Delicious Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy – a simple vegan tofu stir-fry that can be made in 20 minutes flat! Serve this over rice or rice noodles for a quick, easy weeknight dinner. Video. Looking for more? Check out our 50+ Amazing Tofu Recipes!
Laugh because that is the purest sound. – Hafez
Here is one of my favorite tofu recipes! This Black Pepper Tofu recipe with bok choy is quick and easy and perfect for busy weeknights when you are short on time. It’s loaded with healthy bok choy and can be served on its own, over jasmine rice, black rice, or rice noodles.
And even though this tofu stir fry is easiest made in a wok, don’t let this stop you if you don’t happen to have one. Half the time I make this in my cast iron skillet. Either way, it’s a super tasty way to serve up tofu and the vibrant baby bok choy! And keep in mind, I’ve simplified this recipe quite a bit to prevent you from making an extra trip to the Asian Market for specialty items.
What you will need
- Firm tofu: Opt for Organic, non-GMO, firm, or extra firm tofu. Sprouted tofu also works. Do not use silken tofu . Feel free to sub chicken or shrimp, see the recipe notes.
- Corn starch for dredging (optional)
- Wok oil (high-heat oil like peanut oil, avocado oil or coconut oil )
- Salt and crushed black peppercorns
- Shallot and Garlic Cloves – or substitute onions
- Baby bok choy (about 4) quartered lengthwise ( or use regular bock choy, chopped small) or sub other vegetables like bell peppers, carrots, or cabbage.
- Soy sauce ( or Gluten-free soy sauce Liquid Aminos, or light soy sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, tamari or sweet soy sauce, aka kecap manis)
- Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing Wine) or sub-dry white wine, mirin, pale cooking sherry. Rice vinegar will not work here.
- Brown sugar (or sub cane sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar or agave)
- Chili paste (optional) for a bit of heat to your preferred level of spiciness.
How to Make Perfect Black Pepper Tofu
- Blot tofu gently and cut the into 1-inch cubes. Tofu need not be “pressed hard”, this will dry it out.
- Whisk together the stir-fry sauce and set by stove.
- Prep the shallots, garlic and bok choy.
- Dredge tofu in a light coating of cornstarch.
- Heat oil in a wok or large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and ****add the salt and crushed peppercorns to the oil, swirling it around until fragrant. This is KEY to the flavor here.
- Add the tofu to the seasoned oil, and sear on all sides until golden and quite golden and crispy. Let it form a crust before turning- it will naturally release itself from the pan. Set it aside.
- Drizzle in more oil, add shallots, garlic, and bok choy, and stir-fry until just tender-crisp. Pour in the stir-fry sauce and simmer for just couple of minutes.
- Right before serving, toss the tofu back into the pan with the bok choy and sauce, tossing for 30 seconds. Any longer will render the tofu soggy.
- Serve immediately!
Serving Suggestions
Serve Black Pepper Tofu on its own for a low-carb meal, or serve over:
This recipe for Black Pepper Tofu is perfect for two people!
Although it has a fair amount of crushed black peppercorns, the Black Pepper Sauce is not overwhelming. It perfectly accentuates the tofu and the bok choy, and the dish tastes balanced.
Expert Tips
- Prep. As with most stir-fry recipes, my best advice is to prep all the ingredients beforehand. The cooking part goes very quickly and it’s too easy to burn things when you are not prepped and ready.
- Don’t press the tofu too hard. Gently blot. Otherwise, your tofu will be dry.
- Place ingredients close to the stove, ready to go. Turn the hood on.
- Season the oil. Add the salt and peppercorns to the heating oil in the pan- this is key to flavor here.
- Let the tofu develop a crust– don’t overmix it! As it gets golden, it will naturally release from the pan. Patience is key here.
- Use high-heat oil– peanut oil has the BEST flavor. Coconut oil, second.
And even though the dish tastes flavorful and saucy, it also tastes very clean. Which I love…
I’m not sure if it is just my imagination, but the natural water element of the bok choy feels very healing and restorative to the body.
A simple easy recipe to whip up when days are full and time is short. Give this Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy, a try this coming week and let me know what you think!
xoxo
More Favorite Tofu Recipes
- 50+ Amazing Tofu Recipes
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- Tofu Paprikash
- Baked Tofu (with 3 Marinades)
- Grilled Bok Choy with Ponzu Sauce
- Broccoli Stir Fry
- Szechuan Tofu and Veggies
- Sesame Brussels Sprouts Tofu Bowl
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Black Pepper Tofu Video
Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2
- Category: Vegan, Gluten Free, Main
- Method: Stir fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A simple delicious recipe for Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy – a tasty vegan meal that can be made in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces firm tofu, patted dry, cut into 1-inch cubes (do not use silken tofu ) or sub chicken or shrimp, see notes
- corn starch for dredging (optional)
- 2 tablespoons wok oil (high-heat oil like avocado oil, or coconut oil )
- 5-finger pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked peppercorns
- —–
- 1 fat shallot, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 6 ounces baby bok choy (about 4) quartered lengthwise (or if very thick, in half again) see notes.
- 1/4 cup green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths.
Black Pepper Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce ( or Gluten-free Liquid Aminos)
- 2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing Rice Wine) or sub-dry white wine, pale cooking sherry, or rice wine ( not vinegar!)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1–2 teaspoons brown sugar (or sub palm sugar, coconut sugar or agave)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon chili paste (optional)
Serve with rice, or on its own.
Instructions
- Cut tofu into cubes and blot dry with paper towels, pressing down gently.
- Make the stir-fry sauce, stirring ingredients together in a small until most of the sugar dissolves. Place it by the stove.
- Prep the shallots, garlic and bok choy.
- Dredge the tofu in a light coating of cornstarch (cornstarch is optional, but provides a crispier texture).
- Heat oil in a wok or large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the salt and crushed peppercorns to the oil, swirling it around until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add the tofu to the seasoned oil, and sear on all sides until golden and crispy, turning the heat down if need be. Be patient and take your time, it will take about 5-6 minutes.
- Set the crispy tofu aside on a paper towel-lined plate, and wipe the pan out.
- Heat another teaspoon or two of oil over medium heat, and add shallots, garlic and bok choy. Stir continuously until bok choy begins to wilt and shallots become golden, about 3-4 minutes. It will smell amazing. Add the wok sauce to the pan, careful to get all the sugar that may have settled in the bowl.
- Simmer for a couple of minutes, or until bok choy is just tender.
- At the very very end, toss the tofu back into the pan with scallions, bok choy and sauce ( just long enough to coat, only a few seconds.) Cooking any longer will remove the amazing crispiness! Taste for salt and heat, adjusting to your preference.
- Serve immediately, diving between two bowls.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute chicken breast for the tofu, cut into cubes, and prepared the same way.
- Feel free to crisp the tofu in the wok, without using cornstarch. Just make sure to pat dry the tofu with paper towels and season the oil in the pan with salt and pepper. Don’t move the tofu around too much in the pan. The tofu will naturally release from the pan when it develops a “crust”. So just turn and flop every so often, letting it get crispy.
- If your bok choy is longer than 4 inches, chop up the white root end into smaller pieces, and stir-fry them first for 1-2 minutes before adding the green parts.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 364
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 1115.3 mg
- Fat: 24.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.4 g
- Fiber: 6.4 g
- Protein: 24.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Ridiculously amazing! Thanks so much! This will be a regular at my house!
My new go to recipe. So yummy!
Awesome Randi!
This was AMAZING! I never review recipes but I couldn’t do this one a disservice by not commenting on how easy and tasty it was! I doubled everything by using the scale feature and followed the recipe exactly as is. My husband loved it so much, he wanted it all to himself lol
Awwww… thanks Ruth! Really appreciate you taking the time to review!
Delicious! Added brocoli
Mushrooms, green beans, and Brussels sprouts!
Thanks Shelley
Dee~lush! Through some mushrooms in… just because I lovE them
Perfect! Glad you liked! Mushrooms sound like a great addition!
Just made it tonight, and loved it! I did have a hard time getting tofu as brown as yours, but it was crispy.
It takes a little time;) thanks for sharing!
This tofu was the best I have ever had. My bok choy were a little big so I chopped them into big chunks. It was great.
Great to hear and glad you liked. Thanks for rating!!!
Love this recipe!
This recipe gets a “WOW that’s good” from us! I added shiitake mushrooms but other than that followed this recipe exactly. I served it on top of rice noodles for a super satisfying & super delicious dinner. I will be making this again and again!
Sounds perfect! Thanks Kimberlee!
I added a heaping teaspoon of freshly grated ginger to aromatics. My grandmother that learned to cook from my Chinese grandfather that owned a Chinese restaurant would have been disappointed had I not done this.
This dish was so easy, so delicious and so very, very smokey. I do not have a hood over my stove and I managed to set the fire alarm off for 10 minutes straight. The smoke billowed even though I had lowered the heat to 2/10. I am so sad that I won’t be able to make this dish again! Maybe I need to invest in a wok, part of me feels that some of the smoke came from a bit of the oil escaping from my low-sided cast iron pan. You should see my kitchen goodies, I don’t know how I have gone so long without a wok.
This is the first recipe I have made from you and it will not be the last, yum!
Hey Amber- tell me kind of oil did you use? If you used olive oil instead of a high heat oil like – Peanut oil or coconut or “wok oil” it can be very smoky. I’ve had the best luck with peanut oil- as far as smoke and flavor too!
Thank you for this one! Lovely flavor and a simple and quick dinner. Also agree that it is satisfying and it feels clean at the same time. Next time, I will not toss the tofu back in, but plate it on top of the bok choy and sauce — it was crispier and better before I tossed it in the sauce.
Just just a quick toss is what I do! Just to coat!
Hubby said it was the best tofu he’s ever tasted!
Love it! thanks for sharing!
My husband & I made a version of this and really enjoyed it. My first time using the cornstarch dredging technique to crisp up tofu. I have a video on my Jennifer Parsley Wellness YouTube channel of us making this if you are interested. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
Great recipe and really good flavours! The only thing I am wondering is why the starch made tofu glutinous rather than crispy. I’ll definitely make it next time. Thanks for sharing!
Hummmm. Did it cook too long in the sauce?
Could the tofu have been too wet?
Excellent recipe. Just follow the instructions and you can’t go wrong. I added mushrooms and cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Is now part of the weekly rotation. Thanks, Sylvia.
Loved this recipe. I don’t usually leave comments but this was totally worth it. I added mushrooms, which work great here, and cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Excellent recipe. Follow the instructions and you can’t go wrong. Thanks, Sylvia!
Quick, easy. Tofu nice and crispy on outside and smooth and creamy on inside .
Very tasty and easy. I definitely recommend using the cornstarch and chili garlic sauce.
Not too many ingredients, easy to cook and very tasty, will be doing this one again, thank you for the recipe.
This was a super fast and easy weeknight meal for us. I wish I had tripled the recipe. We gobbled it up so fast with some soba noodles and it will definitely go into the regular rotation. I had never pan fried tofu before and was really impressed with the simple corn starch dredge and the resulting crispy outside and silky inside texture. I also love learning new simple sauces to add to other recipes. Thanks for this one!!
Sylvia… this is killer! Thanks..BTW, I found that a little bit of cornstarch-laced cooking oil from the tofu saute along with the fresh oil to wilt the bok choy thickened the resulting sauce very nicely. Am thinking will toss in some sautéed shiitakes in the next batch for fun. ?
Thanks for sharing Scott! Love the addition of cornstarch! Shiitakes sound perfect!
This is one of my faves! I’ve made it several times and it’s always a hit.
Hi Daphne! Thanks so much,Im glad you liked it!
Looks very good and like a healthy recipe I’d love to eat on the regular!
Wow, looks yummy and healthy. Keep it on. We try your recipes at home.
Is there an error in the calorie count per serving?
Sorry about that, I fixed it. Supposed to be 2 servings not 1 🙂