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These Soy Garlic Tofu Balls are great with rice, noodles, in a wrap, or as-is! I used my favourite air-fried tofu balls and cooked them down in a deliciously sweet, savoury, and garlicky sauce You can also use this sauce for tofu, veggies, and even store-bought plant based meat balls!
AIR FRIED TOFU BALLS
I love making these air-fried tofu balls, which are the base of this recipe. The balls are made of tofu and a few other basic ingredients.
These are super easy to put together and you can leave the rest to your air-fryer or oven to cook down. These are great as a finger food or snack with your dipping sauce or glaze of choice, like in this recipe.
I had some f these air-fried tofu balls with a spicy mayo, while the rest I cooked down in this delicious soy garlic sauce.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
You can find the full detailed recipe in the card below!
TOFU
- Tofu Balls (recipe here) or other plant-based meat balls of choice
SOY GARLIC SAUCE
- garlic, minced
- Chinese black vinegar
- soy sauce
- vegetarian oyster sauce
- sugar
- room temperature water
- corn starch
FOR STIR-FRYING
- neutral oil
- scallion, chopped (green and white parts separated)
- shallot or red onion
- red bell pepper
COOKING THE SOY GARLIC TOFU BALLS
- Note: You can double the sauce if you’re using more than 10 tofu balls and adding more veggies
FOR THE SAUCE
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Feel free to adjust it to your taste and add more or less of everything depending on your preference.
STIR-FRYING
- Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add in the oil. Once hot, add the white part of the scallion. Sauté for 1 minute. Add in the onion and bell pepper. Cook until the bell pepper is tender. Stir-fry any other vegetables you plan to use before adding the sauce.
- Give the sauce another mix (since the starch tends to settle at the bottom). Pour the sauce into the pan/wok. Leave to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, the sauce will start will start to thicken from the starch.
- Add in the tofu balls or other meatballs you’re using. Coat well in the sauce and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
SERVE AND ENJOY!
- Serve and enjoy with rice, noodles, or have these tofu balls inside a wrap.
MORE TOFU RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE
Check out my tips on how to store tofu!
- Kung Pao Tofu
- Pineapple Cashew Tofu Stir-Fry
- Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu
- 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
- Orange Tofu
- Pan-Fried Tofu Cakes
Soy Garlic Tofu Balls
These are my favourite air-fried tofu balls cooked down in a deliciously sweet, savoury, and garlicky Soy Garlic Sauce. This is best enjoyed with rice or noodles and you can also use this sauce for tofu, veggies, and even store-bought plant based meat balls!
Ingredients
Tofu Balls
- 10 pieces Tofu Balls or other plant-based meat balls of choice , see homemade tofu balls recipe here
Soy Garlic Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp room temperature water
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
For Stir-Frying
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 scallion , chopped (green and white parts separated)
- 1/2 small shallot or red onion , diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper , seeded and diced
Instructions
- Note: You can double the sauce if you’re using more than 10 tofu balls and adding more veggies
Sauce
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Feel free to adjust it to your taste and add more or less of everything depending on your preference.
Stir-Frying
- Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add in the oil. Once hot, add the white part of the scallion. Sauté for 1 minute. Add in the onion and bell pepper. Cook until the bell pepper is tender. Stir-fry any other vegetables you plan to use before adding the sauce.
- Give the sauce another mix (since the starch tends to settle at the bottom). Pour the sauce into the pan/wok. Leave to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, the sauce will start will start to thicken from the starch.
- Add in the tofu balls or other meatballs you’re using. Coat well in the sauce and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Serve and enjoy with rice, noodles, or have these tofu balls inside a wrap.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 274kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 412mg | Potassium: 492mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 992IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 3mg
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This Post Has 6 Comments
I absolutely love these and make them almost every week. They are great with one of the sauces or plain. I will often make them for dinner and then take a few with a salad to work for lunches during the week!!
Can I freeze the tofu balls once they are cooked and then just defrost and sauce them when I am ready to eat? I am having a kitchen remodel done and would love to have these in my freezer.
Hi Mary, so happy hearing this! And yes you can freeze the cooked tofu balls! I recommend to pop them straight into an air fryer or oven from the freezer to cook. Hope this helps! And good luck with the kitchen remodeling ◡̈
This sauce is so yummy, will make this again even without the tofu balls. Thanks
Thanks Pauline! ◡̈
Made this tonight and tripled the sauce recipe, as I got 33 tofu balls out of the tofu ball recipe. Aside from cutting back on the sugar, everything was the same. The tofu balls held together beautifully and tasted good even without the sauce, but the sauce really made the dish!
Yay, thanks Becki! Glad you gave this a try! 🙂