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!
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
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!
It was ok as is. I think it would be amazing if the sauce was doubled because we just missed some flavor. The sauce was great and would be a great dressing for veggies, rice, and salad. I appreciate all your healthy and interesting recipes!
This was delicious! I added some chili garlic sauce for a bit of kick, and subbed a TBSP of the peanut butter with Tahini since I’m not a fan of strong peanut flavor. I will definitely be making this again – next time maybe with pre-cooked shrimp if I don’t feel like turning on the stove.
I made this but love your idea of subbing in some chili garlic sauce and tahini!! That sounds really good. Thanks for sharing! =)
I always have issues getting crisp tofu in a pan. I found that heating it in the airfryer makes the BEST “fried” tofu!
Nice tip.
This was delicious! Thanks, Beth!
Made these with brown rice noodles and replaced bell pepper and cilantro with chopped mango and shredded purple cabbage. Super delicious and filling, and perfect for playing around with veggie combos. We’re definitely making this again!
Oh, this was so good! I’m definitely using this sauce over everything next summer.
I made this and it was delicious and super easy. I didn’t have a lime but the sauce turned out great. Next time I might bake the tofu instead of pan frying them. Thank you!
This will be in our regular rotation! Next time I will double the sauce because it is that good. The only thing I tweaked was baking the tofu instead of frying, I just don’t like frying it. This would be good with some shelled edamame too. Love this recipe!
As you say, tofu doesn’t stay crispy, but my tip for this is to keep it separate and let people add it to their bowls before they add the dressing. Any unused tofu can then be stored in the fridge and next day can be re-heated in a hot frying pan coated with a spray of oil. You’ll find it goes extra crispy and is even more delicious.
Sometimes when I’m making a meal that contains crispy tofu, I’ll cook it the day before so that when I come to make the meal the following day, I re-fry the tofu and it’s always super-crispy.
What would be a good substitute for peanut butter (due to allergy)? Cashew butter, almond butter, other?
This looks so good!
I haven’t tried either one, but I’m sure it will probably just be a matter of personal taste. :) They both taste quite different than peanut butter so it will change the overall flavor of the dish.
I too have to substitute due to allergy, and have had good luck substituting cashew butter or sunflower butter in Budget Bytes recipes. Almond butter just wasn’t as good!
This tasted amazing! I made a double batch of the dressing and i’m glad i did. It’s sooo good!
This is really similar to the cold noodles I love to eat when I’m in Taiwan. (Recipe here: https://www.eatingchina.com/recipes/cold-noodles.htm) I’m really happy to see you share something similar, it was a very unique sauce/dressing that I didn’t see anywhere else. :D It’s a great hot weather dish and you can pretty much put any toppings you want!
This looks so good! I have most of these things already, I’m going to plan to prep this for upcoming work lunches. I think the calories are a bit off, maybe missing a number? It says “Calories: 53.25kcal”.
LOL, yes, sorry about that. I missed the 4! It’s 534.25. :)
This looks really good but are the macros correct? 53 cals sounds impossibly low. Was it supposed to be 530?
Yep, sorry, I mistyped that. It is 534.25 kcal. :)
This turned out great! I changed up the topping to reflect what I had on hand (quick pickled onions and jalepenos), ramen eggs, stir fried cabbage and mushrooms), + the toppings in the recipe and used chicken instead of tofu.
However the star of the show was the dressing. I’ll be doubling the dressing recipe next time so that I have plenty left to add on left over rice or or left over noodles.