Pan-fried tofu with rice: a veggie dinner with 32 g protein

Getting 30 g of protein into a meat-free dinner without reaching for a shaker is more straightforward than most people expect, and a block of tofu does nearly all of the work. Tofu earns its bad reputation by going into a lukewarm pan while still soaking wet, which is how you end up chewing rubber. Press it, dust it, and you get crisp cubes and 32 g of protein a serving.

Prep time and servings

Prep: 15 minutes, 10 of which is the tofu sitting under a weight. Cooking: 20 minutes. Serves: 2.

Get the rice on first, because everything else is finished before it is. Fridge to plate is roughly 35 minutes.

Ingredients

For 2 servings:

• 280 g extra-firm tofu, pressed
• 130 g basmati rice, dry weight
• 200 g broccoli, in florets
• 150 g red pepper, sliced into strips
• 15 g cornflour
• 20 ml oil, rapeseed or sunflower
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 15 ml rice vinegar or cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 10 g fresh ginger, grated
• 10 g sesame seeds
• chilli flakes and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Take the tofu out of the packet, wrap it in kitchen paper or a clean tea towel, and sit a plate with something heavy on top. Leave it 10 minutes. You are trying to drive out as much water as possible.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the rice and cook it in 260 ml of salted water, lid on, for 10–12 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it covered to steam.
3. Cut the pressed tofu into cubes of about 2 cm and toss them with the cornflour until every face carries a thin, dry coating.
4. Heat 15 ml of oil in a wide pan over a high flame. Lay the cubes out in a single layer and leave them alone for 3–4 minutes before turning. Expect 8–10 minutes in total to get a crust on all sides, then lift the tofu onto a plate.
5. Add the last 5 ml of oil to the same pan along with the broccoli and pepper. Stir-fry for 4–5 minutes so the veg keeps some bite. If it starts to catch, splash in two tablespoons of water.
6. Throw in the garlic and ginger, stir for 30 seconds, then pour in the soy sauce and vinegar and let it bubble for another half a minute.
7. Return the tofu to the pan, toss it through the sauce and take it off the heat straight away. Left sitting in liquid, the crust goes soft.
8. Divide the rice between two bowls, pile the tofu and veg on top, and finish with sesame seeds and chilli.

Nutrition per serving

Estimate per serving, worked out from the quantities above:

• Calories: about 640 kcal
• Protein: about 32 g
• Carbohydrates: about 73 g
• Fat: about 26 g

The figures shift with the brand of tofu and with how much of the oil actually stays in the food, so treat them as a working range rather than a measurement. Tofu is the biggest variable: firm blocks usually sit at 15–18 g of protein per 100 g, while silken has roughly half that.

Swaps and variations

To pull the carbs down, drop the rice to 80 g dry and add another 100 g of vegetables. That takes a serving to around 550 kcal while the protein barely moves.

For more protein without much more fat, tip in 100 g of edamame for the final two minutes of frying, which adds roughly 11 g of protein across the pan. If you prefer something thicker and heavier, 60 g of dry lentils cooked separately does a similar job, in the spirit of this lentil stew.

Tempeh swaps in one for one and carries slightly more protein, though the flavour is much stronger, so try a small batch first. On a night when you cannot face the hob, a chickpea and feta salad covers a similar protein range cold. For breakfast the same day, an egg white omelette works well, and for after training there is banana and skyr protein ice cream.

When to see a doctor

Soy is a common allergen. If tofu leaves you itching, or your lips or throat swell, or breathing gets tight, stop eating it and speak to a doctor. That is not something you get used to. If you take thyroid medication, the soy question is worth settling once with your own doctor rather than guessing from what you read online.

In short

280 g of firm tofu, 130 g of rice and half a kilo of vegetables make two servings at roughly 32 g of protein and 640 kcal each. The recipe is not the clever part, the technique is: press the tofu, coat it in cornflour and leave it undisturbed in a properly hot pan. The rest is five minutes of stirring.