Tofu Fried Rice

4.91 from 43 votes

Tofu Fried Rice is a fantastic vegetarian recipe that cooks in under 20 minutes. Just fry tofu, eggs, garlic, ginger, carrots, scallions, and peas with rice and toss with an easy sesame-soy sauce.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Servings:

Calories: 448kcal

Author: Chef Molly Pisula

Ingredients

2 large carrots
2 cloves garlic
½-inch knob fresh ginger
3 scallions
8.8 ounces extra-firm tofu (or whatever package size you have)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
4 cups cold cooked white or brown rice from 1 cup dried rice
1 cup frozen peas (5 ounces)

Sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon sriracha

Instructions

Start by preparing your ingredients, so they are all ready to go before you start cooking. Peel and chop carrots into very small pieces or julienne into thin strips. (Larger pieces will not cook through by the time you are done cooking the rest of the ingredients.)
Peel, then mince the garlic and ginger.
Slice the scallions thinly, separating the white/light green parts from the dark green parts.
Drain tofu and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut into small cubes.
Scramble eggs in a small bowl with a fork.
Make the sauce by stirring together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sriracha.
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large nonstick skillet or wok. Bring to medium-high heat.
Add tofu and stir occasionally until lightly browned on all sides (about 5-8 minutes).
Remove from pan and add another tablespoon of oil, then add eggs.
Scramble eggs for 2 minutes, or until fully cooked, breaking into pieces with a spatula.
Remove from pan and add another tablespoon of oil.
Add garlic, ginger, carrots, and the white and light green parts of the scallions.
Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Carrots should be approaching crisp-tender.
Add rice and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until fully incorporated, breaking up any chunks of rice.
Add back crispy tofu and eggs along with frozen peas.
Stir for 1 minute, then pour in sauce. Stir until sauce is incorporated and peas are cooked, about 1-2 more minutes.
Garnish with green onion slices, and extra sriracha, if desired.

Notes

Precooked (and chilled) rice is much better behaved in this recipe than warm rice. Cooking the rice in advance and chilling it helps the rice grains dry out and firm up so they do not get mushy in your fried rice.
To make this a vegan tofu fried rice dish, you’ll just need to leave out the eggs. In the past, there was some concern about soy sauce being made with fish products. However, the vast majority of current commercial soy sauce products now do not contain any fish. Still, please check the label of your ingredients if you are at all worried.
Feel free to make lots of ingredient substitutions with this dish, as this recipe is very flexible! Tofu can be replaced with leftover cooked pork, chicken, or steak, or fry up some shrimp instead. For the vegetables, try using celery or any kind of greens (spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens). Just be carefully to finely chop any greens that don't cook quickly on their own (or use pre-cooked greens).
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or can be frozen in an airtight container or a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Nutrition