I make a version of this stir fry nearly every week so it's about time I put it down in writing and shared it with you! This delicious vegan stir fry recipe can be easily adapted to suit what you have on hand.
Flavourful homemade stir fry sauce
Crispy baked tofu for protein
Any veggies you need to use up
And brown rice for a bit of extra nutrition
Ingredients
You can really adapt so much of this recipe to suit what you have on hand but first:
Choose your base: I use brown rice in this recipe but I often make this with soba noodles for something a little different. Feel free to use quinoa or any other grain/noodle you prefer.
Then choose your protein: I use my crispy baked tofu! Pre-pressed extra firm (or super firm) tofu makes for super crispy tofu in just 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can quickly pan fry your tofu, use tempeh, or even a bean like edamame!
The veg: carrots, red pepper, and bok choy are the vegetables I have chosen to include in this recipe. I often use mushrooms, spinach, snow peas etc. So feel free to toss in the veggies that might be starting to turn in your fridge. Or, dig into your freezer for a frozen veggie medley!
Finally, the sauce: My homemade stir fry sauce is made with just a few simple ingredients I always have in my fridge and pantry. I have included some options for substitutions in the notes section of the recipe card to give you some ideas for how to change it to suit what you may have on hand. My version is salty and a little sweet with a hint of spice!
Method
A little bit of prep work will have to be done in advance to cook your base and potentially the protein you choose. Once you have all of the components at the ready though, the stir fry is very quick to come together.
This is easily a 15 minute weeknight meal if you are great at food prep and tend to cook a big batch of a grain and chop veggies etc on the weekend. If you are making everything from scratch though, you can count on about 30 minutes of prep time and 15 minutes to cook your stir fry.
I cook my rice and bake my crispy tofu at the same time. During this 25 - 30 minutes I can also chop up my vegetables and stir together my homemade sauce.
Once everything is ready to go all you need to do is:
- Cook your veggies
- Add in half the sauce
- Then toss in the rice and tofu
- Stir in the remaining sauce
- Heat through
- Garnish and serve!
My homemade sauce includes cornstarch as a thickener. You want to make sure that the heat on your saute pan or wok is hot enough so that the sauce boils when it hits the pan. This will ensure that the starch is activated and the sauce will thicken.
Garnish your stir fry with green onion, toasted sesame seeds or roasted nuts to finish it off! *The trick to getting curly slices of green onion is to slice it thinly and dunk it in a bowl of ice water. The cold will make the green onion curl into a swirl that makes for an impressive garnish.
Cost For This Vegan Stir Fry Recipe
This vegan stir fry recipe serves 4 and costs me just under $9 Canadian. That works out to about $2.25 per serving!
The crispy baked tofu in this recipe costs me $4.31. If I were to make this recipe with 350 grams of chicken breast instead, my cost would be over $6.50 for the chicken. The same amount of shrimp would cost me around $8.75. That means that this vegan stir fry recipe might save you a few dollars compared to some animal based protein options.
Let me know in the comments below how you like this weeknight stir fry and how you customize it! I have a feeling you might love my Coconut Lime Tofu and my Vegan Japchae!
Print
Weeknight Stir Fry With Crispy Tofu
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
My go to weeknight stir fry! Toss together crispy tofu, brown rice, veggies, & an easy homemade sauce for a delicious vegan stir fry recipe!
Ingredients
- 350 g crispy baked tofu
- 4 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup dry)
- ¼ cup sliced onion
- 150 g carrot, julienned*
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced*
- 150 g bok choy, sliced*
- ½ cup stir fry sauce
The Crispy Baked Tofu:
- 350g extra firm tofu, pressed
- 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
The Easy Stir Fry Sauce:
- 3 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ tbsp sesame oil (see notes for oil-free options)
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce (see notes for alternatives)
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated (2 g)
- 2 tsp cornstarch, or arrowroot starch (see notes for omitting)
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
*If you’re making my crispy baked tofu it can be cooked in the same amount of time as your rice. You can also slice your veggies and stir together the stir-fry sauce during this time.
The Prep:
- Cook your rice according to your package instructions.
- For the tofu: preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat or sheet of parchment paper. Cube the pressed tofu and toss with the tamari, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Then sprinkle with nutritional yeast and stir to coat. Spread the tofu cubes on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until puffed up and crispy. (If your tofu was not purchased pre-pressed and you pressed excess water from it yourself, the cubes may take 30-40 minutes to get really crispy. If you want to keep them in longer to crisp up, flip the cubes at the 20 minute mark to help them crisp on the other side. They can take an additional 10-20 minutes depending on how much water was in the tofu).
- For the stir fry sauce, add all of the ingredients to a small bowl or jar and whisk or shake to combine. Set aside.
To make the stir-fry:
- Add a dash of oil, water, or broth to a large sauté pan or wok. Sauté the onion for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the remaining sliced vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 -8 minutes stirring frequently. (You can cover the pan so the steam helps the veggies cook a little faster if desired.
- When the veggies are softened, add half the sauce. Ensure the heat is high enough that the sauce lightly boils. If the sauce does not bubble the cornstarch will not activate and thicken the sauce. Stir to coat the veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the rice, tofu, and remaining sauce. Stir to coat and cook for another 2-3 minutes so the additional sauce can thicken. When everything is warmed through and coated in sauce, remove from the heat and serve.
- Garnish with green onion, toasted sesame seeds, or crushed nuts if desired. Leftovers will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
Approximate Cost: $8.98 Canadian ($2.25 per serving). ($3.32 for the rice and vegetables, plus $4.31 for the baked tofu and $1.35 for the sauce).
To make the stir fry sauce oil-free, replace the sesame oil with vegetable broth or aquafaba. These replacements will carry less rich flavour but the sauce will still be delicious. If you do not have chili garlic sauce you can use any hot sauce you do have and add some grated garlic or garlic powder. Alternatively red chili flakes and garlic could also achieve a similar flavour. If you do not want your sauce to thicken you can omit the starch. The sauce will stay liquid.
To curl green onion for a garnish, make long thin slices and dunk them in a bowl of ice water. The cold will make the green onion curl into a swirl that makes for an impressive garnish.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Various
- Cuisine: Asian Inspired
Maria
What a GREAT recipe! Your crispy tofu is amazing and the sauce is so incredibly flavourful. I decided not to add the tofu to the stir fry. I added it on top when I plated it. I didn’t want to lose any of the crispness by coating it in the sauce. My family loved it! I can’t wait to make it again.
Kathryn Alexandre
Good call. I love that you wanted to hold onto all that crispiness! I'm so glad you all loved it. Thank you so much for letting me know and for giving this one a try!
Sheilah Scott
Wow, wow, wow!!
My first time on your site and I'm blown away. Had a small amount of a tofu block and wanted a stir fry recipe and did I ever find one.
Thank you so much..
It is delicious 😋
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh perfect! This is so great to hear!We’re glad you found our site and really enjoyed the first recipe you tried! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a lovely review!
J
Love it!!
Kathryn Alexandre
Fantastic! Thank you for giving it a try J and we're so glad to hear that you loved it! Thank you for taking the time to leave us a star rating. That means so much!
Candace
Seriously so good!
Kathryn Alexandre
Awesome! We’re so glad you love it!
Katie
The stir fry is soooo yummy! The sauce is just the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. The tofu is also delicious and wonderfully crispy - it was hard not to eat it on its own before throwing it in the stir fry. I love how the sauce thickened up - it really allowed the flavour to coat all the veggies, tofu, and rice. I used white basmati rice because it's what I had and it worked great. I portioned the leftovers into meal prep containers for convenience. I think I will be making this one again and again!
Kathryn Alexandre
This is so great to hear Katie! I’m thrilled you loved it and it will be a repeat recipe for you. I love that the leftovers made for some meal prep 👍🏼 Thank you so much for trying it and for coming back to leave a 5 star review!