Vegan Sweet & Savory Tofu Bowls
with Broccoli, Pickled Cucumber & Sesame Scallion Rice
- Sesame
- Soy
- Wheat
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 this royal treatment, then sear it for crisp, pillowy cubes that are ready to absorb tons of flavor. You’ll coat the tofu and sautéed broccoli in a rich sweet-and-savory sauce, then serve it over a bowl of fluffy scallion-sesame rice with crunchy homemade cucumber pickles on the side for a pop of brightness. Aren’t you soy happy you picked this meal?
Ingredients
2 unit
Scallions
1 unit
Mini Cucumber
8 ounce
Broccoli Florets
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
1 tablespoon
Sesame Oil
(Contains: Sesame)
1 unit
Tofu
(Contains: Soy)
1 tablespoon
Cornstarch
5 teaspoon
Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoon
Hoisin Sauce
(Contains: Sesame, Soy, Wheat)
4 tablespoon
Sweet Soy Glaze
(Contains: Sesame, Soy, Wheat)
1 teaspoon
Sriracha
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
4 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
½ teaspoon
Sugar
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim and thinly slice cucumber. Thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces if necessary. • In a small bowl, combine cucumber, vinegar, ½ tsp sugar (1 tsp for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly and set aside to pickle until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a small pot (medium pot for 4 servings) over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites and cook, stirring, until softened, 1-2 minutes. • Stir in rice, 1¼ cups water (2¼ cups for 4), half the sesame oil (all for 4), 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, 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 ¾-inch cubes. • In a medium bowl, combine tofu, half the cornstarch, and a big pinch of salt. Stir until tofu is fully coated. • Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add coated tofu and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 4-6 minutes. Reserve bowl. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Wipe out pan and let cool slightly.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for tofu over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6-8 minutes.
• While broccoli cooks, in bowl used for tofu, whisk together hoisin, sweet soy glaze, Sriracha, remaining cornstarch, and 1⁄3 cup water (2⁄3 cup for 4 servings). • Reduce heat under pan with broccoli to low and stir in hoisin-soy mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened and sticky, 1-2 minutes. • Transfer seared tofu to pan. Stir until fully coated and tofu is warmed through, 1 minute. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.
• Divide rice between bowls; top with tofu and broccoli and pickled cucumber (draining first) in separate sections. Garnish with scallion greens and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the sweet-and-savory sauce, though some found it too sweet; adding extra Sriracha helped balance the flavors 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: First-time tofu cooks appreciated the clear instructions, but some found pressing and frying the tofu tricky.
- Suggestions: Consider adding sesame seeds, cashews, or extra veggies like carrots for more crunch and nutrition.
- Portions: Several mentioned generous servings with enough for leftovers; a few wanted more veggies relative to rice.
- Texture: Coating tofu in cornstarch before frying created a nice crispy exterior that many enjoyed.
Reviews from our home cooks
Wow. This was a good one. I'm not normally a fan of "sweet and sour" type meals, but this sweet & savory tofu dish was remarkable. Varied flavors and textures, all very tasty. There was nothing we disliked. I made a single change to the recipe: For the 'quick pickled' cucumber slices, I added 1tsp of fresh dill and omitted the sugar. We will definitely do this one again should it become available in the future.
This tofu bowl recipe was nice, but needed some help in the spice department. Specifically, I added some turmeric to the rice and some leftover harissa spice (from a previous HF meal) to the diced tofu, which I diced smaller than suggested in order to increase the flavor-carrying surface area. Also, we're not very much into sweet pickles, so instead of sugar, I added fresh dill to the quick-pickled cucumbers.
Preparing this dish took a longer time but it was worth it. I didn't realize how great the pickled cucs would add to the main dishes sauce. Tofu and broccoli delicious. I will add more water to the sauce as it was quite thick, but overall 5 stars! A hearty and healthy dinner!
Delicious, nutritious, generous portions. I really appreciate the vegan choices. Brown rice option worked well for me. These recipes are helping me learn to like broccoli. I just needed to learn about how to cook it and pair it with good sauces. Same for tofu. Thank you!!!
The savory tofu & broccoli plus the crunch tangy cucumber is so good. This is my new favorite. The firm tofu is perfect, I would like to know where to purchase this.
Really easy to make and had a super yummy flavor. I loved the crispiness of the tofu and I charred the broccoli a little before adding the sauce which was so good! I did add some extra Sriracha, but I prefer a bit more spice
Sweet and savory is right on the mark for the flavors described. Incredibly delicious and filling. Loved the sesame oil and scallions in the rice. The cucumber felt a little tacked on, it's take it or leave it for me with that.
That was a great idea, putting the cornstarch on the tofu before frying it. It adds just a little crispiness which is so good on tofu. Im recently becoming a fan of these little cucumbers too! And the rice made with scallions! So many good things about this recipe.
The sauce for this dish and the pickled cucumbers were wonderful and I will make them regularly. i used all of the Sriracha and was worried it might be overly spicy, but it was just right. I still need to hone my tofu cooking skills, but this is a really good, easy and flavorful dish.
This was a bit more labor intensive than other meals but it was worth it. I liked coating the tofu cubes in corn starch and it did give a very nice crunch. Next time I will probably added a little seasoning to bring more flavor to the dish. The pickled cucumbers were my least favorite and didn't seem to help the dish at all.
