
Tempeh satay with peanut sauce
Turmeric and curry-spiced tempeh strips seared until golden and dunked in a creamy, tangy peanut sauce, with rice and cool cucumber to balance all that richness.
- 45 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $3.03 a serving
- 910 calories
- Vegan
- Dairy-free

Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 package tempeh
- 1 tsp curry powder
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¾ cups water, divided
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, divided
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp brown sugar, divided
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 910 calories, 41 g protein, 107 g carbs and 40 g fat, and costs about $3.03 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice and bring it in a small with 1½ cups water and the salt over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave the lid on.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Meanwhile, cut the tempeh into sticks about ½ inch thick and them with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, the curry powder, turmeric and 1 teaspoon brown sugar. Let them sit 10 minutes.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Timer: 10 min
the peanut butter, lime juice, the rest of the soy sauce and brown sugar, the sriracha, garlic and ¼ cup warm water until smooth and pourable.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: It looks split and stiff at first. Keep whisking and it turns creamy. Add water a spoonful at a time if it’s too thick to drizzle.Heat the oil in a large nonstick over medium heat. Cook the tempeh about 3 minutes a side, until .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Dolly’s tip: Turmeric stains, so use tongs rather than your fingers to turn the sticks.Serve the tempeh with the rice and cucumber, with the peanut sauce for dunking and cilantro on top.

Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this

Air fryer tofu
45 min

Tempeh and broccoli stir-fry
45 min

Tempeh bulgogi
45 min

Air fryer orange tofu
45 min
High-protein dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with rice and cucumber ›