This Vegan Mapo Tofu with Beyond Meat is flavourful, spicy, and made in 20 minutes. So yummy you will be licking your bowl clean every time! Be sure to pair with some fluffy steamed rice for a filling and comforting meal. This is not an authentic style of mapo tofu, this recipe is inspired by my love for creating quick and easy meals.
What is Mapo Tofu?
This popular tofu dish in a spicy sauce is from the Sichuan province in China. It’s traditionally made with ground pork but we’ll be replacing it with Beyond Meat. This province is known for spicy food with the hero ingredient in this recipe being this chili bean sauce (toban djan or doubanjiang). Which is a spicy bean paste made from chili peppers and fermented beans.
Using medium firm or soft tofu in this recipe is key to achieving a soft smooth texture. Meanwhile each tofu cube simmers in this mouth-watering spicy sauce. This is hands down one of my favourite weeknight dinners.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Chinese comfort food ready in 20 minutes
- Flavourful, tofu simmered in a spicy sauce
- Pair with fluffy steamed rice to make a filling meal
- If you’re a tofu hater this recipe just might convert you in to a lover.
- Using Beyond Meat plays a key role in making this dish taste like the original.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Tofu – Use medium firm or soft tofu to achieve that smooth silky texture. This variety of tofu will also absorb all that flavourful spicy sauce. I prefer to use medium firm in this recipe because it holds up a lot better than the soft tofu (falls apart more easily).
Cooking Oil – I like to use a neutral flavoured vegetable oil (olive oil, canola oil).
Beyond Meat (thawed) – I use one 113g Beyond Meat burger patty as my ground pork replacement. If you want to substitute the beyond meat for another meat alternative keep in mind the flavour will change. Beyond Meat has a unique meaty flavour that adds a lot to this recipe. I’m thinking Impossible Burger would work in this recipe but I haven’t tested it.
Doubanjiang – Is a chili bean sauce that also goes by the name Toban Djan. The brand I use for this recipe is the Lee Kim Kee Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan). You can find this at your Asian grocery store.
Garlic – Fresh finely diced garlic is best, adds lots of aromatic flavour.
Red Pepper Flakes – This is my easy hack to add spicy flavour to this recipe. Authentic mapo tofu consists of Sichuan peppercorns but I don’t regularly cook with them.
Vegan Beef Broth – This helps create a rich sauce that will coat the tofu perfectly. You can substitute mushroom broth if you can’t access vegan no beef broth.
Soy Sauce – I use regular soy sauce.
Granulated Sugar – Adds the perfect balance of sweetness to make this dish irresistible.
Cornstarch Slurry – To thicken the sauce. I’m using 1/2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water to make the slurry.
Sesame Oil – Added at the end to finish the dish with extra flavour.
Green Onions – For garnish.
Step By Step Instructions
- Drain and cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.
- Heat a large non stick pan over medium high heat with cooking oil. When the oil is hot add the Beyond Meat patty and cook until the beyond meat is lightly browned, breaking up the meat into smaller pieces.
- Stir in the doubanjiang, garlic and red pepper flakes cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the beef broth, soy sauce, and sugar, stir to combine and bring to a simmer cooking for 2-3 minutes over medium high heat.
- Add the cornstarch slurry and stir until thickened. Reduce the heat if mixture is thickening too quickly.
- Gently stir in the cubed tofu until coated in the sauce.
- Finish with sesame oil and let simmer for 2 minutes or until tofu is warmed through.
- Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with steamed white rice.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Use medium firm or soft tofu to achieve that smooth silky texture. This variety of tofu will also absorb all that flavourful spicy sauce. I prefer to use medium firm in this recipe because it holds up a lot better than the soft tofu (falls apart more easily).
- Doubanjiang is a chili bean sauce that is also known as Toban Djan. The brand I recommend for this recipe is the Lee Kim Kee Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan). You can find this at your Asian grocery store/online asian stores.
- Make sure to gently stir/push the tofu around the pan or else you might break up the tofu into smaller pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best tofu to use is medium firm or soft tofu. I prefer medium firm because it still has that soft smooth texture but holds up a bit better. The soft tofu tends to fall apart more easily.
No I haven’t found a good substitute for doubanjiang, this is an important ingredient in this mapo tofu recipe and it wouldn’t be the same without it. You can find doubanjiang at your Asian grocery store.
I created this recipe using Beyond Meat. When tested with other meat alternatives the flavours weren’t the same due to Beyond Meat having a unique meaty, salty flavour that mimics ground pork. I’ve tested this recipe with 1 cup of finely diced mushrooms and it turned out good, but you might need to add a bit more soy sauce or salt to taste since mushrooms aren’t as salty as Beyond Meat.
Serve mapo tofu with fluffy white rice. I love using Jasmine or short grain Japanese rice.
This mapo tofu recipe is not gluten free due to the Lee Kum Kee Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan) which contains wheat flour.
MORE ASIAN RECIPES I LOVE:
- Stir-Fried Garlic Chili Udon Noodles (Additively delicious and made in 15 minutes)
- Vegan Japanese Kakiage Tempura (Fried crispy veggie fritters in a light batter)
- Vegan Japanese Curry with Chickpeas (Rich carbonara sauce with bouncy udon, so slurpable)
DID YOU MAKE THIS VEGAN MAPO TOFU?
I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment/star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. And of course be sure to tag me on Instagram as I love seeing photos of the recipes you guys have made.
Vegan Mapo Tofu
Ingredients
- (454g) block medium firm tofu
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 (113g) Beyond Meat patty (thawed)
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang (chili bean sauce)
- 1/2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup vegan beef broth
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (mixed with 1 tbsp water to make a slurry)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- green onion for garnish
Instructions
- Drain and cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.
- Heat a large non stick pan over medium high heat with cooking oil. When the oil is hot add the beyond meat patty and cook until the beyond meat is lightly browned, breaking up the meat into smaller pieces.
- Stir in the doubanjiang, garlic and red pepper flakes cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the beef broth, soy sauce, and sugar, stir to combine and bring to a simmer cooking for 2-3 minutes over medium high heat.
- Add the cornstarch slurry and stir until thickened. Reduce the heat if mixture is thickening too quickly.
- Gently stir in the cubed tofu until coated in the sauce.
- Finish with sesame oil and let simmer for 2 minutes or until tofu is warmed through.
- Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with steamed white rice.
Video
Notes
- Use medium firm or soft tofu to achieve that smooth silky texture. This variety of tofu will also absorb all that flavourful spicy sauce. I prefer to use medium firm in this recipe because it holds up a lot better than the soft tofu (falls apart more easily).
- Doubanjiang is a chili bean sauce that is also known as Toban Djan. The brand I recommend for this recipe is the Lee Kim Kee Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan). You can find this at your Asian grocery store/online Asian stores.
- Make sure to gently stir/push the tofu around the pan or else you might break up the tofu into smaller pieces.
Thank you for this delicious recipe!! I tripled it to use the 3 blocks of tofu I had and so glad I did!! My new favorite!! Really really tasty!
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback. So happy you enjoyed the recipe Juli! Tripling the recipe is a great idea, this recipe is one of my favourites and makes awesome leftovers.
THE BESTTT!!! This is super flavourful and the perfect amount of spicy. I’ve never tried tofu x beyond meat before but it’s a new favourite combo. The Doubanjiang sauce in this is so amazing too. 11/10