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    You are here: Home / Entrees / Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry

    LAST UPDATED: January 24, 2022 • FIRST PUBLISHED: May 22, 2016

    Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Thai Basil Tofu Stir-Fry

    Crispy pan-fried tofu is tossed in a sweet chili-lime sauce with fresh basil to make this flavorful Thai basil tofu stir-fry.

    Overhead View of a Bowl of Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry and Rice, with Chopsticks on the Side

    A few months ago I hit my twenty year meatless milestone. That feels pretty weird, because I honestly don't feel old enough to have reached any twenty year milestone, or at least any twenty year milestone of any adult decision, which I consider cutting out meat to be.

    Anyhow, this last month has been a weird one for me and my long and continuing vegetarian history, as I haven't had much of an appetite. This is rare for me. Very, very rare. I love to eat. Unfortunately, since around Christmas I've spent the majority of my days battling not one, but two nasty, nasty winter colds. I'm just getting over the latter, which was by far the worst. It helps that I'm working from home now, but the interesting thing about having this unstructured sort of day at home is that during my weekdays while fighting illness it would get to be around three in the afternoon and I'd suddenly realize I'd forgotten to eat all day. That was when I became aware that I was pretty darn sick. Lack of appetite is not an affliction I'm familiar with.

    I also realized I was forgetting to write up my blog posts, which is also weird, because almost as much as I like to eat my food, I like to talk about it. I'm usually way ahead on drafts, but lately, having no appetite, I found myself at a bit of a loss for words.

    Thai Basil Tofu Stir-Fry

    Fortunately, sometime around midday Sunday I strolled over to the kitchen to grab a couple of crackers and found myself going back for more, followed by some peanut butter, then strawberries, then the realization that I was back in business.

    For my comeback, I'm giving you guys a delicious recipe that I don't have a whole heck of a lot to say about. It's great and all, it just hasn't really crossed my mind since I made and photographed it a couple of weeks ago. It's sweet, spicy, and it gives basil a totally new place in your life that you will at once realize you've been longing for for years. This goes perfectly with my Thai coconut rice, which you can even see in the background in some of my photos. Enjoy.

    Thai Basil Tofu Stir-Fry
     
    Overhead View of a Bowl of Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry and Rice, with Chopsticks on the Side
    4.34 from 3 votes
    Print

    Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry

    Crispy pan-fried tofu is tossed in a sweet chili-lime sauce with fresh basil to make this flavorful Thai basil tofu stir-fry.
    Course Entree
    Cuisine American, Thai
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 10 minutes
    Total Time 20 minutes
    Servings 4
    Calories 243 kcal
    Author Alissa

    Ingredients

    • 2 tbsp. lime juice
    • 1 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
    • 2 tbsp. brown sugar
    • ½ tbsp. chili paste, more if you like extra spicy
    • 1 ½ tsp. cornstarch, optional, see note
    • 1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
    • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
    • 1 tsp. sesame oil
    • 4 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
    • 2 red bell peppers, diced
    • 1 large broccoli crown, chopped
    • 2 cups sliced fresh basil

    Instructions

    1. Whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste and cornstarch, if using. Set aside.
    2. Cut tofu into bite sized cubes or triangles.
    3. Heat oils in large skillet over medium heat. Add tofu and cook on each side until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and transfer to plate.
    4. Add garlic and ginger to skillet and sauté for about 1 minute.
    5. Raise heat to medium-high. Add broccoli and peppers and stir fry until tender-crisp, about 3-5 minutes.
    6. Add lime juice mixture and mix to coat. Continue to stir fry for about a minute, or until sauce thickens up and coats veggies.
    7. Add tofu and basil and mix completely.
    8. Serve with rice.

    Recipe Notes

    I updated this recipe recently. The original version didn't include cornstarch, but when I remade the dish for the photos I felt like the sauce needed a little thickener. If you've been making this for a while without the cornstarch and enjoyed it, go ahead and continue to make it that way. If this dish is new to you, I recommend using the cornstarch.br]For more guidance on how to get the perfect tofu texture, check out [this crispy tofu tutorial.

    Nutrition Facts
    Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 243 Calories from Fat 122
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 13.6g21%
    Saturated Fat 2.5g13%
    Sodium 296mg12%
    Potassium 661mg19%
    Carbohydrates 22g7%
    Fiber 4.7g19%
    Sugar 10.5g12%
    Protein 13.6g27%
    Calcium 240mg24%
    Iron 3.6mg20%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    « Eggplant Cacciatore
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    About Alissa Saenz

    Hi, I'm Alissa! I'm a former attorney turned professional food blogger. I love creating vegan recipes with bold flavors! You can read more about me here.

    I'd love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. PataksCanada says

      January 27, 2014 at 4:28 pm

      Congratulations on the milestone, super impressive!

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        January 27, 2014 at 10:17 pm

        Thanks so much! The time flew right by and I never looked back :)

        Reply
    2. Rachael S says

      January 27, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      Yum! Congrats on 20 years! Gorgeous photos, too.

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        January 27, 2014 at 10:17 pm

        Thank you, thank you, and thank you, Rachael!!!

        Reply
    3. Shani says

      November 19, 2014 at 7:56 am

      Made this recipe today :) so yummy!!! Thanks for sharing .

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        November 19, 2014 at 10:05 pm

        Yay!! This was a favorite of mine and I need to make it again soon. Thanks for reminding me, and glad to hear you enjoyed it as well! :)

        Reply
    4. Pediya Jayasinghe says

      June 26, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      Bang on recipe! Had a lot of fun preparing it. The sauce was very flavorful.

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        June 26, 2016 at 9:19 pm

        Glad you liked it! Thanks so much for letting me know!!

        Reply
    5. Linda McKenzie says

      March 31, 2017 at 2:57 am

      By 'child paste' do you mean sambal olek?

      Reply
    6. Linda McKenzie says

      March 31, 2017 at 2:59 am

      Sorry autocorrect typo in previous comment:

      By ‘chili paste’ do you mean sambal olek?

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        April 02, 2017 at 8:38 pm

        Yup!

        Reply
    7. ann says

      May 11, 2017 at 4:53 pm

      This recipe turned out dry for me. I even doubled the amount of sauce, but still, there was very little sauce beyond a light coating on the tofu and vegetables.

      The Holy Grail of Chinese style cooking would be a nice saucy base without the calories that come with a lot of oil or the salt that comes with a lot of soy sauce. Sometimes I use broth, but without oil the dishes tend to get mushy.

      Reply
      • rs says

        September 12, 2018 at 11:30 pm

        4 stars
        its not chinese, its thai. thai doesnt use cornstarch so much, the broth is watery, supposed to be.
        I made it without, its delicious. If you find it too salty, triditional style would use fish sauce, its not my recipe, but you could sub fish sauce for some of the soy sauce, if you just had a thin coating, you may have cooked it too long

        Reply
    8. Carol says

      July 31, 2018 at 11:16 pm

      Amazing recipe! Packed with flavor. I used the veggies that were already in my refrigerator...squash, zucchini, carrots, onion, bell pepper and purple cabbage. It’s so adaptable and delicious!

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        August 03, 2018 at 3:42 pm

        I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And those sound like delicious additions. :)

        Reply
    9. Benita Greenfield says

      June 27, 2019 at 5:45 pm

      I plan to try this tomorrow. I don’t have enough Thai basil to make two cups so I’ll add regular basil (sigh), but one does what one can.

      I also wanted to agree about the use of law books. As a former attorney editor for Thomson Reuters, I also wanted to mention that I appreciated the fact that different publishers are represented.🤪😜.

      Reply
      • Alissa Saenz says

        June 30, 2019 at 2:26 pm

        Lol! It's nice that somebody noticed - haha! You can definitely sub regular basil - I often can't find Thai basil so I end up doing that. :)

        Reply
    10. regs says

      January 21, 2020 at 11:21 pm

      4 stars
      my compliments to the chef!

      Reply
    11. Hans says

      April 12, 2020 at 5:40 pm

      I just made this. It was great. Very close to our favorite Thai restaurant’s basil sauce. Thanks for posting (all those years ago!)

      Reply
    12. Jonathon says

      September 16, 2021 at 8:37 pm

      5 stars
      This was really good! And not too hard to make for a novice like me. The biggest issue was the cornstarch...maybe I was trying to do too much at once, but it congealed almost instantly when it hit the pan and got kind of gummy. I think I'll try it without next time, even if watery. May try double sauce too as it's a bit dry.

      Reply

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