Tofu and green bean stir fry is a delicious, healthy, and cheap homemade meal. The crispy tofu is soaked in a salty and sweet sauce and pairs perfectly on top of a hot bowl of rice. The green beans are crispy and can easily be replaced with any vegetable you have in the fridge. This is a go to for meatless Mondays!
I love having this tofu stir fry for a quick weeknight meal or meatless Monday. The sauce is sticky, sweet, and salty and is great with tofu or tempe. The cornstarch coating on the tofu adds a crispy batter and soaks so deliciously into the sauce. This recipe calls for green beans, however, you can switch it out with whatever vegetables you have on hand. It’s great mixed with zucchinis, broccoli, or bak choy. I think it would also be absolutely delicious with Japanese eggplants and is a recipe I’ve had on my list for a while now!
As long as you already have the sauce staples of oyster sauce and kecap manis, also referred to as sweet soy sauce, in your pantry this meal is so cheap to make. For two servings, I spent $5! Oyster sauce can be found at most grocery stores in the Asian aisle. I’ve even found it at Walmart and Target! Kecap manis is a little harder to find. Most of the time it’s available at your Asian market in the soy sauce aisle. If you can’t find kecap manis, you can try using regular soy sauce with some brown sugar. I’d start with using the same amount of soy sauce in this recipe (1 tablespoon) and add a tablespoon of brown sugar for each tablespoon of soy sauce you use. You might have to add more brown sugar half a tablespoon at a time to adjust to your taste preference.
What you need to make tofu and string beans
- Tofu
- Green beans
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Cornstarch
What you need to make the stir fry sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- Chicken boullion
- Sugar
- Salt
- White pepper
If you’re looking for another quick weeknight meal idea, try making this chicken teriyaki with crispy rice and kale. Or if you’re looking for another vegetarian option, I love this quick and flavorful Asian mushrooms with ponzu butter on top of a hot bowl of white rice! If you’re looking for an alternative to white rice, I have a quick, Instant Pot multigrain rice recipe that doesn’t require presoaking the grains!
Tofu and Green Bean Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup cubed firm tofu
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups string beans cut into 2 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- 4 cloves shallots sliced
Stir Fry Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- dash of white pepper
Instructions
- Cut tofu into cubes and dry both sides of tofu with a paper towel.
- Put tofu into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Add in 1/3 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to tofu. Seal bag and mix until tofu has been well coated.
- Slice garlic and shallots.
- Add 1/4 cup of oil in a frying pan and heat up using medium heat. Once oil is hot, add in tofu. Fry tofu in batches and try to not overcrowd the pan. Fry all sides of the tofu and take out once tofu is golden brown on all sides. Don't stir the tofu too much or the cornstarch batter will come off. Drain tofu on paper towel and set aside.
- Using the same oil in the pan heat up oil with medium heat and add in garlic and shallots. Stir fry for about 1 minute or until golden brown and fragrant.
- Add in string beans and mix everything together.
- Add in ingredients listed under stir fry sauce above (water, oyster sauce, kecap manis, chicken bouillon, white pepper, sugar, and salt). Mix everything together and let string beans cook for about 1-2 minutes or until cooked to desired tenderness.
- Add in tofu and mix everything together. Stir fry for another minute or so. Turn off heat and serve on top of a hot bowl of white rice!
Ellen says
Thank you for sharing this flavorful, quick recipe for meatless Mondays! Easy tofu recipe!
Kels says
Our new favorite way to cook with tofu! Thanks for sharing
Marci says
thanks for sharing, yumm!