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By this point in the winter I think we've all reached our quota of soups and casseroles. I love a good three-bean chili as much as the next gal, but variety is the spice of life.
I want to eat something that will remind me of summer. Are you counting down the days like I am? Cold weather and I are not friends. Send in the food reinforcements!
Have you ever seen those Red Lobster commercials – you know, the ones for their “endless shrimp” special? They’re kind of hard to miss. Anyway, while I can think of about a million things I’d rather eat than an endless supply of cute little crustaceans, I was intrigued by their idea of tossing protein in flaky coconut and frying it to crispy perfection.
I absolutely adore tofu for its ability to take on the flavor and texture of anything you could dream of. Plus, it's a great source of plant protein.
What better way to make this tropical dish vegan than with tofu, and what better time to do it than now – when we’re all freezing our buns off waiting for the first signs of spring? I love any excuse to experiment with fun flavors and cooking techniques, so I wasted no time testing my idea.
Complete with a savory marinade and a sweet and spicy coconut cream sauce, this satisfying main tastes just like a beach vacation. And couldn’t we all use one of those right about now?
I'm not typically one to indulge in fried foods, but this Coconut Crusted Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce is too good to pass up. My trick: I keep my portion size small and load the rest of my plate with veggies. I love roasted broccoli or grilled zucchini as a side. A massaged kale salad would be nice, too.
To make it a heartier meal, serve everything over a bed of cooked brown rice or quinoa. Now that I think of it, the Pineapple Fried Rice from Frugal Vegan (our cookbook) would taste amaaaaazing with this dish. Drooling.
If you’re seeking relief from this never-ending winter, treat your taste buds to the tropical flavors of coconut and pineapple, cut with a sweet and (not too) spicy chili sauce.
Spring is just around the corner, and this is just the dish to tide you over until the sun comes out to thaw your frozen bones. I suggest pairing the tofu with our Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts and a frosty piña colada for the ultimate experience.
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Coconut Crusted Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce
- Prep Time: 2 hours 25 mins
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra-firm tofu
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 small lime, juiced
- ½ tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¾ cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil, for frying
- ½ cup coconut cream (from a 15-oz. can of full-fat coconut milk)
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
Instructions
- Press the tofu with several layers of paper towel to remove as much water as possible. Cut the tofu into ½-inch slabs and press with paper towels again.
- To prepare the marinade, first combine the soy sauce and coconut sugar in a small mixing bowl. Microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until the coconut sugar dissolves. This should take less than a minute. Add the lime juice and fresh ginger. Whisk to combine.
- Transfer the tofu to a shallow baking dish and pour in the marinade. Move the pieces around so each is completely coated. Cover and place in the fridge for at least two hours, flipping the pieces over and recovering with the marinade half way through. Put your can of coconut milk in the refrigerator at this time, too.
- While the tofu is marinating, prepare the batter. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and water in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Set in the fridge until you’re ready to cook the tofu.
- Once the tofu is done marinating, remove it from the refrigerator along with the can of coconut milk. Pour the panko breadcrumbs and shredded coconut onto a large plate and use your hands to mix it up. Remove the batter from the fridge and stir. The texture should be similar to pancake batter. If it’s too thick, add another teaspoon of cold water. Line another large plate with a layer of paper towels and set it next to the stove.
- Heat ¼ cup of vegetable or canola oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, the oil should glide easily across the pan. Take the first piece of tofu and dip it in the batter. Shake gently to remove any excess, and then dredge it through the panko/coconut mixture so it’s coated on all sides. Carefully place it in the skillet – it should sizzle right away. If it doesn’t, your oil isn’t hot enough yet.
- Coat each piece of tofu in batter, followed by the panko/coconut mixture. Working in batches, cook tofu for about 3 minutes on each side, until crispy and golden brown. Transfer cooked tofu pieces to the paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. You may need to switch out the oil halfway through if there’s a lot of debris floating around in it. Those little coconut flakes burn quickly!
- While the tofu cools, prepare the sauce. Flip the can of coconut milk upside down and open it from the bottom. Pour off the liquid and scoop ½ cup of the solid coconut cream into a blender. Add the pineapple juice, lime juice, and chili garlic sauce. Blend until smooth. Alternatively, you can whisk the sauce by hand in a small mixing bowl. Adjust flavors to taste.
- Serve tofu warm with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce and a squeeze of lime, if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 423
- Sugar: 42.2 g
- Sodium: 420.2 mg
- Fat: 17.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 60 g
- Fiber: 3.2 g
- Protein: 10.2 g
- Cholesterol: 4.7 mg
Abby Sewell
I made this recipe and they were yummy even though it was ALOT of steps. I wouldn't make it again. The biggest issue is this website. I can't even write a review without an ad popping up. Trying to figure out the ingredients and steps took so long due to the volume of ads. Blah. Never again.
Katie Koteen
Hey Abby - sorry you don't like the ads, but they pay the bills for you to read free recipes. If you want an ad free experience, I suggest subscribing to the NY Times.
Joan Thomas
Rude. Nothing wrong with feedback. How are you supposed to improve if all you want to hear is accolades?
Joan Thomas
I agree completely. The ads completely cover the whole recipe. Very frustrated with Pinterest and don’t come here often anymore.
Tammy
Very plain. The tofu was fine, I added salt and pepper but it could definitely use a lot of tweaking here. The sauce was super thin and bland. The start of good flavor was there, but it needs work to make it really flavorful.
Marissa
Amazing recipe. Absolutely love it and it is so accessible for someone new to frying things!
Regan
I made this for a family dinner (meat eaters) and they all loved it! I used unsweetened coconut, but next time I'm going to try the sweetened coconut to see if it'll yield more coconut flavor. it's easy and quick and definitely a keeper recipe to make over and over!
Chris David
Really delicious recipe. I love it yummy!!! It's really awesome
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Susan
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this! May marinate overnight next time but it was still so delicious. I made the 1/2 inch slabs might cube and bake it next time. I wasn’t a big fan of the sauce so I used half sweet chili sauce half apricot spread ( I know! Super sweet! ) But good with the unsweetened coconut crust. Served with spring rolls filled with mango,purple cabbage, peppers and cucumber. We used a Peanut sauce for those, so this wasn’t a low calorie dinner, but so delicious; honestly too time consuming with the spring roll prep but hubs did a fantastic job with those. Thanks for a stellar recipe!
Bailey
This was sooooo good. The tofu was perfectly crispy!
I will definitely be making this again.
Kelli
This was fantastic. I made it GF by subbing the flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 and used GF panko bread crumbs. Made sure to also use GF soy sauce, certified GF tofu, and GF baking powder. No one knew the difference and it was gone in minutes. I didn’t have coconut milk so I just used the coconut cream I had on hand and it was amazing. My only regret was not making more because it was that good. Saved clean up by marinating in a bag which made coating all over much easier. Prep and cooking was super easy. Thank you so much for the recipe.
burp
Just made this exactly to the recipe and it tastes like absolutely nothing! I’d try again marinating it overnight with more spices and definitely used sweetened coconut.
Megan
This is super tasty! I had to add an extra tablespoon of water to the batter mixture and make a second round of batter to coat all my tofu. But besides that, perfect! So yummy.
Mojoblogs
I personally love tofu and this looks really awesome and delicious. Cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm really excited to try this one.
Diana Vassilenko
This is an amazing recipe! Tofu came out perfectly perfect, the only thing is it is very time-consuming and requires a lot of cleaning.
Sabrina
Can I freeze this as meal preps??
Katie Koteen
Hey Sabrina! We haven't been successful with freezing tofu in the past. My guess here is that it probably won't defrost very well. Sorry.
Gwen
Amazing, one of the best meals I've ever made. I paired with black rice and your kung pao brussels sprouts (but made with broccoli and red peppers).
Alaina
This is probably a stupid question-but is that nutrition info for the entire recipe or just one serving?
Katie Koteen
Not at all! It is for a single serving.
Loriel
I just made this (baked, instead of fried) and it was amazing!!! I made a few tweaks to accommodate what I had in the house (powdered ginger, lemon juice), but it tasted way better than I could have imagined. When baking tofu, I always cut my Tofu in cubes and freeze it, and then defrost it and drain the water. I find this gives it a crispier texture. I then followed the instructions and instead of frying, sprayed with coconut oil and baked (flipping once halfway) for about 35 minutes at F 425. Threw in some Brussels with a premade sweet thai chili sauce and it it is now one of my favorite meals!!
Anthea
Can I use coconut flour?? Thank you!
Katie Koteen
I'm not sure! Definitely worth a shot. Let us know how it goes.
Katie
I just made this in my air fryer/convection oven. I did ~20 minutes at 425F and it came out nice and brown and quite tasty!
Mika
I am very confused. i’m not sure if that is a typo or not but 2 tablespoons of flour just doesn’t seem right for the batter. i made the batter and there is no way that it is enough for all my tofu.
Katie Koteen
It's a thin batter and should be enough! We've made it several times and it always makes it to the last cube 🙂
Keenan
If you could do a baked version somehow that would be great!
Barbara
I made this for dinner tonight and loved it! I’m not the biggest tofu fan, but this is one recipe I’ll make again.
Kat
The tofu was amazing. I had to use flaked coconut and regular sugar. I'm not big into sweet things so I'll probably use a little less sugar next time. The only thing I had problems with was the sauce. My SO helped make it in a nutribullet, she blended it for a bit & then stopped. It looked fine to me but she wanted it blended more. The second time she blended it it came out curdled. Perhaps it was because she poured the lime juice in with the coconut cream a few minutes before blending? I'm not sure but there was no eating it looking like that.
Katie Koteen
Hey Kat - I suspect the coconut cream was just too blended. It does this weird thing where it starts to pull apart just before it gets super thick and creamy. Like when you're making coconut whipped cream. I might just warm it up just a bit. It will probably come back together.
Sue
Thank you for an amazing recipe. I baked the tofu @ 400 degrees about 25 mins. I didn’t really need to flip them but did . So yummy with the spicy Kung Pao Brussels.
Kate Kasbee
Really glad you loved the tofu!! I agree, it's perfect with the Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts 🙂
kara_western
THIS TOFU IS LIFE CHANGING! Seriously so so so good. I served on a big giant plate of vegan caeser salad (from Minimalist Baker) and I was in absolute heaven, the pairing was perfect. Followed the recipe to a T, except I only used a thin coating of oil on the pan. Oh my god. Can’t get over how good it was. Sharing with all my friends and family. Thanks!!
Katie Koteen
Hurray!!! So glad you liked it. I never would have thought to pair it with the caesar, love it!
Charline Blouin
How long could I keep the leftovers in the fridges?
Katie Koteen
I would say 3 days 🙂
The Kitchen Misses
This looks absolutely divine!
Sabrina
Insanely delicious! Thank you so much!
shelby
just made these! so yummy!!
Holly
This looks amazing, but are there really 64g of fat and 50g of sugar in each serving?
Katie Koteen
Oh my gosh!!! That was a mistake! We accidentally added 14 packages of tofu to the recipe nutritional ingredients - yikes! It's only about 17g of fat. Sugars are still a tad high, but it's mostly from the marinade and you aren't actually consuming all that marinade. So my guess would be about half the sugar this is showing. Hope that helps! And GOOD CATCH!
Jeanne Schmidt
This was pretty yummy! I omitted the coconut sugar in the marinade because I didn't have it, and I cut the tofu in cubes and baked it at 350 for 25 min before marinating it, help it crisp better. It was nice and crunchy when made as directed. Will definitely make it again.
Crissy
We liked this recipe, I marinated the tofu overnight because I didn't feel like making dinner that night! I will put the coconut in the food processor next time but 5 his was a great recipe!
Katie
Hi! Can't wait to try this! Do you happen to have the nutritional facts?
Katie Koteen
Hi Katie! Yes, they should be included now 🙂 Bottom of the recipe.
Mayra
ExcellentRecipe! I mad it today and will Definitelly make it again!
Natasha M Lollis-Ball
I'm interested in the vegetable you use in the picture. It looks like Zucchini. If so can you tell me how you prepared it?
Katie Koteen
Hi Natasha! It is zucchini 🙂 Slice zucchini in 1/2 inch rounds. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and let it get pretty hot. Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan. Maybe 2 tsp., depending on how big your pan is. You just want it lightly coated to prevent sticking. Then add the zucchini and don't turn until they start to brown on one side. Then flip and lightly cook the other side. If you try to sear both sides, they tend to get a little over done and mushy. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a little salt + pepper. Good luck!
Laura
So delicious! Will be a regular recipe for me ☺
Belle
This was so good!! I made it tonight for dinner with the kung pao brussel sprouts on a bed of mixed black and red rice, and it completely satiated my craving for takeout... Will definitely make again!!
Katie Koteen
Hi Belle - So glad you liked it! It's definitely one of our favorites!!!
Jennifer Pegram
Hi,
Can i substitute the chili garlic sauce with anything or do you have a recipe for that? Thanks!
Katie Koteen
Hi Jennifer! This is the sauce we use: http://a.co/3uX5b2C. But any of the Thai chili sauces (Sriracha is ideal, Thai Kitchen, etc.) would work great. And you can totally make it. (Kate has made it, I haven't). She said it's easy, but you're probably more likely to find a good substitute than Thai chilis at the store 😉
Katherine
This looks so amazing and I bet it would work well fried or baked! My only question is if the batter needs to be prepped and put in the fridge while the tofu marinates to thicken, or can it be done just before I'm ready to assemble and cook? Thanks!.,
Katie Koteen
Hi Katherine - Yes, either way the batter will be fine. It can be made right before you're ready to assemble + cook. Good luck! And let us know how it goes 🙂
Jordan
the pieces in the picture look more like cubes then slabs, do i leave them long??
Kate Kasbee
It's completely up to you! There's less pieces to flip with bigger slabs, but we like fry up smaller cubes, too.
Jayna Mackley
Help! This recipe isn't complete - see step 1 - it cuts off.
Kate Kasbee
I'm so sorry, Jayna! I'm not sure how that happened. The complete instructions should be there now.
Cindy
The recipe isn't there. Am I missing something?
Katie Koteen
@Cindy - Take a look, it should be there now! I think it got zapped earlier when we were fixing some things 🙂
Kristen
I found this on Pinterest - made it tonight with the Kung Pao Brussels and brown rice...WOW. I think this will be my go-to entertaining recipe from now on so that my guests think I am a much better cook than I am. Absolutely delicious and worth the time...thank you!!
Kate Kasbee
Kristen, this is fantastic to hear. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I hope your guests did, too 🙂
Ash
This looks great but your prep time says 25 minutes yet during the prep, it says to marinate the tofu for at least 2 hours. Kinda misleading.
Kate Kasbee
You're right, that is kind of misleading. The hands-on time is about 25 minutes but the 2 hours for marinating should be included. I'll update the recipe. Thanks for pointing that out!
Kip
Fried tofu in any form = best! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Kate Kasbee
I agree completely! I hope you enjoy it.
Debra
Marinate in a ziplock bag for less cleanup.
Kate Kasbee
I like the way you think! Great idea.
Amy K
Any recommendations on a bake options?
Kate Kasbee
I haven't tried baking the tofu in this recipe just yet. As soon as I do, I will update the directions! If you want to give it a try, I recommend baking the tofu on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 425F for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway through.
Dianne
Looks amazing but no can do whole wheat anything...will try GF all-purpose with chopsticks crossed
Kate Kasbee
I hope you like it! I'm sure lots of GF folks would love to know how it works out.
Cara
I really appreciate your detailed instructions and all the little tips- thank you!
Well Vegan
Of course! Let us know how it goes!!!
Amy Lewis
Looks awesome! Any chance this will be in the upcoming week's meal plan?
Well Vegan
Not this week! But definitely down the line 🙂 Take the flex day on the meal plan to work this one in right away!