Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

Name: Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: For peanut sauce; 2 garlic cloves; 1- inch piece fresh ginger (peeled); 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter; 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 1 tablespoon maple syrup; 1 teaspoon sriracha; 1 tablespoon rice vinegar; 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts; 1/4 cup water; For stir-fry; 1-14 ounce block extra firm tofu; 3 ounces udon noodles; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 2 red peppers (diced); 1 head broccoli (cut into small florets); 2 heads baby bok choy (cut into 1/4-inch wide pieces , white and green parts separated); 3 scallions (thinly sliced, white and green parts separated); 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

By Paige Adams

on Sep 19, 2022

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You can make this peanut stir fry sauce with garlic, fresh ginger, peanuts and peanut butter, soy sauce and sriracha in a food processor or blender in minutes to dress up vegetables and noodles. It’s creamy and vegan and just the sauce for a good vegetable stir-fry.

Why You Need This Recipe
The Ingredients
How To Make This Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce
Serving
Leftovers
More Simple Stir-Fry Recipes
Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce Recipe

The point of a stir-fry is to be quick and easy. So if you add anything else more to it other than the required vegetables, noodles/rice and protein (technically optional), it better be uncomplicated. And this peanut sauce is just that all while being incredibly tasty and nutty.

Why You Need This Recipe

Peanut sauce is for more than just stir-fry. On its own, you may taste the sauce and think it’s a bit intense. But it’s meant to be stirred into noodles. You can also use it as a dipping sauce or a drizzle for roasted vegetables, chicken or shrimp.

Go ahead and make the sauce in advance. Even though it’s really not that much work to whip up this sauce, you can do it 2 days ahead of making the stir-fry.

This recipe is adaptable. It is perfectly fine to do all vegetables and skip the tofu and noodles. Or keep the noodles and pass on the tofu. But no matter what, use a good mix of veggies.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including vegetables, peanuts, peanut butter, ginger, boodles, soy sauce, and garlic.

This is what you need for the peanut sauce:

Creamy peanut butter and roasted salted peanuts: I like using both peanut butter and actual peanuts. Even though everything gets pureed, I think having both adds to the overall depth of flavor.
Garlic and fresh ginger are so aromatic in the sauce.
Low sodium soy sauce is less salty than the regular version. If you want the recipe to be gluten-free, then use tamari.
Sesame oil enhances the nuttiness of the sauce.
Maple syrup balances out the savory ingredients adding a touch of sweetness.
Sriracha: A little goes a long way. The sauce doesn’t turn out spicy. It just has a slight kick.
Rice vinegar: Made from fermented rice, this vinegar adds nice acidity.

And for the stir-fry:

Tofu: Always use extra firm tofu for stir-fries.
Red bell peppers, broccoli & bok choy are my go-tos for this recipe, but you could also include cauliflower, mushrooms, other colors of bell peppers, snow peas or snap peas.
Udon noodles or other wider noodles are good because they hold up to the vegetables and the creamy sauce.
Scallions are light and oniony almost acting like fresh herbs.
Sesame seeds: I sprinkle these on to garnish the stir-fry when it’s ready.
Vegetable oil: Try to use a non-GMO canola oil since you’re cooking on high heat.

How To Make This Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

1. Make the peanut sauce. In a food processor or blender, puree the garlic cloves, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, sriracha, rice vinegar, peanuts and water until smooth.

2. Cook the udon noodles. Then rinse them in cold water in a colander.

Peanut sauce in a food processor bowl and udon noodles in a colander.

3. Prep the tofu. Pat it with a paper towel. Wrap with a dry paper towel and place a heavy pan or cutting board on top. Let stand for 15 minutes to remove more liquid. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.

4. Cook the tofu. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the tofu and cook until lightly browned all over, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the tofu and set aside on a plate.

Cubed tofu on a cutting board and tofu sauteing in a pan on the stove.

5. Stir-fry the vegetables including the peppers, broccoli and white parts of the bok choy for 3-4 minutes until they are cooked but still crisp. Stir in the white parts of the scallions.

6. Stir in the noodles and 1/2 cup peanut sauce followed by the bok choy and scallion greens. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Divide into serving dishes and drizzle with extra sauce.

Vegetables in a skillet stir-frying. Then with noodles, greens and sauce stirred into them

Serving

The stir-fry is best served warm, spooned into bowls or onto plates straight from the skillet. If you want a salad to go with it, try this Asian cucumber salad with carrots or a crunchy Asian cabbage salad.

Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. You can eat leftovers cold like a noodle salad or warm them in the microwave.