Baked Tofu With Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Lime Rice
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, plus more for brushing the pan and drizzling
- ⅔cup lime juice (from about 5 limes), and zest of 1 lime
- Kosher salt
- 8baby bell peppers or 1 medium bell pepper (any color will do), stemmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
- Black pepper
- 1cup long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati
- ½cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1cup smooth, natural peanut butter
- 1tablespoon red miso
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- 1tablespoon fish sauce (optional)
- 2teaspoons chopped habanero pepper, stem and seeds removed, or 1 tablespoon sambal
- 2tablespoons buckwheat honey or molasses
- 2(14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and sliced crosswise, ¼-inch thick
- 3cups peppery greens, like arugula, mizuna or baby mustard greens
- 2scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
744 calories; 55 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 21 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 1207 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 450 degrees and lightly brush a large rimmed sheet pan with oil.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, stir 4 tablespoons lime juice with ½ teaspoon salt until salt dissolves. Add the sliced peppers, a few cracks of black pepper and set aside.
- Step 3
In a small pot, combine the rice with 1 cup water and the coconut milk. Season with salt and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium-low until the rice is just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, until ready to serve.
- Step 4
In a medium bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons lime juice with the peanut butter, miso, ginger, fish sauce (if using), habanero, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon honey and ¾ cup water. Stir until smooth and season to taste with salt.
- Step 5
Arrange the tofu pieces in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and season with salt. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the peanut sauce over each, covering the top and allowing the sauce to run down and coat the sides. Drizzle the tops with some oil, and roast until glaze is set, deep brown and caramelized along the edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Add the remaining lime juice and 1 tablespoon honey to the leftover peanut sauce in the bowl to make the dressing; set aside.
- Step 6
Divide the greens among bowls. Add the lime zest and half the sliced scallions to the rice, then fluff with a fork. Top the greens with the rice, then the tofu. Spoon the peanut dressing over everything, and garnish with the drained pickled peppers and remaining sliced scallions.
Tip
- Peanut sauce can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and stored refrigerated until ready to use.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ashley
Make the peanut sauce & peppers ahead of time to make this weeknight-friendly. PEPPERS: slice super thin. Add onion. PEANUT SAUCE: add 3-5 T of rice wine vinegar or ACV; add 3-5 T tamari. Thin with water. TOFU: toss with tamari, olive oil and lime juice, then coat with cornstarch. Bake at 400 for 30 min, flipping halfway. VEGGIES: add thin-sliced carrots to the baking sheet with tofu. Toss with same marinade. CHICKEN: marinade in peanut sauce in baking dish. Bake 400, 35 min. Top w cilantro
James
A fairly recent Times article said that the Time in an NYT recipe does not include the time to prep ingredients, e.g., no time is included to slice the peppers here or mince the ginger. Strange as a policy, but clarifying to know.
Sally
Sauce is good, but browns to a gloppy paste on the tofu. A soy marinade on the tofu, with the peanut sauce served on the side, would be more appealing, and the tofu would be more flavorful, too. And then the tofu could be fried, which would be more appealing. The pickled peppers were great. As someone else suggested, I added the peppers to the pickled onions already in the refrigerator, and they were fabulous. We will have them often.
Doug Johnston
Having just put this dish in the oven to bake for "...18 to 20 minutes..."--I am baffled as to how the recipe could indicate that the total time for the recipe is "25 minutes." Seriously? It took me five minutes to make the peanut sauce. Another five to slice the peppers and set them aside in the lime juice and sale dressing. Another five to drain and slice the tofu. And at least that long to drizzle the sauce over the tofu. Anyone know some shortcuts I missed here? Color me "Perplexed."
Maggee VSB
1 cup peanut butter makes for an incredibly thick sauce. Added over 1 cup water just to improve the consistency. Would suggest cutting peanut butter by half.
Al Dente
You make miso ...Very happy
Amber
It's a convention of recipe writing that the preparation time assumes that all of the ingredients are ready to be added as specified in the ingredient list. If the ingredient list said 8 whole peppers and only in the preparation instructions were you told to slice the peppers, that would be a reason to include the slicing in the total preparation time. Recipes are written assuming a mise en place, whether or not home cooks work that way.
Daniel
Pretty tasty meal, but I agree with Brian and others about the sauce – too much, too thick, too rich. I only used 1 tablespoon per tofu slice.. I think it would be difficult to eat with the 2 tablespoons recommended in the recipe. I also ended up with way too much tofu and not enough pickled peppers. If I were to make this again, I would use only one package of tofu, make the peanut sauce thinner (less peanut butter), and put less of it on the tofu, if nothing else.
Maggie
I made this mostly according to the recipe, with the following changes: - added minced garlic to the peanut sauce - skipped the habanero and subbed some red curry paste, as I have spice-sensitive family members - tossed the scallions (instead of saving for garnish) with some cilantro in with the lime-peppers This was a tasty recipe, though with all the prep/chopping, etc. it took me WAY WAY more than 25 min, more like 90+ minutes, so I would not classify this as a quick weeknight meal.
Karen
Julienned carrots do the sweet-veg crisp pickle thing also.
Maureen
Overall, it was pretty good. I’d reduce the amount of sauce poured over the tofu from 2 tablespoons to 1 or 1 1/2 and add a bit of lime juice over the dish at the end.
Joan
Like others, I handled the tofu separately by pressing, marinating in an Asian marinade for an hour, then pan frying. The peanut blend was a sauce/dressing to top it (using less peanut butter than called for to keep it looser). It’s a nice recipe otherwise, with little personalizations to get it the way you want. Will make again - it’s a good meat-avoidance meal.
Caroline Robertson
I'm a crunchy peanut butter girl - adds texture
mjs
- sear tofu to get a crust, then top with sauce and bake
Liz
Daikon, cucumber, carrot. All sliced thin on a mandoline.
JT
The rice in this recipe is excellent. I make it with other dishes now.
rodger
We found that two packages of tofu was one too many. Note that the photo of the dish only shows two slices of tofu per serving.
Cam in AMS
This is a real winner for us… I suppose the prep time overall is a lot, but I like that it can be easily done in pieces. Make the sauce in the morning! Pickle the peppers (and do add some onions) at lunch, or whenever you’ve got a spare moment. And I marinate the proteins (tofu for my partner, chicken for me) in a basic Asian marinade (soy, ginger, garlic, miso) and then roast chicken, fry tofu, serve with the sauce. With steps ahead this actually comes together in 15-20 to delicious end!
Dustin
Definitely tastes better than it looks. I really only needed half of the tofu and sauce. If I made this again I would half both.
Chris
Easy, tasty, enjoyable recipe, which my vegans and non-veg enjoyed too. I think next time I'd do a tablespoon of habanero to give it additional extra kick.
bridget
Yes, it took longer to prep than advertised but it was SO worth it. I didn’t get the shopping list quite right so I subbed sriracha for the habanero and massaged some kale for the greens. My tofu looked unappetizing when it came out of the oven. No problem, it was delightful, can’t wait to eat the leftovers.
Meg
One of the most egregious underestimates of cook time in history, but it's absolutely delicious. Next time I will add carrots with the tofu like I read in another comment.
Jack Craine
Not one of the NY Times best - prep time alone is 25 minutes, plus cook time….. Also, sauce is not absorbed and tofu remains soggy - Far better to fry the tofu for some crispness and umami, and put the sauce over at the end. Also suggest serving with peanuts and grated coconut for added texture…
Faith
This makes a great meal-prep! A couple tweaks to make it easier: -Press excess moisture from tofu, cut into thin bite size pieces drizzled with soy/Braggs liquid aminos, peppered, and pan fry on both sides until golden. Toss with a little peanut sauce before plating. -bottled lime juice if you’re in a rush. -add thinly sliced red onion to peppers. -drizzle extra peanut sauce on top. -roasted sweet potatoes are a fantastic addition. This is delicious cold the next day.
Ilene
Mine looked just like the photo, but the tofu was very dry. The sauce was essential to making it edible, but if I were to make this again, I would pan fry the tofu.
Wendy
This is a very time consuming dish for a weeknight. There were some good ideas like the coconut milk rice and the pickled peppers, however the peanut butter slathered tofu was pretty bad. I am sure a better cook could have improved it but overall it disappointing.
Jane
I read the other notes, so I added some extra soy and sake to the peanut mixture and used less on the tofu. We enjoyed the dish. The only further change I'd make is to cook it at a slightly lower temperature and use parchment paper. The sauce which spilled over burned on the sheet pan.
Greg
"Total time" must assume you have 3 sous-chefs. If you are working by yourself, expect it to take >1hr. Otherwise tasty.
Kaylee
Yum! I was in the mood for a peanut sauce, but didn’t have any tofu. Made the sauce, rice, and pickled peppers and mixed chickpeas into the sauce. Delicious, and I’m sure it’s very nice with tofu. Might roast some vegetables next time.
Cathy G.
Delicious and will definitely make it again. I ran out of miso, so used a little soy. It took a little longer than 25 minutes from start to finish, but will file that in next time.
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