I’m sooooo ready for the lighter foods of spring and summer! This week I made a deliciously light and fresh noodle bowl with crispy tofu, fresh vegetables, and a simple peanut lime dressing. I’m just loving all the cold crunchy vegetables and the light and airy rice noodles in this bowl. As always, I’ve got some substitution options for these Peanut Tofu Noodle Bowls below, so make sure to keep reading!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What Kind of Noodles Can I Use?
I love rice noodles for this bowl because they’re super light and they taste great cold. I used a vermicelli style rice noodle because that was what was available at the store, but a slightly wider noodle would probably work best (wider noodles tangle less).
If you don’t have rice noodles available or want a less expensive option, these bowls are very similar to my Cold Peanut Noodle Salad, which uses whole what spaghetti, so I think that could also work here.
A third option is to serve these bowls over rice in stead of noodles. Jasmine rice would be my pick!
A fourth option is to serve this like a salad over shredded cabbage or lettuce.
Can I Substitute the Tofu?
Sure! I think both chicken and shrimp would also go great in this bowl. For chicken, just cube it up and sauté in oil until cooked through. You could even toss it in a little bit of the peanut dressing, making sure to save some for the rest of the bowls. For shrimp, just make sure they’re peeled and tails removed, then sauté in oil over medium until they’re opaque and pink (this only takes a few minutes).
Are Tofu Peanut Noodle Bowls Served Hot or Cold?
I eat this bowl cold. When you make them fresh the noodles may still be slightly warm or room temperature, but they’ll be cool enough to not heat the rest of the ingredients. The tofu also cools very rapidly.
How Are the Leftovers?
These bowls hold up pretty good in the fridge! The tofu doesn’t stay crispy, like any fried food, but it’s still tasty in the bowl. You can refrigerate these bowls, with the dressing kept separately, for about 4 days.
Peanut Tofu Noodle Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
Crispy Tofu
- 14 oz. extra firm tofu ($2.79)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
Peanut Lime Dressing
- 3 Tbsp natural-style peanut butter ($0.38)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.04)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp lime juice ($0.50)
- 2 tsp soy sauce ($0.04)
- 1/4 cup neutral oil* ($0.04)
Bowls
- 8 oz. rice noodles ($2.69)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.50)
- 1 cucumber ($1.49)
- 1 carrot ($0.08)
- 1/2 bunch cilantro ($0.40)
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts ($0.12)
Instructions
- Start by pressing the tofu. Remove the tofu from the package, then place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Place a cutting board, plate, or another flat object over top, then place something heavy on top of that, like a cast iron skillet or a pot of water. Let the tofu sit with the weight on top for about 30 minutes to press the excess moisture out of the tofu.
- While the tofu is pressing, prepare the peanut lime dressing. Combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, minced garlic, grated ginger, lime juice, soy sauce and oil in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Set the dressing aside.
- You can also prep the vegetables while the tofu is pressing. Slice the red bell pepper, slice the cucumber into thin sticks, shred the carrot using a cheese grater, and remove the cilantro leaves from the stems (or just roughly chop them).
- After the tofu has been pressing for about 30 minutes, pour off the excess water from the baking sheet. Transfer the pressed tofu to a cutting board, and cut the block into ½-inch cubes.
- Place the tofu cubes in a bowl or shallow dish and sprinkle with salt and cornstarch. Gently toss the tofu cubes until they are coated in cornstarch.
- Heat the cooking oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the tofu cubes and cook on each side until golden brown and crispy. Once crispy, remove them from the heat.
- Finally, cook the rice noodles. Bring a pot of water to a full boil, then add the noodles. Boil only for about three minutes, or the recommended time on the package. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water. Let the noodles drain well.
- To assemble the bowls, place ¼ of the noodles in the bottom of each bowl. Top with some bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and crispy tofu. Sprinkle some chopped peanuts over top, then drizzle with the peanut lime dressing. Enjoy!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Peanut Tofu Noodle Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Start by pressing the tofu. This removes the excess moisture and takes about a half hour, so start with this first. Remove the tofu from its package and place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Place something flat on top, like a cutting board or plate, then place something heavy on top of that. I use a cast iron skillet, but a pot of water also works. Let it press for about a half hour. You can see in the photo above all the water that came out.
While the tofu is pressing, make the peanut lime dressing. Add 3 Tbsp natural-style peanut butter, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 clove of garlic (minced), ½ tsp grated fresh ginger, 2 Tbsp lime juice, 2 tsp soy sauce, and ¼ cup neutral oil (anything light flavored) in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
You should also have time to prep the vegetables while the tofu presses. Slice one red bell pepper, one cucumber (depending on the size you may only need half), grate one carrot using a cheese grater, and pull about ½ bunch cilantro leaves from the stems.
After the tofu has pressed, transfer it to a cutting board and cut it into ½-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a bowl or shallow dish, then sprinkle with ¼ tsp salt and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. Gently toss the tofu until it is coated in cornstarch.
Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the tofu and cook until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Remove the tofu from the heat.
Lastly, cook the rice noodles. I used vermicelli, but if you can find a slightly wider rice noodle that may work better because they won’t tangle as much. I used one 8 oz. package of rice noodles.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the noodles and boil for about three minutes, or the recommended time on the package. Drain the rice noodles in a colander and rise briefly with cool water. Let them drain well.
Now it’s time to build the bowls! Place ¼ of the rice noodles in each bowl. Top with bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, and tofu.
Top the bowl with chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro.
And finally, drizzle that delicious peanut lime dressing over top of the peanut tofu noodle bowls when you’re ready to eat!
This is so easy (seriously, maybe like 15 minutes max active time), *so* delicious, and has so much visual pizazz! It’s a treat both to look at and to eat – it really does make the prettiest lunches. And the veggies are very swappable, too – I subbed green bell peppers for red, and next time I might try some sugar snap peas, lightly blanched broccoli, or any other crispy, crunchy veggies. And next time I’m definitely doubling the sauce – it’s good on everything!
I have been burned by so many peanut sauce recipes that call for a lot of ingredients and taste terrible. I was hesitant to try this recipe, but it was so good! Next time I’m doubling the sauce
Just made this and devoured it! So excited for my lunch leftovers tomorrow! I used Momofuku Soy and Scallion noodles as directed on the package and added scallions. I added a little extra salt and pepper to the tofu before mixing and soy sauce towards the end to give a little more flavor.
Made this, it’s fantastic! I thinned the sauce with a splash of water and extra lime juice in the food processor, to stretch it, so there was more than enough for 2 adults and 2 young kids. We all loved it! The lime really shines through the Pb.
great recipe but I wish the recipe were updated with a doubled portion of dressing! a great number of commenters say they doubled the dressing and I wish I had done the same, however I didn’t buy enough limes and don’t have the time to go out and get more today.
This recipe was a surprise favorite and has become a regular meal. One recommendation I’d like to make however is to keep the components separate rather than going ahead and assembling several portions, especially if you’re not consuming it all pretty quickly. I find the cucumbers can go slimy on me when all of the other vegetables are still fine and it’s a lot simpler to just cut yourself up some fresh cucumbers than to get rid of all of your premade bowls.
Fresh, delicious, and yummy! 😋
Didn’t have any noodles so I used rice. One of our favorite meals now! We eat it once a week.
Great sub! XOXO -Monti
This looks fabulous. I have been ordering a few delivery meals to ease my dinner decision making and also help me explore new flavors. I hadn’t had tofu before. This week was a tofu and peanut ginger sauce. I loved it and this looks .
very similar and even better with the extra veggies. The tofu was tossed with some oil and sriracha before air frying. It turned out great. I will be using this recipe in the future!
The peanut sauce deserves 5*****! This bowl is just about perfect, the main change I made was to flavor the tofu more than with just salt and cornstarch. I used soy sauce and black bean garlic sauce from a jar, yum. I have made vermicelli bowls before since I love Vietnamese food, but it was always an ordeal because I would add thai basil, mint, etc. and it got kind of expensive/long list of ingredients. Great to know that the bowls can be so good with just the cilantro and the peanut sauce for flavor! Of course if I’m going all out I’ll probably still add basil to these. So fresh, so bursting with flavor, and easy. This is why I love Budget Bytes!
Thank you for five stars!! XOXO -Monti
Delicious and so fresh! I’m a vegetarian, and your site is one of my go tos. Keep up the tofu content 🙌
Delicious and so fresh! I’m a vegetarian, and your site is one of my go tos. Keep up the tofu content 🙌
I rarely leave comments but for this one, I’ll make an exception because it is SO GOOD. The sauce hits the right spot, the tofu is perfect and its so easy to make its dangerous. Have made it about 10 times already. I’ve had a hard time finding the right peanut sauce and this one is definitely a hit!