Today we’ve got Garlicky Cashew Broccoli & Tofu Stir-Fry. This is good, simple, vegan food.
This recipe feels a little special to me – it’s inspired by one of the first times William and I prepared and really LOVED vegetables. In 2009, we traded in the typical last semester of high school for the first level of a local college’s cook’s training program. We lucked out and ended up with a passionate and talented Nelson B.C., based chef and a blunt and wonderfully humorous, reggae-listening, Julia Child-pushing, high school cooking teacher from South Africa. Nelson is a notoriously crunchy and colourful hippie town in the Kootenays, so our chef instructor had nothing but positive encouragement for our future in cooking, even with my vegetarian-soon-to-be-vegan leanings…
Simple but memorable dishes from that experience changed my opinion of vegetables. Broccoli almondine and a cashew variation are some that stick out in my mind. Who would have thought vegetables could be so delicious? Broccoli has been one of my favourite vegetables ever since.
This simple 30 minute lunch or dinner uses quick cooking whole wheat couscous (but you can sub in whatever you prefer: rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, anything you like!) On top of that: sweet, garlicky stir-fried broccoli, cashews, and chunky cubes of fried tofu. The light sauce is a mix of vegan butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, and lemon juice. It’s simple but it works. I hope you love this recipe as much we do - enjoy!
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Garlicky Cashew Broccoli & Tofu Stir-Fry
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Lunch and Dinner
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
Sweet, garlicky stir-fried broccoli, cashews, and chunky cubes of fried tofu on a bed of whole wheat couscous. The light sauce is a mix of vegan butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, and lemon juice. It's simple but it works.
Ingredients
Couscous
- 1 cup whole wheat couscous
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
Tofu
- 1 block (350g.) extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 1 ½ tbsp. cornstarch
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- Oil, for frying
Garlicky Cashew Broccoli
- 1 ½ tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. hot water
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- ½ tsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. vegan butter (divided)
- 4 cups, (227g.) broccoli florets
- ½ cup, (64g.) chopped or halved raw cashews
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- To serve: sriracha, sesame seeds, etc.
Instructions
Couscous
- Prepare couscous according to package instructions, substituting 1 cup vegetable broth and 1 tsp. soy sauce for every cup of water required.
Tofu
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine drained, cubed tofu, cornstarch, salt, and garlic powder. Mix gently to coat the tofu evenly and avoid breaking up the tofu cubes.
- Heat oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the coated tofu and fry, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly golden-brown and crispy on all sides.
- Set aside.
Garlicky Cashew Broccoli
- Stir together brown sugar and hot water until sugar is dissolved. Add soy sauce and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In the same frying pan or wok used to cook the tofu, heat 1 ½ tbsp. vegan butter over high heat. Add the broccoli florets and stir-fry uncovered, for 2-3 minutes. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the florets are nearly tender.
- Add another ½ tbsp. vegan butter, cashews, and minced garlic. Stir well and cook for another 1-2 minutes (until garlic is cooked and fragrant.)
- Add the tofu and the brown sugar/soy sauce mixture. Mix well and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the sauce reduced.
- Serve over couscous. Add sesame seeds and sriracha to taste.
Ashleen
This is hands down one of my favorite recipes ever. We have added this to our regular rotation of meals. We make extra for our weekly meal plan and will eat this for a week. After finding this a couple years ago I decided to come back here and leave a comment.
I rarely do that these days. This recipe is that good XD
Would recommend this to any of my friends.
★★★★★
Michelle
I doubled the ingredients for the sauce, added 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch to it. The entire dish came out DELICIOUSLY! Toddler and baby approved, too!
★★★★★
cm
Wonderful flavours here. Broccoli never tasted so good!
★★★★★
J
Flavor is ok but there is NO SAUCE! How can i make a sauce out of 2 spoons of water?? I doubled it added 1/2 stock cube and it’s still super dry.. needs way more liquid
★★★
priya singh
There are lots of food blogger like this But the best food recipe "GARLICKY CASHEW BROCCOLI & TOFU STIR-FRY" is yours. Thanks for giving me this wonderful blog. I will try to make it like you.
Kim
I LOVE this recipe! It is so good and I make it frequently.
★★★★★
Gregor
Yeah I made this it was great. Simple enough for me to enjoy cooking it but tasty enough to be rewarding.
Julie
Tried this recipe to use up some broccoli we had, and it was fantastic!! Very simple and absolutely delicious. This one is a keeper!
★★★★★
Stephanie Weber
Absolutely delicious! We use real butter because we’re not aiming for vegan. I press my tofu for a couple hours ahead of time then fry really well on all sides. So yummy:)
★★★★★
Claire
This is a great recipe made it last night, Clear instructions, not complex ingredients and it worked out really tasty will make this a regular dish. My husband who isn't plant based loved it as well so double win. Thanks a million for sharing.
Claire
Disha
This is absolutely delicious! I habe cooked this a few times in the last couple of months. A regular on my dinner menu!
I used brown rice, instead of couscous. I also added large red chillies sliced up to the dish. YUMM! This dish is sure to convert the tofu haters 🙂
★★★★★
Rachel
This is my new favourite! I've made it at least four times since discovering it last month. And it comes together so quickly!
Thanks, Brittany! Can't wait to explore more of your recipes 😋
Ps...about to make this for dinner AGAIN.
★★★★★
Jess
I loved this! So tasty and I'll never cook tofu differently again. I used peanut oil and it added a great flavour. Thank you!
★★★★★
Irfan
Wow!! Just made this for the first time and my girlfriend who was in another room came rushing because of how good it smelled. Thanks for the easy recipe.
Melanie Adams
Incredible recipe! I used tri quinoa. I’m adding sautéed mushrooms to the leftovers. My teens LOVED this recipe!
★★★★★
Brittany
I'm so happy to hear that Melanie! Your changes sound perfect, thank you for commenting!
RFC
I'm not very skilled in the kitchen, but this recipe came out amazing. 5 stars, thank you!
★★★★★
Brittany
That's great to hear! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Ann Slater
This is such a good and easy recipe. It's honestly perfect the way it is. But sadly I've run out of cashews, do you think peanuts would work as well?
★★★★★
Cynthia Robinson
Wow. Tofu was a no no for me until this.
I added red pepper flakes,thinly sliced carrots and red bell pepper.
Also a little green onion. Thank you for something easy,fast,affordable and delicious.
★★★★★
Laura
I just tried this recipe. It was very tasty -- the couscous was a nice alternative to rice, but I can see how it would be good with either. I also cut the sugan in half and it was great. The one thing I'll change if I make it again is I'll sautee the cashews separately and then set them aside and add per serving; that way, they maintain their crunch and it's a nice texture contrast to the broccoli. When cooked as directed in this recipe, they immediately became soft, and will be even more squishy as leftovers 🙁 Thanks for sharing!
★★★★
Brittany
Thanks Laura! That's a great idea 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Natasha
This was a hit with the whole family, added extra veg including beans,shiitake mushrooms, edamame beans and carrots. Served with coconut rice, super tasty full of flavour.
★★★★★
William Mueller
Thanks for your feedback, Natasha! I'm so glad your family liked the stir-fry. Coconut rice and extra veggies sound like awesome additions!
Sarah
I didn't find the sauce to be too sweet....it was just perfect in my opinion. I've tried a lot of recipes by the same name, but this one is the best so far!! The whole family liked it without any changes. The instructions for cooking the broccoli yield bright green crisp-tender florets. Really perfect!
★★★★★
Lauren
This was really good! I didn’t have tofu so I just skipped it but still great without it. Also used coconut oil instead of vegan butter because I didn’t have that either. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Sarah and Ian
YUM. Easy and delish. As two vegetarians looking to be a bit more vegan, this convinced us that vegan food can be flipping awesome. Will be doing more of your recipes in the near future!
Nicole
We loved this recipe! I made it for dinner and added a teaspoon of chili garlic to the sauce.
★★★★★
Stephanie
This was delicious! It was great that everyone could adjust it to their spice level with Sriracha. My 18 month old loved it. I omitted the sugar because one of my sons is allergic. I also subbed sesame oil for the vegan butter. I'm adding it to the menu rotation. Also, THANK YOU for a vegan recipe that only takes 25 minutes.
★★★★★
Brittany
Thanks so much Stephanie! I'm so glad you were able to make this recipe work for your whole family. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment on this post. Thank you!
cheryl
By the way ---- this recipe is tofu genius 🌟
★★★★★
Brittany
Thank you Cheryl!! ♥
Donna Tan
I made this today! I made some changes to suit what's available in our kitchen. Added uncooked oats with the cornstarch for the tofu coating. Then changed the brown sugar to honey for the broccoli sauce. Thanks for sharing thks recipe. Glad to find your site.
★★★★★
Brittany
Thanks for trying out the recipe! I'm so glad you enjoyed it Donna! 😀
Kimberly
This is one of the most delicious things I've eaten in a LONG time. And I regularly eat very delicious things!
★★★★★
Shruti
I made this twice and it was really good! Although I made my own teriyaki sauce the second time with tamari, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and garlic as I found the sauce in the recipe to be waaaaay too sweet. Thank you!
★★★★
Mary Stibre
OMG - I tried this 2 nights ago and I loved it. Made it again last night I added cooked mushrooms to it was so good I wanted to lick the plate. I've just begun my journey into the Plant Based way of eating (3 wks). The tofu was great, just enough crisp and the insides moist and soft. I'm probably going to make again real soon . Thank you so much for bringing this recipe into my wheel house...so happy! Mary
Brittany
Ugh, this sounds oh so goof with mushrooms, I think I'd be licking the plate too hahah! Thanks so much for commenting Mary!
Laura Fleckenstein
Oh my God! I just made this because it looked so good and I had all ingredients on hand (except for fresh garlic). Can't remember the last time I ate something as delicious as this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Will be one of my staples from now on (and next time with fresh garlic)
Brittany
I'm so happy to hear that Laura, thank you for commenting!! I really appreciate it 😀
Lucy
brown sugar is not vegan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brittany
How so? Is it a bone char issue? If that's the case I use the brand Red Path, which does not use bone char to filter its sugar. If it's something else I'd love to know so I can be aware of it in the future!
Cheryl
Wonderful recipe, Brittany. I love that bed of couscous under the veggie and nut combination. Can you recommend a soy sauce for us? Thanks.
★★★★★
Brittany
Kikkoman is great! You could also use Tamari. We usually use a store brand soy sauce from Superstore that we really like!
Ivy
I made this last night. It was super simple and came out delicious! I used brown rice instead of couscous and drizzled a tiny bit of chili paste over the finished dish. My omnivore husband, who had already eaten dinner, couldn't stop eating it straight out of the pan. This one is going into my regular repertoire of favorites. Thank you for posting!
★★★★★
Brittany
Thanks for trying the recipe Ivy! I'm so so glad you and your husband enjoyed it. Thank you for commenting 😀
Ellen
Aloha from an old vegetarian/vegan since 1969 🙂 Im kinda a blender juicer nutribullet vitamix girl...don't cook much at all. Love "looking" at your recipes! This One I want to try as tofu n broccoli are favs of mine. Mahalo
★★★★★
Brittany
Yay! Thanks for commenting Ellen 😀 I could certainly do a little more blending myself.
Jarod
Hey Ellen. Your comment really got to me. Can you help me out? I'd love to go in the way you have.
Sandy
Really good. I roasted the broccoli on a sheet pan and doubled the sauce. Tastes great on a bed of rice
Christin
Wow, this looks so amazing!! I love the golden color of the tofu. I'll be trying this! =)
Brittany
Thanks so much Christin, I hope you love it!! 😀