This tofu bowl is one of my favorite feel-good meals! It's packed with brown rice, crispy tofu, roasted broccoli, and a zingy carrot-ginger dressing.
If your lunch or dinner rotation needs a refresh, add this tofu bowl recipe to the mix! These bowls have a hearty base of brown rice, crispy tofu for plant-based protein, and roasted broccoli and radishes for color and crunch. Creamy avocado adds richness, and my go-to carrot-ginger dressing takes them over the top. They’re nourishing, satisfying, and, above all, delicious!
These tofu bowls are perfect for meal prep. The dressing keeps well for up to a week, and you can cook the rice, tofu, and broccoli up to 3 days in advance. Store the components separately in the fridge and assemble the bowls when you’re ready to eat, or assemble the bowls in meal prep containers for quick and easy lunches. Either way, wait to slice the avocado until the last minute so that it’s bright green when you eat.
How to Make Tofu Crispy
My favorite way to make crispy tofu is to make air fryer tofu. I toss extra-firm tofu cubes with avocado oil, tamari or soy sauce, sriracha, and one key ingredient—cornstarch. The cornstarch forms a crisp coating on the outside of the tofu as it cooks.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can use the same method in the oven. Though it won’t be quite as crispy as in the air fryer, the cornstarch will still help it crisp up a bit. Find my baked tofu recipe in this post on how to cook tofu!
Do I Need A Tofu Press?
If you want to make the crispiest tofu possible, I recommend pressing your tofu before you cook it. I have the Tofuture Tofu Press. I like that its small size makes it easy to store and that it has a container that holds the excess liquid, making cleanup easy. After pressing my tofu, I just pour the water into the sink!
You can get it on Amazon for $23.99. Want to check out other tofu presses first? Read my guide to the best tofu presses!
Tofu Bowl Variations
This recipe is fantastic as written, but, like all grain bowls, it’s super flexible. Feel free to change it up to suit your tastes or use what you have on hand. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Try another grain, like white rice, forbidden rice, or quinoa.
- Change the protein. Replace the tofu with baked tempeh, roasted chickpeas, or a soft-boiled egg. A handful of edamame would be great here too.
- Vary the vegetables. Add a base of massaged kale, or pile on raw veggies like sliced cucumbers or julienned carrots. Roasted Brussels sprouts or cauliflower would also work nicely in place of the broccoli.
- Use a different sauce, like my Sesame Ginger Dressing, Peanut Sauce, or Gochujang Sauce.
- Add a pickle. I love this bowl with a scoop of pickled ginger or quick-pickled radishes.
Let me know what variations you try!
More Favorite Grain Bowl Recipes
If you love this tofu bowl recipe, try one of these healthy grain bowls next:
- Best Buddha Bowl
- Burrito Bowl
- Sushi Bowl
- Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl
- Or any of these 21 Rice Bowl Recipes!
Crispy Tofu Bowls with Carrot Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
For the Crispy Tofu
- 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, cubed*
- 1½ teaspoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Bowls
- 2 cups cooked brown rice, cooked on the stove or in the Instant Pot
- 1 recipe Air Fryer Broccoli or Roasted Broccoli
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- Carrot Ginger Dressing, for drizzling
- Thinly sliced daikon radish, or red radish
- Microgreens or a few salad greens
- Sesame seeds
- Red pepper flakes, optional
- Sea salt, or flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Make the crispy tofu: Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.**
- Place the tofu, avocado oil, tamari, and sriracha in a large bowl. Gently toss to coat the tofu in the seasonings. Add the cornstarch and gently toss until well coated.
- Place the tofu cubes into the air fryer basket in a single layer with a little space between each piece. Don’t overcrowd the basket. Work in batches if necessary. Air fry for 11 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway, or until golden brown and crisp around the edges. The exact timing will depend on your air fryer. Repeat with any remaining tofu.
- Assemble the bowls: Assemble each bowl with some of the rice, broccoli, tofu, and avocado.
- Drizzle with the dressing and top with radish slices, microgreens, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes, if desired. Season to taste with sea salt and serve with the remaining dressing on the side.
Notes
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We loved this one! The roast broccoli and tofu are so good with the carrot ginger dressing.
So glad you loved the recipe, Kristin!
The instructions aren’t very comprehensive :/ and the ingredients list isn’t measured in helpful units but cool bowl
This was delicious!! Made it tonight and subbed some chard I had on hand for the micro greens but otherwise followed the recipe. The dressing is crave-able and the hubs said, “Wow! That tofu has a lot of flavor!”
Thank you for an awesome addition to our meatless nights!
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved the bowls!
Thank you so much for this fabulous ginger dressing. I made it exactly as you instructed and it was yummy.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I am not completely vegan or vegetarian type but this made me crave to have this. Looks amazing and must be so delicious.
This was outstanding! We added roasted cauliflower and thinly sliced celery for extra crunch with the radish. A little chili sauce gave it a nice kick. The carrot ginger sauce is definitely a favorite.
My (non-vegetarian) husband and I really liked this recipe! I was a bit skeptical of the dressing at first (it smells vinegary), but it was delicious – it mostly tastes of carrot and ginger, of course. I made the brown rice in the Instant Pot, and it was perfect and easy. I roasted the carrots, broccoli, and tofu all at the same time at 425. The tofu was the crispiest I’ve been able to get it by baking, so I’ll definitely be sticking to that recipe. I also substituted soy sauce for the tamari.