This is a vegetable with chicken and tofu stir fry recipe. It is full of spicy Asian flavors. I was the designated vegetable chopper and my daughter Amy finished this delicious meal.
Ingredients For Chicken and Tofu Stir Fry
First off, this recipe can be full-blown vegetarian without the chicken. I’m not a vegetarian so the chicken was cooked totally separate from the vegetables and tofu. The chicken bites were added to the plated vegetables and tofu.
Amy has gotten some nice broccoli from her garden, despite the ups and downs of the temperature this spring. It was tender and full on flavorful. It was chopped into bite-sized florets.
I also chopped some carrots into small spears, celery into bite-sized pieces, red bell pepper into slices, and some green onions for garnish. The veggies were softened in a skillet with a little vegetable oil.
I’ve never made anything with tofu before, but Amy used a 14-ounce block of extra firm. The excess liquid from the tofu was squeezed out using paper towels between two plates and gently pressing liquid out. The tofu was then cut into one-inch cubes.
She then put the cubes into a bowl and added about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1 or 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mixed it well. Next, the cubes were placed on a baking sheet and placed in a 350° oven for 20 or 25 minutes until they started to brown.
Vegetarian friendly
The cut-up chicken breast pieces were put in a separate non-stick skillet and browned a bit, then a tablespoon of soy sauce was added. The chicken was finished cooking in 4 or 5 minutes.
Keeping the chicken separated from the vegetables allows any vegetarians to skip the chicken and just add some of the tofu. Everybody is kept happy this way.
Here are some more tasty vegetarian recipes to try:
- Tangy Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar cheese Soup
- Spinach Potato Quiche.
- Hearty Vegetarian Chili Recipe
This whole thing comes together in 40 or 45 minutes. It also allows you to use up some of those got-to-get-it-out-of-the-fridge-now vegetables. It’s all good. We even added a few cooked baby potatoes that were leftover from the night before. Serve this with a side of basmati rice.
Below are the vitals for making this great chicken and tofu recipe.
Vegetable Stir Fry with Chicken and Tofu
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 14 oz. Extra firm tofu sqeezed dry and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Vegetables
- 1 head broccoli cut into florets
- 1 red bell pepper cut into bite sized strips
- 4 celery stalks chopped bite sized
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut into 2 to 3 in. strips
- 4 green onions chopped for garnish
- 1 lg. garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil for sauteing vegetables
Chicken
- 2 6 oz. chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 or 2 tbsp soy sauce for cooking chicken
Sauce
- 3/4 cup low salt chicken broth divided
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup basmati rice or other rice cooked to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Drain and dry tofu, cut into 1" cubes and place in a bowl with olive oil and soy sauce. Mix well and place on a baking sheet and put in the oven 20 to 25 minutes until browned. Remove and keep warm.
- Place broccoli, celery, bell pepper and carrots into a skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat and saute until softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove to a bowl.
- In the same skillet, add 1/2 cup broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sriracha, and minced garlic bring to a simmer then stir in the cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup broth. Bring to a low boil 2 minutes and add the vegetables back to the skillet and combine well.
- In a separate non-stick skillet on medium heat, place chicken and stir to brown, 2 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tbsp. soy sauce and cook until the chicken is done, 2 to 3 more minutes.
- Plate the vegetables with desired protein with rice on the side. Add green onion for garnish and additional soy sauce.
Notes
- Store leftovers in your refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a microwave oven.
Nutrition
This recipe post was updated on November 16, 2021.
Emily
Really delicious! I’m trying to eat more vegan and my husband isn’t so this was perfect. The tofu was so delicious with it all! Used a number of dishes to cook but was mostly foods I always have at home 🙂
Joe
Hi Emily,
Meat-eaters shouldn’t give a pass on tofu. It is really good when prepared right. Glad the recipe worked for you and thanks for the comment.
Joe
Ellen
Thank you! We enjoyed this. I made half the recipe, and my husband ate two servings and I was happy with one. My only change was a heaping spoonfull of sambal oleek, the chili paste. Loved the mixture of tofu and chicken breast.
Joe
Thanks Ellen. The hot sauce sounds perfect with this.
MaryJo
This was a delicious meal and the tofu was so good that I kept popping plain cubes of the cooked tofu in my mouth when no one was looking when we were cleaning up from dinner. It was the tastiest tofu I’ve had!
Alan Howie
Sounds good, looks good, and and tastes good. This is a perfect go to recipe for stir fry. Instead of using “got-to-get-it-out-of-the-fridge-now vegetables”, we look in the fridge and use “musgoes”.
Joe
Hey Alan, Amy’s stir fry sauce is quite good.