This delicious Weight Watchers-friendly recipe sweet and spicy Asian tofu is a fast and satisfying lunch or dinner.
Today I’m sharing a delicious, vegetarian Weight Watchers recipe. This Sweet and Spicy Asian tofu has been an obsession of mine lately, and since I love it so much I figured it was worth sharing.
I swear I’ve been eating it almost every day. I crave it. It has everything I want in a weekday recipe: flavor, texture and it’s incredibly fast and easy to make. I can have a home cooked lunch ready in less than 10 minutes, and it scales up very easily for two when making dinner.
I typically buy fresh, pre-cut stir fry veggie mixes to save time. However, fresh vegetables work great as well, though! I use whatever I happen to have on hand. Green beans, onions, bell peppers, and broccoli work especially well here.
If you’re not sure how you feel about tofu, give this a try. It’s pan-fried and I honestly feel like I’m eating fried cheese. It soaks up the delicious sauce and is filling without being overly heavy. It’s also very budget friendly! Swapping out meat dishes for tofu is a great way to save on the grocery bill.
Tips for Cooking Tofu
- There are numerous types of tofu available, including silken, soft, firm, and extra firm. Extra firm is what you want for sautéing and pan-frying, though firm tofu will work as well. Avoid anything labeled silken or soft. Those are good for pureeing into sauces, desserts, dips, and various dairy replacements. Firm tofus have a spongey texture and are great at absorbing flavors.
- Because extra firm tofu is stored in water, you want to press as much liquid out as possible before using it. The easiest way to do this is to wrap it the tofu block in a few layers of paper towels and then press it between two dinner plates for 20-40 minutes. You can add a weight (something like a can of beans) on top of the plate to assist with pressing the water out. After that, you’re ready to go!
Looking for more tofu recipes? Be sure to check out my Sesame Crusted Tofu Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing and Crispy Baked Tofu with Broccoli!
Sweet and Spicy Asian Tofu
Ingredients
- 7 ounces extra firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil (I use regular olive oil)
- cooking spray
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 cups assorted stir-fry vegetables
- 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (I recommend Mae Ploy)
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- optional: a few drops of fish sauce
- 2/3 cup brown rice, cooked
Instructions
- An hour before cooking, wrap the tofu in paper towels and place between two plates to help press out the liquid. I like to change the paper towels once during this process. Slice the tofu into even cubes.
- Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add the tofu cubes and allow them to pan fry until golden on one side and then use tongs to turn the pieces. Brown at least 4 sides for the best texture.
- Set the tofu aside and if the pan is no longer oily, add some cooking spray. Saute the garlic and vegetables over medium-high heat with a bit of salt. I prefer my veggies slightly crunchy.
- While the tofu and vegetables are cooking, stir together the sauce ingredients.
- Serve the tofu and vegetables with the sauce over brown rice.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Megan says
I find chasing sunlight so frustrating! and then if you don’t time it perfectly then you have to wait another 12 hours! It took me 3 days to take a photo of chocolate cake!! *end rant*
I know this probably won’t help much but take five minutes a day to center yourself, breath and write a to – do list. I even find putting times on it helps. Eg, 9-10 check emails 11-12 go to post office 12-1 write blog post.
Jayne says
Chasing sunlight. Sigh… settle for florescent light mostly. It’s just impossible for me to be able to photograph everything I cook with natural light. I just choose to stress less and let it be. Not the best advice there is, I know. I also feel like there’s never enough hours in a day. I guess when it comes to food, I do shopping roughly once a week and tend to plan my meals as I shop. 7 days, 7 veggies, enough meat for 7 days. Just so I know what to get out of the freezer, when to marinade etc.
As for this tofu recipe, very nice! I have one more cube of tofu in the fridge waiting for me to turn it into this. :-)
cookinginsens says
Nice recipe and photo.
Roger Stowell says
Everyone suffers with lack of daylight for photography. My food shots reduce drastically in winter. The only solution is to try to put a day aside in which you shoot 6 or 7 shots.
Kathryn says
I know this feeling all too well – my problem is that I tend to spend so much time panicking about how little time I have and how I’m going to fit everything in that I end up with even less time to do the things that I need to do! I’m trying to get smarter about how I use my time but it’s not easy.
I think it’s good at this time of year especially to have some healthier recipes so I’m looking forward to trying this!
Kate@Diethood says
I know how you feel! I get up at 5:30 am and I just don’t stop until close to midnight. Bake, photograph, cook, clean, network, blog, read, pin, tweet…oh my gosh I don’t know how I do it. :) And I have a 6-month old and a 3-year old… and a husband! :-D
If I ever was to go on a diet, I would only choose WW. I know a few people that have done it with great success. I have a WW cookbook and everything I have tried is delicious!
Such a pretty photo! Can you believe that I have never had tofu?!
Michelle @ Eat Move Balance says
I’d love to see the nutritional information for your recipes. It’s always nice to get an idea of what all is in a serving. Thanks!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
Good luck on Weight Watchers! I’ve heard so many great things. I also have had a ton of success with MyFoodDiary.com if you are looking at other options. Regardless, this recipe looks delish. :-)
Jen L | Tartine and Apron Strings says
I think all of us have serious issues about not having enough time in the day! As a mother of 3, I think I spend a large part of my day serving them…but no time for myself :( Need to find a reasonable balance, too. If you do find a good strategy, let me know :) At least your food looks good…! There’s always time to cook…
betsyb says
I work from home mostly, and still have no time during the day to cook so this time of year it is always dark when I get a picture…unless perhaps it’s on the weekend. I just keep trying both ambient light, which is unfortunate florescent in my kitchen, and a flash and move on. I, too, am back on WW. A great program. Love your stir-fry!
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
This looks great! I love tofu. With regards to time management, one of the best advice I received was to not be too hard on myself. I often stress myself with my own list of things to do, but I’m learning to be more flexible… Also, here’s a post I wrote about balancing blogging and a full time job: http://www.confessionsofachocoholic.com/chocolate/how-to-balance-blogging-with-a-full-time-job :)
Valerie says
I’m right there with you, Jen! With the loss of daylight (and my Pinterest addiction), I’m lucky if I manage to get something up on my blog once a week. I am in awe of people who post every day. (Are they magicians?) I don’t even have children, so my only excuse is…cats? o_O
This tofu dish looks delicious!! It’s making me feel guilty about the olive burger I just inhaled for lunch. :D
Rachael {SimplyFreshCooking} says
I actually did have to give up my personal social media and I rarely check anymore. I do get a ton more done now, but I still have that feeling I’m going to miss something! I also keep tons of detailed notes on my iPhone. I plan out my schedule the week before (grocery lists, meals, to-do’s, and on what day of the week I need to be doing what). If I have it planned and in writing it holds me a lot more accountable to get it done. And it feels good to be able to cross things off my list and get everything done!
Lan | angry asian says
now this is my kind of dish! i adore tofu and asian stirfry.
for my own space i only aim for 1-2 posts/week. i tend to focus on foods that i eat often. if i know that i’m going to make/eat something blog worthy, i make extra servings so that i can snap the leftovers over the weekend or on Thursdays when i work from home. as you can imagine, i eat best Wednesday & Friday nights! :) if i plan things right, i might have a few baked items too (like cookies or slices of cake) that can be photographed during the day, those are bonuses. in regards to finding the time when i should be working, honestly, i do photography prep way beforehand. i have a corner in my living that gets great light during 10am – 3pm and i set up props sans the food prior and when i’m ready to click that is when i put food down. 10 snaps later, i’m done. in regards to editing, like Bree from the mixedcon talk, i do it while watching tv. it’s usually the actual content that takes me forever & not so much the pix.
Erin | The Law Student's Wife says
Natural daylight is SO HARD to catch right now! I feel my pics are totally suffering too.
Good for you for going for weight watchers! I adore stir fry (hello, yummy method to clean out my fridge) and am constantly in the market for new recipes. Yours looks like it has just the right amount of kick.
Oh time management–I’m a chronic list maker, but always wish I could do more!