This Spicy Coconut Tofu is saucy and perfect served with sticky rice. Seasoned with ginger, garlic, and lime, it's a zesty, fresh, and tasty vegan recipe that's perfect for weeknights. I hope you enjoy it!
This dish has a lovely coconut milk base with vegetable stock. The lime brings out the freshness and the chilli gives it a spicy kick! You can totally serve it with noodles if you'd prefer.
If you're a tofu lover, check out my tofu meal-prep recipe, claypot tofu recipe, or my lemongrass coconut tofu curry recipe!
Jump to:
About Emily's Recipe
If you're new here, hi! I'm Emily - a recipe developer, food content creator, and cookbook author! Thanks for stopping by to check out my Spicy Coconut Tofu recipe. I really hope you enjoy it and please do let me know in the comments if you give it a go!
If you'd like to join a community of food lovers, just subscribe to my newsletter for recipes, cooking tips, and foodie chats. Now, let me tell you a bit more about this recipe...
Texture: the tofu is tender and soft with a creamy coconut sauce to pair with it.
Taste: coconut flavour throughout with hints of spice and freshness from the lime, and ginger.
Ease: it's made all in one-pan and takes around 30 minutes.
Top Tips: 1. use extra firm tofu for this recipe. 2. fry your aromatics low and slow to prevent them from catching. 3. use good quality coconut milk for the best flavour.
Would I make this again? absolutely!!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Onion: we're using white onion for this recipe but you could use red onion or shallots.
Garlic: fresh garlic is best for this recipe to give you the most aromatic flavour.
Chilli: red chilli is my preferred colour. But if you've only got green chillies, go for it. Medium spice.
Ginger: fresh ginger is essential, don't use ground ginger. If you don't have ginger, you could use galangal or lemongrass.
Coconut milk: full fat coconut milk provides the best flavour.
Vegetable stock: I use knorr vegetable stock cube with water. But feel free to use homemade veggie broth if you have some!
Light soy sauce: this is just to add a bit of salty seasoning. You can alternatively use dark soy sauce but it may alter the colour of the dish.
Lime: for freshness! Definitely use fresh lime for this as we are grating it too for the zest!
Tofu: I use extra firm tofu for the best texture. You could alternatively use silken tofu but be careful as it will break apart really easily.
Beansprouts: these are optional but I think they add a lovely bite. If you're not a fan but want something extra in the dish, feel free to add in edamame beans, chopped mushroom, or sliced aubergine.
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Place a large frying pan on medium-low heat and drizzle with oil. Then add in the onions, garlic, chilli, and ginger. Fry for 10 minutes until softened and fragrant.
Step 2: Once the aromatics have softened, add in the coconut milk, vegetable stock, lime zest, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Give everything a mix and turn up the heat to medium.
Step 3: Prepare your tofu by slicing the extra firm tofu in half (lengthwise) and then slice diagonally ¾ of the way down the tofu to create a hasselback style slab of tofu.
Step 4: Sprinkle the beansprouts into the coconut sauce, then nestle in the slabs of hasselback tofu. Top with a lid and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and reduced. Taste and season accordingly with more lime, salt, or sugar.
Step 5: Once the spicy coconut milk sauce has thickened, top with spring onions, chives, dill, and chilli oil.
Step 6: Serve up the spicy coconut tofu with sticky rice or noodles. Enjoy!
What to do with leftovers
Storage: once cooled, store in airtight containers and into the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: leave the lid ajar and place in the microwave until piping hot.
FAQs
I love serving this with edamame beans, mushrooms, or tenderstem broccoli.
For sure, you could air fry it for 10 minutes at 180c for a crispy browned tofu. Make sure to season with salt, pepper, oil, garlic powder, and paprika for flavour.
For sure, just be delicate with it and there's no need to slice it in advance. Just add slabs without the hasselback feature.
More recipes you might enjoy!
If you tried this Spicy Coconut Tofu recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Spicy Coconut Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 white onion finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red chilli finely chopped
- 15 g ginger finely chopped
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- 1 lime zest and juice
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar more if you need
- 200 g beansprouts
- 560 g extra firm tofu
Garnish
- spring onions finely sliced
- chives finely sliced
- dill optional
- chilli oil
To serve
- 2 portions cooked sticky rice
Instructions
- Place a large frying pan on medium-low heat and drizzle with oil. Then add in the onions, garlic, chilli, and ginger. Fry for 10 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Once the aromatics have softened, add in the coconut milk, vegetable stock, lime zest, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Give everything a mix and turn up the heat to medium.
- Prepare your tofu by slicing the extra firm tofu in half (lengthwise) and then slice diagonally ¾ of the way down the tofu to create a hasselback style slab of tofu (scroll up to find step by step photos).
- Sprinkle the beansprouts into the coconut sauce, then nestle in the slabs of hasselback tofu. Top with a lid and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and reduced. Taste and season accordingly with more lime, salt, or sugar.
- Once the spicy coconut milk sauce has thickened, top with spring onions, chives, dill, and chilli oil.
- Serve up the spicy coconut tofu with sticky rice or noodles. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply