Baked Tofu With Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Lime Rice
Updated March 11, 2026
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, plus more for brushing the pan and drizzling
- ⅔cup lime juice (from about 5 limes), and zest of 1 lime
- Kosher salt
- 8baby bell peppers or 1 medium bell pepper (any color will do), stemmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
- Black pepper
- 1cup long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati
- ½cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1cup smooth, natural peanut butter
- 1tablespoon red miso
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- 1tablespoon fish sauce (optional)
- 2teaspoons chopped habanero pepper, stem and seeds removed, or 1 tablespoon sambal
- 2tablespoons buckwheat honey or molasses
- 2(14-ounce) packages extra-firm tofu, drained and sliced crosswise, ¼-inch thick
- 3cups peppery greens, like arugula, mizuna or baby mustard greens
- 2scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
744 calories; 55 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 21 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 1207 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 450 degrees and lightly brush a large rimmed sheet pan with oil.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, stir 4 tablespoons lime juice with ½ teaspoon salt until salt dissolves. Add the sliced peppers, a few cracks of black pepper and set aside.
- Step 3
In a small pot, combine the rice with 1 cup water and the coconut milk. Season with salt and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium-low until the rice is just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, until ready to serve.
- Step 4
In a medium bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons lime juice with the peanut butter, miso, ginger, fish sauce (if using), habanero, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon honey and ¾ cup water. Stir until smooth and season to taste with salt.
- Step 5
Arrange the tofu pieces in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and season with salt. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the peanut sauce over each, covering the top and allowing the sauce to run down and coat the sides. Drizzle the tops with some oil, and roast until glaze is set, deep brown and caramelized along the edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Add the remaining lime juice and 1 tablespoon honey to the leftover peanut sauce in the bowl to make the dressing; set aside.
- Step 6
Divide the greens among bowls. Add the lime zest and half the sliced scallions to the rice, then fluff with a fork. Top the greens with the rice, then the tofu. Spoon the peanut dressing over everything, and garnish with the drained pickled peppers and remaining sliced scallions.
- Peanut sauce can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and stored refrigerated until ready to use.
Private Notes
Comments
Make the peanut sauce & peppers ahead of time to make this weeknight-friendly. PEPPERS: slice super thin. Add onion. PEANUT SAUCE: add 3-5 T of rice wine vinegar or ACV; add 3-5 T tamari. Thin with water. TOFU: toss with tamari, olive oil and lime juice, then coat with cornstarch. Bake at 400 for 30 min, flipping halfway. VEGGIES: add thin-sliced carrots to the baking sheet with tofu. Toss with same marinade. CHICKEN: marinade in peanut sauce in baking dish. Bake 400, 35 min. Top w cilantro
A fairly recent Times article said that the Time in an NYT recipe does not include the time to prep ingredients, e.g., no time is included to slice the peppers here or mince the ginger. Strange as a policy, but clarifying to know.
Sauce is good, but browns to a gloppy paste on the tofu. A soy marinade on the tofu, with the peanut sauce served on the side, would be more appealing, and the tofu would be more flavorful, too. And then the tofu could be fried, which would be more appealing. The pickled peppers were great. As someone else suggested, I added the peppers to the pickled onions already in the refrigerator, and they were fabulous. We will have them often.
I had the same experience with the dry peanut sauce baked on the tofu. I will probably make this again but will thin out the sauce and look at what others did to remedy. Otherwise, I didn’t stray from the recipe. I would add more of the habanero, I used regular honey but could see using a more interesting honey. My husband really liked it and he sometimes rejects dishes like this. I like the coconut rice, too. It made fine next day leftovers.
I made the sauce with almond butter instead of peanut and it was delicious. Used parchment paper on the roasting pan, which made cleanup very easy. This is delicious!
This was a miss for us. It took me about 1 hr 25 min from start to table, and I was hustling. The tofu was soggy with brown goop on it. I’d make curry with fried tofu or tofu lettuce wraps instead.