Peanut Tofu with Coconut Rice is a delicious 30 minute meal, perfect for busy weeknights when you don’t have much time to cook! The peanut sauce is to die for; kids and adults alike will swoon over it. Skip the delivery; this tastes so much better!
I think this peanut tofu with coconut rice is going to be your new best friend. Not only is it easy to make with simple ingredients you probably already have, but it’s INSANELY delicious. This peanut tofu tastes so much better than anything you can order out! Oh, and it can be ready in just about 30 minutes. Are you with me yet?
I’ll show you the best way to make this dish. It goes like this:
- Get the tofu baking in the oven.
- Once the tofu is in the oven, get your rice cooking.
- Once the rice is cooking, make the sauce.
- Once the tofu is done cooking, add to sauce.
- Serve and devour!!
How do you make crispy baked tofu?
Here is my fool-proof method for making delicious, crispy tofu.
Start with pressed tofu, and slice into 2 inch squares/rectangles. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the tofu to a large bowl, then pour 3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free) and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the cornstarch and gently toss. I always use my hands. Be very gentle, or the tofu will fall apart.
Spray the parchment paper with oil. Place the tofu evenly on the parchment paper lined pan, spray the tops with oil and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown. There is no need to flip the tofu halfway.
See how crispy the tofu gets? It amazes me every time!
Once the tofu is in the oven, make your rice.
For the coconut rice, you will use 1/2 cup of the canned full fat coconut milk. The rest of the milk will go in the peanut sauce (about 1 cup), so make sure to save it for the next step.
Rinse the rice, add to a pot with the coconut milk, water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 18 minutes. Fluff with a fork when done. (See recipe card below for full amounts and instructions.)
Once the rice is cooking, make your peanut sauce.
Add all the sauce ingredients to a large saucepan, and stir until smooth and creamy. The sauce is amazingly tasty, and made with coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, fresh ginger, garlic and lime juice.
When the tofu is done baking, add it to the peanut sauce and stir to coat. The rice should also be done by now.
Serve immediately with chopped cilantro, peanuts and perhaps some steamed kale or broccoli on the side, if desired. Enjoy!
Possible substitutions:
- Swap unsweetened cashew, almond or soy milk for the full fat coconut milk if you want a lighter, less rich dish.
- Use tempeh instead of tofu. For this, I would simply steam the tempeh on the stovetop, then add it to the peanut sauce.
- Use brown rice instead of white.
- For gluten free, make sure to use gluten free tamari.
Want more tofu recipes?
- Marinated Tofu (The Best Tofu Ever!)
- Crispy Baked Orange Tofu
- Kung Pao Tofu
- 30 Minute Vegan Pad Thai
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Peanut Tofu with Coconut Rice
Ingredients
Crispy Baked Tofu
- (2) 14-ounce blocks extra-firm tofu, pressed
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (tamari for gluten free)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- spray oil
Coconut Rice
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cups water
- pinch of salt
Peanut Sauce
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (tamari for gluten free)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
Optional for serving
- chopped cilantro, peanuts
- steamed kale or broccoli
Instructions
- Press the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. 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. (Skip this step by purchasing firm tofu in a vacuum pack.)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the tofu into 2 inch squares or rectangles and place in a large bowl. Drizzle on the soy sauce and toss gently to combine. Sprinkle on the cornstarch and toss to combine, gently (I always use my hands.)
- Spray the parchment paper with oil. Arrange the tofu pieces evenly on the pan, spray the tops lightly with oil and bake for 25 minutes until crispy and lightly golden brown.
- Once the tofu is baking, make the coconut rice: Rinse the rice, then add it to a medium pot, along with the coconut milk, water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 18 minutes. Turn off the heat, and fluff with a fork. You will use the rest of the coconut milk for the peanut sauce.
- Once the rice is cooking, make the peanut sauce: In a large pan, add all the sauce ingredients and turn the heat to medium. Stir constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5-10 minutes.
- When the tofu is done baking, carefully add it to the pan with the sauce, and stir to coat the tofu pieces. Serve immediately over the coconut rice, sprinkling peanuts and cilantro on top, if desired.
Notes
- May substitute unsweetened cashew, almond or soy milk for the full fat coconut milk, if desired. It won't be as delicious and creamy, but it will still taste good.
- For gluten free, make sure to use gluten free tamari instead of soy sauce.
- To avoid needing to press your tofu, buy the tofu NOT in water, but the extra firm tofu in vacuum sealed packs.
Nutrition
2-inch squares?
I’m not sure I understand the question? Yes, that is what it calls for, but cut your tofu any way you like, smaller or larger, squares or triangles.
2 inch squares? I have the same question… the photos don’t appear to show 2 inch square pieces of tofu… the tofu doesn’t appear to be much bigger than 1 inch on any side or else that’s some crazy big rice in the photos
Really easy to make and extremly tasty. My partner and I really enjoyed this recipe and will be making this again soon. Thank you
You’re welcome!
Love it.
Curious to your thoughts on refrigerating leftovers. Would you keep the tofu and sauce separate, or combine them?
Cheers!
I always refrigerate them mixed together and the leftovers keep well. Thank you!
This recipe saved the existence of tofu in my household! My kids and husband were very reluctant to try out this new attempt to incorporate tofu in our diet but it only took one bite to bring smiles to their faces. They all LOVED this recipe and I LOVE the fact that I now have a way to make them eat tofu! This will now become a regular recipe at our home, thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad they enjoyed tofu, that is wonderful! This is a great way to introduce people to it for sure. Thank you!
Made this recipe tonight! It was absolutely hands down amazing. I did tweak it a bit. I used the InstantPot for the rice so I did not use the coconut milk in the rice but instead added it all to the sauce that would have been super thick without the extra liquid. Because I added the rest of the coconut milk to the sauce I added a touch more lime juice, an extra tbsp of peanut butter, and a touch more soy sauce. I also added chili garlic sauce to ours because we like spicy.
Cannot recommend this enough!
I’m making this tonight but I don’t have peanut butter. Could I use almond butter do you think?
I think you could yes, it would just have a very different flavor. Probably would be good though!
Just like all of Nora’s recipes…this was amazing! I put the rest of the can of coconut milk into the sauce because I didn’t want to waste it. I also added sriracha to the sauce because I love spicy. I used brown rice which did take a bit longer to cook and wasn’t as coconutty as the white rice might have been. Thank you Nora!
You’re so welcome!! Thanks for the great comment!!
This was absolutely amazing! My whole family– toddlers included devoured this!
That’s so great to hear!!
We really enjoyed this recipe. The only thing I would do differently next time is use a full can of coconut milk. It was a very thick sauce. I added water at the end to loosen it. I juiced the whole lime which gave it a little more liquid and added good flavor.
I have probably made this -or a slight variation of- once or twice a week since Covid hit. I just love it! (Hope it doesnt remind me of the pandemic when it eventually ends hehe!)
Thank you, great recipe 🙂
You’re so welcome!!
This was delicious and so easy! The lime really kicks up the flavor. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Thanks so much!!
Im looking forward to making this recipe. I would like to use all natural peanut butter in this recipe. Would that work, or does it have to be regular peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy)?
Natural peanut butter works here, just fine. Hope you love it!
I made this night and it was a tremendous success. Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome!!
Super yummy and easy to make. I could even eat the Tofu before adding it to the sauce because it was so good 🙂 Thank you!
You’re so welcome!! Thanks for the great comment!
can I use cottage cheese instead of tofu?
No… that would not be good!
Delicious . Quick to make & nutricious
Thank you.
I made it today. Delicious. My whole family savoured it .
Thank you so much for posting this receipe.
As we say here ” merci c’etait très bon”
You’re so welcome!! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!!
I made this last night! I added a bunch of different veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, & red bell peppers), and used brown jasmine rice instead of white. I will be eating leftovers for days. Delicious!
So glad it was delicious!!
Seriously, I’m so excited to learn to make a delicious tofu dish… I can’t get over it! And I’m very excited because I thought that to be delicious tofu had to be fried, and I feel restaurant dishes I have tried have been too oily. As soon as I’m done writing this, I’m going to look for more tofu recipes on your site. It’s funny… I mentioned my younger kids didn’t like it, but the older kids and adults all loved it!
Question, have you ever made the coconut rice with a brown rice? I’ll have to try it next time.
I’m so glad! Yes, I have made it with brown rice, it works fine just takes longer.
This was delicious and I served it with sauteed spinach.
My children are not used to eating tofu, and they didn’t like it. But I loved it. I have probably bought tofu 3-5 times in the last 20 years and it has never been a success until now.
I’m so glad it was delicious!!!
Delicious!! Amazing recipe and easy enough for a beginner cook. My family loved it, and they want to learn how to make it. I misread some of the directions and also made some modifications because I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand, so here’s how I messed up and it still turned out really well.
Tofu
Used twice as much soy sauce as recommended – 1-2 tablespoons per third of a packet
Marinate in thirds for four hours
Rice 1.5 cups
Coconut milk 1 cup
Water 1.25 (roughly)
Sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger per teaspoon fresh grated
Lemonade 2.5 tablespoons instead of lime juice
Pinch or dash (whichever is more) of brown sugar instead of maple syrup
I’m so glad it came out delicious!!
Wondering if I could make the tofu in the air fryer instead? If so, how long should I cook it for?
You probably could, yes. Probably about 20 minutes.
I think I cooked the sauce wrong because it went from creamy to oily – otherwise, I think it would have been great. Did I cook it too long or not long enough?
It sounds like you overcooked the sauce, it will eventually become thick and greasy instead of smooth and creamy if you cook it for too long.
This is one of our absolute favourite dishes since we switched to a plant based diet. Thanks so much for inventing and sharing it!
You’re so welcome!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I made this for the first time tonight and this is definitely one of my new favorite recipes! So easy to make and soooo good!
I’m so glad to hear that!
This recipe looks delish!! Just wondering- did you use regular peanut butter in this recipe, or the natural, no sugar/oil added kind? Can’t wait to try it out!
I have used both actually, either works. The regular peanut version probably tastes just a little better to me, but natural works fine too. Thanks!