Friends, do you know how long it’s been since I had fried rice? Far. Too. Long.
This recipe is my solution to that problem and you should totally get on board because it’s quick, easy and super delicious.
This fried rice requires just 10 ingredients and easy, fool-proof methods.
Including cooking the rice, the whole dish comes together in a little over an hour and feeds two generously as an entrée boasting 22 grams of protein!
Now we’re talking…
It starts with my favorite crispy, baked tofu marinated in a simple 5-ingredient sauce and sautéed to crispy perfection.
Next comes a generous helping of vegetables tossed with the remaining sauce and perfectly tender brown rice.
The result? Fried rice perfection. It’s:
Hearty
Flavorful
Satisfying
Loaded with vegetables
Topped with crispy tofu
Subtly spiced
Make this as an entrée or a side dish when a serious Chinese takeout craving strikes! I reckon it’s far healthier and more satisfying than anything you’ll find at a restaurant.
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment and rate it, and don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram! We’d love to see how what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
- 1 cup (~250 g | 8 ounces) extra-firm tofu*
- 1 cup (185 g) long- or short-grain brown rice*, rinsed thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer
- 4 cloves (12 g) garlic, minced
- 1 cup (100 g) chopped green onion
- 1/2 cup (72 g) peas
- 1/2 cup (64 g) carrots, finely diced
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) tamari or soy sauce, plus more for veggies + to taste
- 1 Tbsp (16 g) peanut butter
- 2 -3 Tbsp (27-41 g) organic brown sugar, muscovado sugar, or maple syrup
- 1 clove (3 g) garlic, minced
- 1-2 tsp chili garlic sauce (more or less depending on preferred spice)
- optional: 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (or sub peanut or grape seed oil)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or lightly grease with non-stick spray).
- In the meantime wrap tofu in a clean, absorbent towel and set something heavy on top (such as a cast iron skillet) to press out the liquid.
- Once the oven is preheated, dice tofu into 1/4-inch cubes and arrange on baking sheet. Bake for 26-30 minutes. You’re looking for golden brown edges and a texture that’s firm to the touch. The longer it bakes, the firmer and crispier it will become, so if you’re looking for softer tofu remove from the oven around the 26-28 minute mark. I prefer crispy tofu, so I bake mine the full 30 minutes. Set aside.
- While the tofu bakes prepare your rice by bringing 12 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Once boiling, add rinsed rice and stir. Boil on high uncovered for 30 minutes, then strain for 10 seconds and return to pot removed from the heat. Cover with a lid and let steam for 10 minutes*.
- While rice and tofu are cooking, prepare sauce by adding all ingredients to a medium-size mixing bowl and whisking to combine. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more tamari or soy for saltiness, peanut butter for creaminess, brown sugar for sweetness, or chili garlic sauce for heat.
- Once the tofu is done baking, add directly to the sauce and marinate for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Heat a large metal or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, use a slotted spoon to scoop the tofu into the pan leaving most of the sauce behind. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown on all sides (see photo). Lower heat if browning too quickly. Remove from pan and set aside.
- To the still hot pan add garlic, green onion, peas and carrots. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, and season with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) tamari or soy sauce.
- Add cooked rice, tofu, and remaining sauce and stir. Cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Serve immediately with extra chili garlic sauce or sriracha for heat (optional). Crushed salted, roasted peanuts or cashews make a lovely additional garnish. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, though best when fresh. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat or in the microwave.
*For the rice, you can also substitute a comparable amount of quinoa.
*Rice cooking method from Saveur! Literally, the perfect brown rice.
I love fried rice, and this recipe looks perfect!! Thanks for sharing!
I used to live on fried rice, but I haven’t had it in so long! Thanks for bringing it back into my world. Its funny how we temporarily forget about foods and food combinations.
I want this nooooooow!!! For real. Right now.
This looks amazing and I’ll be making it for dinner tonight! However, it says 12 cups of water to boil the rice in.. I’m wondering if it’s supposed to be 2? :)
Nope! It’s 12. See my link in the notes to Saveur’s “Perfect Brown Rice” – it’s the only way I cook brown rice now!
Wow! Okay sorry about that, I usually do the 2:1 ratio so wasn’t sure – will check out the rice recipe!
I ended up with extremely soggy rice, more like pudding. But the tofu was delicious!
I too ended up with extremely soggy mushy rice and didn’t even cook it the full 30 min :(
Hi my daughter is allergic to peanuts can I use almond butter?
the rice came out perfectly! I’ve never cooked rice this way before. Thanks for the tip. I was nervous, but this, again, is perfect rice.
Why 12 cups of water?
Hi Judy! See the link in the notes to Saveur’s “Perfect Brown Rice” – it’s the only way I cook brown rice now!
Just because another recipe tells you to use that much water doesn’t mean you should, and it doesn’t mean it tastes any better. I’ve made this rice twice- once the wasteful way and once using 3-4 cups of water, and they had the same taste and texture. 12 cups is incredibly wasteful. But other than that I LOVE the recipe.
No it’s 12. Brown rice cooks the best when done this way. Strain after 30min of uncovered boil, let stand for 10 min covered. serve
I was just thinking same thing usual when your cooking rice it’s double the amount of water is you would rice
. so 4 cups water 2 cups rice etc depending on recipe
Yes! The 12 cups should be 2!!!!
I just finished making this and it’s delicious! I made some changes because I didn’t have all the ingredients but the sauce is great!!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Jenn! xo
I’ve been craving a good fried rice!! This looks so good!! :)
Oh my, this looks beyond delicious! And Saveur’s rice cooking method is, indeed, perfect. I’m a believer.
Oh my Dana, my mouth is actually watering! I love brown rice so much and I am so happy you have made this fried rice with it. The tofu pieces look so flavoursome and sticky, perfectly complementing to the veggie rice, pinned!
Wow, this tofu looks awesome! Nothing makes me happier than nice crispy tofu (except maybe an incredibly rich dessert). ?. I can’t wait to try this!
This looks SO delicious, Dana. Love. It.
Made for lunch yesterday, it was great! Added a bit of fresh corn with was great and perfect for a late summer afternoon. Love this rice cooking method, so much fluffier than my usual brown rice, I will cook brown rice like this always from now on! Thanks!
Ooh, great idea! Glad you enjoyed it, Lilla!
This was dinner tonight and it was FAB!! I’m scared of tofu, so I added extra peas and topped mine with cashews and hubby’s with shrimp. SO easy and SO delish! My new favorite fried rice recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Janell!
I love fried rice! This looks amazing. I am not very familiar with cooking with tofu, but this looks like a great recipe to get me started!
This looks SO GOOD!! I’m always looking for healthy versions of my favorite take-out items. I’ve tried a few fried rice recipes before but they’ve been kind of lackluster… so I’m really excited to try this one!! :D
Hope you love it, Sarah! xo
I was just searching for an easy vegan fried rice recipe this weekend and came across yours. I didn’t end up making it because I didn’t have tofu or many of the ingredients but I’m definitely making it this week! Is there a substitute for chili garlic sauce? I don’t have any and not sure I’ve seen it in stores.
Hi Delfina,
Just so you know, I have used Sriracha in place of chili garlic sauce many times with great results, but you can also usually find the chili garlic sauce in the same place as the Sriracha in the grocery store.
Danielle
Thanks Danielle! I ended up going to the store and buying the chili garlic sauce, which was right next the Sriracha as you said. The fried rice turned out great!
I made this on Saturday and it was good. It was way too hot to turn on my oven, so I pan fried the tofu, threw it in the sauce, and re-fried it. I really liked it! Next time I would DEFINITELY double the amount of peas and carrots. Maybe even add more types of veggies. Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it! Always more veggies – you get me.
I haven’t had fried rice in way too long! This recipe looks delish.
I love your posts and recipes so much! I posted your recipe again in my “best healthy food selection”, if you want to see.
Hugs/Louise
I just made this for dinner and it was delish! Thanks for another standout recipe. :)
Wonderful! thanks for sharing, Jay!
I made this last night and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe! I had leftovers for lunch and it was just as good.
Can’t wait to try this! It’s delicious :)
Thank you so much for sharing….
Thank you for this! We made it for dinner last night and it was a hit. That’s particularly notable since our youngest is terribly picky, he generally rejects meals after the first bite. He ate his entire bowl and asked for seconds! That’s a really big deal around here:) Thank you!
I made this for lunch today and it is now a family favorite! I added zucchini and corn since I had some in the fridge. The crispy baked tofu is fantastic. Thank you!
Whoop! So glad you liked it, Stacy!
I can wait to try it! I have only a question, I’m allergic to peanuts and I was wondering if it could be possible to replace the peanut butter with some other nut butter.
Yellow miso is a great replacement!
Sure! Almond butter is best, or just leave it out!
Made this tonight for the family, although I am the only vegan. It was just amazing!!! Added a few more veggies but the rice was cooked perfect, and the tofu delish!!! Thanks for the great recipe, haven’t eaten fried rice in years, now I can again! Yay!!!
So wonderful! Glad you liked it, Annette!
Made this last night and it was delicious! My husband loved it too!!
For the win!!
We just made this for dinner. It was delicious! We modified it a bit, first of all we doubled the recipe for left overs, I did half maple syrup and half brown sugar, we used Braggs instead of soy sauce and we added broccoli. It was super tasty and really easy.
Great! Thanks for sharing, Danielle!
This was not your best work. Way too sweet and the peanut butter did not enhance.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy it, Eiji! Next time perhaps reduce the sweetness and leave out the PB if preferred.
Let me say I love Asian food – Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, you name it, I’ll eat. I purchased your cookbook that has the eggrolls and combined with this recipe and some vegan orange tofu, I had an excellent meal last night! Leftovers for lunch too, that my non-vegan co-workers were eyeing and asking for the recipe :)
So great! Glad you enjoyed it all, Ellie!
Made this the other night and it was outstanding! I usually marinate my tofu before baking but your method allowed the tofu to hold it’s shape and was better. Also loved the method for cooking the brown rice….much fluffier than the “traditional” method. Posted a pic and tagged you on IG! sueliosd
So great! Thanks for sharing, Sue!
Okay, seriously yummy and super easy – it doesn’t get much better.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Shanon!
Easy and delicious. Made it with edamame, so it was super easy!! Vegan daughter proclaimed it the best thing she ever ate, so I made it again immediately.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Carol!
Saw this, fell in love and HAD to make it! So tasty and fuss-free and the perfect leftovers for work tomorrow!
Yay! So glad you liked it. Thanks for sharing, Remi!
Delicious! I try to cook meat free a few times a week and I have never gone wrong with your recipes–Thank you!!! My husband and I literally scraped the pan clean on this one! Between this and the spring rolls, I’m in heaven!
Such good news! thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! xo
Delicious! Made this tonight! Trying to get the family to eat more vegan – they all loved it!! The way the tofu and rice turned out was fantastic! I have to say this is about the 5th recipe of yours I have tried and each one has been a winner! Thank you!!
So wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Shelly! xoxo
This recipe is awesome sauce! I will definitely make it again.
Whoop! Thanks for sharing, Alex!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! My husband declared it the best rice he’s ever had. The sauce was amazing as well. I made extra, mixed in chopped cashews, and drizzled on top. So delicious! Thanks so much!
That’s a high compliment! Thanks for sharing, Cora!
I made this today. It is definitely a keeper. I doubled the recipe—no more trouble and leftovers! I followed the recipe exactly. I did not like the way the rice turned out—very gummy. Next time I’ll just cook it in my rice cooker–I love the way it turns out. Also felt the 1/4″ tofu was too small. I’ll do 1/2″ next time. Loved the sauce and flavors. Thanks!
Made this tonight for dinner… It was super super yum! I would definitely make it again. I added in bok choi and pineapple and it was perfect. I just made my rice in a rice cooker but it got a little sticky once I was mixing everything together so next time I will try it the way you suggested or i will warm up cold cooked rice.
This is such a delicious dish, thank you for posting it! I’ve made it twice already – the first time exactly following the recipe, the second time I got lazy and took a short cut. Instead of baking the tofu, I just chopped up some cremini mushrooms and marinated those. Didn’t get the same crunchiness as the tofu had, but wowza the flavour was still amazing!! Love all of your recipes, you are a true master ??
Thanks Carol-Ann! Glad you liked it!
I don’t think you meant 12 cups of water…line #4.
Yep, I did! It’s for cooking the rice, then you drain it.
Any substitute ideas for a daughter who needs to avoid peanut butter?? We usually use sunbutter but wasn’t sure how that would do for the sauce?! Looks so yummy!!! I’m making tonight :)
Just made this tonight and I loved it! The marinade for the tofu was perfect, I had to force myself to stop snacking on it after I put it aside or I wouldn’t have had enough for the rice! Next time I’ll double the recipe – – it won’t last past tonight – – tomorrow’s lunch at the latest. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Noreen!
We quadrupled everything, so we could enjoy leftovers, and I’m glad we did. This was great! We added two small summer squash, since we had them in our fridge, and they made a tasty addition.
That was probably healthier than their usual meat…
Ha! My thoughts exactly.
This looks much too perfect to be compared with anything that comes from a take out carton.
I’ve just finished making this and WOW! I think I may have messed up the sauce (amateur cook here) as mine seemed to be a lot more thick and gloopy than the one in the picture but it was fabulous regardless. Major food coma right now!
I just had to comment. Looking at the ingredients I knew I’d love this dish so I doubled it and I’m so glad I did! ?
It is over the top delicious and my DH who doesn’t usually like my food devoured it. He even ate some as a midnight snack!!!
I kept it oil free and sautéed some onion instead of green onions. To vary this I’m going to switch veggies next time and I’ll add some mushrooms too!
The rice is superb, I can’t believe how well it turned out – separated like white rice and al dente. Really enjoyed this new cooking process and will repeat it from now on!
Now I need to try some of your other recipes. Any suggestions?
Oh, and I pinned this recipe too and told some friends about this recipe too! I just had to rave about it – it’s that good!!!
Great! Thanks for sharing, Laina! xoxo
Made this tonight, with tons of veggies, but put it on whole wheat pasta (didn’t have any rice) It was fabulous!!!!!! Will make it again soon the right way, and I am sure we will all love it just as much! Thank you.
Just decided to go vegan recently and this definitely hit the spot! As a college student fried rice is like my go to meal so I was worried it was not gonna be substantial just eating rice and veggies. But this recipe is great! The tofu and the sauce is awesome. I’m enjoying it with sriracha right and really happy with it although I don’t how Dana makes it look so good. Mine doesn’t look as pretty but tastes fine.
Ha! It’s all in the camera angle. Glad you enjoyed this one, Denise! xo
As a college student with little time during the week, I like to cook in bulk on the weekend. I cooked up a huge triple batch of this stuff and ate it all week. It was delicious each time!! The tofu had a fantastic texture and the sauce is amazing! I added mushrooms to the stirfry too and it worked great.
One tip that I have if you plan on making extra portions and re-heating them: I like my stirfry saucy, and found that the stirfry absorbed all of the sauce overnight. I made an extra portion of the sauce and dribble over the stirfry after it had been microwaved. Delicious saucy stirfry each time =)
Thanks for sharing your tips, Andre! I’m a sauce lover, too ;D
Made this last night and it was great, though I did add more veggies (red pepper, corn and celery). I also used frozen tofu (defrosted in the fridge overnight), which is a habit I picked up from The Vegan Lunch Box years ago. I always freeze my tofu because I like the texture better, it is easier to work with – and you can load up when it is on sale!
I made this last week and loved it so much I am making it again tonight. I added a red jalapeno for more heat and diced red bell pepper. The chili garlic sauce really added a lot of flavor. I am serving it with a side of Veggie gyozas from Trader Joes’s.
I made this last night. It was so good and easy. I had some brown rice in the fridge and remembered seeing this recipe as I was browsing your site. The sauce was great. It was reminiscent of a local Chinese restaurant. I didn’t have any veggies so I used a cup of Whole Foods Frozen Mixed Vegetables. The tofu was nice and crispy. I should have used my cast iron skillet instead of the nonstick pan to get the nice char as your picture but it turned out just fine (I know for next time!). Thanks for posting such great, easy recipes.
Man, here’s the problem with every vegan recipe on the internet. ‘It’s super quick and only 10 ingredients!’ = After you get through my blog (there’s always a blog-like post first), you will find that there’s definitely more than 10 ingredients and it takes an hour and 15 minutes to make a dish that usually takes 20-30 minutes. Granted this blog/recipe section is far from the worst I’ve seen for this, but it seems to happen 99 out of 100 times, every time I look for a recipe on the internet, ever since I went vegan. There, just venting my frustrations. Enjoy your fried rice, folks.
I tried this recipe tonight with basmati rice, and the texture was a little off from traditional fried rice. I love the sauce, but I really want to see what the difference would be if I used cold rice instead.
Wow !
That’s it. This is exactly what I need. Using soy sauce gives a very special taste.
It looks really attractive and delicious.
Thank you very much.
First time I made this I liked it but I wasn’t as hysterically happy about as my non vegan bf who thought this was the best rice dish he had ever eaten. I was somewhat taken aback by his enthusiasm until Ok so its delicious. Its really simple to make.
Made it a second time just to be sure that it is perfect and yes, yes it is! I have a non stick wok so I don’t use as much oil but it still feels like a indulgent treat.
Made it three times now and Oh my!
Thank you, this is a great go to dish when I have a craving for ‘takeaway’.
DELICIOUS!!! I am eating the cold left overs of this (made it last night for dinner) right now and it’s just so good! I made mine with brown rice and riffed a bit with what I had on hand: corn instead of peas, added mushrooms because I had some that I needed to use, no green onion, date syrup for the sweetener, and cayenne pepper for heat…so good – will definitely make again…thanks for sharing this recipe!!
This was delicious, my non-vegan parents loved it. Thank you so much for the yummy recipe :D
Just made this for dinner and oh my goodness, so good! My favourite part was the tofu, and I’ve never really been a fan of tofu. Thank you!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Amy!
Just made this and it’s fantastic – so filling. Threw some avocado on top (as I do with most of my meals!) Thanks for sharing :)
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Keiko!
Beyond delicious! Adding to my recipe book!
I was looking at this recipe last night and was thinking how random it is to cook the rice like that and then today I found this recipe that directs you to cook wild rice a similar way! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/wild-rice-salad-recipe.html
Now I feel like it’s a legit way to cook rice lol
This is SO good! I use seitan in place of tofu, due to soy allergy and use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Such good flavor!
Just made it for my dinner and it tastes delicious!! Never cross in my mind that tofu and fried rice could be this tasty!! Thanks for the recipe dear
This was amazing! I used sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. Added yellow peppers and mushrooms. Thank you for such a wonderful and easy meal. My family has such food restrictions. This meal was a real treat!
Oh my…just finished making this and eating it now with the fam. Delicious thanks for the recipe gonna become a regular meal!
I made this recipe last week. My husband and I both thought it was delicious. Tonight I made this recipe for the second time, to try it out on my finicky college student. She loved it. I am relatively new to a plant based diet, and still looking for that “Magic Nine” recipes that will help me sustain this diet for the rest of my days. So, finding this delicious new choice has magnified importance for me. Thank you so much for this new family staple. :)
I am only pescatarian myself but I thoroughly enjoyed this vegan recipe! Very balanced and easily adjustable to what you personally enjoy.
Made this tonight after my nine-year-old gymnast daughter challenged me to find a healthier alternative to Trader Joe’s packaged fried rice. Had it ready to go when she arrived home from practice, and she LOVED it, as did my older daughter and wife. She asked if we can start having it every Thursday night, and given how picky she is about food, that’s saying something. Thank you!!!
Best fried rice dish I’ve EVER had! Thank you! A great combination of heat, sweetness, saltiness, and textures. I personally love tofu and have never baked it. Such brilliance! I make this dish once a week now. It’s a staple in our home!
I am not sure I can say “I love this recipe” because I changed many things in it (white rice instead of brown, added peppers, and my tofu was cooked already), but my dish was delicious. So thank you! I like that you can basically use any kind of veggies in it. I would definitely make it again. The only thing I suggest is to make twice more sauce. My tofu absorbed a lot of it so I didn’t have much for the veggies and rice. Also, it would be good to have some sauce to heat leftovers with.
Oh, Tom, please don’t let that story deter you and your wife from enjoying some of the great Chinese restaurants around here! I am very familiar with the incident to which you are referring, and I can assure you that the venison in question was NOT ever intended to be served. Someone was trying to salvage what they could from a fresh road kill for their own personal use. The reason they got into trouble was that they brought it into the restaurant kitchen to break it down. I never cared much for that particular establishment, but please don’t hold that one widely publicized and grossly misrepresented event against all Chinese restaurants! Yes, homemade food is gorgeous (ESPECIALLY the recipes featured on this page), but don’t deprive yourselves of the occasional take-out or dinner. That’s a special indulgence that my family enjoys from time to time, and I couldn’t imagine giving it up. I would be more than happy to recommend a few places.
By the way, my family has made it clear that every recipe I’ve made from this cite is better than anything from a restaurant! :)
Why must we read about preparing dead animals to eat on a plant based recipe site, particularly in the reviews for a VEGAN rice recipe? Better to avoid exposing readers to that kind of reference on this site.
After draining the rice for 10 seconds and then letting it steam for 10 minutes (covered ),as the recipe called , the rice was still too soggy. It was not clear to me if the all of the water was to be drained or only 10 seconds worth of the water. Made the outcome extremely sticky and a bit gross. Also one cup maybe too much for the veggies and sauce . on the bright side the tofu tasted great before I mixed it in with the roce and veggies. Bummer
Just made a batch of this for the week and dinner tonight – SO good! Love the sauce.
This is delicious!! And super easy to make.
Rice may have the best texture done this way, but it loses all the water-soluble B vitamins. If it wasn’t for the fiber, you might as well use white rice.
Try using a proportion of 1-1/2 c. water to 1 c. rice (1-3/4 c. if you are high altitude or the climate is very dry). Bring water to a boil. Add the rice. As soon as the water returns to a boil, turn the heat down to low. When I had gas, I used a heat diffuser. Now I use a rice cooker.
It takes an hour to reach perfection, unless you pre-soak the rice in your cooking water.
My mother taught me to cook rice this way as a girl. She learned the water proportions when we lived in Hawaii. The only time it’s failed me in 47 years was the first time I cooked rice in the Idaho Panhandle. The elevation was 3500 ft. I added 1/4 c. water from then on and got the same fluffy rice as always.
This is delicious!! I’ve never cooked tofu before as previously I’ve had two horrific tofu experiences in restaurant. But this has completely changed my mind!
Even my omni boyfriend who “doesn’t like rice and hates tofu” loved it, which is a bonus.
My boyfriend has made this twice now, and I can honestly say I adore this recipe! I love the way the tofu turns out, it makes for a very unique tofu experience. As far as difficulty cooking, he never seems to complain or need help making this.
This was delicious!!! I didn’t use the tofu because I didn’t have it on hand for this recipe, but it was still great. I will be adding this to my favorite recipes list! Looking forward to trying it with the tofu. Thanks for sharing!
The best, the very best. Made it twice and each time I think about taking a picture it’s too late, rice all gone!
I made this, with minor modifications (fresh diced ginger, green beans because i had no peas, orange bell pepper, slightly different proportions for sauce, quinoa). Either way, I am so glad I made a larger serving because i couldve eaten the whole pan. This is sooo yummy! I will certainly be making it again.
Thanks for the recipe. Tastes really good but the tofu is like rubber. I’ve never cooked tofu before. Did I do something wrong? I’ll eliminate the tofu next time and add 3x as many veggies. Its a little too complicated for my taste any way. I’ll stick with boiled rice, add veggies and sauce and call it good. Then have some nuts or beans for protein.
Delicious !!! creates such great flavor.
Dana this recipe is sooooo good!
We are just having it for dinner for the second time now.
Thank you again for sharing all these delicious recipes!
Excellent recipe!! I love Asian food, and this captures the amazing taste. Even though after reading it before making, I decided to tweak it a bit for my personal taste, and cooked the tofu in a pan rather than bake it. Also used baby corn as well as the other veggies, as well as adding more chili garlic sauce for heat. YUM. Definitely making this a lot more!!
I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I found that I ended up with way too much sauce. I also had a very difficult time with everything sticking to the pan? Hmm..
I’m transitioning to veganism and I just finished making a very similar variation of this recipe and it was so amazing. Very time consuming, but totally worth it.
I made this rice for dinner and the combination of flavors are delicious! My rice did turn out soggy as well and I believe it is because I didn’t drain it all the way. The instructions stated to drain for 10 seconds. I did but there was still too much water left. My own fault, I should have went with my instincts. It’s not like I’ve never made rice before. Also the tablespoon of peanut butter was a bit much for me. Next time I will use half of a tablespoon, it’s all preference. I made my own chili garlic sauce for this recipe (so yummy) because I’m trying to stay away from anything that sits on a supermarket shelf and has preservatives and I added some edamame beans to the vegetables. The sauce for this rice is so good I’m thinking of what else I can put it on. I will definitely be making this again soon. Thanks for the recipe!
P.S. your tofu scramble recipe is also delicious!
Thank you for the recipe! Tried it last night, substituted brown rice with white. It was pretty good, especially the sauce! MMMMMMMMMMMMM
We thought your General Tso’s Tofu Stir Fry was incredible. This is too!! Many thanks for making Sunday dinners so good!!
Ohh- I’m going to try that!
Finally something we all LOVE! This is delicious! And so easy! I’m loving your recipes! I will look forward to the cookbook!
I’ve made this a few times now. My husband and I really like it, except neither of us like the texture of the baked tofu–we tried crispy and not so crispy. Now we just use edamame instead. I like that there’s a little bit of spiciness, but it’s not overpowering. Thanks for posting!
I was wondering if this worked for white rice as well? or just brown rice?
Hey! does this work for white rice as well?
Thank you for putting me off Chinese Take Away for life! lol Its a healthier choice anyway, and I’m trying this recipe tonight :) Thanks! x
Deeeeelicious! I baked the tofu this time and unfortunately I burned it so it stuck to the pan… but still edible. I love the sweetness that the peanut butter and syrup added. Might try another batch tomorrow with another kind of soy. I had some baby spinach with it as well and it tastes like heaven on a plate. :)
I made this with sugar snap peas instead of regular peas, and it was DELICIOUS. I made a double batch, and it’s feeding me for lunch this week.
Hi Dana,
I’ve been LOVING your vegan fried rice for months. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you so much for such an awesome recipe! I love everything you make!!
So kind! Thanks Julie! xoxo
I made this for lunch today and had trouble with the sauce. I used tahini and brown sugar and the sauce was more like cookie dough than sauce. I tried adding soy sauce but it didn’t help much. So that lead to trouble marinating and separating my tofu. How can I make the sauce more of a liquid next time? The flavor was amazing! I would like to try it again soon.
Hmm, might’ve been the tahini. If it was too thick, definitely thin with lime juice or water!
I tried this recipe for a potluck dinner. Absolutely delicious! I couldn’t get the tofu quite as crispy as I would like it, so I should have baked it longer. The next time I think I will substitute mushrooms for the tofu, to get More veggies in the mix! I substituted tobasco for Siracha because that’s what I had in hand. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
All I have is firm tofu instead of extra firm. Can I use it or will it not turn out good? Thanks!
I don’t think this would matter too much, especially as it is baked for so long in the oven.
This is an excellent recipe!!!
I substituted the maple syrup with organic ketchup instead and used chickpeas instead of tofu and it turned out great!
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Awesome recipe! I did edamame instead of tofu, a regular yellow onion instead of green onion, and added some snap peas. I also ended up doubling the sauce recipe because it was SO delicious and I needed more! Way better than any fried rice I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
This was the second recipe I have tried from this website (two days in a row) and it has been an absolute delight. The sauce was so fun to make with the peanut butter, which went well with the soy and hot sauce, which I substituted for the chili sauce. It was very feeling and full of flavor.
Can this be frozen when it’s done so it lasts longer? Thanks!
Did you really mean to say “12 cups of water” for 1 cup of rice?
If you read the Saveur rice cooking method (she links to it…) it explains the 12 cups of water. It really does make an excellent pot of rice!
This was absolutely amazing!! The texture of the tofu was on point. Your recipes never disappoint. Thank you!!!!!
I made this for dinner tonight and i am so glad i doubled the recipe, now we have some for lunch tomorrow. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing, i think the best fried rice i have ever had :) Yummy
Omg this is sooo goood!
This was incredible! 10/10. I doubled the sauce (I love sauce!) and added broccoli, water chestnuts, mushrooms along with the peas and carrots. Fantastic.
Some of your recipes, once I taste I am convinced I never want to eat any thing else again. This is one of them. I recently discovered soy butter and I am so glad I did because I got to enjoy this tasty recipe. Thanks so much you are making me one happy healthy girl!
Love, Love, Love this recipe, :-) I have it cooked twice in two weeks, its is sooooo easy and quick well not tofu lol. The first time i prepared as instructed the second time i doubled all ingredients so that i would have extra for work. My coworker just tried it and asked for the recipe. This will be my go to for fried rice. Thanks love it
Delicious!!!!!!
I made this last night and just substituted with the veggies I had on hand. (And used firm tofu ) it was amazing! Thanks Dana :)
This was excellent! Thanks for another great recipe.
The most important ingredient in this recipe – the sauce – leaves behind a great big question mark. It’s easy to make good brown rice with vegetables, but it’s the sauce that gives it flavour and is what distinguishes restaurant quality flavour from plain brown rice.
Can you please expand on “chili garlic sauce” with some recommendations? Is this home made? Do you recommend a brand?
Store-bought stuff is likely to contain unwanted sugars, syrups, non-vegan ingredients, soy, etc. This is really the key for the recipe for me, so please expand on some suggestions :)
This one!
I would loooove to make this recipe! Any ideas how I could substitute the peanut butter though? Allergies Allergies! But everything else is so wonderful that I’m really hoping there’s something I can sub PB with!
This recipe was sooo good highly recommend it. I only put a tiny amount of peanut butter but I am thinking maybe you are ok without it. I used maple syrup so i think the sweetness from that was good enough to compensate for the small amount of peanut butter.
I tried this recipe today and was sooooo amazed and happy!! It was delicious! I love tofu but dont know that many ways to cook it. This is very flavorful and just yummy. And its brown rice too! Definitely better than restaurants. Thank you for this recipe!!
I made this recipe last night, with a few tweaks. I’m made a few recipes from here before, and all have turned out great, but this one…this one motivated me to write a comment! I already had Trader Joe’s Sriracha and Teriyaki baked tofus on hand, so I cut them up into small cubes and cooked them in a pan with a little coconut oil with the garlic and green onion. In a cast iron dutch oven, I started the peas (frozen), carrots (fresh) and also some frozen corn we had. I added the sauce ingredients, using maple syrup for the sweetener and sriracha sauce in place of the chili garlic sauce, and also added the optional toasted sesame oil. We also had a large amount of left over basmati rice from Indian earlier in the week, so I used that, and made a double batch. The flavors from this fried rice were so amazing for the minimal amount of work required, I am so so so happy I made a double batch!! I can already tell this is going to be a routine go-to recipe for me!!! Thanks for sharing, and the great recipes/blog!
Hi, I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe but was wondering if I can replace the peanut butter with something? Thanks, Ana
I made this tonight and it came out just great. As I often cook with tofu, I changed it up a bit and used vegan chicken strips and cut them into smaller pieces. And oh as I had run out of brown rice, I used white rice and this was AWESOME!! I so enjoy your recipes Dana. They are vegan and so flavorful.
Thank you Dana! You have turned me into a real chef!!!!
Can I make this with natural peanut butter. Like peanut butter that is ground from peanuts no salt or anything?
This is so good, by far the best fried rice I’ve ever had. Thanks Dana you never disappoint!!
This is a new favorite! One thing I will say is be mindful of the 1/4 inch tofu as it csn be difficult to measure but that is ok because you can adjust the baking time accordingly. Also, dont use too much oil on the baking pan because the tofu will become too crispy. When my tofu came out too crispy, I skipped browning it in the pan and only warmed and served it. Thank you so much!
I’m a broke college student so rice is my main food group, and this recipe is my all time FAVORITE fried rice! The sauce is so simple but the amount of flavor in it is insane. I use the sauce over rice and veggies (unfried because I’m REALLY hungry), to marinate tofu, and on rice noodles! SO good all around. I make this at least once a week, so if you have it pinned for later go ahead and make it already!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. My husband raved about it. It tasted and smelled wonderful, and it is definitely going in my recipe box for the future. The only problem I had was frying the tofu in the sauce. During that stage, the sugary sauce congealed on the frying pan, making a sticky, gooey mess that I had to keep scraping off, eventually leaving bits of gooey congealed sauce bits in the final dish. Do you have a remedy for this? Thanks!
Cooking vegan for just two, I find I often have leftover cooked tofu and brown rice. Starting with those things already done, this came together in a flash and was DELISH. The addition of peanut butter really elevates it above my usual stir fries. Thanks for sharing it!
Just made this for dinner tonight it’s so good! I only had a little bit of brown rice left so I added quinoa and it came out great. 6 year old approved ?
This was amazing! Reminds me of takeout! Your recipes have never disappointed me :) The only substitution I made was white rice. For others reading this, I just cooked white rice as I normally do and then spread it out on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes to allow most of its surface moisture to evaporate. I used to think I couldn’t make fried rice with freshly cooked rice but drying it out after cooking resulted in a perfect fried rice :)
This recipe is phenomenal! Last week the family all voted for Asian take-out food. As the only whole food, plant-based eater among us, I decided I’d make my own rice dish to avoid any unnecessary oils or additives; my search brought me to your site. This rice dish was preferred by all! In fact, my wife asked me to make it again for dinner this evening. This recipe will be a new staple for us. Yes, of course; everyone tweaks a recipe (as do I)–but you have provided the rock-solid base of a winner! Thank you so much!
Wow! My favorite fried rice was from PF Changs. This is my new favorite!
My daughter and son-in-law are gluten, dairy and egg free due to serious food allergies. But the doctor told my daughter to add meat back into her diet when she was pregnant so they do eat limited amounts of meat but not poultry. I often look for vegan recipes for them and add proteins. I was looking for an interesting rice stuffing for Thanksgiving and came across this recipe. I substituted an organic kielbasa sausage for the tofu and doubled the recipe. My apologies to the purist vegans reading this.
My husband came in the house while I was cooking this, and he asked what smelled so good. When I gave him a taste, he exclaimed this would be the most popular dish on the table, and he was right. Everyone had a good laugh about fried rice with the traditional turkey dinner, and had second helpings. We had some guests who joined us late for dessert and tasted it. They opted for the fried rice instead of dessert. Everyone asked for the recipe.
I had 8 adults for dinner and the 3 guests who arrived later. Doubling this recipe made enough for multiple servings for everyone, take home dishes for several and leftovers for us. I used my large wok to combine the components and serve it since my largest pot wasn’t big enough. I have been asked to make it again for Christmas.
Does anyone know how well this freezes?
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. I’ll never buy fried rice at PF Changs again. I would rate this 5 ++ stars if I could. The rating button is not letting me give it 5 stars so please accept this comment instead. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Estelle!
LOVED this! So easy and so gooooood!
I’ve made this six or seven times now (in just a couple of months) and it is now my go-to easy, quick meal for my little vegan family. I use white basmati rice because that is what we usually have already made or is quick to make and I add corn, peas and edamame. It’s also great if you want a side dish for vegan orange chicken or any other vegan protein options (though it totally works as a main dish, too). My addiction to chili garlic sauce started with this recipe…thanks for that! :) This now has a well-deserved place in my book of favorite recipes.
Forgot to add the stars…I give it fifty. :)
This is sooooo good. Lots of flavor and easy to make. Love it!! Thanks fir the recipe!
Hello :). I don’t want to buy chilli garlic sauce, as I don’t cook asian food very often. Is there a substitute I could use?
-Belle
Sriracha? Or you could sub ground up chilies or chili flake.
I made this and it is easy and delicious! I love the crispy tofu and hint of peanut butter flavor. I’ll definitely make this one again.
Delicious!! I made the rice in my Zojirushi rice cooker early in the day, and the rest was a breeze to finish. My husband and I both thought it was really yummy, and I added it to our “eat often” list. I put only 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup because we tend to like recipes a little less sweet than they call for — it was perfect for us.
Are you kidding me! Tastes amazing. Love your site, you are a top google search for best vegan anything! Thanks you,
Amy
Was wondering if you could use Pineapple in place of tofu?
Amazing. I loved it and the hubby loved it. This will be made again, probably at least once a week!!
perfect…loved it
I totally screwed the tofu (too small pieces for too long in the oven) so I didn’t put it in, but the rice was still delicious.
The way to cook the rice was good but not as good as I expected though. I will have to try it again with a bit shorter time.
This was delicious! I made it for my friend’s birthday dinner and she really liked it. The flavor was terrific and I am definitely keeping this in my files. Thanks for sharing!
I love how all your recipes are so easy to make and ready to eat in no time. Especially after a day of work it’s just great.
This recipe as well: so easy and yet so tasty, my boyfriend who is quite picky with food really enjoyed this dish.
This recipe is great! The only things I did different was I used white rice instead of brown and added some more vegetables and doubled the recipe. Very very good! I plan on using this method to cook tofu more often!:)<3
Just made this my parents (my dad is not a tofu lover) and they loved it. Definitely cut back on the spicy-ness of the sauce for them without lessening the dish at all.
My daughter and I made this tonight. It was absolutely delicious! We were a little worried about the peanut butter, but so yummy! The cooking method for the tofu was excellent, however personal taste dictates I not bake it quite as long.
Again, excellent, delicious rice! Yum!
This is such a great way to make brown rice! I’m wondering though… in order to make 2 cups of rice, do I need to double the water? Or just change up the cooking time?
This recipe is a keeper! I made it without the tofu and it was still so delicious and easy to make. The sauce is very flavorful and the dish is very tasty. Great way to use leftover rice. I plan to make more today! Thanks for a terrific recipe!
I want to thank you so much for this recipe. My family has always been skeptical of tofu, but this recipe has changed their mind. We make it once a week now :) I add rice wine vinegar, omit the sugar in the sauce, and add red peppers and onions to the veges, but thats all personal preference stuff. This recipe is wonderful as is!! Thank you so much!
This was so delicious and tasted very authentic. I have found all of your recipes absolutely delicious and can’t wait to make more! (I made the veggie pot pie last week with the biscuits on top and it was so good!) Thanks for posting them!
Made this and it was delicious
I made this and it was great! (step 4 in the cooking directions says to use 12 cups of water for the rice- hopefully people would know that it was probably supposed to be “2 cups”. )
I’ve been doing a 21 day SP Purification and I’ve use several of your recipes – thank you thank you!!!
haha! I was so confused by the 12 cups part! I started out putting them in and then realised it couldn’t be right so just cooked my rice how I always do. Makes sense it was meant to be two!
Made this fried rice last night! Awesome!!
I made this and it was fantastic! I followed it to a tee and it came out perfectly. The only thing I didn’t have was carrots so I substituted red pepper. Thanks for a great and easy to follow recipe.
LOVED this! The sauce was a great alternative to just plain soy sauce as I have used in the past. I found the tofu a tiny bit too dry after baking in oven for 30 min, will bake for less time next time or may just sauté instead.
This recipe is amazing. My wife and I didn’t even make it to the table to sit down and eat. We stood over the skillet with our bowels. Cleared the skillet in a matter of minutes. Thank you for sharing!
OMG! this recipe was so fast and SO delicious.
This was so delicious! The only thing I struggled with was the method of cooking the rice – I ended up just cooking it how I always cook rice and then steaming for 10 minutes and it tasted really good. My tofu hating friend loved it :)
thank you!
I made this last night and it was delicious. I needed to cut down on the cooking time, so we made the rice ahead of time and stored it in the fridge until we were ready to make everything else. We aren’t vegan, so I scrambled two eggs and threw those in at the end. We will definately be making this again.
With recipes like this I might just be able to keep up this vegan thing ! Delish and the rice thing worked out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe, you’re a gem :)
This is amazing!!! That sauce is so unbelievably delicious. It was our first time trying tofu and it was impressive. For how cheap it is, it will definitely be served many more nights!
Wow, delicious, recipe is a keeper!
Yum! Best fried rice I’ve had, easy. I am not a vegan but using peanut butter instead of eggs appealed to me.
Yum! Best fried rice I’ve had. Not a vegan but peanut butter sounded better then the eggs in other recipes. My kinda traditional hubby even exclaimed!
I have a family of 7, how do you alter the measurements to make this recipe for that many people?
Hi Delilah! Thats a big group to feed! If you are going to serve this meal as the entree, I’d recommend tripling the recipe. If you’ve got a hungry bunch, quadrupling it will work as well. Good luck!
Absolutely loved the sauce, probably the best online recipe turn out !
Hi Dana – Thanks for this great easy recipe. I make it weekly! So easy, always have ingredients on hand, and usually have some leftover for lunch (but not always!)
This is now my favorite way to make tofu! Baking it was so much easier than frying it. I did mine in 3/4″ cubes and baked it about 28 minutes. The sauce was easy and yummy. I’ll definitely make again.
Husband loves the sauce and he’s not a big rice fan. Wondering if I could somehow make the sauce into a stir fry sauce. Any suggestions?
I made this tonight, and it came out amazing! The only thing I added to the recipe was kale and bell pepper for extra veggies. I served with sweet chili sauce on top, and it was delicious! Even my dad, who isn’t vegan, was crazy about it and he ate some of the sauce with a spoon. Great dinner!
If I’m using 2 cups of dry brown rice, do I need to boil 24 cups of water?
Absolutely delicious! Wonderful comfort food and the tofu was so tasty even for non-tofu eaters!
Omg this is amazing! The best vegan fried rice I have had yet! I paired this with an Asian cabbage salad and lunch is going to rock!! I live everything you post :)
I had this tonight, and loved it, although I oven cooked the tofu to a crisp :-( (this will be good next time I make your vegan Caesar salad, in lieu of bread croûtons). I used my own hot sauce (thai red chiles/chile de arbol + olive oil and caraway, in a high speed blender), and added the frozen peas just before eating. Next time, I will try adding some ginger. The sauce was yummy, and the rice fluffy. This is the way I am going to cook brown rice from now on. Thank you for your great recipes: they make my taste buds sing!
This is one of my easy go to weeknight recipes, and it’s also so forgiving. I often use whatever vegetables I have on hand, I don’t always include the tofu, I sometimes even use frozen veggies when I have less time for prep, and it never disappoints. The secret is in the sauce, which is so good, and is conveniently comprised of ingredients I always have on hand. I’m generous with the peanut butter (because, obviously) and I’ve used just about every version of sweetener (brown sugar, sugar, turbinado, maple syrup, honey) and all have worked well. It’s a great recipe to put time into (the tofu is so good), and it also works so well as a last minute thrown together meal. Thanks for delicious an oh so doable recipes. They’re the reason I keep coming back.
As a student, and environmentally conscious individual, I’ve been looking for budget and animal friendly recipes for a while. This one ticks all of the boxes! It is so delicious! The sauce is amazing and now I wouldn’t cook tofu in any other way now! It even pleased two male, predominantly carnivorous housemates, who went back for seconds! This is now a weekly recipe in my household. Thanks for an awesome recipe :) I’ll be checking out some more of your ideas.
I love it. Full of flavor! Delicious!
Thanks Dana for such a wonderful recipe, just wanted to know can i use White Basmati Rice for the same ? will the flavour change ?
Hi! Yes, that will work but you may get a slightly different texture!
I’ve made this several times for vegans and non-vegans, it is always a hit!
It is tasty as well as easy recipe for a new comer. I will surely try it out.
Hi do have a substitute for peanut butter? My daughter is allergic to tree nuts.. I’m planning to try this for her. Thanks.