Tofu Stir Fry (Gluten-Free + Vegan)

I didn't always love tofu, but that's because I hadn't yet learned how to infuse it with flavor and make it entirely scrumptious. This recipe will show you how to press your tofu, marinate it, and fry it for the ultimate flavor. I love this recipe so much more with tofu than with meat proteins, and I hope you will too.

Important Ingredients

• Tofu — Extra-firm tofu works best in this recipe, though I have occasionally used firm tofu as well. Extra-firm tofu holds up the best to being fried and moved around in the pan without crumbling.

• Tamari — Gluten-free tamari is an essential ingredient in the sauce for this tofu stir fry.

• Mirin — Mirin is similar to rice vinegar, but it has an even deeper, richer flavor. If you can't find mirin, I recommend substituting with rice vinegar.

• Sriracha — Sriracha adds heat to this recipe, which is around a medium heat, but if you prefer less spice, feel free to decrease or even omit this ingredient.

How To Press Tofu

Tofu is a sponge. In order to marinate it, we must press the liquid out of the tofu so it can absorb our yummy marinade. By far the easiest way to press tofu is with a tofu press. While I love the Tofuture Press, there are many others on the market as well.

I like to press my tofu in the morning, place it in the fridge and leave it till lunchtime, but it doesn't really need that long. Even 20 minutes will work wonders for pressing the liquid out.

If you don't have a tofu press, you can also press the tofu yourself with some household items. Place the tofu on a plate (preferrably one with a lip to catch the juice from running on your counter). Place a cutting board or flat plate on top of the tofu and add something heavy onto the cutting board, like a couple of boxes of broth or something similar. Leave for at least 20 minutes.

How to Make this Recipe

Press the tofu. Press the tofu, either in a tofu press of by placing the tofu on a plate, adding a cutting board on the tofu and adding weight to the cutting board, like a box of broth or something similar. Press the tofu for at least 20 minutes and up to 24 hours. If you leave your tofu in the press for longer than an hour, make sure to put it in the fridge.

Prepare the marinade. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the gluten-free tamari, mirin, sugar, garlic powder, and sriracha.

Slice the tofu. After your tofu is pressed, slice it in thin lines about 1/2 inch thick. Turn the tofu and slice again, until the tofu is in small bite-sized cubes.

Marinate the tofu. Place the tofu in a bowl and pour half of the marinade over the tofu pieces. Gently turn the tofu until all of the pieces are coated in the marinade. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge. Marinate for at least 20 minutes and up to 6 hours. I like to make the marinade around lunchtime and leave the tofu to marinate till dinnertime.

Save half of the marinade. Half of the marinade is for the tofu and half is for the stir fry vegetables. Save the remaining half of the marinade for the stir fry vegetables. Store it in the fridge until ready to use.

Chop vegetables. Chop the onion, carrot, and zucchini.

Warm two saute pans. Warm two saute pans to medium heat. One pan for the tofu, and one pan for the vegetables. The tofu fries best if it is in a separate pan from the vegetables.

Saute vegetables. Add 1 Tablespoon sesame oil to a warm saute pan. Add chopped onion and carrots. Saute at medium heat for approximately 5 minutes or till the onion turns translucent, then cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and allow the carrots to steam till about half-way cooked. Then add the zucchini. Stir and allow to cook till soft.

Saute tofu. Add 1 Tablespoon sesame oil to a warm saute pan. Add the marinated tofu. Keep the heat on medium and fry the tofu, stirring occasionally but not too frequently, as the tofu needs some time to develop a crust. It's best to use a spatula to gently lift the tofu to stir it. Allow the tofu to fry for 10-15 minutes, or till the marinade liquid evaporates and the tofu forms a crust.

Add marinade to vegetables. While vegetables and tofu are cooking, retrieve the leftover sauce from the tofu marinade you saved for later. Add 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup water to the sauce and whisk till you can’t see any cornstarch lumps. When the vegetables are cooked, push them to the side of the pan and pour the sauce into the pan. Turn the heat up to medium and allow the sauce several minutes to heat and thicken. As soon as it begins to thicken, stir to coat all of the vegetables in the sauce and remove it from the heat.

Serve over rice. Serve the vegetables and tofu over cooked rice and top with fresh green onions.

Substitutions

Vegetables. Feel free to use any vegetables you like in this meal. Broccoli, green beans, red pepper, and mushrooms would all be great in this recipe.

Rice Vinegar. If you don't have mirin, you can replace it with rice vinegar. Mirin is similar to rice vinegar but has a deeper and sweeter umami flavor.

Shortcuts

To make this recipe quicker, try using a bag of frozen vegetables. Allow them to warm in a pan and drain any liquid before adding the marinade with cornstarch.