Sheet-Pan Tofu and Brussels Sprouts With Hoisin-Tahini Sauce

Sheet-Pan Tofu and Brussels Sprouts With Hoisin-Tahini Sauce
Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(1,499)
Notes
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Two powerhouse pantry ingredients – hoisin sauce and tahini – come together to turn this vegetarian sheet-pan dinner into a memorable meal. Hoisin, which is made with fermented soybeans, is often used as a sweet and savory glaze for meat, but it also injects big, deep flavors into vegetable-based dishes. Here, it is mixed with tahini to create a tangy, creamy sauce that is reminiscent of one served with fried rice noodle rolls at dim sum. This dish could be served with rice or noodles, or you could add a few spinach leaves for a salad-leaning meal, but the crispy, earthy brussels sprouts and toothsome golden tofu are more than hearty enough on their own.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Brussels Sprouts and Tofu

    • 2pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
    • Extra virgin olive oil
    • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
    • 2(14-ounce) packages extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into ¼-inch thick slices

    For the Sauce

    • 3tablespoons hoisin sauce
    • 3tablespoons tahini
    • 1garlic clove, grated
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

404 calories; 22 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 12 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 28 grams protein; 1062 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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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees, and arrange the racks in the bottom and middle positions.

  2. Step 2

    You will need two rimmed sheet pans. Place the brussels sprouts on one sheet pan and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a few turns of black pepper. Toss to ensure the sprouts are well coated.

  3. Step 3

    On the second sheet pan, drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and tilt the pan so the oil coats the surface. Place the tofu slices onto the pan and season well with about 1 to 1½ teaspoons of salt and several turns of black pepper. Drizzle the tops of the tofu with more olive oil.

  4. Step 4

    Place the two sheet pans into the oven, on the middle and bottom racks, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, switching the pans halfway through. When ready, the brussels sprouts will be tender and crispy in spots and the tofu will be lightly golden.

  5. Step 5

    Meanwhile, place the hoisin, tahini, garlic and 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and whisk until combined. The sauce should be thick, but with a pourable consistency. (If it looks too thick, you can add a touch more water.)

  6. Step 6

    Serve the brussels sprouts alongside the tofu and drizzle over the hoisin-tahini sauce. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,499 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Great starting point. Two suggested enhancements: 1. Rev up the flavor of the tofu if you have time for a quick marinade before roasting. Press it dry for 30 minutes; then marinate 30 - 60 minutes in diluted soy sauce, several drizzles of roasted sesame oil and a bit of maple syrup. Huge difference in flavor 2. Jazz up the sauce with grated ginger, 1 T fresh lime juice and 1 T tamarind concentrate. Maybe a smidgen of red curry paste. Yumm!

This is a lot of tofu per serving. If one includes another protein in the meal, one block of tofu would be sufficient. I prefer to roast Brussels sprouts without salt and add it later if needed. It's amazing how often no salt is needed, especially when there is a sauce.

Halved this to fit on one sheet pan--feed two generously for dinner with one leftover lunch. Sauce was amazing with a little grated ginger and rice wine vinegar to cut down on the sweetness!

Really liked this! We had it over brown rice and with a little added chili crisp, it was perfect and so simple. We halved it for two adults and did it on one cookie sheet. Yummy sauce!

I paid (very) scant attention to the instructions on the prep and bake for tofu and sprouts. I roasted in the sheetpan until the tofu looked golden. Mixed up the sauce haphazardly. Curious but with low expectations. I am NOT vegan... or vegetarian. I thought this was great. And easy. Entirely satisfied.

I emptied both my bottle of hoisin sauce and tahini and made the sauce w garlic. I cooked a small serving of the tofu and Brussels sprouts and put them both in the air fryer. Then in a small skillet I put cut scallion, grated ginger and garlic and toasted peanuts and sautéed them. I put water on for soba noodles. When it all was done, I added all in a bowl and drizzled some sauce. Ummm good!

Made it as written except we cut the tofu and sprouts amounts in half, 1 block of tofu and 1 pound of sprouts fit perfectly on one sheet pan. Great recipe, delicious, simple dinner! Cranky aside: what is with the complaints of blandness?? Everything doesn’t need to be buried under chili crisp, ginger, rice vinegar, double garlic, chili paste, what have you! I enjoyed the tasty sauce that still allowed us to taste the tofu and sprouts.

Two of my favorite ingredients… now my new favorite sauce! Wanted to try this recipe immediately… had broccoli! So good!

I was planning to make Ali Slagle's excellent gnocchi with Brussels sprouts, but happened upon this recipe. Holy moly, it's good (and lower in carbs and cholesterol). I didn't have garlic (I know, I know), so used 1/4 garlic powder instead. Worked beautifully.

We made this according to the recipe, and it was very good! The sauce is very nice, a little sweet, salty and creamy. Nice change from the typical peanut sauce. I would change a couple things next time--- I would cut the tofu into medium size cubes, as the 1/4" planks were a bit dried out. Add some red pepper flakes to the sauce, and we needed more water to thin the sauce to a pourable consistency. Update to 1 package of tofu, and 1.5 lbs brussels.

Honestly, the sauce could make an old tennis shoe taste good

Hoisin is great stuff, but I'm going to swap in oyster sauce, because I always have it on hand

I love the elements, but the sauce needs something. It's very one dimensional. Some soy sauce? It needs a kick of some kind. Maybe chili crisp like another commenter mentioned. But otherwise a nice easy meal. We halved it to serve two so we only needed one sheet pan.

This was a very tasty recipe! I was cooking for 2 so only made 1 package of tofu & about 1 pound of sprouts and served over brown rice noodles. The sauce is really nice. After tasting it I did tweak it with about 1/2 teaspoon of Sriracha and about a teaspoon of oyster sauce. A squeeze of fresh lime over the entire plate really gave it the brightness it needed. Very enjoyable and I'll make it again!

One of my favorite and easiest recipes!!!

This is quite tasty specially the brussel sprouts. However, I'd recommend not using olive oil due to its lower smoke point. This is cooking at 450 °F way too high for that oil. Got tons of smoke. Next time I used avocado oil which has a higher smoke point. Result much less smoke and tasted great.

Took others excellent advice: soy & sesame oil on the tofu, added lime juice, ginger & a smidge of soy to the sauce. Added some chopped carrots to the Brussels, served with rice. Yummy!

Wow!! So simple, nutritious and delicious. As mentioned by others, I halved the recipe for 2 people, and used one XL sheet pan. The delicious sauce I made the quantity per the recipe, adding about 1/4 cup of water for the consistency. I made Banza chickpea noodles, sprinkled some chili flakes and a squeeze of lemon which added a little brightness (next time, I’ll try lime). Thanks for a new go-to meatless meal!!

I love so many NYTimes recipes. Sadly this is not one of them. It’s cloying and too rich. And IMHO tofu really needs to be marinated. This recipe doesn’t hold a candle to the tofu green bean chili crisp recipe. Just as easy and much more tasty.

Maybe I have the wrong tahini but this did not work for me at all.

Sauce is delicious, but it doesn't stand up to the Brussels sprouts.

One package of tofu. Cut into cubes instead of slices. Double the sauce recipe. Maybe add soy sauce (1/2 the amount of the other sauce ingredients).

I am pretty sure that tofu is not meant to be cooked crispy. Everytime I tried to make it crispy (either in pan or oven) it was pretty horrible. Just getting dry and hard, no increase in taste. Compare that to the wonder that happens to simple things like potatoes when made crsipy …

Simple roasted brussels and tofu, and the sauce is easy and yummy. Was good night-of with hot food served with rice, also enjoyed dipping the tofu cubes in the sauce as a cold lunch the next day. I took one commenter’s suggestion and fried up a diced shallot, a handful of chopped peanuts, a minced clove of garlic, grated ginger, and a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes and that stuff was da bomb.

For the tofu marinade, used the suggested sesame oil plus soy sauce and added sriracha and Shaoxing cooking wine. Then used the leftovers of this mixture for the sauce, cutting back to 2 tbsp hoisin and adding juice from a tangerine. Served over soba, with scallions and peanuts, per suggestions. Quite delicious, filling and easy.

This was tasty and way too easy. Definite keeper. Just sent my daughter the recipe. Ours was done after only 20 minutes. I added extra tahini to the sauce because I thought it might be too sweet. Served with rice. Try this!

It was good but not among my top tofu dishes from NYT- perhaps my Hoisin was a sweeter one than others. Don't get me wrong - delicious and easy and I'll make again especially when I'm short on time. I'd probably add red pepper flakes to the sauce and find a livelier Hoisin.

The concept is great. I don't like the sauce; it seemed both too sweet and too harsh. On my second attempt I made a quick peanut sauce instead.

Very very nice. I followed the advice of reducing the Hoisin sauce. Added some ginger, Thai red curry and lime juice to the sauce. Served with roasted sweet potatoes and red onions. Delicious.

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