These tofu tacos with vegan peanut sauce are a great grilled option for a Summer BBQ when you’re entertaining friends who are vegetarian.
I know when we think about Summer grilled foods, we tend to automatically think meat. Specifically, we think hot dogs and hamburgers (side note: which side are you on?) Well, with so many people going plant-based, if you’re enjoying a socially distanced outdoor meal this Summer, you’ll want to put these tofu tacos with vegan peanut sauce on the menu.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
Who doesn’t love a summer dinner that is delicious, easy to prepare, kid friendly, and ready in just 1 hour? These tofu tacos with peanut sauce are both tasty and filling, and perfect for throwing together at the end of a long summer day.
To balance out the meal, we’ve got plant-based protein in the tofu, healthy fats in the peanut butter and cooking oils, and complex carbs from the tortillas. To bump up the fibre of this meal, I would suggest serving these tofu tacos with a cabbage slaw, or any kind of salad on the side! I promise that any person at your table, plant-based or omnivore, will love this recipe.
Key Ingredients
Rice Vinegar – I like using “seasoned” rice vinegar for a little extra flavour, but in a pinch you can also use any rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar to this tofu taco recipe.
Low Sodium Tamari – Soy sauce or even coconut aminos work here too, but if you are serving anyone who is gluten free, gluten free tamari is a safe choice.
Sesame Oil – I love a good toasted sesame oil, but again, any sesame oil works.
Coconut Sugar – I love the flavour of coconut sugar in this because it has a bit of a tropical aroma, but in a pinch, just go with brown sugar or maple syrup.
Light Olive Oil – I do prefer a light olive oil to a rich extra virgin olive oil because I don’t want to compete with the big flavour of extra virgin. You can also use any mild grapeseed, avocado oil or vegetable oil.
Ginger & Garlic – These are classic aromatics – you can’t really leave these out and in my opinion, dried do NOT do these two ingredients justice. You want some good punchy flavour.
Sriracha – If you like a good kick!
Extra Firm Tofu – I do prefer to use extra firm tofu so that it stays together on the grill.
Tortillas – I love authentic corn tortillas (and it keeps this recipe gluten free), but of course, use whole wheat flour if that’s what you like.
Creamy Peanut Butter – Sure you can use the chunky stuff, but the creamy version makes these tofu tacos much easier to serve, in my opinion.
Agave or Maple – Gotta balance out that richness!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: To a large plastic bag, add in the marinade ingredients and the tofu. Allow to marinate for at least an hour, up to overnight.
Step 2: In a bowl mix together the peanut sauce ingredients.
Step 3: Preheat the grill to medium high and add the corn tortillas. Toast on each side just for 30-60 seconds, and keep warm.
Step 4: Add the tofu and cook for 3-4 minutes per side until grill marks appear.
Step 5: To serve, add the tofu to the tortilla shell, top with cabbage, carrots, avocado, lime, green onion, sesame, peanuts and a generous spoonful of the peanut sauce.
Expert Tips
If you don’t want to fire up the BBQ or the grill for this recipe, no problem. To bake the tofu, preheat the oven to 400 F. I recommend brushing the marinade on and baking for 30-35 minutes until crispy. If you want it extra crispy, pop it under the broiler. To pan-fry, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet (ideally cast iron) over medium high heat. Marinate the tofu and then pan-fry until golden brown on each side.
For my peanut-allergic friends, feel free to swap the peanut butter in this recipe for any other nut or seed butter of your choice. Sunbutter, tahini, almond butter, and cashew butter would all be delicious peanut free substitutes!
Recipe FAQ
I’m obsessed with peanut sauce because it’s kind of sweet, savoury and super rich and creamy. It’s ideal on naturally lean foods like tofu, chicken breasts, veggies, and sweet potatoes.
Literally any kind of slaw or salad would work well here, or you could even try making cilantro lime rice to go on the side! I also love this with baked beans (vegan style of course).
What kiddo doesn’t love tacos? Of course this can be kid-friendly and mine loves peanut sauce! If your children are sensitive to spice, I suggest cutting back on the sriracha (you can always add it to your tacos when you serve them).
More Recipes You Might Like
If you liked this recipe tofu tacos with peanut sauce, then you might also enjoy some of the other summer dinner recipes on the blog:
- Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Chickpea Hard Tacos
- Peach BBQ Chicken Tacos
- Vegan Walnut Meat Cauliflower Tacos
- Roasted Broccoli Salad with Tahini
- Vegan Baked Beans
- Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad
What are you making for Taco Tuesday? Leave me a comment below if you tried these tofu tacos or the vegan peanut sauce!
Tofu Tacos with Peanut Sauce (Vegan & Gluten Free Summer Dinner)
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 5 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
- 5 tbsp low sodium tamari gluten free if needed
- 1 ½ tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp light olive oil
- 1 clove garlic finely grated
- 1 tsp sriracha or more to taste
- 1 block extra firm tofu cut into 1/4″ thick triangles
Peanut Sauce:
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup reduced sodium tamari gluten free if needed or reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or very finely minced
- 1 tsp sriracha or more to taste
For serving:
- 8 small corn tortillas for serving
- Shredded red cabbage
- Shredded carrot
- Avocado thinly sliced
- Lime
- Thinly sliced green onion
- Sesame seeds
- Crushed peanuts
Instructions
- To a large plastic bag, add in the marinade ingredients and the tofu. Allow to marinate for at least an hour, up to overnight.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together the peanut sauce ingredients.
- Preheat the grill to medium high and add the corn tortillas. Toast on each side just for 30-60 seconds, and keep warm.
- Add the tofu and cook for 3-4 minutes per side until grill marks appear.
- To serve, add the tofu to the tortilla shell, top with cabbage, carrots, avocado, lime, green onion, sesame, peanuts and a generous spoonful of the peanut sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Updated on July 25th, 2022
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Yumna says
Hi Abby, this sounds delicious but why marinate the tofu in a plastic bag? I suggest marinating anything in reusable container. Let’s try to reduce single use items as much as possible. Wishing all the best 🙂
Abbey Sharp says
Thats a great tip! Will definitely try to do that more often. Thanks Yumna 🙂