Tofu fried rice
Golden crumbled tofu, sweet peas and carrots, edamame and green onions tossed with cooled rice and soy sauce, the fried rice that keeps you full for hours.
- 65 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.58 a serving
- 550 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 package extra-firm tofu, drained
- 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sriracha (optional)
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- ½ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 550 calories, 24 g protein, 71 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $1.58 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 extra-firm tofu? Firm tofu works.
- No frozen mixed vegetables? Frozen peas or frozen corn or frozen green beans work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice in a strainer, put it in a with the water and ¼ teaspoon salt, and 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.
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.
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.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Spread the hot rice on a and let it cool 20 minutes. Rice cooked yesterday and chilled is even better.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Warm, fresh rice turns mushy in the pan. Cool, dry rice fries into separate grains.While it cools, the tofu dry and it with your fingers into pea-size pieces.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Heat 1½ tablespoons oil in a large nonstick over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring every minute or so, until and a little , 8 to 10 minutes.
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.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Tofu is safe to eat straight from the package; cooking is only for texture and flavor.
Push the tofu to one side, add the frozen vegetables, edamame and garlic, and 3 minutes, until hot.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Add the rest of the oil and the rice. Press it flat and leave it 1 minute, then stir and repeat for about 5 minutes, until hot with a few bits.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Leaving it alone for a minute at a time is how the crispy bits happen.the soy sauce and sesame oil around the edge of the pan, add the pepper and most of the green onions, and until the rice is evenly colored.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
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.
Medium-high heat
Taste, add more soy sauce if you like, and serve topped with the rest of the green onions and a squiggle of sriracha.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
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.
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