Crispy tofu with a zingy, sweet, and super flavorful sticky sauce over rice makes for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Serve with your favorite garnishes and you’ll feel like you’re eating takeout, but it’s actually much healthier!

Inspired by Chinese takeout “lemon chicken” but made with tofu instead. Meatless, nutritious, and you can choose to add veggies, as you wish.

The tofu can be baked or fried, depending on your preference, either way resulting in delicious, crispy bites of tofu that are just asking to be covered in a sticky lemon sauce. I prefer baking them, it’s healthier and the oven does the work while I work on the sauce. Either way is delicious and simple, though!

Sticky Lemon Tofu

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

For the Crispy Tofu

1 14oz / 400g block of firm or extra-firm tofu
1 Tbsp / 14g oil
1 Tbsp / 17g soy sauce
1/4 cup / 40g cornstarch

For the Lemon Sauce

1/2 cup / 119g chicken broth or water
1/4 cup / 56g lemon juice
2 Tbsp / 34g soy sauce
3 Tbsp / 60g maple syrup
zest of 1 lemon

To sautè

1 Tbsp / 14g oil
2-3 green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp grated or minced fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, minced

For Serving

Rice
Garnishes such as sliced green onions, sesame seeds, red chili flakes, and/or lemon slices

Directions:

Make the Crispy Tofu

Place tofu block between some paper towels and press to absorb extra water. Repeat until tofu feels dry and no more water comes out. You can also do this ahead of time by placing something heavy over the tofu and paper towels, such as a bowl or pot, and leave it for several minutes.
Slice tofu into squares and toss together with the oil, soy sauce, and corn starch until evenly coated.
Pan fry:
Heat a large fry pan and add tofu. Fry for a few minutes until golden, then flip tofu over. Add more oil to pan as needed to get a nice golden crust on the tofu. Remove from heat when done.
OR Bake:
Disperse tofu cubes evenly onto a parchment paper or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F / 205°C for about 30 minutes, or until light golden and crispy. Ideally, flip tofu halfway through baking.

Make the sauce

Whisk together all ingredients for the sauce; set aside.

Sauté

Heat oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. (Can be the pan you used for the tofu if you pan-fried it).
Add green onions, ginger, and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
Add lemon sauce ingredients to pan and bring to a simmer.
Add in tofu, carefully stir to evenly coat tofu in sauce. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens.
Serve with rice and garnishes, as desired.

Jenny’s Notes:

Veggies can be added to this dish if desired. I like snow peas and broccoli, which can be added at the very end with the tofu into the sauce. Put a lid on and let the veggies steam for a few minutes, or until desired tenderness is achieved.
If pan frying the tofu, you can flip the tofu with tongs, or simply sauté/flip the tofu using the pan. The second way is faster, but requires a bit more skill and you have less control over which sides of the tofu land down.
Use whichever kind of cooking oil you prefer. I simply write “oil” since specifying often gets people thinking they must use a specific oil, when really you can use any high-heat cooking oil (peanut oil, avocado oil, some use olive oil, etc.)
Instead of maple syrup you can also use 1/4 cup / 50g of sugar or brown sugar. Or, 3 Tbsp / 63g of honey, which lends a slightly different flavor.