Here’s an easy and ridiculously delicious 30-minute tofu stir fry. Follow our recipe, or make it with your favorite veggies.
Our tasty sauce makes all the difference. It tastes so much better than takeout!
Serve this Asian-inspired meal with noodles or rice as a weeknight dinner or lunch idea.
What is tofu stir fry?
Stir-frying is a cooking method from China. It’s now popular worldwide, including in America and Europe.
It’s similar to sautéing, and although in Asian cooking, a wok is used, you can easily stir fry at home with your standard nonstick pan or cast iron skillet (we strongly recommend nonstick for tofu).
While millions of regional variations exist, one should know two main stir-frying techniques: Bao and Chao.
Both use high temperatures; the main difference is that Bao stir-frying is essentially done with oil as the only liquid; there is no sauce and little seasoning.
Chao stir-frying uses oil at first to create a flavor base and adds a sauce towards the end to flavor the ingredients.
For our tofu stir-fry, we use the Chao method and add a quick and tasty sauce to coat the tofu and the veggies, making them delicious.
The result is an incredible combination of flavors, textures, and colors and one of the best stir-fried tofu dishes you’ll ever have.
Ingredients for stir-fried tofu
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Tofu
For this tofu stir fry recipe, use firm or extra firm tofu. There’s no need to press it.
It pan-fries well and turns crisp and golden brown without falling apart.
To pan-fry the tofu, you’ll need vegetable oil. We usually use olive oil, but good alternatives are coconut oil, avocado oil, or canola oil.
Avoid soft tofu and silken tofu. They would fall apart in the pan.
Vegetables
We stir fry with broccoli, yellow or red bell pepper, and mushrooms.
If you prefer, you can use other vegetables. We recommend sticking to 3 – 4 vegetables.
Some vegetables that stir fry well are:
| Bell peppers of any color | Cut into 1-inch squares or sliced into strips |
| Green beans | Trim edges and cut in half |
| Baby corn | Cut in half lengthwise |
| Carrots | Cut into thin slices |
| Onions | Thinly sliced |
| Spinach | Whole |
| Kale | Chopped |
| Bok choy | Whole or chopped |
| Cabbage | Sliced |
| Peas and snap peas | Whole |
| Scallions | thinly slice the white and light green part |
| Zucchini | Cut in half lengthwise, then into half moons |
| Eggplant | Cut into dice |
Scallions
Green onions, scallions, or spring onions add flavor, freshness, and color to the tofu stir fry.
Use the white and light-green part in the stir fry with the other veggies and the darker green part to garnish on top.
If you can’t find scallions, replace them with basil or coriander.
Stir fry sauce
- Soy sauce: you can use soy sauce, reduced-sodium soy sauce, tamari sauce, and coco aminos for a gluten-free alternative.
- Vinegar: you can use rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.
- Sugar: white or brown. It also works with maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup.
- Sesame oil: we use raw sesame oil (not toasted) for stir-frying. If you don’t have that, use vegetable oil such as canola or sunflower. Sesame oil makes the stir-fry taste somewhat authentic, and we love it. You can order it online.
- Grated ginger.
- Grated garlic.
- Red pepper flakes: substitute Chinese dried chilis or fresh chilis.
- Corn starch: it helps make the sauce thick and sticky.
- Black pepper.
- Vegetable broth or water.
Serves well with
Rice: Stir fry tofu goes well with any boiled rice, including white rice, brown rice, and cauliflower rice.
Noodles: You can also serve it with your favorite noodles. Cook the noodles per the package instructions and toss them in the stir fry shortly before serving. We tried rice noodles, udon noodles, lo mein noodles, soba noodles, ramen, and vermicelli.
Sesame seeds: to garnish.
How to make tofu stir fry
US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
1. Prep the ingredients
TOFU: Take the tofu out of its package, pat it dry with kitchen paper, and tear it apart with your hands into bite-size pieces.
VEGGIES: Cut the mushrooms into quarters, the bell pepper into 2/3-inch (1.7 cm) dice, and the broccoli into small florets.
Cut the scallions into thin slices, then separate the white and light-green parts from the darker-green tops.
SAUCE: Whisk together soy sauce, vegetable broth, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, grated garlic, grated ginger, red pepper flakes, cornstarch, and black pepper.
2. Stir-fry
Heat half the oil in a large nonstick skillet.
Add the tofu, season it with salt, and fry on medium heat for 10 minutes, flipping it once or twice.
When the tofu is golden-brown, transfer it onto a plate and set aside.
Wipe the pan clean with a kitchen towel, and add the remaining oil, chopped mushrooms, bell pepper, and broccoli.
Stir-fry the veggies on medium-high heat for 3 minutes, moving them around the pan until they brown slightly.
Tip: If you like crunchy veggies, cook them less; if you like softer veggies, stir fry them for longer.
Add the white parts of the scallions and the tofu.
Stir-fry for one minute.
3. Add the sauce
Turn the heat down to medium, add the sauce, and stir fry for 3 more minutes until the sauce thickens. Taste and adjust for salt before serving.
Serving suggestions
Serve immediately on boiled rice and sprinkle with a pinch of sesame seeds, green onion tops, and a tiny drizzle of sesame oil.
Alternatively, boil your favorite noodles per package instructions, add them to the pan with the stir-fried tofu, add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth, and toss on high heat for 1 minute.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for three days. Reheat in the microwave or on a pan with a dash of water.
Freezer: You can freeze leftover stir-fried tofu. However, its texture will change slightly. Thaw in the microwave. Reheat in a pan with some sauce to boost flavor.
Questions
Tofu takes about 8 to 12 minutes to fry on a nonstick pan on medium heat with 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Flip it every 3 minutes when frying tofu, and don’t move or touch it while it fries.
There is no need to press the tofu for stir-fries. Pressing tofu is uncommon in Asian cooking, and we do not recommend it. It’s an extra step that adds time and risks compromising the texture of the tofu.
First, pick the correct type of tofu, which in most stir fries is firm or extra firm.
Second, don’t press the tofu.
There are several reasons why your vegetables might turn out soggy in a stir fry:
1) you overcooked them – stir fry at medium-high heat for a short time, not low heat for a long time.
2) you added too much liquid – only add liquid at the end, not much of it.
3) you overcrowded the pan – use a large pan or fewer veggies.
4) you didn’t stir enough – stir fry requires almost constant stirring of the veggies so that the steam gets out of the pan and the veggies scorch evenly on the hot pan without getting soggy.
More Asian-inspired recipes
Some of our favorite Asian-inspired recipes are kung pao tofu, tofu soup, Yaki udon, orange tofu, braised tofu, peanut noodles, and Asian cucumber salad.
We hope you enjoy them!
Tofu Stir Fry
Equipment
- Large non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil substitute avocado, coconut, or vegetable oil
- 16 ounces tofu firm or extra-firm
- ⅓ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1 bell pepper red or yellow, diced
- 6 mushrooms white or brown, quartered
- 2 cups broccoli cut in small florets
- 3 scallions thinly sliced
Stir fry sauce
- ⅓ cup soy sauce we use reduced-sodium
- ⅓ cup vegetable broth reduced sodium, or water
- 2 tablespoons vinegar rice, white, or apple cider
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 2 teaspoons ginger grated
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or fresh chili
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
PREPARATION
- TOFU: Take 16 ounces tofu out of its package, pat it dry with kitchen paper, and tear it apart with your hands into bite-size pieces.VEGGIES: Cut 6 mushrooms into quarters, 1 bell pepper into 2/3-inch (1.7 cm) dice, 2 cups broccoli into small florets, and 3 scallions into thin slices. Separate the white parts and the green tops of the scallions.SAUCE: Whisk together ⅓ cup soy sauce, ⅓ cup vegetable broth, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 cloves garlic (grated), 2 teaspoons ginger (grated), ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.
STIR FRY
- TOFU: Heat half the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add the tofu, season it with ⅓ teaspoon salt, and fry on medium heat for 10 minutes, flipping it once or twice.When the tofu is golden-brown, transfer it onto a plate and set aside.VEGGIES: To the same pan, add the remaining oil, mushrooms, bell pepper, and broccoli.Stir-fry on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, moving them around the pan.Add the white part of the scallions and the tofu and stir-fry for one more minute.
ADD SAUCE
- Turn the heat down to medium, add the sauce, and stir fry for 3 more minutes until the sauce thickens. Taste and adjust for salt before serving.
- Serve on boiled rice. Garnish with green onion tops and a tiny drizzle of sesame oil.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this tofu stir fry recipe, you might also like the following:
Great recipe! Prepared as written and loved all the fresh veggies and the flavorful sauce. Quick, easy, and tasty! Will definitely do again.
This is my favorite stir fry recipe I’ve found to date! So easy to follow and super delicious. Comes together quickly, we serve over white rice.
Wonderful, Kayla. I’m really happy you enjoyed the stir fry🎊
Thanks so much for your feedback. All the best,
Louise
Thank you so much for this recipe, more so for the nutrition breakdown.
Commented on your YouTube video, but wanted to give it 5 stars here as well! My first time cooking tofu & this recipe was a homerun! Just took a bit longer to mix the cornstarch lumps out of the sauce, but so worth it. Will look at your other recipes too, thanks!
Hi Nora,
Fantastic, I’m delighted you had a successful first try at tofu. The cornstarch slurry is a scrumptious stir fry sauce!
Thank your for your kind comment and support – here as well as on YouTube ❤️
All the best,
Louise