls, or soy chunks.
• Cook the tofu differently. You can choose to air-fry or bake the tofu. Coat with the spices and cornflour and then place on the air fryer basket or baking tray. Cook until golden brown and crispy.
• Make it spicy. If you want to add some heat to the dish, you can add chili flakes together with the turmeric.
• Make it oil-free. You can bake the tofu coated in some soy sauce and corn flour. For the sauce, you can sauté the ginger and garlic with a splash of water or vegetable stock.

Serving Suggestions

When it comes to our Vegan Orange Tofu Recipe, our favorite way to serve it is over jasmine rice, together with some pan-seared or pan-fried broccoli. The rice soaks up the tasty sauce, and the broccoli adds freshness and color to the dish.

You can also serve Orange Tofu over quinoa, rice noodles, or even cauliflower rice, alongside roasted, steamed, or stir-fried veggies such as carrots, green beans, snap peas, or bell peppers, or these delicious and easy-to-make air fryer edamame.

For a complete and beautiful one-bowl meal, Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, orange slices, chopped scallions or green onion, crushed peanuts, or fresh herbs like cilantro for extra flavor and crunch.

Store and Reheat

Leftover Orange Tofu should be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking. Properly stored, the orange tofu will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Make sure the tofu is completely cooled before refrigerating.

To reheat leftover tofu, remove the container from the fridge and allow it to come closer to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before reheating. This helps prevent cracking or breaking down the tofu.

Our preferred way to reheat the tofu is using a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Alternatively, the tofu can be reheated in the microwave.

For best results, add a splash of orange juice or water to keep the tofu moist and flavorful.

FAQ and Tips

More delicious Tofu recipes:

• Agedashi Tofu
• Teriyaki Tofu
• Salt and Pepper Tofu
• Vegan Yakisoba with Tofu