General Tso’s Tofu

5 from 13 votes

Crispy tofu chunks are drenched in a sweet, spicy, gingery sauce and served with broccoli and rice to make this flavor-packed General Tso's tofu. A 30-minute vegan meal that's better than takeout and almost as easy!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Entree

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 362kcal

Author: Alissa

Ingredients

For the Sauce

¼ cup chilled water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (or another tablespoon of regular soy sauce)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons organic brown sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the General Tso's Tofu

1 (16 ounce/454 gram) package super firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
⅓ cup cornstarch (plus more as needed)
¼ cup vegetable oil (or high heat oil of choice, plus more as needed)
5-10 dried red chile peppers cut in half, seeds optionally removed (see Note)
1 medium broccoli crown, broken into florets (about 3 cups)
2 medium scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated (about ¼ cup total)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Toasted sesame seeds
Cooked rice, for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set it aside.
Place the cornstarch in a small bowl.
Generously coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. You'll need the oil to be about ¼ inch deep.
While the oil heats up, place a few tofu cubes into the bowl of cornstarch. Dredge the tofu in the cornstarch, then once the oil begins to shimmer, remove the tofu from the bowl and gently shake the pieces to remove any excess cornstarch. Add the tofu cubes to the hot oil. Continue coating the tofu and adding pieces to the oil, cooking as many at a time as you can fit without crowding.
Cook the tofu for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy, then flip the pieces and cook them for another 5 minutes on the opposite sides. Transfer the cooked tofu to a plate when done, and cook any remaining pieces in a second batch, adding oil to the skillet if needed.
If the skillet is dry at this point, add a dash more oil. If there's already more than a light coating of oil, carefully blot some out with a paper towel. Raise the heat to high.
Add the dried chiles to the skillet, then stir-fry them for about 1 minute, until they begin to darken.
Add the broccoli to the skillet and stir-fry until tender-crisp and bright green, about 3 minutes.
Push the broccoli and dried chiles to the sides of the skillet, then add the white parts of your scallions, garlic, and ginger to the center of the skillet. Sauté the mixture for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until very fragrant.
Return the tofu to the skillet, then carefully pour the sauce over the tofu. Flip everything a few times to coat the broccoli and tofu with the sauce. Cook everything just until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute.
Remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle with green parts of scallions and sesame seeds.
Divide onto plates and serve with rice.

Notes

For a milder version of the dish, remove the seeds from the dried chiles before adding them to the skillet. You can also skip the chiles altogether, or substitute sriracha or sambal oelek to taste.
Nutrition information includes 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds per serving and does not include rice.

Nutrition