Easy and healthy crispy tofu with peanut sauce is the perfect weeknight dinner served over zoodles. It comes together in just 20 minutes and that creamy, savoury peanut sauce is so delicious you’ll want to drizzle it over everything.
This recipe has been a go to in my house for years because it’s simple yet so full of flavour. It’s a lighter, lower carb dinner that comes together in just 20 minutes making it a great option for those nights when you want something healthy but don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.
I have said before that I am not a huge fan of zucchini and really the only way I’ll eat it is made into these zucchini fritters or hidden in chicken enchiladas. This recipe is the only other way I’ll eat it. When spiralised, the zucchini loses its vegetable status in my mind and becomes a light and crisp noodle that is super delicious and leaves me feeling satisfied.
Plus, smothering it in my absolutely favourite peanut sauce makes everything better. Seriously, this sauce is so good I have a post dedicated entirely to it. It’s creamy, salty, tangy and has just a hint of spice. It’s the perfect combination here to our tofu and zucchini noodles.
The zucchini noodles remain a little crisp in this recipe and soak in the flavours of the sauce making them slurpable just like a regular noodle.
If you’re looking for low carb meals or just simply want to increase your daily vegetable intake without having to eat boring, flavourless food, then this is the recipe you want to bookmark.
Key Ingredients
The main ingredient list is going to be for your peanut sauce which is then tossed with both the crispy tofu and the zucchini noodles to make this dish.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Peanut butter – I use smooth regular peanut butter for this recipe. I’ve used crunchy as well and the result is as you’d expect, not as smooth.
- Soy sauce – the salty balance to the sauce. For gluten-free use a gluten free soy sauce or tamari.
- Honey – for sweetness plus I love the flavour honey gives this sauce. For a vegan-option you can replace it with brown sugar.
- Sesame oil – adds so much extra flavour to the sauce, do not skip!
- Garlic – You can adjust the amount to taste, but I find 1 clove the perfect amount for the sauce to have that garlic flavour without being overpowering.
- Sriracha – or any chilli sauce will work. If you don’t like any spice you can leave it out, alternatively if you love things spicier – increase the amount!
- Lime – adds essential tang and balance to the sauce. This sauce is simply not as good without fresh lime!
- Zucchini – zucchini’s come in many different sizes but you’ll need approx. 3 large zucchini’s depending on how big you want your zoodle portions to be.
- Tofu – firm tofu is the only option here as this is the key to ensuring our tofu pieces hold together and get nice and crispy on the outside instead of breaking apart. Firm tofu can be found at most supermarkets or Asian grocery stores.
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make the zucchini noodles, you will need a spiralizer. I have used a few different ones from the huge structures that take up your bench space through to the handheld ones that you just twist the zucchini into. They all work pretty much the same so just use whatever you prefer.
Start by prepping your zucchini. Spiralise the zucchini’s until you have enough zoodles for the amount of portions you are making. Set the zoodles aside in a colander and sprinkle with salt and let sit for 15 minutes while you prep the sauce and tofu.
Zucchini contains a lot of moisture as this tends to mean zoodles have a tendency to go soggy which isn’t really pleasant. The salt will draw out this excess moisture. After 15 minutes, you can pat the zucchini dry with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel before cooking.
Next, prep your sauce. This is super simple by using a bullet blender which is always my preference for making sauces but you can use any blender or food processor or simply just mix everything together in a jar.
Add all of your sauce ingredients into your blender and blend until super thick and creamy. Taste and adjust any seasonings such as lime and chilli to taste.
Finally, prep your tofu. Remove the tofu from the packaging and using some paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, press gently to remove any of the excess moisture from the tofu. Once it’s dry, cut the tofu into cubes.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the tofu, turning until all sides have started to turn golden brown. Add in about half of the sauce and mix through the tofu until it’s all coated. The sauce will stick to the outside of each piece and sort of solidify making this delicious peanuty coating that gets really crispy as you continue to cook it in the pan.
Once the tofu is cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside. Add the zoodles that have been dried, along with the remaining sauce and cook just until the sauce has coated the zoodles and they are heated through.
Serve the zucchini noodles with the crispy tofu with peanut sauce on top and finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds if you like.
Recipe FAQs
I love to make this tofu and peanut sauce for meal prep as it reheats in a frying pan really well. The zoodles on the other hand are best eaten immediately while still warm. I recommend making the tofu in advance and then just making the zoodles to the quantity you’ll eat fresh.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More easy vegetarian dinner recipes:
5 Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles
Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Vegan Mac and Cheese
Tofu Lettuce Cups with Peanut Sauce
Crispy Tofu with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 large zucchinis
- 300 grams firm tofu
- sesame seeds , optional
Peanut Sauce
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1-2 tablespoons sriracha
- juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Spiralise the zucchini, sprinkle with salt and leave in a colander in the sink for 15 minutes to remove excess water and prevent them from going soggy. Rinse and drain, patting dry with a paper towel to remove excess salt and moisture prior to adding them to the pan.
- Make the peanut sauce. Put all sauce ingredients into a bullet blender or food processor and blend until creamy.
- Drain the tofu and blot dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Cut up into 2 cm cubes.
- Heat some oil in a pan, and add tofu. Only stirring occasionally, let tofu start to brown. Add in about half of the sauce and stir through the tofu. Sauce will start to cling to the tofu and get crispy on the outside. Keep stirring until all tofu/sauce is golden brown. Remove tofu from the pan and set aside.
- Turn the pan heat down to medium and add zucchini noodles and just enough of the remaining sauce to coat the zoodles. Stir through until zoodles are evenly coated and heated through.
- Serve zoodles in a bowl with a big scoop of the tofu on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and eat immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
sheenam | thetwincookingproject.net says
This looks great! Specially the peanut sauce sounds amazing.
Sally says
Thanks!