Oil Free Kung Pao Tofu! No more bland tofu with this bold, double-sauced Asian inspired tofu goodness.

This Oil Free Kung Pao Tofu is packed with excellent umami flavor combining sweet, salty, and spicy making it totally irresistible. Oven baked to perfection, the tofu is coated with a delicious “sticky” sauce boasting crunchy peanuts that is sure to rival take-out any day of the week. Serve with hearty rice and fresh, steamed, or roasted veggies for a nourishing meal.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Mom was never a tofu fan until we went Whole Food Plant Based, now she absolutely loves it. In her former life, she loved Kung Pao Chicken. This Whole Food Plant Based nod is now Mom’s favorite way to enjoy tofu.

We devoured it. The play on sweet, salty, and spicy is a total game changer.  It carries a slight kick of heat, so adjust the Chili Garlic Sauce accordingly.

You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

• Flavor Profile: This is an oil-free, vegan nod to Kung Pao flavors with a spicy, salty, and sweet elements.
• Spiciness: The heat comes from the chili garlic sauce. Feel free to adjust accordingly to heat preferences.
• Saltiness: Some family members felt the sauce was too salty while others felt that it was perfect. We originally had ¼ cup reduced-sodium tamari and no vegetable broth, but we cut it back to 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari and added 2 Tablespoons low-sodium vegetable broth. We couldn’t win as family members felt strongly about their preferences.  We ultimately landed on reducing the tamari so the reader could adjust the tamari to vegetable broth ratio accordingly. If unsure, start on the low side of the tamari and taste test accordingly. Tasting the uncooked sauce, will give you the flavor profile and will allow you to adjust some of the ingredients accordingly to suit your personal preferences.
• Pressing Tofu: We used a tofu press. If you don’t have a tofu press, simply place some paper towels on a plate, then add the tofu.  Put paper towels on top of the tofu, then add a plate on top of that, then add a weight (large cans of beans, etc.) to add pressure. After 15 minutes, change the paper towels as the paper towels should be soaked with water from pressing the tofu and lay new paper towels and press for another 15 minutes.
• Chinese Five Spice Powder: There are quite a few great Chinese Five Spice powders available to purchase or you can make your own. You can leave this out of the recipe, but it does add great dimension and flavor.
• Cornstarch/Arrowroot Powder: If you have a lot of marinade left-over, you may want to slightly increase the cornstarch/arrowroot powder to create a thicker sauce.
• Marinade: Largely dependent upon how long you marinate the tofu, you may or may not have any left-over marinade. We had some left-over and added it to our sauce.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.

This dish can be frozen.

Pantry Products Used:

• Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium.  You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
• Vegetable Stock:   We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.  Feel free to use your favorite vegetable broth.
• Molasses:  We used Grandma’s Unsulfured Original Molasses.  Feel free to use your favorite molasses.  We do not recommend black strap molasses. You can leave the molasses out of the dish if you wish.  The molasses adds excellent depth of flavor and is reminiscent of brown sugar.
• Chili Garlic Sauce:  We used Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce. This brand does have a small amount of sugar.  However, this brand is generally accepted by the WFPB community.

Kitchen Products Used:

• Tofu press (optional)
• Small stock pot
• Baking sheet

If you try this tasty tofu, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.

Oil Free Kung Pao Tofu

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes (+Rest Time)
• Cook Time: 30 Minutes
• Total Time: 40 Minutes (+Rest Time)
• Yield: 4-5 Servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop, Oven
• Cuisine: Asian Inspired
• Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

This Oil Free Kung Pao Tofu is packed with excellent umami flavor combining sweet, salty, and spicy making it totally irresistible.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Base Ingredients:

• 14 to 16 oz. extra firm tofu, pressed

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 Tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari (+/-) *
• 2 Tablespoons low-sodium vegetable broth (+/-) *
• 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (+/-)
• 2 teaspoons molasses *
• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon tahini
• ¾ to 1 ½ teaspoons chili garlic sauce (+/-) *
• 1/8 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder *

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 Tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari (+/-) *
• 2 Tablespoons low-sodium vegetable broth (+/-) *
• 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (+/-)
• 2 teaspoons molasses *
• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon tahini
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili garlic sauce (+/-) *
• 1/8 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder *
• 1 to 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch (or arrowroot powder) * 

Optional Ingredients:

• ¼ to ¾ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Optional Topping Ingredients:

• Freshly sliced green onions

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Press the tofu for 30 minutes.
2. In the meantime, make the marinade by placing all the Marinade Ingredients into a bowl, whisk well, then place into a tightly covered flat container until the tofu is ready.
3. After the tofu has been pressed, cut the tofu into ½-inch thick triangles (or rectangles, squares) and place them in the container holding the marinade. Then gently turn the tofu around and around so it has been completely coated in the thin marinade. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight. Flip the tofu occasionally to ensure all sides are soaking the marinade.
4. When the tofu has completed marinating, preheat the oven to 350 F. Flip the tofu once again in the marinade, then place the tofu pieces onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet.  Place in a preheated 350 F oven for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, take the partially cooked tofu pieces out of the oven. Take each piece of tofu and dunk it into the marinade to coat, then return to the baking sheet. Bake for another 15 minutes, then remove from the oven.
6. In the meantime, during the 2^nd baking of the tofu, make the sauce by placing all the Sauce Ingredients (and any left-over marinade) into a small stockpot. Heat over medium-high heat until the mixture becomes slightly thick, stirring constantly. Cook for several minutes, then remove from the heat to allow to slightly cool.
7. After the 2^nd 15 minutes of baking has been completed, take each piece of tofu and dip it into the cooked sauce (coating thoroughly) and return to the hot baking sheet to set up. Repeat until all the tofu has been dipped in the cooked sauce.  The residual heat from the baking sheet will allow the tofu to set up.
8. Place the peanuts in a small bowl, add a tablespoon or two of the cooked sauce and stir until they are all evenly coated.
9. Serve the baked tofu and sauce-coated peanuts with steamed rice and some freshly sliced green onions.

---

Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.   

*Servings:  4 to 5

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.