Crispy, satisfying Vegan Kung Pao Tofu! There are a few tricks to making the tofu in Kung Pao Tofu super flavourful with a great texture. Then there’s the sauce: intensely savory, salty, spicy and a touch sweet. Tossed together, Kung Pao Tofu is a vegan high-protein dish made beautiful with the high-gloss sauce and garnished with toasted nuts and fresh chopped green onion.

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Happy Lunar New Year, friends! Kung Pao Chicken has been on my mind lately. It’s a spicy, intensely flavoured dish with its roots in Sichuan cuisine but has travelled the world. And now, this version doesn’t even have chicken. Purists hate me. But you’re going to love this vegan Kung Pao Tofu!

Kung Pao Sauce vs Other Chinese Brown Sauce

At first glance, Kung Pao Tofu looks like another other tofu dish with Chinese Brown Sauce. There are some similarities: soy sauce, garlic, ginger, a little acid, a little sweet. But Kung Pao sauce kicks up the flavour with dark soy sauce which is less salty-tasting but more complex than regular soy sauce. Also, instead of light rice vinegar, it uses Chinese black vinegar which is also much more developed with a hint of sweetness. You can compare it to balsamic vinegar.

Finally, the “pow”, dried red chilies add heat and even more deliciousness. Of course, you can make it more mild by making sure to exclude any red pepper seeds or reduce the total amount of chilies. This is your Kung Pao Tofu and there are no rules!



Choose your tofu wisely!

This recipe calls for extra firm tofu. It’s wonderful for this recipe as it’s very dense, meaty and satisfying when flavoured and cooked right. Plus, it’s the easiest tofu to work with; less firm versions may fall apart. Whatever you do, always try to buy the freshest tofu you can. For those of us without a fresh tofu shop nearby, we can tell the freshness of tofu by the expiry date. Pick the tofu with the expiry date furthest into the future.

When you’re ready to make your Kung Pao Tofu, remove your extra firm tofu from the package and pat it dry with a clean lint-free kitchen towel or paper towels before starting the recipe.

How To Make Kung Pao Tofu

This vegan Kung Pao Tofu can be made in about 30 minutes. Start with frying cornstarch-coated tofu until it’s golden on all sides. This step makes the tofu dense and chewy and lets it absorb flavours from the Kung Pao sauce more easily.

You can make this dish lower in fat by air frying or baking the tofu. Air fry about 20 – 30 minutes at 360°F or until the pieces develop a crunchy exterior. In the oven, you’ll want to increase the temperature to 375°F and bake for about 30 minutes.

However, frying the tofu creates its own distinct flavour. If you want this Kung Pao Tofu to taste like the restaurant-style Kung Pao Chicken, then you will want to fry it.

Remove the tofu from the pan, then fry some whole dried red chillies in the leftover oil. You just want the chillies to turn fragrant but not burn. After 10 – 15 seconds, you can add scallion whites and light green parts and cook until they turn bright.

Then, add ginger and garlic, stir-frying so they don’t burn. Finally add the sauce, a mixture of light and dark soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, sugar (I used maple syrup), broth and cornstarch. The sauce will bubble and thicken quickly; when it does, turn off the heat.

Add the tofu and half the scallion greens and fold gently to coat the tofu evenly. Then it’s ready to enjoy over steamed rice, topped with the traditional roasted peanuts or, in my case because I had no peanuts around when I was filming, toasted almonds.

If you’re avoiding gluten, be sure to choose gluten-free soy sauce. Chinese black vinegar contains wheat so substitute with gluten-free balsamic vinegar.

This Kung Pao Tofu is so delicious! The sticky spicy sauce is just a little tangy with a strong soy sauce flavour. Plus the tofu is meaty and delicious and goes perfectly with the crunch of toasted almonds. You’ve got to try this dish! And then take a photo and tag me on Instagram and you might see it in my stories. I love showing your work off. Please let me know if you try this dish and what other Chinese dishes you want to see on this blog! 🙂

Printable recipe for Vegan Kung Pao Tofu