This hearty Brussels sprout fried rice has crispy fried rice and shaved Brussels sprouts with spicy chunks of baked sriracha marinated tofu.
Belgian-Asian fusion at it's best! Up next: lo mein waffles. I'm being silly. I have no idea if Brussels sprouts are actually even a Belgian thing. Maybe Brussels sprouts in Chinese food have been done before.
Whatever the case though, my addition of Brussels sprouts into this dish was a bit random. I purchased them with the intent of using them in an entirely different dish. But when I got to my little neighborhood produce mart I found that all of the Brussels sprouts they had in stock were huge. Like, as in, the biggest Brussles sprouts I'd ever seen. I wondered if they could even be called "sprouts" at their size. (Does anyone know what Brussels sprouts mature into? Belgian cities, perhaps? With the size of these things, I'd buy that.)
So the initial dish I planned on using these in wouldn't work, because it would've called for whole, or at least halved, Brussels sprouts, and these would have looked more like whole or half heads of cabbage in the photos.
I was at least pleased to find that my giant veggies retained the texture and flavor of the normal-sized versions. If I sliced them really thin, perhaps nobody'd know they started out giant (had I not just announced it publicly on the internet).
I'm kind of thankful for the interference with my initial plan, because while I can make that dish anytime, I might have never come up with this one under different conditions, and it turned out awesome.
Fried rice is great. Brussels sprout fried rice with spicy tofu is better. This dish has all the flavors and textures. A little crunch and bitterness from the sprouts, a little sweet from maple (because I had to add maple to any Brussels sprout-centric dish), a little salty and savory from soy sauce, and then some spicy in the baked tofu, which rounds everything off beautifully.
Brussels Sprout Fried Rice with Spicy Baked Tofu
Ingredients
For the Spicy Baked Tofu
- 7 ounces extra firm tofu (half of a 14 ounce package), drained and pressed at least 20 minutes
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
For the Brussels Sprout Fried Rice
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 3 cups very thinly sliced Brussels sprouts
- 3 cups cooked rice, preferably a day or so old and chilled
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Make the Spicy Baked Tofu
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Preheat oven to 400°.
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Cut tofu into ½ inch cubes.
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Stir the soy sauce, sriracha, vinegar, maple syrup and sesame oil together in a small bowl. Add the tofu cubes and toss to coat.
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Arrange the tofu cubes in an even layer on a parchment lined baking sheet, reserving any excess marinade. Bake for 15 minutes, then gently turn and spoon or brush reserved marinade over cubes. Bake another 15 minutes, until crispy in spots.
Make the Brussels Sprout Fried Rice
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Stir the soy sauce and maple syrup together in small bowl. Set aside.
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Heat the oils in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add the white parts of scallions, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for 1 minute.
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Add the Brussels sprouts. Stir-fry 2 minutes more.
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Add the rice and soy sauce-maple syrup mixture. Continue to stir-fry until the Brussels sprouts are tender-crisp and bright green, and rice has dry, crispy spots, about 5 minutes.
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Remove from heat and stir in the spicy baked tofu.
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Divide onto plates and top with green parts of scallions and sesame seeds.
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Serve.
Recipe Notes
Tofu can optionally be marinated for up to one day.
Leftover rice works best here, as it's already a bit dried out, so it crisps up better.
How about Tournai Greens?
This looks SO delicious Alissa! Brussels sprouts get a bad rap but they can be really gorgeous - as this recipe shows!! :)
This was fantastic! Where is the 5 star button? We loved it. The way you thinly cut the B.S. (Brussels sprouts;) made all the difference. We all agreed that just the fried rice part, even if had no time to bake the tofu, was really delicious. A definite keeper and Pinned! Thanks again!
Awesome! This was one of my favorites too! I'm always telling people who aren't into Brussels sprouts to try slicing them thin - it's like a whole different veggie. So glad you enjoyed this. Thanks Nina!
One of my favorite meals now!! Simple but so delicious and healthy! Made it twice in 1 week :)
I'm so glad you like it! Thanks Kellie!
Made this tonight and it was amazing! Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow!
I'm so glad to hear that!! Thanks Jenny!
This was amazing. I do have a question though: what is your secret to crispy rice? We made sure that it was a day old and cold, but all it did was burn to the bottom of the wok. What did we do wrong?
I'm glad you enjoyed it!! I actually prefer a cast iron skillet over a wok. I know wok is supposed to be the way to go for fried rice, but if it's well seasoned you should't get any sticking. I also find the flat bottom of a skillet makes it easy scoop up the rice on the bottom so none of it sits there too long and burns.
Aahhhh, excellent tip!! I doubled the recipe (to feed a family of 7), so figured the wok would be better suited for the volume of ingredients. But I see I might be better off using our cast iron, and cooking it in two batches instead. I did want to point out though, that while the rice didn’t crispen up as my heart had desired, the flavor was a dream. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
Made this tonight because we had some extra Brussels sprouts I needed to get rid of. All I can say is, wow, this was incredibly delicious! I’m sending the recipe to all my vegan friends. Thank you.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
OMG! Just made this tonight. Outstanding!!! Can’t wait to share this recipe!
Yay!! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Nancy!
My husband made this for me and WOW. I have never been a fan of fried rice until I had this. We doubles it so he could take the leftovers to work but I beat him to them! We paired it with some boc choy and garlicky sautéed kale to bulk it out. So good!
Yay!! I'm so glad you both enjoyed it!! Bok choy ank kale sound like delicious additions! Thanks Katherine!
*doubled
:)
I absolutely love Brussels and put them in everything too! I have been wanting to make fried rice at home so this will be my next Brussels sprout adventure!
Aren't they wonderful?! I hope you enjoy this!
i made this at home for a friend and I and let me tell you, we licked our plates it was so good. the only thing i really added was bell peppers, mushrooms and siracha :) thank you keep it up!
Those sound like delicious additions!! I'm glad you both enjoyed it!
I am convinced that just by eating it, it will be so delicious Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.
Thank you! Enjoy!!
I haven’t made this yet but is it possible to shred the Brussels sprouts using a food processor with the slice blade? I don’t have a mandolin and the thought of doing it by hand sounds tedious. It looks amazing though and healthy and I can’t wait to try it!
I haven't tried, but I think that would work well!
Food processor is how I always do it! Works great and you can keep pre-shredded brussels sprouts on hand in the fridge for a few days.
Might try this recipe with cauliflower rice, we shall see!
I'd love to hear how it turns out!
Made this last weekend WOW what a star recipe this is now a firm favourite. I doubled the amount of tofu and I'm glad I did as it was so tasty.
Pretty good and pretty simple and quick to make. Thank you!
I'm glad you like it!
Has anyone ever doubled tofu and halved the rice for a lower carb option? How many servings should the recipe make in its original form?
I've made it without any rice and I still love it. Just replace with equal (or more) volume of brussels sprouts. There are also some great veggie rice options out there, like Right Rice or "riced" cauliflower.
Tge recipe sounds great. Can’t wait to try. What can I sub the sriracha sauce with if I don’t have it on hand?
You could use another type of hot sauce. The flavor will vary slightly but it should still be delicious! Enjoy!
LOVE THIS!!
Also great without rice if you're trying to reduce carbs or calories. Just up the brussels :)
And very forgiving if you're missing one of the seasonings.
Excellent. Definitely will make again. Love this tofu recipe to use in other dishes, too. Thanks!
We love this recipe and after buying the brussels sprouts, I shred them all in my food processor and make this recipe, always! Use remaining sprouts to add crunch to salads for the remaining week. It is fantastic and the tofu recipe can be used in multiple dishes, so double it. Thank you Alissa for one of many great recipes.
I wanted this for lunch but since it was lunchtime, I decided to prep this dish for my dinner. As I was heating my leftover soup for lunch, I marinated the tofu, sliced the Brussels sprout, put the sauce together, and put the rice in my rice cooker; (all while waiting on my soup for lunch to heat up). After lunch, I put the cooked rice in the refrigerator to chill. Dinner (this dish) was fast and easy since everything was prepped. Very flavorful even to someone (hubby) who isn't a sprout fan.
This is fantastic! My whole family loved it- even my picky 9-year-old! I doubled the recipe because I have a large family.
My cooked rice (the jasmine variety) was very soft & fluffy, so I put it in the AIR FRYER in small batches - all 6 cups since it was a double recipe. 350 degrees for 12 minutes. It worked like a charm! Crisped up nicely & it was delicious.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be preparing this often.