Crispy cubes of tofu and sauteed vegetables plus pineapple are tossed with a tangy sweet and sour sauce for an incredibly delicious vegan and gluten-free meal that is better than take out in every way!
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Stop ordering take out and make this Sweet and Sour Tofu instead! It’s crispy, saucy, tasty and satisfying. The sweet and sour sauce is made from pantry staples that likely already have and the perfectly delicious result is yours in just 30 minutes! Your delivery wouldn’t have even arrived in that time!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Tofu: be sure to buy firm or extra firm tofu.
- Canned pineapple: we’re using the pineapple juice and the pineapple chunks!
- Tomato paste: find a brand with one ingredient, tomatoes.
- Vegetables: bell peppers and onion go perfectly with tofu and pineapple. You can also add in any other veggies you love.
- Arrowroot powder: I prefer to use arrowroot powder over cornstarch which is often heavily sprayed, genetically modified, made with filler ingredients and heavily processed.
How to make it
Before you do anything else, you’ll want to drain and press the tofu. The secret to crispy tofu is getting the moisture out before coating and cooking!
Remove tofu from package and drain on a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel, that’s been doubled, over the tofu and then set something heavy (a skillet, or a couple cookbooks) on top to press out the excess moisture.
Separate the pineapple chunks from the juice. Set aside the juice for the sauce and the fruit to saute with the vegetables.
Prep the veggies: roughly chop the onion and bell peppers. Set aside with the pineapple chunks.
Make the Sweet and Sour Tofu Sauce
Place a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk tomato paste into pineapple juice, vinegar and maple syrup.
Dissolve arrowroot powder into a small amount of pineapple juice.
Pour arrowroot mixture into sauce.
Keep whisking. As sauce cooks, it will become shiny and thicken.
Make the Vegetables
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped veggies plus the pineapple chunks and stir fry until veggies are tender, but still firm. There will be enough residual juice in the pineapple to facilitate this.
When veggies are done, transfer to a bowl.
Make the tofu
Cut drained tofu into three pieces, resembling a slice of sandwich bread.
Stack those three pieces and then cut into long strips, then cut the other way to produce cubes.
Mix arrowroot, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Gently toss tofu cubes into the mixture until evenly coated.
Use the same skillet you cooked the veggies in. Swirl in 2 tablespoons avocado oil and add the coated tofu cubes.
Leave tofu undisturbed in the skillet for 2-3 minutes, until it will naturally release. Then turn to cook each side until it’s crispy everywhere.
TROUBLESHOOT
For Crispy Tofu, without the cubes sticking to the pan, you likely need more patience, not more oil!
- Heat the pan and make sure it’s hot first.
- Then, add the oil. Tip the pan so the oil coats the entire surface.
- Let the oil heat up. It will begin to shimmer…but if it’s smoking you waited too long.
- Add the tofu cubes and then leave them alone. It will brown and then naturally release. If you try to move it too soon, it will stick to the pan and fall apart.
Put it all together
Pour the cooked veggies back into the pan and stir gently.
Pour in half the sauce. If it thickened too much while sitting, whisk in 1-2 tablespoons water at a time until desired consistency, then pour over the tofu and vegetables.
Debra’s Pro Tips
- Leave tofu to cook and crisp. If you try to turn it over too soon, it will stick to the bottom of the pan, creating a mess and frustration. When it naturally releases, it’s ready to flip, much like other sources of protein.
- I love the glossy, thick texture of the sauce that uses arrowroot powder and prefer to use water to thin, as needed….before pouring over the tofu and vegetables….rather than using the water to begin with.
- Super important to dissolve the arrowroot powder in a small amount of liquid before pouring into the sauce. If you put the arrowroot powder directly into the saucepan it will seize up and make terrible tasting and looking clumps.
Serve Store Reheat
- Serve over a whole grain like rice, couscous or quinoa. A simple cauliflower rice is also a good base for this simple vegan dinner.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 days.
- Reheat in a skillet over medium-high heat until heat through and re-crisped.
- I do not recommend freezing the cooked tofu with sweet and sour sauce. The texture and the taste will be altered significantly.
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📖 Recipe
Saucy Sweet and Sour Crispy Tofu
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 16-oz block extra firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
Vegan Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 14-oz can juice from canned pineapple chunks about ¾ cup pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- ½ cup water
Vegetables
- 1 red onion roughly chopped into cubes
- 1 red bell pepper roughly chopped into cubes
- 1 green bell pepper roughly chopped into cubes
- 1 cup pineapple chunks separated from the juice in a 14-oz can of pineapple chunks used above in the sauce.
Instructions
Press Tofu
- Remove tofu from package. Drain. Double up a clean dish towel, place block of tofu onto it, fold it over and then place something heavy (large wooden cutting board, cast iron skillet or a heavy cookbook) on top. The goal is to facilitate the removal of excess moisture and "dry" the tofu out a bit.
Sweet and Sour Tofu Sauce
- Separate juice from pineapple chunks with small strainer. The pineapple chunks will be sauteed with the veggies in the next step. Whisk the arrowroot powder into ¼ cup of the pineapple juice and set aside. Put the remaining ½ cup juice into a small saucepan.
- Set the small saucepan over medium heat and add to the pineapple juice the tomato paste, maple syrup and vinegar. Whisk until everything is well mixed and then our in the arrowroot mixture, whisking continuously as the sauce slowly thickens.
- Continue to cook and whisk until thick but still pourable. About 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Vegetables
- Cut onion and peppers into bite sized pieces. Heat heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook the veggies plus pineapple chunks, tossing once in awhile. Continue for 3-5 minutes, until starting to soften. Transfer to a bowl. There will be some "juice" that comes out of the pineapple chunks that will provide moisture in the pan. You can also add 1 tablespoon oil or water or broth if the pan becomes dry.
- When veggies are tender, transfer into a bowl so you can use the same pan to make the tofu.
Make Tofu
- Cut the pressed tofu into cubes. First make three vertical sections, then stack those. Cut across lengthwise, the widthwise into bite sized chunks.
- In a small bowl, mix together arrowroot, turmeric, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss the tofu cubes into the powder until evenly coated.
- Swirl 2 tablespoons oil into the pan that cooked the vegetables. Place tofu cubes into the hot pan and leave undisturbed for about 3 minutes, until it naturally releases and turn over to crisp on other sides.
- Turn heat off.
- Add the cooked vegetables back into the pan and toss gently with the tofu.
- Whisk 1-2 tablespoons water into the sweet and sour sauce, or more, until it's a pourable consistency. Pour half of it onto the tofu and vegetables and stir well.
- Use more sauce, if needed, or put it in a pitcher and pass it around for those who like an even more saucy dish.
- Garnish with fresh herbs or thinly sliced scallions, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes if you like a bit of heat.
Notes
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
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