Healthy vegan Bali Bowls with Peanut Tofu are loaded up with healthy veggies, black rice, roasted sweet potatoes and of course, delicious Peanut Sauce! A little sunshine in the midst of winter.
Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free. ~ Ekhart Tolle
Here’s a healthy vegan bowl inspired by a trip we took to Bali a while back. I loved all the fresh and healthy food we had on that trip, but most of all, my favorite thing was by far this Peanut Tofu!
Since then we’ve had it on repeat around here, and its morphed into this healthy bowl. I love it served over black rice and loaded up with crunchy fresh veggies.
For a little more heartiness, I added sweet potatoes to the sheet-pan with the Peanut Tofu.
While the Peanut Tofu and sweet potatoes are baking, make the black rice and prep the fresh veggies! Shredding cabbage on a mandolin is nice, match stick carrots, grated beets, sliced snap peas – use whatever raw crunchy veggies you like.
And sprouts! Nutty flavored sunflower sprouts make everything happy. They are grown here locally in greenhouses, even in mid-winter, and are easily found at our mainstream grocery stores so look for them!
The Peanut Tofu will come out caramelized and flavorful and slightly crispy!
Then assemble the bowls! I like to place extra peanut sauce right in the middle…but do as you please.
Add fresh radishes for crunch and avocado for extra heartiness if you like.
Such a simple meal that makes my body feel alive and energized. Give it a go this week and let me know what you think!!!
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Bali Bowls with Peanut Tofu
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 bowls
- Category: vegan main, bowl, detox
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Balinese
Description
Bali Bowl with Peanut Tofu, roasted sweet potatoes, black rice, shredded cabbage, radish and snow peas. Feel free to use almond butter!
Ingredients
- 14 ounces tofu ( non gmo, organic and sprouted if possible- our use firm or extra firm)
- 1 large yam or sweet potato, cut into ¾ inch cubes
- drizzle of olive oil
- 3/4 cup uncooked black rice ( or other rice or grain- both optional)
Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
- 3 thin slices ginger- cut across the grain, about the size of a quarter.
- 1 fat clove garlic
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (or sub almond butter!)
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice (roughly ½ an orange)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or GF Braggs Liquid Amino Acids (Note: Tamari will turn this unpleasantly dark)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, agave or sugar substitute
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- ½ –1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( or a squirt of sriracha sauce)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Bowl Veggie Options:
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 F
Blot dry, then cut the tofu into 2 inch squares or 2-3 inch long strips ( that are ¾ inch thick). Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Cut the yam into ¾ inch cubes and place on the other side of the sheet pan ( or another pan). Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss and spread out.
Make the peanut sauce, placing every thing in a blender, and blend until smooth. Reserve ½ of the peanut sauce for the bowls. Use the remaing to coat the tofu. Pour over tofu and brush tops and sides and lather them up. I like to leave a very generous amount on the top of each piece. Place in the hot oven for 25-30 minutes.
Cook the rice like you would pasta – using this basmati rice method . See notes.
Prep all your veggies. And FYI, these are just options for you, feel free to use what you like, adding or subtracting from the list.
When the tofu is caramelized and the sweet potatoes are fork tender, assemble your bowls.
Drizzle with the remaining peanut sauce. Or place the peanut sauce in a little dish on each bowl.
Notes
This would be a delicious meal prep option for healthy lunches. Totally fine served cold!
Boil rice in 6 cups lightly salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and let stand in strainer for five minutes. Fluff with fork. See Basmati Rice method – very similar to cooking pasta.
Keywords: Balinese recipes, Bali Bowls, Peanut tofu, Bali peanut sauce, Balinese peanut sauce, vegan buddha bowls, black rice recipes,
Hi Sylvia! I love this recipe it looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it . I was wondering if the sauce could be made ahead of time and used to marinate the tofu overnight?
Absolutely!
Wonderful recipe for lunch! Normally not a fan of tofu but this peanut sauce seems to make everything taste fantastic 😉
Need to practice cooking the black rice better but even though it was a bit ‘wet’, the taste was wonderful and will use it again!
★★★★★
I needed to take a meal to a friend who is vegan, and came across this recipe. I honestly don’t know the last time I’ve had tofu. But the recipe looked so good, I doubled the recipe for family too. SO GOOD!!! I love the peanut sauce! Wonderful recipe. Thank you!
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Thanks so much Jennifer!
This recipe was absolutely delicious! The flavor is so amazing and the directions and tips were so helpful. We had lots of leftover peanut sauce, made the spring rolls on this site and used the leftover sauce a couple days later with those. Loving this site so much! Everything is good. In the midst of SIP, falling back in love with fresh herbs ❤️
★★★★★
Oh my goodness. Thank you for this recipe. I’m trying to find recipes that are less meat but just as satisfying and the blend of all the ingredients really surprised me in the best way possible. I LOVE THIS and will be incorporating this into my meal planning! Thank you, perfect recipe
★★★★★
Yay Jenn, glad you liked it!
So easy and delicious! You can easily adapt this to whatever you have in the refrigerator. This has quickly turned into one of my goto recipes.
★★★★★
Awesome great to hear! 🙌
This is so good! I didn’t have orange juice so I used lime, but besides that followed the recipe exactly. YUM!
★★★★★
I made this recipe during my 7 day clean eating reset. The peanut sauce was divine. I felt so satisfied in my belly. This is a recipe I will return to over and over again.
Awesome!
Made this recipe for dinner this past week. The peanut sauce was unbelievable. My husband and I both said it was the best Asain sauce we ever tasted. I have tried 8 of your recipes in the past week and they have all been superb. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with everyone. I can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes!
★★★★★
Thanks so much!!!
Let me tell you, this dish it is A-MAZING! Beautiful and delicious. I used regular basmati rice (since I already had it made) and added bean sprouts, some thai basil and a final squeeze of lime. This is the recipe that led me to your site, and now I am so going down the rabbit hole of all your healthy, vegetarian/vegan recipes. Can’t wait to try more. Thank you!
★★★★★
Awesome Lauren, thanks!!!
Oh man, I made this and now all I can think about is that carmelized tofu! Seriously one of the best meals ever! Had the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. I am loving all of the creative and colorful vegan options on this site.
★★★★★
Awwww- great to hear Lori and thank you so much for the comment~!
Delicious, and super easy to make, also looks beautiful
★★★★★
This was absolutely delicious! Will make again 🙂
★★★★★
Just made this over the weekend..so easy and tasty!! If only I wasn’t under a salt restriction.. I wanted to drown my veggies in that tasty sauce!!! Crazy good!!!😋
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Thanks and I appreciate your comments!
So good! Made this without any protein, just vegies, farro and it was yum! Also, made a double batch of the peanut sauce and might try it with chicken something this week.
★★★★★
Another amazing recipe! Super easy and even the picky eaters enjoyed the assortment of veggies (who knew my kids would eat beets??) I arranged a platter of options and served the bowls with just rice and tofu so everyone could build their own bowl. The Peanut Sauce is truly decadent.
★★★★★
Glad you all enjoyed this! Good to hear!
Curious, what is sprinkled over the dish/avocado? it looks beautiful! I plan on making it tomorrow!
Black sesame seeds!
This was especially tasty. Would make again anytime!
Delicious but needed a hit of lime. Love the sauce!
★★★★
The bowl is amazing, but for real this peanut sauce is bomb.com. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
So happy you like it!
Such an easy, tasty meal we all loved! Thankyou.
★★★★★
Awesome- glad you enjoyed!
DELICIOUS!!!!
★★★★★
This dish is exceptionally good. I have made it several times and each time it is equally good or even better than the last time. The peanut sauce is awesome!
★★★★★
Oh good! I’m happy you are enjoying it!
I’m going to try this recipe because it looks beautiful and mouth watering. However, reading through the recipe you say nothing about how to cook the black rice, which I bought. You tell how to prepare Basmati rice method, but the recipe shows and says black rice. I had to look up how to soak and cook the black rice. That being said, the recipe looks delicious and I am going to try it with the black rice and then I will rate it. I seriously expect it to be just as good as it looks.
Hi Susan, yes there are many ways to prepare it. But I’ve found the “pasta method” to be the simplest! Just simmer in ample salted water, uncovered, until tender, drain. Let sit in the strainer for 5-10 minutes. Fluff! That way you are not messing with soaking, and ratios! But feel free to try other ways. 🙂
This was soooo good! Huge hit with everyone! Thank you! So easy to make, will definitely be making it again. I put the leftover sauce over chicken drumsticks in the oven. Just noticed though that on the Thai noodle salad the sauce calls for lime juice, but this one doesn’t. When would be the ideal times to add the line and when to leave out?
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it. In Bali I felt like their peanut sauce was sweeter, so I omitted the lime juice to cut back the acid a bit!
Made a version of this for dinner tonight with what I had in the house. I didn’t have any orange juice so used lime juice instead in the sauce, and also thinned it with water to make it easier to spoon on top of things, which worked well. Subbing chicken breast for tofu worked too, and my husband said it was definitely a recipe to make again. The only thing I would do differently would be to make MORE of the delicious peanut sauce! Thanks so much for the great recipe! 🙂
★★★★★
The peanut sauce is delicious! We love your choices of vegetables. Their vibrant colors make for a beautiful presentation. But then again, we have been cooking your recipes for the past few years. We rarely find a recipe of yours that we do NOT like. We find ourselves not eating out as often, because we love your food so much.
★★★★★
My entire family this recipe! We came home from the market without the tofu and with unripe avocados so we had to punt on a few items and it was still delcious. Used ‘eggs over medium’ as the protein. My husband thought the peanut sauce was a bit heavy on the cayenne but the rest of us enjoyed the slight kick. Will absolutely make again and add this into our meal rotation. Thanks so much!!
★★★★★
So glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing!
I made this recipe for my family and it got rave reviews! The peanut sauce makes it especially delicious!
★★★★★