These Teriyaki Tofu Bowls are full of veggies and protein and perfect for an easy meal prep lunch or weeknight dinner! They’re so flavorful and even my three year old loves them!
Happy New Year! It’s 2020, a brand new decade and the perfect time to embrace healthy, plant based eating. I usually follow a vegetarian diet, with lots of vegan meals, but for the month of January all my recipes are going to be completely vegan. I’ve been feeling like my body could use a little break from dairy lately and now seems like the perfect time to cut it out for a while.
I’m excited to share these Teriyaki Tofu Bowls with you for my very first recipe of 2020! They’re easy to make, great for dinner, perfect for meal prep, full of flavor and my three year old son loves them! I’m not joking when I say that he is constantly requesting, “more tofu and broccoli with the sauce”! 🙂
What You’ll Need for Teriyaki Tofu Bowls
- Tofu – my favorite kind of tofu to use is the ‘Pre-Pressed, Super Firm, High Protein’ Tofu that I have seen sold at Sprouts and Trader Joe’s so far. You don’t have to spend the time pressing it, it’s really firm so it won’t break apart easily and the pack is a little bit bigger than the standard container of tofu so you get more. If you can’t find it, just use extra firm tofu and press it beforehand.
- Teriyaki Sauce – If you have a brand of store-bought teriyaki sauce that you really love, you can definitely use that. But, my homemade teriyaki sauce is really easy to make and SO good! All you need to make it is: water, tamari (or soy sauce), pure maple syrup, toasted sesame oil, fresh garlic and ginger and cornstarch (or arrowroot powder).
- Vegetables – You can use any vegetables you like. My son loves broccoli so I always use that and then I usually add in some carrot and red pepper for color. Anything will work though!
- Rice – I usually use white basmati rice if I’m making this for my kids, but if it’s just for me or my husband (for meal prep lunches) I like to use cauliflower rice or a mix of regular and cauliflower. You could also substitute another grain of choice.
How To Make Teriyaki Tofu
To make these Teriyaki Tofu Bowls I borrowed from two of my favorite recipes: Crispy Tofu and The Best Stir Fry Sauce. I combined those two together and then served the teriyaki tofu with rice and veggies.
- Crispy Tofu sounds a little daunting but it’s actually really easy! First, you cut up your tofu. I like the way the triangles look but you could just do cubes if you like. I try to make my slices fairly thin so that I can get more of them and so they get really crispy. You then mix up your marinade, add in the tofu and then sprinkle with cornstarch. The tofu then gets baked in the oven to crispy perfection!
- I make the homemade teriyaki sauce while the tofu is baking. It’s SO easy! You just add all ingredients to a bowl, mix well and then pour into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sauce has thickened, 5-10 minutes. The longer you cook the sauce, the more it will thicken. But, it you let it get really thick it will also reduce down and you will have less of it. I like to cook mine until it just coats the back of a spoon.
- You can either toss the tofu with the teriyaki sauce or just drizzle it over the top once you have your bowls assembled. I like to drizzle some of it on the veggies and rice too because it’s so delicious!
I feel like tofu gets a bad wrap sometimes but I really love cooking with it! I love the texture, it’s low in carbs and goes really well with lots of different cuisines. If you already love tofu then you will really love this Teriyaki Tofu Recipe, and if you’re currently skeptical about tofu you should definitely give these bowls a try because I think they might change your mind 🙂
Teriyaki Tofu Meal Prep Bowls
I usually just make this recipe for a family dinner but it’s also really great for a meal prep lunch. All you do is divide the ingredients into four food safe containers and store in the refrigerator for up to four days. The tofu does not stay super crispy once refrigerated but it does still have a nice texture that I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with.
How To Re-Heat Your Teriyaki Tofu Bowl
We don’t have a microwave so I just place a pan over medium heat, add a small amount of oil and then dump the contents of my bowl in. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. If you do have a microwave you could heat on high for 2-3 minutes.
Teriyaki Tofu Bowls
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
These Teriyaki Tofu Bowls are so flavorful and delicious! Perfect for a meal prep lunch or weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) container extra firm tofu, patted dry and pressed for at least 15 minutes
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, or your favorite oil
- 1 teaspoon tamari, or soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 5–7 cups favorite vegetables, I used broccoli, carrots and red pepper
- 2–3 cups cooked rice, cauliflower rice or your favorite grain
Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup tamari, I like to use low sodium
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, or arrowroot starch
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, tamari, garlic powder, maple syrup and vinegar.
- Cut the pressed tofu into bite sized pieces and place in the oil mixture. Use a spoon or spatula to stir the tofu and make sure it’s completely coated. Next, sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of the arrowroot powder and mix well until all the tofu is coated. Then, sprinkle on the remaining teaspoon of arrowroot powder and give a gentle mix just until you can’t see the dry white powder anymore.
- Line a large baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Pour the tofu and and arrange it so that none of the pieces are touching each other. Bake tofu for about 25-30 minutes, until golden and crispy, stirring 2-3 times during the baking.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and add 1-2 teaspoons olive oil, vegetables and then season with salt and pepper. Cook vegetables until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Sometimes it helps to put the lid on so they can steam.
- Make the teriyaki sauce. Add all ingredients to a jar or medium sized bowl and shake or stir until well combined. Pour into a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened and can coat the back of a spoon, 5-7 minutes.
- Assemble bowls by dividing all ingredients into four equal portions and then spoon teriyaki sauce over and enjoy.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Vegan
- Method: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Asian
My husband and I LOVED it! We used vegetable oil (instead of sesame oil), soy sauce (instead of tamari), minced garlic (instead of garlic powder), honey (instead of maple syrup), lemon juice (instead of vinegar). We also opted for store bought teriyaki sauce because I was lazy 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed!! And that you were able to modify what you had on hand!
What can I use to replace the sesame oil in the sauce? My son is allergic. Thanks!
I would just leave it out or use a different cooking oil that you prefer 🙂
Made this for dinner and it was delicious! Though I spiced it up with some chili oil and made it with quinoa. Tofu was crispy and l loaded up on the veggies. Nice after having Thanksgiving last week.
Yah! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! We miss you guys! 🙂
Do you have nutritional information on this like calories
Just added it to the recipe card 🙂
Great recipe ?
Thank you!!
I can’t see how the entire 14 oz. of tofu can be completely covered with just over a tablespoon of marinade
It’s a little bit more than 1 tablespoon and it just coats the tofu so that the cornstarch sticks to it, it’s not as much of a marinade that you soak the tofu in.