chili tofu

This Baked Sweet Chili Tofu is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and smothered in sticky, saucy, sweet, and tangy flavor. Vegan &amp; Gluten-Free.

Baked Sweet Chili Tofu

(400 g) block Extra-Firm Tofu, pressed

low-sodium tamari*

sweet chili sauce, divided

(25 g) cornstarch

Prep

Pre-heat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Press the tofu, if you haven&#8217;t already. Cut the tofu block in half, then cut each half into 8 even cubes (or cut to your liking).

Mix: 

Place the tofu in a large mixing bowl, then drizzle on the tamari and 2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce. Use a silicone spatula to gently toss the tofu until it is evenly coated. Sprinkle the cornstarch on top, then fold again until evenly distributed.

Bake

Transfer the tofu to the baking sheet, leaving some space between each piece. Place on the top rack of the oven and bake for 13 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12 to 14 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Toss &amp; Serve

Place the baked tofu into a clean bowl, then toss with the remaining 1-2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce (I used 2 tablespoons for a glossier coating). Serve as desired; leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you happen to have a Trader Joe's near you they have Sweet Chili Sauce which is their own brand &amp; though it might be slightly sweeter than others I've tried it is by FAR the cheapest per Oz. I've ever seen!  Usually I add a bunch of Red Pepper Flakes which are a staple in my Kitchen &amp; make it 'extra zippy'!

I usually fry tofu and cook with tomatoes sauce. I fry one side until done and turn over another face. Not turn over many time. I like protein in tofu. This recipe is easy very convenient and healthy.

I made this to go with the Vermicelli Noodle bowls and it was so easy and delicious. I didn’t have time to press the tofu, but it still turned out great. I will definitely be making this again!

The recipe could not be easier and quick to have tofu ready to go in a variety of dishes for the week. Next time I make it, I will let the tofu marinate longer in the tamari and sweet chili sauce before adding the cornstarch and baking. That will give more time for the flavor to permeate the tofu instead of being only on the surface. Also, I determined I didn't need as much cornstarch as the recipe states as I ended up with a few pieces of the tofu with a bit of a white cornstarch haze. Everything was still delicious; I'm sharing my experience so others can make their own decisions.

Crispy pieces of tofu in a spicy garlic sauce—the pieces of tofu are like sponges and absorb all the flavours of the sauce, that’s a delicate balance of salty, spicy, and a hint of sweetness.The sauce is inspired by Szechuan yuxiang 鱼香, also known as fish fragrance (but doesn’t actually contain any seafood), which is a sauce used to cook meat or vegetables in.This sauce comprised of a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, doubanjiang, chili, black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar that’s cooked with ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili. This dish is packed with very bold flavours with a nice kick of heat.

Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce (Szechuan Yu Xiang-Inspired)

550 g extra firm tofu

Neutral oil

soy sauce

tbsp vinegar

tbsp sesame oil

water

tbsp sugar (or more, adjust to desired sweetness)

tbsp neutral oil

chili powder

tsp minced ginger

tsp minced garlic

scallion (sliced)

scallions (for garnish)

cilantro (for garnish)

You can see the step-by-step images on how to prepare this dish in the blog post above.

Dry the tofu. I wrap the tofu in towels and place a plate on top of it until excess liquid is absorbed by the towels. You can also opt to use a tofu press. Once dry, cut into 1-inch strips or cubes (any shape is fine!)

Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat a large pan or wok over high heat. Add enough oil to coat the surface of the pan or complete submerge the tofu. You can opt to deep-fry or pan-fry your tofu until crisp. If you’re looking to use less oil, you can opt to bake or air-fry your tofu and just spray/brush some oil to coat the tofu.

When the oil is hot, add in the tofu. The tofu should immediately sizzle when you add them in the oil.

Leave the tofu to cook over medium high until golden brown, around 4 to 5 minutes. You may beed to flip them over if you’re pan-frying them. Repeat until all the sides are golden brown and crisp.

Remove the tofu from the oil then set aside. Drain the excess oil form the pan. I have this oil container with a strainer on top that I use to store my oil. Since tofu are very neutral, I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times. Transfer your tofu to a bowl.

In the same pan/wok or a smaller sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp neutral oil over medium high heat. Once hot, sauté the ginger and garlic. Once aromatic, around 1 minute, add in the chili flakes/powder and mix into the oil. Pour in the sauce and then leave to simmer to a boil. Once it boils, add in the chopped scallions.

Turn off the heat and immediately pour the sizzling hot sauce over your tofu. Finish your tofu with more chopped scallions and chopped cilantro. Mix well and allow the tofu to soak in the sauce and the flavours.

Enjoy your tofu wit rice or noodles! I also love using the excess sauce to pour over some boiled noodles.

All your recipes are so flavorful! Since finding your blog, I've been really enjoying cooking and eating food. Thank you for blessing us with your creativity! Even with just a few staple ingredients, I can recreate almost all of them. For this one, I used doenjang and some sriracha and it was way too dank!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZKuhuh7BxU

Fried crispy pieces of tofu with a spicy garlic sauce—the tofu act as sponges and are the perfect vessels to absorb all the fragrant flavours of the sauce. The sauce is inspired by Szechuan yuxiang 鱼香, also known as fish fragrance (but doesn’t actually contain any seafood), which is a sauce used to cook meat or vegetables in. This sauce comprised of a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, doubanjiang, chili, black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar that’s cooked with ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili. This dish is packed with very bold flavours with a nice kick of heat.

Full recipe here 👉🏼 https://thefoodietakesflight.com/tofu-in-spicy-garlic-sauce

Crispy Fried Tofu in Spicy Garlic Sauce 🧄❤️ —perfect with rice or noodles!

This  Stir-Fried Sweet Chili Tofu is delicously hearty with crispy pieces of tofu in a blend of sweet and spicy from the sauce! The spice and sweetness levels are totally up to you and you can easily adjust the sauce depending on your desired taste.

Stir-Fried Sweet Chili Tofu

450 g extra firm tofu ((1 lb))

tbsp corn starch (or potato starch, to coat tofu)

tsp salt

tbsp sesame oil (or other oil, for frying)

bell pepper

scallions onions

garlic (minced)

tbsp coconut sugar (or other sugar

tbsp corn starch

rice (for serving)

Scallions and cilantro (for garnishing)

Sesame seeds (for garnishing)

Press the tofu. I wrap the tofu in towels and place a plate on top of it until excess liquid is absorbed by the towels. You can also opt to use a tofu press.

Slice the tofu into 1” (2.5 cm) cubes or your shape of choice.

Sprinkle the salt on the tofu cubes. Add the cornstarch. Coat the tofu well in the cornstarch.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the sauce. Feel free to adjust the soy sauce, chili sauce, and maple syrup/sugar according to your desired taste.If you want this extra saucy or if you plan to add other vegetables, feel free to double the sauce.

In a pan, heat the sesame oil over medium high heat and then fry the tofu cubes until crisp and golden. You will need to turn around the tofu cubes to get them crisp on all sides.

Take out the tofu and saute the scallions and bell peppers in a little sesame oil.

Give the sauce a good mix again to make sure the starch doesn’t stick to the bottom. Over medium high heat, add in the sauce and then leave to simmer over medium until it boils. Mix in the tofu and leave to cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens and the tofu has absorbed some of the sauce. The sauce will thicken from the corn starch. Turn off the heat.

Serve with a bowl of rice and garnish with some chopped scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds if desired. Enjoy while hot!

Fantastic. Perfect balance of sweet, savory, and spicy. Perfect amount of sauce for 1 tofu container. Saving this recipe and coming back for others!! :D

This was delicious and really simple to make, served with jasmine rice and steamed bok choy. Thanks, will definitely make again

Thanks for such a simple yet flavourful recipe. It was really delicious!!

After being vegan for 9 months now I’ve found it so useful to look at these easy and tasty vegan recipes!! I love it so so much thank you&lt;3

Loved this recipe. I've never left a review for a recipe before but I enjoyednthis so much I just had to say thanks!

This turned out amazing.  I added some chopped carrots.  Will make again.

Tried this last night and it was a hit!  First time to cook tofu, and had to make my own hoisin sauce since I didn’t have any. Fed 3 people who had never eaten tofu and all cleaned their plates. Will save this recipe and try other tofu recipes.

Super easy and quick to make, and the flavour was amazing!

Sooooo delicious!! I made this for my boyfriend the other night, it was our first time cooking with tofu! Super easy to follow, will definitely be making again!

We were trying to decide what takeout we wanted to get... and then decided to make this instead. Definitely a great idea! This was so good!

Delicious and easy to fix. Thank you for sharing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjecKJVGSrY

GET THE FULL RECIPES:
🍊 orange tofu: https://thefoodietakesflight.com/vegan-orange-tofu/
❤️ ginger sesame tofu: https://thefoodietakesflight.com/vegan-ginger-sesame-tofu/
(sorry no recipe for the sweet and spicy tofu on my blog 😅)

📖 MY COOKBOOK 'VEGAN ASIAN': https://thefoodietakesflight.com/vegan-asian-cookbook

👉🏼MORE TOFU RECIPES ON MY BLOG: https://thefoodietakesflight.com/category/tofu-dishes/

Hope you enjoy these 3 saucy tofu recipes that are so satisfying and flavourful! I love cooking with tofu because it absorbs flavour really well and is so versatile. I love these with some rice or noodles.

🥢OTHER TOFU RECIPES:
CRISPY TOFU KATSU - https://youtu.be/Bzhl1mmeEx4
STUFFED TOFU - https://youtu.be/q1d8OwscC_0
TOFU WRAPPED IN NORI - https://youtu.be/7DVNJsDoL6o

Recipe timestamps:
2:53 Ginger Sesame Tofu
5:57 Orange Tofu
8:15 Sweet and Spicy Tofu

CRISPY TOFU BASE RECIPE
1 400g block extra firm tofu, pressed

For coating
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt

Used for these recipes:
Corn starch: https://amzn.to/2spWBTe
Soy sauce: https://amzn.to/2RyGHAf
Sesame oil: https://amzn.to/2YxWsZJ
Maple syrup: https://amzn.to/2RBQTYC
Gochujang: https://amzn.to/2zvdBv1
Rice vinegar: https://amzn.to/38dymIl
Tomato ketchup: https://amzn.to/2Gu4AlL
Short-grain rice: https://amzn.to/2GPk6c5

———————————————
#vegan #tofu #veganrecipes

Music from Simon Jefferis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f8oXnkRofE

If you’re looking for more recipes and inspiration:

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Sharing some of the tools and ingredients I use. These are affiliate links and I do get a small percentage from every purchase made using them, which helps support what I do.

Pantry staples:
All-purpose flour: https://amzn.to/2t9NEO1
Sesame oil: https://amzn.to/2YxWsZJ
Coconut sugar: https://amzn.to/2qA8Iwk
Curry powder: https://amzn.to/38hJALl
Diced tomatoes: https://amzn.to/2PTeNfM
Dried shiitake mushrooms: https://amzn.to/2YsZmPj
Hoisin sauce: https://amzn.to/2DYTcNu
Nutritional yeast: https://amzn.to/2P0PklC
Peanut butter: https://amzn.to/2RuKsGR
Rice stick noodles: https://amzn.to/2P2c6cw
Corn starch: https://amzn.to/2spWBTe
Coconut cream: https://amzn.to/2s3TiRz
Maple syrup: https://amzn.to/2RBQTYC
Soy milk: https://amzn.to/35rp5KG
Sriracha: https://amzn.to/2s7LwFU
Sweet chili sauce: https://amzn.to/2DSPJQH

My kitchen essentials:
Non-stick pan: https://amzn.to/39KWT74
NutriBullet: https://amzn.to/38z8Ahw
Oven toaster with temperature settings (I baked everything in this since I don’t have a fully function oven): https://amzn.to/35eYG2S
Dumpling/Buns rolling pin: https://amzn.to/2PdwgAB
Cast Iron Pan: https://amzn.to/38tDeZK
Tofu Press: https://amzn.to/2DUsUMo
Wooden chopsticks: https://amzn.to/2PBREi4
Glass measuring cups: https://amzn.to/2Pywqmp
Food processor: https://amzn.to/2Ea45MK
Bamboo chopping boards: https://amzn.to/36qAlam
Reusable silicon lids: https://amzn.to/2qPOlvi

Equipment I use:
Camera I use to shoot videos: https://amzn.to/2XlyKl5
Camera I use to take photos: https://amzn.to/3jLMgXJ
Tripod: https://amzn.to/2PH87S3
Backdrops: https://amzn.to/2rvZmCm
Super handy reflectors: https://amzn.to/2YGhMwd

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The most viewed chili tofu recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine