Sesame Tofu With Coconut-Lime Dressing and Spinach
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ¼cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1lime, zested and juiced (1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice)
- 2tablespoons sambal oelek
- 1tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ¼cup pure sesame oil (or toasted sesame oil, for stronger flavor)
- Fine sea salt
- 1(12-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, cut into 8 equal rectangles
- ½cup panko bread crumbs (or ¼ cup cornstarch, for a gluten-free option)
- ½cup white sesame seeds (or a mix of black and white)
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- Fine sea salt
- 2large egg whites
- ¼cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed, for pan-frying
- 2tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed
- 1shallot, peeled and minced
- 2garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 20ounces spinach
- 1tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- ½teaspoon ground black pepper
- Fine sea salt
- 2tablespoons minced chives, for garnish
For the Dressing
For the Tofu
For the Spinach
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
599 calories; 51 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 17 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 843 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Prepare the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, lime zest and juice, sambal oelek and brown sugar until sugar dissolves completely. Slowly stream in the sesame oil and whisk until the mixture is emulsified and creamy. Taste and season with salt as needed; set aside. (You’ll have ¾ cup dressing. Save any extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
- Step 2
Prepare the tofu: Pat the tofu dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. In a medium bowl, whisk together panko, sesame seeds and black pepper. Season the mixture generously with salt. In a second medium bowl, lightly whisk the egg whites. Using a pair of kitchen tongs, dip the tofu slices one at a time in the egg whites and coat well. Transfer to the bowl with the panko mixture, coating well on all sides, then move to a clean plate. Repeat with remaining tofu slices.
- Step 3
Line a large plate with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium (10-inch) cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet over medium-low. Working in batches to avoid crowding, pan-fry the tofu until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. (Don’t overcook, or the sesame seeds will turn bitter.) Transfer the fried tofu slices to the prepared plate. Repeat with the remaining tofu, adding oil and wiping out the pan as needed.
- Step 4
Prepare the spinach: Wipe out the skillet, and heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium. Add the shallot and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 seconds, taking care not to scorch the garlic. Add the spinach by the handful, increasing the heat after the first handful and allowing the greens to wilt before adding more. Sauté until wilted and most of the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and black pepper, and fold to coat well. Taste and add salt as needed. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Step 5
Place spinach in a serving bowl. Add fried tofu on top, and drizzle with half of the coconut-lime dressing. Sprinkle the chives over the tofu, and serve immediately, with more dressing on the side.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Sophie
I have made vegan breaded eggplant before with a mix of plant based milk and cornstarch as a binder, for those willing to try a substitute for egg whites
Arianna
This looks fantastic, but it’s described as vegan in the header notes - however, it calls for egg whites for breading, which are decidedly un-vegan. Maybe amend to note that it’s vegetarian.
Newbie
I marinated pressed tofu for 6 hours, placed the tofu pieces on a layer of paper towel to dry while I mixed panko+blackpepper+cornstarch in a dish and preheated my oven to 375. I applied a thin layer of mayo to each side of the tofu with a spatula and dredged it in the dish, placed the tofu on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked on the top and bottom rack of the oven until the tofu was thoroughly browned. Best tofu I've ever made -- crispy on the outside, creamy in, and very flavorful.
Alcyone
Skipped the breading and cooked the tofu in a waffle iron - brushed with olive oil and sprinkled sesame seeds on both sides before waffling. Holds the sauce nicely. A fresh and fast lunch.
Lori
Loved this approach for getting tofu crispy. To avoid frying we baked on a lightly oiled baking sheet in the oven at 425 degrees on the top rack for 25 minutes. Came out crispy and light!
Chris Milsom
While I haven’t tried this recipe yet, I made some pan fried tofu last night from another NYT recipe using a tip I saw in a comment: put the sliced extra firm tofu in a bowl and microwave on high for 3 minutes. It will release its water which you pour off. I drained the slices on paper towels until I was ready to fry them. They held together very well and the texture was perfect. I won’t bother with pressing and draining it anymore.
Christine
Lovely dish. Used half the sugar and half the sesame oil in the dressing. Tofu coating came out crispy and adhered nicely. A winner!
Jenn
In my experience tofu that is not pressed of its liquid will come out mushy on the inside. Recommend pressing the slices between clean kitchen towels for 15 minuted prior to breading.
Agnieszka
Fantastic recipe, loved the dressing, added a touch of orange zest,only a drop of sesame oil, allowed Tofu to chill after breading, held together beautifully during frying. Served with MC roasted beets salad and soba noodles. Definitely a repeater!
Tessa
Yummy! The spinach is not particularly interesting. We will try another vegetable such as Broccoli Rabe or snow peas. We fried up the leftover panco and sesame seeds - a yummy crunchy topping. We served it on top of rice which was good. We doubled the sauce because we liked it so much.
Brenda
1/4 cup of toasted sesame oil would likely be overwhelming.
Mary LG
It's not vegan with egg whites, so I used aquafaba (chickpea juice from the can), which did the job nicely. I used sweetened coconut milk for the dressing: delish! However, this is NOT a 30-minute meal. I was seriously hustling to get this meal on the table in an hour. Pro tip: save the crunch bits of the panko/sesame in the pain and sprinkle on top of the tofu before serving. ALSO: don't drizzle the dressing on before serving, as it soggifies the tofu crust upon contact. Just serve as you eat!
Deborah
This is an excellent recipe. Very tasty and positive family reviews. I did double the dressing, and add more coconut milk and brown sugar because it was a little too astringent. The major comment is that it’s closer to 45 min rather than a 30 min recipe because the tofu coating and frying takes time.
kim
This was so good. I’m not generally a fan of cooked spinach, but the dressing highlighted it well. Nice and crispy. This did take me longer than 30 minutes...the first batch of the tofu took longer to fry than anticipated. I also tipped the tofu up to crisp the edges, as this was a shallow fry, so that added time. I kept the tofu in a warm oven to keep it hot while making the spinach. Will definitely make again!
Robin
This was a hit! I used the remaining coconut milk from the can to make coconut rice as a side.
Elle
I used gochujang instead of sambal and used whole eggs instead of just the whites (oops!) and it turned out delicious. Served with basmati rice. Will definitely be making again.
Christy G
Delicious recipe. Skipped the egg whites and battered in whole buttermilk then air fried the tofu spritzing the tofu with olive oil spray prior to air frying.
bradley stoll
Not sure how good this is, but it certainly isn't vegan (egg whites, really?). of course, it could easily be adapted using aquafaba or plant-based milk, as others have suggested.
Anastasia
Notes were really helpful. Press tofu, double the sauce . I used harrisa and it was lovely
Jen
I added only a little bit of panko and cooked in my air fryer with just a bit of avocado oil spray. It was great! And that dressing is ridiculous. The recipe makes quite a lot and b/c it's so flavorful you won't need much. I enjoyed it with veggies and things over the next few days and I'm guessing it might even freeze well. Yum!
Paula CoopTip
Delicious. Made as is with one change- gochujang paste for sambal oelek since that’s what I had available. The tofu, spinach and dressing were all great. Served with a side of brown rice. I also made salmon for the meat eaters but 3 of the 4 of them wanted to try the tofu and agreed that it was delicious
Kim
Loved the finished dish - the crunchiness of the sesame seeds (we used both white and black) and tang of the lime were perfect. I did make one change to the recipe and substituted green onion for the chives, which I didn't have on hand. I found that there was way too much of the sesame seed & panko mixture and, since I hate to waste food, will probably halve these ingredients when I make this again. This is a keeper.
AS
Very tasty. Substituted sriracha for the sambal oelek based on an internet search. Used an 11 oz carton of baby spinach and it was good (didn’t change proportion of other ingredients), but also would have been good with more. Probably only needed 1/3 c each of sesame seeds and panko. No need to press tofu before slicing, per other reviewers comments. Ate it over rice and it made four solid lunches with almost no leftover dressing.
HG
The sauce for this is really easy and tasty. The tofu was a great texture (crispy on the outside). A bit bland by itself, even with the panko and sesame, but fabulous covered in the sauce.
Bree B
Wilfully ignored the quantities for most things. Halved the sambal olek to suit my very bland palate but then the dressing felt like it was missing a ‘kick’, so added a splash of rice wine vinegar which was perfect. The first two components took me well over an hour, at which point I was hungry and overwhelmed, so I plated up on a handful of baby spinach wilted in soy sauce for 10sec in the dirty pan. All it needed!
Regen Williams
The dressing's flavor was fabulous! Will be saving for future cold noodle recipes. Wishing I had seen Chris Milsom's comment below- my tofu wasn't as dried out as I had hoped It was and the pieces ended up breaking a but during plan flips. Still tasted amazing, but will try the microwave trick next time. Used Kale instead of spinach btw, YUM.
Mary Ann
Turned it vegan. Yum!
Biz
Made this for the first time tonight. I will keep the tofu chilled next time, as someone suggested, because the panko coating stayed better on the first batch of tofu after frying than it did on later room temp pieces. Also, I fried the leftover egg whites and yolks and placed the eggs on top of the tofu, it looked great and tasted great!
Kathy
Enjoyed this, and it was one of the few tofu recipes where I got an actual crisper crust (though the sauce will reduce the crispiness). Following comments, I baked the pressed tofu on a well oiled pan, and was pleased with the results, although it took some time to actually brown.
Jean B
Wow. This was a flavor surprise. Not a vegetarian but we like to mix those recipes into our week. We love Asian inspired flavors and this really delivers with little effort. We had extra tofu so we stored in refrigerator for a few days and it re-sautéed to crisp it back up, and served on a bed of sautéed kale.. an easy and delicious weeknight meal!
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