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Baked eggplant and tofu in a super quick and flavorful peanut sauce is a one-pan meal that is super versatile! You can easily make this recipe gluten-free, soy-free, and even nut-free! Serve with rice, quinoa, or as lettuce wraps.
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This is a super quick peanutty recipe. I had a bunch of eggplant left, so I decided to use it with the tofu. I made this easy peanut butter satay sauce and then tossed the tofu and eggplant in it and then baked it. You can also pan fry the mixture until crispy, if you’d prefer that to baking.
Either way, it’s a really simple eggplant and tofu recipe. It’s just 2 Steps, 1 Pan, 1 Bowl recipe that needs 15 minutes of active time. Just mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl, reserving a few tablespoons for drizzling later. Add your eggplant and tofu to the bowl of sauce, toss, and either bake or pan fry. Serve with rice or quinoa or add this to lettuce wraps.
You can also mix this up to use other veggies besides eggplant, like broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms or bell pepper! Or use more tofu. Eggplant and tofu go well together Especially coated in this flavorful satay-style peanut sauce.
Why You’ll Love Eggplant and Tofu in Peanut Sauce
- 1-bowl, 1-pan meal
- ready in under an hour, 15 mins active time
- crispy tofu and tender, crispy eggplant in flavorful peanut sauce
- versatile! Easily made gluten-free and even peanut-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free
- serve how you like: over rice, quinoa, or as lettuce wraps
🍆 More Eggplant Recipes
Baked Eggplant and Tofu in Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
For the Peanut Butter Satay Sauce
- 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter, , brought to room temperature or warmed in microwave
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, or use tamari for gluten-free
- 1.5 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, or use finely minced 1/2 inch of ginger and 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek, or other Asian chili sauce, or you can use gochujang for different flavors. Use more for spicier
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1.5 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the Eggplant and Tofu
- 7 ounces firm or extra firm tofu, pressed for 15 minutes then cubed or torn into organic shapes
- 1.5 cups chopped eggplant, chopped into either cubes or 2” long slices, 1/2” thick
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
To Serve
- rice,, quinoa, or lettuce
For Garnish
- green onion, sesame seeds or, crushed peanuts, and lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 415° F (213° C). Press and cube the tofu, if you haven't already. You can cube it into 3/4” cubes or tear it into organic shapes. Slice the eggplant, if you haven't already. No need to peel
Make the peanut sauce.
- Add all of the peanut satay sauce ingredients to a bowl, and whisk really well to combine. The peanut butter should mix in entirely (warm the mix in microwave if the peanut butter is too solid)
- Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of this sauce to use as dressing for later. (Thin the dressing sauce out with a little water or some more lime juice and set aside)
- To the bowl of remaining sauce, add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and mix well.
- Add the sauce to the tofu and eggplant, tossing well so that all of the tofu and eggplant are entirely coated with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick to coat, drizzle in a little bit of warm water to help the sauce loosen a little bit and coat all of the tofu and eggplant.
Bake the eggplant and tofu.
- Spread the eggplant-tofu mixture evenly onto a parchment-lined baking dish, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Check in at the 20-minute mark. If the eggplant is not cooked yet, cover the dish with the parchment and continue to bake for another 5-10minutes. You can also stir them if they aren't too stuck to the paper at this time to continue to bake.
- Once the eggplant is cooked and tofu is crisp on some of the edges, remove the baking dish from the oven.
Or stir fry the eggplant and tofu instead.
- Sprinkle an extra teaspoon of cornstarch all over the tofu and eggplant, tossing to coat well.
- Heat a large skillet over a medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, transfer the tofu and eggplant mixture to the skillet, and spread evenly. If it doesn’t all fit in the skillet, then you can do it in two batches. You don't want to overcrowd the skillet.
- Keep cooking until the eggplant and tofu are crisp on most of the edges. The eggplant should also be soft in the middle. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, and you will have to flip it at least 2 to 3 times.
To serve.
- Add your rice or quinoa to a bowl, top with the baked eggplant and tofu, and drizzle on the reserved peanut sauce. Sprinkle with green onion, crushed peanuts, and lime juice, and serve.
- To make lettuce wraps, add the eggplant and tofu to lettuce leaves, top with some green onion, crushed peanuts, reserved peanut sauce, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- smooth peanut butter – This is the base for your peanut sauce. Use a seed butter, like sun butter, for nut-free, if needed.
- soy sauce – Use tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy-free.
- lime juice – For refreshing flavor and tang.
- ginger garlic paste – Gives the sauce such an amazing flavor! You can use minced ginger and garlic instead of the paste.
- sambal oelek – Adds flavor and a little heat. You can use other Asian chili sauce or even gochujang, if you like.
- sesame oil – For deeper flavor in the sauce.
- maple syrup – A little sweetness brings out the flavors in the peanut sauce.
- salt and pepper – To season the sauce.
- eggplant and tofu – Slice the eggplant into cubes or 1/2″ by 2″ pieces. Use firm or extra firm tofu that you press and cube or tear into bit-sized pieces.
- cornstarch – Helps the eggplant and tofu get crispy in the oven or in the stir fry. Use other starch as substitute
- rice, quinoa, or lettuce cups – To serve.
- garnishes – Top this with some reserved satay sauce, green onion, crushed peanuts or sesame seeds , and lime juice.
💡 Tips
- Whisk the peanut sauce together really well until the peanut butter fully dissolves. If it’s too thick, add some warm water, broth, or extra lime juice to get it to the consistency you want.
- Pressing the tofu gets the moisture out for a more toothsome texture. The excess water in tofu can also cause the sauce to get too thin, so be sure to press.
- Feel free to mix up your veggies! Cauliflower, broccoli, and bell pepper all work well in place of the eggplant in this recipe.
How to Make Eggplant and Tofu in Peanut Sauce
Preheat the oven to 415° F (213° C). Press and cube the tofu, if you haven’t already. You can cube it into 3/4” cubes or tear it into organic shapes. Slice the eggplant, if you haven’t already.
Make the peanut sauce.
Add all of the peanut satay sauce ingredients to a bowl, and whisk really well to combine. The peanut butter should mix in entirely.
Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of this sauce to use as dressing for later. You can also thin that reserved sauce out with a little water or some more lime juice to make it into just a thinner consistency.
To the bowl of remaining sauce, add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and mix well.
Add to the tofu and eggplant and toss well to coat. If the sauce is getting a bit too thick, drizzle in a little bit of warm water or broth to help the sauce loosen a little bit and coat all of the tofu and eggplant.
Now, bake the eggplant and tofu.
Spread the eggplant-tofu mixture evenly onto a parchment-lined baking dish, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Check in at the 20-minute mark. If the eggplant is almost cooked or things are starting to scorch too much, move it around and cover the dish with parchment paper and bake for 2 mins. If the eggplant is not cooked yet, cover the dish with the parchment and continue to bake for another 5 -10 minutes. You can also stir these if they aren’t too stuck to the paper at this time to continue to bake.
Once the eggplant is cooked and tofu is crisp on some of the edges, remove the baking dish from the oven.
Alternatively , you can stir fry the eggplant and tofu instead.
Sprinkle an extra teaspoon of cornstarch all over the tofu and eggplant, tossing to coat well.
Heat a large skillet over a medium-high heat, and add 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, transfer the tofu and eggplant mixture to the skillet, and spread evenly. If it doesn’t all fit in the skillet, then you can do it in two batches. You don’t want to overcrowd the skillet.
Keep cooking until the eggplant and tofu are crisp on most of the edges. The eggplant should also be soft in the middle. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, and you will have to flip it 2 to 3 times.
Then, you’re ready to serve!
To Serve: Add your rice or quinoa to a bowl, top with the eggplant and tofu, and drizzle on the reserved peanut sauce. Sprinkle with green onion, crushed peanuts, and lime juice, and serve.
To make lettuce wraps, add the eggplant and tofu to lettuce leaves, top with some green onion, crushed peanuts, and lime juice, and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make this gluten-free, use tamari.
For soy-free, use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and pumpkin seed tofu or chickpea tofu or some soy free vegan meat substitute.
To make this peanut-free, use almond butter instead or peanut butter, or to make it nut free use sun butter. Top with nuts or seeds of choice, as needed.
You want smooth peanut butter for this recipe. Natural or not is fine.
You can use Japanese or American eggplant in this recipe. Just make sure that you cut it into cubes
This was so good but I altered it a little (OK a lot). I added broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to the cubed eggplant and the yummy sauce EXCLUDING any sugar and threw it in the oven. Then I had an unexpected visitor and after about an hour when my neighbor left, I walked into the kitchen and remembered the casserole it was PERFECT no need for any other steps. I piled it on a bunch of lettuce, sprinkled some quinoa and devoured it. It was really really good.
😄 I love it when recipes work out with changes!
I was wondering how this would do in the air fryer? Think all the sauce would drain off?
Put them on parchment and put in air fryer. You’ll have to bake shorter time. Also stir it once or twice in between and check if done. The sauce is thick and won’t drain unless you make a thinner sauce.
Wonderful, Tx!
Awesome!
Another winner! Made this last night since I procured some beautiful eggplant from my local farmers market in the morning. I used the Japanese eggplant which worked great. I cut them in half and salt them to draw out the bitterness before cooking. The peanut sauce was fantastic! There are no leftovers! You’re recipes are the best Richa, thank you!
Thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
Made this tonight. Great texture and delicious – mostly hands off. Husband loved it and requested it again.
Yay!
This was sooo delicious. Even my 13 year old that wanted to make a pb&j for dinner instead decided he would rather have seconds of this dish. He repeatedly told me how delicious it was. I made it without garlic because I need it to be low FODMAP and it was great.
That’s great!!
So tasty! I love Asian food, and I love anything with peanut butter, so this recipe was perfect! Thank you, Richa!
Awesome!
Can i substitute berbere’ spice instead of sambal oelek?
Yes, but you might have to add a little bit of water to get it to the right consistency.
I’m a Vegan, always looking for new vegan recipes. Always freezer full of tofu just waiting for other things to go w/ it.
No haven’t tried but getting rest to try.
I was trying to come up with a way to use up some tofu and eggplant It was my lucky day when this recipe arrived in my email! I made it exactly as directed and used sesame seeds (vs. peanuts) and my husband and I both loved it. I had mine on butter lettuce leaves, and he had his on brown rice. Very tasty with a richly-flavored sauce.
Glad you liked it!