An unbelievably delicious tofu stir-fry, made with my easy baked tofu recipe and tossed with the most heavenly garlic black pepper sauce.
So named because — as our friends said — this recipe has the power to magically turn anyone into a tofu lover. ♡
Barclay and I have been tinkering around with this one for the past few months, ever since we had dinner with some friends this summer who served us a version of Ottolenghi’s black pepper tofu. We instantly fell in love and ate every bite, and and then ran home to try making the recipe ourselves. (Since, as I mentioned last week, this vegetarian husband of mine loves his tofu.) But when we looked it up, the recipe called for a bunch of ingredients that we didn’t have on hand and was also quite time-intensive. So we modified a simpler, speedier version of our own. And in the months since, we have tweaked and tweaked our recipe until it was just right for us. And oh my goodness, it is a total winner.
We absolutely love this tofu!
It’s full of bold, savory, garlicky flavors, plus a nice hint of sweetness. It can be as spicy or as mild as you prefer. It’s nice and hearty, yet still naturally vegan. And wow, is it delicious.
I’ve been excited to share this one with you for awhile, so I’m happy that today is finally the day! Let’s make some tofu!
Magic Garlic Tofu Ingredients:
To make this Magic Garlicky Tofu recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
For the baked tofu:
- Tofu: One block of tofu, either firm or extra-firm. I also strongly recommend buying organic tofu, if it’s available.
- Oil: Olive oil, or whatever your preferred cooking oil may be.
- Cornstarch: This is the magic ingredient that helps make tofu (as well as many other foods) extra-crispy in the oven.
- Garlic Powder / Salt / Black Pepper: Just a few simple seasonings.
For the garlicky black pepper sauce:
- Red onion: Or Ottolenghi used shallots; either will work.
- Garlic: Yes, this recipe calls for loads of garlic. Yes, I 100% recommend using it all.
- Jalapeño: Or Thai bird chiles, whichever kind of chile you happen to have on hand. I’ve made it with both.
- Butter or cooking oil: If you’re not making this vegan, I love the extra flavor of the butter. But if you are going dairy-free, you can substitute vegan butter or your preferred cooking oil.
- Soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, cornstarch and water: To form the base for the sauce, thickened slightly with cornstarch.
- Freshly-ground coarse black pepper: Keywords: freshly-ground and coarse, which makes this recipe extra-delicious. If you only have the pre-ground fine black pepper that comes in traditional shakers, you will need to use considerably less pepper. (In that case, start small and add to taste.)
- Toppings: We love this with lots thinly-sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
How To Make Magic Garlicky Tofu:
To make this recipe, simply:
- Prep and bake the tofu. See here for instructions on how to make my crispy baked tofu recipe. (It’s super easy — just drain, season and bake the tofu until crispy!) Then while the tofu is draining and baking…
- Prep your sauce ingredients. As in, chop a million cloves of garlic, a small red onion, and a jalapeño (or two). Then whisk together the base for your sauce (water, soy sauce, maple syrup, black pepper, cornstarch and ground ginger).
- Cook the sauce. Sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeño until they are all nice and soft and fragrant. Then add in the soy sauce mixture and simmer until thickened.
- Toss everything together. Then add the baked tofu to the sauce and gently toss until combined. And…
- Serve! Garnished with lots of green onions and toasted sesame seeds, if you’d like.
Variations:
Want to mix things up? Feel free to:
- Make it spicier/milder: As always, feel free to add more/less chiles to make the recipe spicier or milder.
- Make it sweeter: If you’d like a sweeter sauce, just add in more maple syrup.
- Add a hint of sesame oil: We also occasionally love adding in a drizzle of toasted sesame oil too, to give this a slightly nuttier taste.
- Double the sauce: Want a saucier dish? Just double the amount of water, soy sauce, maple syrup, black pepper, cornstarch, and ground ginger.
What To Serve With Magic Garlic Tofu:
We like to serve this dish either over rice (white, brown or fried) or sesame noodles. Then usually add in some roasted or sautéed veggies (such as broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, etc). But feel free to serve this however you’d like! The options are limitless. :)
Enjoy, everyone!
Magic Garlic Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 batch baked tofu
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon freshly-ground coarse* black pepper
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 4 tablespoons butter (or vegan butter or oil)
- 1 small red onion, finely minced (about 2/3 cup)
- 1-2 fresh jalapeños (or 2 Thai bird chiles), cored and finely minced
- 10 garlic cloves, finely minced
- toppings: thinly-sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Prepare your baked tofu according to recipe instructions.
- Meanwhile, as your baked tofu (above) is draining and later baking, prep all of your ingredients for the black pepper sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together water, soy sauce, maple syrup, black pepper, cornstarch and ground ginger until combined. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan, heat the butter (or oil) over medium-high heat until melted. Add the red onion and jalapeño, and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes, or until fragrant, stirring occasionally.
- Slowly pour in the soy sauce mixture, and stir until combined. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer and then thickens.
- Remove pan from heat. Add in the baked tofu, and toss until it is evenly coated in the sauce.
- Serve warm, garnished with lots of toppings as desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Hi! Looks so yummy. Should I use pure maple syrup or the Mrs. Butterworth type stuff?
This is a great recipe. However, it seemed to be too much pepper and cornstarch for my taste. The sauce turned into more of a gel because of the cornstarch and was just too peppery. I would suggest 1 tablespoon of each. I will definitely try again with the modifications.
This has become our meatless Monday dinner recipe. So, so good.
I made this recipe and absolutely loved it. I made it bit more saucy as we like a lot of sauce. Had it with a side of roasted broccoli and kale salad. It was a divine dinner.
I have made quite a few of your recipes and enjoyed them, and I often cook many different types of dishes, but this one was off. Our whole family found the mass of cornstarch way too much, and the sauce too sweet. We do like the recipe for baked tofu – that works well. But the garlic pepper sauce (I reduced the pepper btw) was just cloying and slightly sickly to eat. If you’re not used to cornstarch, this is an ingredient to use in extreme moderation. The basic idea of the dish was good and we’ll try a modified version again. Just a note for those who don’t regularly cook with cornstarch – or who live in areas with plenty of access to authentic Asian foods. Use the idea, but perhaps not the recipe.
This should be called pepper tofu. My honey says it reminded him of salt and pepper chicken. Taste pepper first then jalapeño. Surprised the garlic doesn’t come through stronger considering I used an entire bulb. Delicious but needed more heat.
First time cooking with tofu and this recipe was fantastic! Used brown sugar instead of the maple syrup and added a touch of smoked paprika. Will definitely make this again. Thanks Ali!
This recipe is super good! I just made it to the T and served it with Brussels sprouts and brown rice. It was a hit! Thanks for creating something so delicious and flavorful!
Turned out absolutely amazing — so so good. I always get nervous trying out new recipes because it might not work/taste good. I’ve wasted a lot of food using bad recipes! This is a must try, especially for vegetarians/vegans!
Really delicious! Only next time I wont use as much soy sauce because it was incredibly salty. I also used brown sugar in replacement of maple syrup. You can always adjust the amount of certain ingredients to your liking, deff worth a try!
Mine turned out really salty too, and I love salt, so that’s saying something! I’m surprised others aren’t having same issue. I didn’t double the sauce and used on some udon noodles, so maybe doubling the soy sauce was the issue. Next time I’ll use all low sodium soy sauce or have regular, half low sodium.