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This was SO good!! I rarely use tofu but this recipe will be part of my regular rotation now! Thanks for always giving such wonderful recipes!
Jess S.
This Tofu Makes Me Love Life.
The way to my heart is through max flavor with minimal effort, and this recipe is exactly that. It’s spicy, crunchy, sweet, sticky, and all-around FEEL GOOD. Here’s what I’m doing:
- Ripping tofu into chunks.
- Baking the tofu.
- Saucing the tofu.
- Dipping, dunking, devouring.
The end result here is craggly little bites of crispty, boingy, saucy, sticky tofu. Throw it onto a rice bowl with the crunch of cucumber and some herbs. Add more sauce. Happy dance.
The beauty of this recipe is that we get to go super minimal at the start – salt, pepper, oil and cornstarch. The main goal is just TEXTURE. And once the crispity golden texture is there, we drench her with spicy-sweet sauce (5 ingredients, thank you very much) that sticks into every tofu nook and cranny.
This tofu is fast enough and easy enough that I can make it for a WFH lunch, which I often do. And love. The girls are a no-thanks to the spicy gochujang sauce, so when I make this for dinner, we give them the plain tofu as “tofu nuggets” with ketchup or honey mustard and Bjork and I get to enjoy the whole batch of that finger-licking sauce to ourselves.
The gochujang sauce in this recipe is based around peanuts, sesame, and soy – but should you find yourself wanting a gochujang sauce that’s even a little more luscious (and potentially a bit more allergy-friendly), this mayo-based gochujang sauce is a total delight and would work just as well here!
Welcome To My House! Let’s Make This Sticky Gochujang Tofu!
1
Pull Your Tofu Into Chunks.
Pull the tofu into chunks and toss with cornstarch, salt, and a bit of oil – main goal here is to create a bit of a textural exterior for the sauce to cling to!
2
Make Your Sauce.
While the tofu bakes, shake up a quick gochujang sauce in a jar.
3
Toss Tofu with Sauce.
Once the tofu is golden and textured, pour sauce over it and toss to coat.
4
One Last Little Roast.
Send it back to the oven just long enough to get it deeply colored and roasty-toasty.
5
You’re Done! Yum!
Drizzle the tofu with more sauce to make it a lil sticky and delicious. Serve with all the goods. So yum.
Watch Me Make This Recipe
Sticky Gochujang Tofu with Peanuts and Herbs
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
Description
Max flavor, minimal effort! This Gochujang Tofu is a beauty. Crispy golden tofu bathed in a 5-ingredient sauce that is spicy, sweet, tangy, and so delicious.
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 16–ounce block extra firm tofu – ideally the kind that comes vacuum-packed
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste
Gochujang Sauce
- 3 tablespoons gochujang sauce (see note 1)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1–2 tablespoons water as needed
Serving
- Rice
- Cilantro, green onion, and/or peanuts as a garnish
- Cucumber, or other veggies for the bowl
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Press the tofu a few times with paper towels (if you use the vacuum-packed kind, this is hardly necessary at all – yay!). Tear the tofu into rough chunks.
- Tofu: Put the tofu chunks in a nonstick square baking dish, or a sheet pan lined with parchment. Add the oil, cornstarch, salt, and pepper directly to the pan; shake or toss to coat.
- Bake: Bake tofu for 15 minutes. Give it a shake or stir to rotate the pieces. Then bake for another 10 minutes. (Total bake time: 25 minutes.)
- Make Sauce: While baking is happening, shake up the sauce ingredients in a jar until smooth.
- Sauce on Tofu: Pour just enough sauce over the tofu to coat; toss to combine. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes, checking every so often to prevent burning, until golden brown.
- Done! Remove the pan from the oven and toss with a fresh drizzle of sauce. Serve with rice and a vegetable, and top with chopped peanuts, cilantro, green onion, and any remaining sauce. SO GOOD!
Notes
Note 1: Gochujang is a spicy Korean fermented red chili paste fermented paste. I use gochujang sauce for this recipe and I love the Bibigo brand! Gochujang sauce tastes like gochujang but it also has flavors of garlic, sesame, etc. – it’s more of a condiment. You can also use proper Korean gochujangpaste in this recipe, but it will be thicker, spicier, and have less added flavors. If you do this, use less (1 tablespoon would be plenty) and add a bit of extra flavor like brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, etc.
Note 2: You don’t have to use a nonstick square baking dish, but I like that it has higher sides and makes it easy to toss everything around all in one pan. Here’s the one I have. (affiliate link)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Korean-Inspired
Keywords: gochujang sauce, baked tofu, gochujang tofu, spicy tofu, tofu bowl, rice bowl, vegetarian dinner, vegan dinner
Frequently Asked Questions For This Gochujang Tofu
Pretty spicy. Too spicy for my kids. You can scale the amount of sauce down even further if you’d like a less spicy sauce! Or, you can try this mayo-based gochujang sauce which is quite a bit milder and still really delicious.
You can, but a) you need to press it more to remove the moisture, and b) it’ll take a bit longer in the oven to get crisped up. Maybe closer to 40 minutes.
I would use this gochujang sauce instead!
Yes! This sauce would be delicious with chicken meatballs, air fryer chicken, sauteed shrimp, any and all.
Yes, but I’d suggest starting with much less. I think 1 tablespoon will be plenty. I would also add a bit more garlic or other seasonings to round out the flavor.
No more sad tofu! I’ve cooked a lot of tofu in my life and this is by far the best method I’ve ever used to get tofu that’s crispy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside. I’m excited to try this method with other sauces!
Made this for dinner, turned out great and it was truly easy to make. I couldn’t find the vacuum pack tofu, so used tofu packed in water. I squished it between paper towels and cutting boards for a few hours which worked well. Two tablespoons of soy sauce seemed like way too much, I only used a dash and blended the sauce together in my mini food processor. Delicious, will make again. Thank you!
This was good but my tofu does not get crispy! It never does what am I not doing correctly? Yes I pressed tofu, cooked on top rack too and not crispy Definitely 5 ⭐️ if I can figure out how to make it crispy
This is delicious and simple. I used gochujang paste and hadn’t read the notes so used all three tablespoons! It was spicy but so very good!
I love how simple and flavorful it is, especially with that crunchy texture and the vibrant sauce. I can’t wait to try this recipe for dinner—definitely adding it to my meal prep rotation! Thanks for sharing such a fantastic dish!
I made this recipe with two blocks of tofu , I also used gochujang paste , 3 tablespoons. I added , 2 tbsp brown sugar , 1 tsp rice vinegar to balance it out. I doubled everything for the sauce. It worked great. Thanks!
Hi, I plan on making this tonight , I am using real Gochujang paste in the recipe and doubling the tofu. I plan on doubling the other ingredients for the tofu like you said. Do you have any suggestions on amount of then I should use? I figured I would ask, but it’s my first time so I just plan on winging it. Sounds really delicious! We live spicy so that is ok.
Fantastic! Made it last night with salmon. No need for cornstarch, otherwise followed the recipe as written. Zero leftovers! Thanks you for another excellent recipe!
Do you think you could cook the tofu in an air fryer?
Delicious! This is my go to tofu recipe
Made this for dinner tonight and really loved it! My meat eating husband loved it, too. The only change I made was making the tofu in the air fryer and it came out perfectly.
Glad it turned out well by air frying the tofu!
I made this and we enjoyed it even though my husband is still being converted to tofu. I used gochuchang paste, not sauce. I added a little honey to the sauce just to balance the flavor and we squeezed some lime over the time. I would repeat this.
Very yummy! Husband and I really enjoyed this for dinner. And I have leftovers for a weeknight dinner this week. Served with a pickled cucumber and carrot salad and fresh coriander and basil leaves.
Thanks for the delicious recipe 🤩👍🏻
I seem to be in the minority, but I wasn’t a fan of this. It felt like it was missing something but also too much peanut butter. The tofu came out really well though
So great to find a tofu recipe where you don’t have to individually prepare and cook all the cubes of the stuff!
Another winner recipe from pinch of yum 😋. I will say that if you follow this recipe to a T and use the Gochujang sauce by O’Food, you may have regrets due to the spiciness. I used 1 tbl versus the 3 called for and that was still a little too spicy for my current tastes. Overall a great recipe and now I know to use even less Gochujang sauce next time!
This was amazing! Followed the recipe as it was written and it came out perfect. Full of flavor and so easy to make. I’m so glad I found this website!
I didn’t think I could love tofu, but I had to use some up from when my sister visited and this recipe was A+, even from my carnivore husband! Would absolutely make it again.
Wow, this Sticky Gochujang Tofu recipe sounds like a game-changer! The combination of spicy, sweet, and savory flavors with the crunch of peanuts and fresh herbs must be incredible. I can’t wait to try it out! By the way, if you’re looking for more food inspiration, you should check out Wendy’s Menu—it’s packed with delicious options too!
Nice recipe 😋
This recipe was fantastic! Packed with flavor, super easy, and adaptable to really any veggies you may have in the fridge!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kira!
Thank you bro great work thanks for your support
LOVE IT SO MUCH!
Sticky Gochujang Tofu with Herbs and Peanuts is a vibrant dish that captures the spirit of Caex Street Drive. The rich, spicy-sweet gochujang sauce beautifully coats crispy tofu, while fresh herbs and crunchy peanuts add texture. This flavorful blend reflects the dynamic food scene along the bustling streets, inviting adventurous palates.
This is so easy and so delicious! My husband said it is the best tofu he’s ever had.
Another amazing and delicious recipe! I loved how crispy the tofu turned out, I only had the regular extra firm tofu, but it was previously frozen, which I think contributed to the texture (like fried chicken, I swear!). The sauce was so flavourful and so easy to shake together, you introduced me to garlic powder and it has made cooking so much faster. Veggie wise we had roasted peppers and carrots plus the cucumbers on top. We absolutely loved it. Thanks for continuing to make such tasty yet simple recipes!