Here’s an easy tofu recipe: Baked Peanut Butter & Lime Tofu!
These slabs of tofu are coated in a rich peanut butter-based sauce with a delicious hint of testiness from the lime. It gets its hint of saltiness from soy sauce and sweetness from coconut sugar.
These are perfect for those busy days since this recipe requires minimal prep and clean-up! Just leave it all in the oven to cook!
These pieces of Peanut Butter & Lime Tofu are:
- Super easy to put together
- Versatile–you can enjoy these with salads, wraps, rice, noodles, sandwiches, and more!
- Require very minimal prep since you can basically just leave everything to cook int the oven
- Coated in a rich sauce with a delicious hint of testiness from the lime
I served these with a side of turmeric garlic rice, sliced cucumber for an extra refreshing crunch, sliced cilantro for a perfectly hearty meal.
EXTRA FIRM TOFU
I highly recommend using firm or extra firm tofu for this recipe. These are easier to handle and absorb flavour really well!
First, it’s important to press your tofu to get rid of excess liquid.
- To drain excess water out of the tofu: I usually do this by wrapping them with some paper towels and placing a plate on top of them but you can also opt to use a tofu press. This step is important to make sure the water seeps out of the tofu and the tofu to be able to absorb the sauce well.
Slice the tofu into 3/4 to 1-inch thick pieces. Mine were rectangular pieces.
But you can also of course slice yours into other shapes and sizes!
THE PEANUT-LIME SAUCE
For this sauce, you’ll need:
- Lime juice
- Peanut butter
- Coconut sugar or other sugar, to taste
- Soy sauce
- Minced garlic
- Dash black pepper
- Sesame oil
You’ll just need to mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl or deep plate. Feel free to adjust the measurements according to your desired sweetness and sourness!
Add each tofu into the sauce to coat well.
Transfer the tofu on a baking tray lined with some parchment paper.
Pour the excess sauce over the tofu. You can also leave some of the sauce to pour over the tofu after cooking.
Bake the tofu for 35-40 minutes or until it has absorbed the sauce and formed a nice coating from the sauce (see pics above).
The finished baked peanut butter & lime tofu!
OTHER COOKING OPTION: PAN-FRY
If pan-frying your tofu, simply heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add a little oil. Once hot, place the tofu. Cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat on both sides or until lightly golden brown.
TO ENJOY YOUR TOFU
I served mine with some turmeric garlic rice, sliced cucumber for an extra refreshing crunch, sliced cilantro for a perfectly hearty meal.
You can over the excess sauce of the tofu (if you set some aside) and some sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Find the recipe for this tofu below.
If you try out this recipe, I’d appreciate if you leave a rating or simply click on the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on my recipe card!
You can also check out my other vegan tofu recipes here or down below:
Check out my tips on how to store tofu!
- Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu
- Baked Peanut and Lime Tofu
- Pineapple Cashew Tofu Stir-Fry
- Black Pepper Tofu Steaks
- Tofu “Chicken” Teriyaki
- Korean Spicy Braised Tofu
- Fried ‘Chicken’ and Gravy
- Tofu Katsu
- Nori-Wrapped Tofu in Spicy Sauce
- Maple Hoisin Tofu
Are you looking for more delicious, vegan recipes?
Check out my Vegan Kitchen eBook, that has over 95 recipes (and a whole section for Asian recipes!) that are packed with flavour and made with simple and easily accessible ingredients! Also, two trees will be planted for every download of my eBook through non-profit organisation One Tree Planted.
Baked Peanut Butter & Lime Tofu
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Parchment paper to line baking tray
Ingredients
Tofu
- 400 g extra firm tofu
Peanut Lime Sauce
- 2 tbsp lime juice from 1 lime
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar or other sugar, to taste (see notes)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Dash black pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
To Serve
- Turmeric Garlic Rice
- Sliced cucumber
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven or oven toaster to 380F/200C.
Pressing Tofu
- Drain excess water out of the tofu. I usually do this by wrapping them with some paper towels and placing a plate on top of them but you can also opt to use a tofu press. This step is important to make sure the water seeps out of the tofu and the tofu to be able to absorb the sauce well.
- Slice the tofu into 3/4 to 1-inch thick pieces. Mine were rectangular pieces.
Sauce and Tofu
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl or deep plate. Feel free to adjust the measurements according to your desired sweetness and sourness.
- Add each tofu into the sauce to coat well.
- Transfer the tofu on a baking tray lined with some parchment paper.
- Pour the excess sauce over the tofu. You can also leave some of the sauce to pour over the tofu after cooking.
- Bake the tofu for 35-40 minutes or until it has absorbed the sauce and formed a nice coating from the sauce (see pics above).
- You can also pan-fry your tofu (see notes below).
To Serve
- Serve with some turmeric garlic rice, sliced cucumber for an extra refreshing crunch, sliced cilantro for a perfectly hearty meal.
- You can over the excess sauce of the tofu (if you set some aside) and some sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Notes
Sugar
This can depend on the sweetness of your peanut butter. If using sweetened peanut butter, you can lessen the sugar. You can also use other sugar instead of coconut sugar.Other cooking option: Pan-Frying
If pan-frying your tofu, simply heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add a little oil. Once hot, place the tofu. Cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat on both sides or until lightly golden brown.NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 9 Comments
Delicious and flavorful! Thanks for sharing all the yummy recepies!
I made this as a quick dinner tonight and I loved it. Rich, simple flavors, thoroughly satisfying. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much Jess! Glad you liked it 🙂
I needed to lower the temperature a bit to around 350 to avoid the honey I used in lieu of sugar from burning. This was absolutely delicious! I made it with noodles that I tossed in extra sauce prior to topping with the tofu. I added chopped cilantro and a tiny but of rice wine vinegar (only because my lime didn’t give me much juice). Will absolutely make again.
The flavor combination here is so on point for my palate. The peanut lime tofu, garlic turmeric rice and cucumber, topped with cilantro and spring onion just yum!
I found it interesting how much the sauce flavor changes after baking. Precooked it is very tangy and sweet, after it seems more savory. I really enjoy both flavors. I drizzled a little unbaked sauce on the tofu before serving for add sweet and tanginess.
I took it out before 30 minutes was up. My tofu look different than yours. Sauce was very well absorbed, darker and not moist looking. I believe next time I need to watch it more closely. Not sure if it need less time or perhaps a lower temp. This may be something that could have altered the flavor of the sauce, over-cooking. No matter, was super yummy and a total hit!
Thank you for a terrific recipe! Mwah!
Hi Amanda!Thank you so much for sharing this. The cooking time may have caused the tofu to soak up the sauce so it’d be best to possibly lower the heat or cook it for a shorter time next time. The sauce does change a bit in terms of flavour as it cooks (the tanginess does disappear a bit) so a squeeze of lime afterwards is great 🙂
Question, I made the sauce and it was not creamy, but like curdled. Is that possible because I used bottled lime juice? I didn’t make the dish due to this however will be getting lime tomorrow to try this.
PS I have loved every dish of your I have tried ?
Hi Joyce! Not so sure what type of creaminess you were looking for but the sauce itself isn’t very thick/creamy. Actually quite runny. But once you soak the tofu in the sauce and pour the remaining sauce to the baking tray for baking, the liquid will start to evaporate as it cooks and coat the tofu better. And the lime juice shouldn’t matter whether it’s bottled/fresh. hope this helps! ◡̈
Has anyone tried using frozen tofu for these recipes? It absorbs a lot more flavour, just thaw, press and marinate.