Our Tofu served with a Spicy Peanut Sauce is creamy, rich, nutty, vegan, and gluten-free, the perfect weeknight dinner to serve with rice or noodles or even to enjoy on its own.
If you already know us, you may have noticed our love for peanut butter. Two of the most popular recipes on the blog are made with peanut butter: Tofu Satay with Peanut Sauce and this delicious Peanut Curry.
At home, you can always find a big jar of peanut butter. We like choosing brands that only use one ingredient for their peanut butter: peanuts!
Peanut butter is a staple ingredient for our morning toasts to make dipping sauces for our dishes and also to make this rich and spicy peanut sauce to coat our tofu with. We recommend serving the tofu with some jasmine rice or noodles. To make this recipe, we got inspired by Healthy Nibbles and her amazing Spicy Tofu with Coconut Sauce.
All you need to prepare this spicy peanut tofu recipe are 8 simple ingredients, a saucepan for the peanut sauce, a pan to pan-fry the tofu and 20 minutes!
What Our Readers Think of This Recipe:
- Sharom: this was perfect! exactly the flavor I was searching for, and I tried so many different recipes! Thank you so much
- Astrid: Soooo Yummy. I made this for dinner a few nights ago and will be making this again soon. I added some green beans and served it over rice noodles. This sauce will work great with any vegetable in addition to the tofu or even without it. I've been searching for an easy, yet super flavorful peanut sauce and I think I finally found it. Thank you.
- Cillian: This is such a good, simple recipe when you want something tasty but don't want to be cooking for ages! Just made it tonight for dinner - I ended up throwing in a chopped red bell pepper and some brown mushrooms when sauteeing the shallot and ginger and let them simmer in the sauce along with the tofu. Served it over jasmine rice with baby spinach wilted with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce. Thank you!
Ingredients for the Spicy Peanut Sauce
Tofu. For this recipe, where the tofu is the centerpiece and gets cooked and coated with a rich sauce, you will need firm or extra firm tofu. If you are getting tofu fresh from an Asian supermarket, you may need to get the extra firm type. They tend to be softer than the tofu you can buy at your regular supermarket.
Peanut Butter. We use toasted peanut butter as it has a deeper flavor. Choose a smooth peanut butter that uses just one ingredient: Peanuts.
Coconut Milk. To get the perfect creaminess of the sauce, we add coconut milk to the mixture. You can also use cashew cream or another vegetable milk or cream.
Sambal Oelek. We use Sambal Oelek for the spicy touch, but if you prefer a milder sauce, you can skip this ingredient or add ½ teaspoon of chili flakes instead. You can substitute this ingredient for sriracha or another chili paste or sauce. If you are making this dish for young kids or toddlers, skip this!
Shallot. Shallots or yellow onion give the sauce the perfect sweetness.
Ginger. Use fresh or dried ginger.
Soy Sauce or Tamari. To balance the sweetness from the sauce, we like adding some soy sauce or tamari for a gluten-free option.
Lime juice. The last and really important ingredient is lime juice, which adds some tanginess to the sauce.
Cooking Method
Cook your tofu. We have been cooking this protein in different ways, and our favorite way is to fry the tofu in a pan with a little bit of vegetable or sesame oil. Pan-frying the tofu at a medium-low temperature while you keep turning the tofu pieces to cook each side is a perfect way, in our opinion, to cook it.
It gets golden and crispy on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside. It may take a bit longer than baking or deep frying it, but it's definitely worth it.
Prepare your ingredients by finely slicing the shallot and grating or finely chopping the ginger if using fresh. Heat some coconut or vegetable oil in a saucepan and add the shallot and ginger.
Stirfry for 2-3 minutes and add the coconut milk.
Add the peanut butter and mix well.
Add the sambal, lime juice, and soy sauce.
Whisk all the ingredients to make sure they are totally incorporated.
All you need to do now is add, combine the pan-fried tofu with the spicy peanut sauce and serve with some rice or noodles, or prepare a hearty tofu bowl.
Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 14 oz firm tofu
- 1 shallot
- 1 thumb-sized piece ginger
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ½ tablespoon Sambal Oelek
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- Juice of ½ lime
Instructions
- Remove any excess of water from the tofu with a paper towel, gently pressing the block. Cut into medium size square pieces.14 oz firm tofu
- Heat some sesame oil or vegetable oil in a pan and add the tofu cubes. Pan fry each side of the tofu for a few minutes or until golden. Leave aside.
- Prepare your ingredients for the sauce by finely slicing the shallot and grating or finely chopping the ginger if using fresh ginger.1 shallot, 1 thumb-sized piece ginger
- Heat some coconut or vegetable oil in a saucepan and add the shallot and ginger. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes and add the coconut milk.1 cup coconut milk
- Add the peanut butter and mix well. Straight after, add the sambal, lime juice and soy sauce.¼ cup peanut butter, ½ tablespoon Sambal Oelek, Juice of ½ lime, ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- Whisk all the ingredients to make sure they are totally incorporated.
- Add the tofu, mix until all the pieces are perfectly coated and serve.
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Nutrition
Serving Suggestions
Our Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce is an easy recipe that can be served as an appetizer or as a main dish.
When we serve it as an appetizer, we place the tofu bowl in the middle for people to serve themselves. If you have a clay dish, use it to serve the tofu, as it will hold the heat for longer. Adding some cilantro or fresh chili on the top gives the dish the perfect touch for a nice presentation.
Served as a main dish, we enjoy cooking some jasmine rice or noodles with it. Adding some vegetables will make a perfectly balanced meal.
You can use this spicy tofu for your Poke Bowls, Buddha Bowls, Tofu Bowls, Burritos, Salads, and other dishes.
If you have any leftovers, you can keep them in the fridge for 3-4 days.
FAQ
Bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, or cauliflower are our top choices for this spicy peanut sauce.
We like using tofu for this recipe, as it soaks up all the flavors, but you can also use soy curls, seitan, or tempeh.
Robin says
One of the tastiest tofu recipes I’ve ever tried!! It literally left me craving tofu!!!!
Laura says
Thank you Robin! Glad you liked it!
Cillian says
This is such a good, simple recipe when you want something tasty but don't want to be cooking for ages! Just made it tonight for dinner - I ended up throwing in a chopped red bell pepper and some brown mushrooms when sauteeing the shallot and ginger and let them simmer in the sauce along with the tofu. Served it over jasmine rice with baby spinach wilted with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce. Thank you!
Laura says
Thank you Cillian, we are glad you liked it!
Astrid says
Soooo Yummy. I made this for dinner a few nights ago and will be making this again soon. I added some green beans and served it over rice noodles. This sauce will work great with any vegetable in addition to the tofu or even without it. I've been searching for an easy, yet super flavorful peanut sauce and I think I finally found it. Thank you.
Laura says
Thank you Astrid, so glad you liked our recipe. We make it really often at home, so simple and good!
Nina says
I want to add udon noodles, mushrooms and red pepper, maybe one more veg. If I want to double the sauce so there’s enough for all the additions, should I double everything, even the shallot and ginger?
Laura says
Hi Nina, you can add more shallot and ginger if you like the taste that these ingredients add to the food as you will be making more sauce 🙂
Linda says
Can I use Silk unsweetened coconut milk?
Laura says
Hi Linda, we've never tried using silk unsweetened coconut milk before but I think it will work just fine!
Sarom says
this was perfect! exactlly the flavor I was searching for and tried so many different recipes! Thank you so much 🙂
Laura says
Thank you Sarom, really glad you enjoyed our recipe!
Elizabeth says
This was really good and I didn’t even have that Sambal stuff. Maybe next time. Simple to make. Repeat!
Laura Arteaga says
Thank you Elizabeth 🙂