This magical orange tofu recipe reminds me so much of my pre-vegan Panda Express orange chicken days! The sauce is to die for, and the tofu is baked to crispy perfection instead of being fried. I prefer baking tofu, as you can see from my Sticky Sriracha Tofu and Peanut Tofu.
It’s an easy weeknight meal, especially if you press your tofu beforehand! All you have to do is get some rice cooking, bake the tofu, make your orange sauce, then mix the crispy tofu in it.
My 4 year old is obsessed with this dish. He asks me every couple of days to make his “favorite tofu” (this recipe), so we eat it quite often around this house!
How to make Crispy Baked Orange Tofu
This is my favorite method for baking tofu.
Add your pressed tofu cubes to a large ziplock type bag (large plastic containers work well, too). Now add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and olive oil (or soy sauce for oil free). Close the bag and gently shake it around to coat the tofu.
Place the tofu on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes, flip, and bake for 15 more minutes until golden and crispy. It’s so much easier than frying, plus less oil too!
Simple Sticky Orange Sauce
The orange sauce is made of simple ingredients:
- Vegetable broth
- Fresh squeezed orange juice (from a few oranges)
- Sugar (or other sweetener)
- Rice Vinegar
- Low sodium soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Sriracha hot sauce
- & Cornstarch/water slurry
Once the tofu is cooked and the sauce has thickened, add the tofu to the sauce and stir. That’s it!
Special Tips & Instructions
- Gluten-free: Use gluten free tamari instead of soy sauce.
- Tofu-free: Try using cauliflower instead! Bake it just like you would the tofu, then mix with the sauce.
- Sweetener options: Add less or more sugar to taste, or substitute pure maple syrup, agave or even coconut sugar.
- Fry instead of bake: If you prefer, you can pan fry the tofu instead. Simply toss the tofu with cornstarch, then fry in a thin layer of oil.
Want more vegan take out recipes that are easy to make at home?
- Vegan Curry
- Vegan Pad Thai
- Thai Peanut Noodles
- Red Thai Curry Vegetables
- Vegan Butter Chicken
- Sticky Sriracha Tofu
Crispy Baked Orange Tofu
Ingredients
Crispy Baked Tofu:
- (2) 14-16 ounce blocks extra-firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, OR low sodium soy sauce for oil free
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Sticky Orange Sauce:
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, from 2-3 large oranges
- 1/2 cup organic sugar (may sub coconut sugar, brown sugar or pure maple syrup)
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
For serving
- 4-5 cups cooked rice
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped green onions
Instructions
Make the Crispy Baked Tofu:
- Press the tofu by wrapping in paper towels (or a clean dry tea towel). Place a plate or pan on top of the wrapped tofu, and put a couple of heavy books on top of that. Let the tofu press for at least 30 minutes if possible and up to an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with oil.
- Slice the tofu into 1 inch cubes and add them to a large ziplock bag, along with the olive oil (or soy sauce) and cornstarch. Close the bag, and shake gently to coat the tofu pieces.
- Arrange the tofu evenly on the prepared pan, and bake for 15 minutes. Flip and bake for 15 more minutes, until the tofu pieces are crispy and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven.
Make the Orange Sauce:
- In a large pan (large enough to fit the tofu and sauce), add all sauce ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil, and cook for a minute or two. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl to combine, and then add to the pot. Stir over medium-high heat constantly for a couple of minutes, until the sauce thickens.
- Now add the baked tofu to the pan and stir to coat the tofu in the sauce. Remove from heat.
- Serve over brown or white rice. Sprinkle with green onions and/or sesame seeds. Add a side of steamed broccoli or cauliflower if desired.
Video
Notes
- Gluten Free: Make sure to use gluten free tamari, not soy sauce.
- Tofu Free: Try using cauliflower instead (roasted, just like the tofu!)
- Adjust the sweetness: If you don't like too much sweetness, add less sugar or other sweetener of choice. Start with a few tablespoons, and taste until it's to your liking.
- This recipe makes enough for 5 people. It does make great leftovers, but feel free to halve the recipe if desired.
- Fry instead of bake: If you prefer, you can pan fry the tofu. Simply toss tofu cubes with cornstarch, and fry in a thin layer of oil.
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally posted in Jan. 2018 and has been updated with new photos and writing Dec. 2019.
Fantastic! Made this exactly as recipe said. Paired with brown rice and asparagus sautéed with pecans and garlic! My husband loved it!!! Next time I’ll double the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! It’s one of our family favorites. 🙂
I love this recipe so much and make it whenever I have time! I wasn’t able to get firm tofu this week so I used medium firm tofu and it was even better!!!
I’m so glad to hear you love this recipe!!
Awesome!!!!!! I have tried several times to make my tofu crispy but it just didnt happen even after trying and learning from internet and for the last I tried after learning from this article and I was successful thank you for sharing the article. I will definitely recommend it.
Thanks so much! I’m glad it worked well.
My family and I thought this was delicious! Measured ingredients as is. I did bake the tofu for about 30-40 min flipping during half time. And I cooked the sauce down until it became glazy. Thank you. This recipe is a keeper.
So glad to hear it!
Everyone in my family LOVED THIS! So good for vegetarians… or everyone!
So glad you enjoyed it, one of our regular meals for sure!
The recipe was good. But I was wondering if you could replace the vinegar with lemon juice. And if so what would be the measurements for the lemon juice.
You probably could though I haven’t tested it. I would use the same amount as the vinegar, but you could use a little less if you need to.
Omg! This recipe is delicious and easy to make. My 10 year old son loves it.
That’s so great!
This was sooo good! I made it with bottled orange juice. Absolutely loved it! I will definitely make this again! Thank you so much!
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad you love it!
This recipe is amazing! Made it for the second time today and it came out even better than the first. We used an air fryer to cook the tofu, but the sauce was the direct recipe and it was delicious! Will be putting this recipe in our weekly dinner rotation.
That’s wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was lovely. Added steamed broccoli to the sauce. Added an extra squeezed orange as they’re going out of season here and weren’t as tasty as usually. Thanks for the lovely recipe, can’t wait to try more of your recipes 🙂
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent! Love this recipe! It’s a keeper!
So glad you love it!
Really, REALLY good! The only thing I’ll do differently next time is to add the steamed broccoli to the sauce with the tofu so it gets covered in sauce too. Maybe some sliced mushrooms too. But the sauce is tops!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Sounds like a great idea! So happy you enjoyed it.
Oh wow, this is soooo good! I cook tofu frequently but I think this might be my first time baking it… texture was great, and the tofu is super tasty straight out of the oven, even before adding the sauce.
But oh, that sauce! Yum! I added steamed green beans and broccoli and served over brown rice. Thanks so much for this one! ?
You’re welcome! Glad it was good. It’s a regular in our house!
Delish! I put the tofu into the air fryer. Perfection!
So glad you liked it!
Would you mind sharing time and temp for the air fryer?
Planning on making tonight! Do you think water would work instead of vegetable broth? I have all the other ingredients and don’t want to go to the store. Looks delish!!
Yes, that works, just add more salt as needed to taste. Enjoy!
Is there much of a difference in taste if you use bottled orange juice rather than fresh-squeezed?
Yes, quite a difference, but if you want you could try it.
Looks delicious! I was wondering if you have ever used lemons instead of oranges? I tend to have lots of lemons on hand, and was hoping it may be a lemon chicken replacement.
I think this would be wonderful, I haven’t tried it yet but I think I will now!
This was the very first vegan recipe I have ever made and the first time I tried Tofu. It was surprisingly delicious! The tofu wasn’t as crispy as I thought it would get but that was probably something I did wrong.
I’m so glad you had success on your first vegan recipe!
So good. So good, so good!
This is so delicious! I have never cooked with tofu before and I don’t think I squished it enough even though I squished it for an hour. It was still a little spongey but it still tasted so good!! I didn’t want to waste a drop of the delicious sauce so i added some steamed broccoli right before serving. I’m going to order a tofu press since I will want to make this often! Thank you so much for posting the recipe!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the orange tofu! That sauce is delicious, right? You are so welcome!!
I’m dipping my toe in the water again with tofu as previous experiences weren’t great, and this recipe sounds very tasty. Just wondering, if there are leftovers, how the best way to reheat it is please.
Oh good! I hope this goes well for you! My whole family can’t ever get enough of this orange tofu! With leftovers, I just reheat in the microwave until warm, works just fine. You could also warm on the stovetop if you don’t use a microwave.
This was awesome! I roasted a bunch of veggies in some asian type spices right alongside the tofu in the oven and threw them in with the tofu and rice and it was delicious!
Great idea Chelsea! So glad you enjoyed it.
Really good! Reminds me of Panda’s orange chicken.
Beautiful looking recipe, do you think this would work with cauliflower? We aren’t fans of tofu but this sounds delicious ?
I do think it would work with cauliflower! You could either roast the cauliflower or probably even just stir fry it and add in the sauce at the end. 🙂
Made this a couple of nights ago for myself and my omnivore teenage son. I tossed some steamed broccoli into the sauce with the tofu and we served over brown rice. I’ve only been vegetarian since last June and trying to eat more WFPB for a few weeks, so I don’t have a lot of experience working with tofu. This was the first time I’ve tried to make it “crispy” and we both enjoyed it very much! I only had 1 16-oz block of tofu but made the full recipe for the sauce and that worked out very well for us. The tofu was crispy and had a great texture–not chewy at all. Definitely the best tofu I’ve cooked in my limited experience. There were a few pieces left over, which I had the following day for lunch and whilst the texture was much more in line with other tofu I’ve had, the flavour was delicious and the extra sauce soaked into the leftover rice and the tofu very nicely. We will absolutely make this again as written and I think we will also use the sauce over veggies or with meat when my kids are home. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I’m glad you had a good experience with tofu! I know, some people don’t like it, but usually it’s because they haven’t prepared it correctly, I know that was me in the beginning. It takes some time to get to know tofu! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for sharing!
I saw your recipe in a plant based group on facebook and had to try it right away. It looks so good! Never had the chicken (or any) version so I cant compare, but it turned out quite nice. I let it simmer for a longer time though to get the sticky texture (it got saltier that way so I’ll use less broth next time). It also turned out brown due to the soy sauce I was using (mixed dark and light). What kind/brand are you using? Will try it again with only light sauce hoping to get this beautiful colour from your photos 🙂
Also a great way to get the tofu crispy, awesome!
Thanks for the great recipe, I will definetly make it again, hopefully with improved colour!
Greetings from Germany
Anna
Thanks Anna! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! I used a light sodium soy sauce from Trader Joe’s, I suppose it would vary quite a bit depending on the brand you use. Crispy tofu is the way to go! 🙂 Try a different brand of soy sauce and hopefully you will get a prettier color next time around!