Vegan Spicy Lemon Maple Tofu
with Roasted Broccoli & Rice
- Soy
If you’ve ever wondered how to get your tofu as crisp and golden brown as the restaurants do, now’s your chance—it’s all about the drying and the dredging! Give your tofu the royal treatment, then sear it for crisp, pillowy cubes that are ready to absorb tons of flavor. You’ll coat the tofu in a glossy lemon and garlic sauce rich with mushroom and vegetable stock, a touch of heat from chili flakes, and a kiss of sweetness from maple syrup. Serve it over a bowl of fluffy rice alongside crisp roasted broccoli for pops of green on the plate. Aren’t you soy happy you picked this meal?
Ingredients
1 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
2 tablespoon
Cornstarch
8 ounce
Broccoli
1 unit
Lemon
1 unit
Tofu
(Contains: Soy)
2 clove
Garlic
1 unit
Mushroom Stock Concentrate
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
2 tablespoon
Maple Syrup
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
Not included in your delivery
4 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry produce.
Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces if necessary. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Zest and quarter lemon.
Open and drain tofu; press out excess water with paper towels. Halve crosswise, then stand tofu upright and halve vertically. Lay flat and cut into ½-inch cubes.
In a small pot, combine rice, 1¼ cups water (2¼ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes.
Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
While rice cooks, toss broccoli on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on middle rack until tender and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
Place tofu in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add half the cornstarch and toss until evenly coated.
Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add tofu in a single layer and cook until golden and crispy, 1-3 minutes per side. (For 4 servings, you may need to work in batches, adding another drizzle of oil per batch.)
Turn off heat; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Wipe out pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together remaining cornstarch and 2 TBSP water (4 TBSP for 4 servings).
Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for tofu over medium-low heat. Add garlic and a pinch of chili flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
Whisk in cornstarch mixture, maple syrup, veggie stock concentrate, mushroom stock concentrate, and juice from one lemon wedge (two wedges for 4). Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 2-3 minutes (if sauce seems too thick, add splashes of water). Remove from heat.
Return fried tofu to pan and toss until coated in sauce.
Divide rice between bowls; top with broccoli and tofu in separate sections.
Top broccoli with a pinch of lemon zest and sprinkle tofu with as many remaining chili flakes as you like. Serve with remaining lemon wedges if desired.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the sweet-and-spicy balance, with some calling it "scrumptious" and comparing it to restaurant-quality General Tso's chicken 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Most found it simple to make, though some struggled with the cornstarch sauce step and tofu frying technique.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more sauce, using less maple syrup for less sweetness, and including extra veggies like carrots or cashews for crunch.
- Portions: Several wanted more broccoli and tofu; the rice portion was too large for some.
- Texture: Many praised the crispy tofu coating, though a few found it chewy or rubbery.
Reviews from our home cooks
Delicious tofu, sauce and broccoli! I'm now a tofu fan. White rice prepared as directed was utterly flavorless; if I make this again I will use brown rice cooked in a lot more water, with more salt and seasonings. Apart from the bland rice, a big hit.
The amount of rice and tofu is perfect. I personally want more veggies so when I make it again I'll bulk up the broccoli and I added in shredded carrots this time and it was great. The sauce I had two garlic cloves and did lemon juice from 1.5 lemons and all the zest on the veggies and it was great.
A new recipe for us and a curiously delicious one at that. The blend of Thai sweet chili sauce, maple syrup, lemon juice, along with vegetable and mushroom broth and corn starch to create a glaze for the tofu (cornstarch with the tofu prep is always a crispy favorite) was uniquely tasty. Thank you. Travel well.
This is a great dish. I appreciate the lemon for flavoring the broccoli, since this is how I ideally like mine seasoned. Both the broccoli and lemon were perfectly ripe and colorful. The tofu sauce is delectable. I did have issues with it firming up immediately and not being able to break up the chunks of corn starch, so I'd recommend putting that in last and slowly rather than first, as the instructions say. I'd totally order this again!
One of the best dishes I've had. I even overcooked the rice but it didn't matter cause I still chomp chomped it all. I rarely finish a whole dish but let me tell you this one was bangin. Even if you aren't a vegetarian this is an amazing dish. I believe the sweet chili sauce and roasted broccoli was the star. Thank you for filling my tummy.
It was delicious and the sauce over the Tofu was perfect. Tofu was crispy which gave the spicy and sweet sauce a delectable balance! I also loved the veggies (I added cauliflower to the broccoli) and rice mixture. It will be on my favorite list!
This meal was delicious. I swapped the white rice for brown rice to make it healthier. Really loved the sauce on the tofu. I wouldn't have thought of baking the broccoli, but it turned out great.
This was SO GOOD but I wish there was more volume to the sauce. The sauce was so tasty! I tried to add water but wished there was more. I love all of the Hello Fresh dishes that are tofu, broccoli, and rice, and I wish they were more frequent. This was delicious!
I really like the tofu that Hello Fresh and Green Chef uses because it holds up well. I also liked some of the ingredients for the sauce, such as the maple syrup and stock concentrates. But instead of the spicy chili sauce or lemon, I added tamari, as I didn't want this to be too spicy. I also added some cashews to this as well. I like the way this came out with the changes I made, but I wouldn't have liked it as well if I followed the recipe exactly.
I never made tofu before. This recipe did need more corn starch for the tofu. The sauce was a nice flavor. Needed more broccoli and maybe less rice.
