Peanut noodles with tofu and vegetables
35 min · 31 g protein · 508 cals / serving
Chewy noodles tossed in a creamy peanut-lime sauce with ginger, garlic and a kick of sriracha, then piled with seared tofu, edamame and a crunchy tangle of cabbage, carrot, cucumber and red pepper. It is just as good warm from the pan as cold from the fridge the next day.
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 block (14 oz) prepared extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
Peanut sauce
- 1/3 cup powdered peanut butter
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp sriracha hot sauce
- a thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 6 tbsp water, warm
- 6 oz whole wheat pasta, whole-wheat spaghetti or linguine
- 1 cup edamame, shelled, frozen
- 2 cups cabbage, red or green, finely shredded
- 2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated
- 1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
To serve
- 3 green onions, sliced
- a handful fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
Steps
- Toss the tofu cubes with the cornstarch. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the tofu for 8–10 minutes, turning every couple of minutes, until golden and crisp on most sides. Splash in the soy sauce, toss for 30 seconds until it is absorbed, and take the pan off the heat.
- Whisk the powdered peanut butter, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, maple syrup, sriracha, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in a large bowl, adding the warm water a little at a time until the sauce is smooth and pourable, like heavy cream.
- Cook the noodles in salted water according to the package, adding the frozen edamame for the last 3 minutes. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water so they do not stick, and shake well.
- Add the noodles and edamame to the bowl of sauce with the cabbage, carrot, cucumber and red pepper and toss until everything is coated.
- Divide into bowls, top with the tofu, green onions, cilantro and chopped peanuts, and serve warm or cold.
Good to know
What is powdered peanut butter?
Roasted peanuts with most of the oil pressed out, ground to a powder. Whisked with water it makes a thick peanut sauce with full peanut flavor and far fewer calories. You can use 1/3 cup of regular peanut butter instead and leave out the powder; the sauce is richer, at about 47 instead of 51.
Which noodles?
Whole-wheat spaghetti or linguine are easy to find and hold the sauce well. Soba, udon or rice noodles all work; cook them according to the package.
Meal prep?
Keep the sauce in a jar and the noodles, vegetables and tofu in a container; they keep 4 days. Toss together when you eat, adding a splash of water if the sauce has thickened.
Per
- Calories
- 112
- Protein
- (24%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (36%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (40%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 116 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2031 kcal goes into the pot and 1648 g of ingredients comes out as about 1820 g of food: 112 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.