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
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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
A family favorite! I like to double the sauce, use vegetarian stir-fry sauce instead of soy sauce, and prefer the texture w using potato starch instead of cornstarch .
Great- thanks for sharing Tamra!
All around great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed!
Delicious! Loved it!!
Glad you enjoyed!
I haven’t made it yet but what ingredients did you leave out by simplifying? I’d love to see the complete/authentic recipe.
I left out the oyster sauce. 🙂
I absolutely loved my tofu this way. The sauce taste so goood! Thank you so much for sharing this ❤️
Great to hear Ramya!
Truly delicious! This is def going to be a staple for us
Great to hear Sarah!
Very flavorful and great texture! Didn’t miss meat at all. Added hot Chilis to the shallot and sprinkled with chopped peanuts and green onion when complete.
Perfect Rob- so happy you enjoyed this!
So yummy! I like lots of sauce, so I took a tip from the other commenter and increased the liquids by one half.
Added the whole thing to square rice noodles and mixed it up. Perfect! New treat in my repertoire.
Awesome Christina!
This was quite delicious. Followed the recipe exactly, except I omitted the salt as we are on a lowso diet. It was very flavorful without. We served it over bean thread noodles. Yum!
Sounds tasty Joe!
I skipped the corn starch and the salt as I find the soya sauce has plenty. I added fresh ginger, more garlic and lime zest and went heavier on the soya sauce and Chinese wine for more sauce volume. I added more chili flakes than prescribed and also added some extra fresh chillies because I like to cry when I eat. To the veggies I added spring onion. When I can’t get bak choi, broccoli and asparagus also works. Serves also well with cargo rice!
Awesome John- glad you are making this your own!
I used the cornstarch and the tofu turned out so nice and crispy! We love this recipe. I used green beans with baby bok choy and it was so good. I boiled green beans first for a minute or so and they were perfect when added in to the bok choy at the end. We will be making this quite often!
Sounds perfect! Love the addition of greenbeans!
Can I leave the wine out of the recipe? Or is there a non-alcoholic substitute?
The wine adds a nuanced flavor here- but you could try it without. Maybe sub with water, a pinch more of sugar and a 1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar?
Big hit with everyone. Just finished making this dish and eating now thank you awesome recipe
Thanks, Cynthia, glad you liked this!
I made this because it seemed simple to make – which it was. What I wasn’t expecting was the flavour coming from the sauce and the cracked peppercorns. So delicious. I had scallops on hand and used them for the protein. It worked very well. Thanks for this tasty bit!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Ingrid!
Cooking this dish made me proud of myself. My husband love it and requested me to cook it again the following week. Thank you for the recipe❤️
I love this Bengie!!! ❤️
This. Is. One. Of. The. Best. Things. EVER! Thank you!
Thanks Stephen! So happy you liked this!
Easy and just delicious
This sounds like the perfect vegan West Coast meal to me! I have Szechuan peppercorns not regular black ones. I’m making this for lunch today! Thank you!
Perfect Mandy, enjoy!
My husband and I love this recipe. I’ve made it twice now! I especially love this method of cooking tofu. Thank you!
Thanks Robi- glad you both like it!
I can’t wait to try this recipe today! I have regular bok choy in the house. Can I use that instead?
Of course!
My goodness this was incredibly good. I shared the recipe with my whole family! Yum and yum.
Awesome Carlita! Thanks for sharing it! Always appreciated. ❤️
I altered this recipe to suit what I had in the house and what I like, but it was mostly the same, and it was DELICIOUS! I’ll definitely be using (or approximating) your recipes in the future. Mmmmm!
Great Marian!
Delicious!
Looks tasty and simple – will try this week, and I’m already imagining variations beyond the chicken or shrimp substitutions (maybe some fancy mushroom, maybe some bamboo shoots, or pea pods …. yum!)
Okay, this was amazing. Unexpectedly so. I’d never cooked with cornstarch before, and I’ve only sauteed tofu Japanese style, so this was all brand new to me. I have a small garden and am drowning in bok choy right now, so I’ve been hunting for recipes – this is the first I’ve tried from this site, and I am so impressed!
I did take the tofu out early and let it sit on a mounded bowl with a press (just a couple of cans on a flat dish) on top of it to get out as much moisture as possible, and I wound up using 1 Tbsp dark Chinese soy sauce and 1 Tbsp regular soy sauce. And I served it with rice on the side, which meant it was a little too much for just two people as a main course – not that we were complaining.
Very very wonderful dish. Thank you, I’m off to search your site for more!