These balsamic tofu steaks are made with pan-fried slabs of tofu in a sweet and zippy balsamic reduction, then served with a smoky mix of sautéed bell peppers and fresh basil. Pair them up with rice or couscous for an absolutely delicious vegan meal that's also super easy to make!
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (16 ounce/454 gram) package super firm tofu, drained and sliced into six slabs (Note 1)
- Cooked rice, couscous or polenta
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Stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
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To make the red pepper topping, first coat the bottom of a medium nonstick skillet with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and place it over medium-high heat.
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Give the skillet a minute to heat up, then add the bell pepper and shallot. Cook the mixture for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until the pepper begins to soften and the shallot begins to brown.
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Add the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the balsamic sauce to the skillet. Continue cooking the mixture for about 1 minute, until the sauce dries up and the garlic becomes very fragrant.
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Remove the pepper mixture from the skillet and transfer it to a bowl. Stir in the basil and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
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To cook the tofu, lower the heat beneath the skillet to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of oil.
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Once the oil is hot, add the tofu slabs in a single layer (Note 2). Cook the tofu for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
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Carefully pour the balsamic sauce over the tofu. Bring it to a simmer and allow it to cook until it thickens and coats the tofu steaks, about 5 minutes. If you'd like, you can flip the tofu steaks and gently move them around the skillet as they cook, in order to encourage them to pick up more of the sauce.
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Remove the tofu from the skillet. Divide the tofu steaks onto plates along with accompaniments of choice. Top with the bell pepper mixture and give everything a sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
- You can refer to the photo within the post to see how to slice the tofu. Optionally, if you'd like to get four servings out of this recipe, slice the tofu instead into four larger slabs so that each serving includes one large tofu steak.
- You can cook the tofu slabs in batches if you don't have room for them all in your skillet. Make sure to reserve enough sauce for the second batch when adding it in step 8.
- Nutrition information does not include accompaniments.