I created this crispy honey sriracha tofu recipe over a decade ago and it still remains one of the most loved dishes on my blog! The texture of the tofu is both crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the sauce is sweet, nutty, and spicy. This is an easy weeknight meal I serve with a side of rice that only takes 20 minutes to make.
I’ve been cooking with tofu for over two decades. And it’s been making an appearance at our dinner table more frequently in the past few years since we made the decision to no longer eat red meat. Whenever someone says to me they don’t like eating tofu because it has no taste, I tell them that tofu is just as versatile as chicken, and can also be just as delicious, when prepared and cooked the right way.
Take this honey sriracha tofu for example – aside from being one of the most loved recipes on my blog, it showcases how versatile a simple block of soybean can be. The flavors are punchy and there is nothing boring about biting into these crunchy and pillowy tofu cubes. Since coming up with this dish 11 years ago, my recipe has been adapted over and over again by many home chefs and food bloggers. That’s the best compliment I could have asked for!
Table of contents
Best Tofu For This Recipe
There are three general levels of firmness when it comes to tofu:
- Silken. This is the softest and smoothest type of tofu that has the highest water content, meaning it’s been pressed the least. It’s mostly used for soups, smoothies, dishes like mapo tofu, or served cold with a drizzle of soy sauce (hiyayakko). Silken tofu is very delicate and difficult to handle with bare hands as it breaks easily.
- Medium firm. This one is considered the regular type of tofu. The texture is between soft and extra firm, and is often used in stir fries, salads, and dishes where it can be scrambled, or cooked in a gooey sauce like sweet and sour tofu. Medium tofu is hard enough to hold in your hand without breaking but still needs to be pressed before using to let out excess water.
- Extra firm. The most condensed of them all, extra firm tofu contains the least amount of water. It’s great in stir fries like this honey ginger stir fry, can quickly be pan fried with a sauce, and can be marinated to take on various flavors. It can be baked (and dressed with a black pepper sauce – so good!) or grilled, and served in sandwiches and burgers.
For this recipe, the best types of tofu to use are medium firm and extra firm. I personally like medium firm the best because it’s a little more pillowy and tender once it’s cooked than extra firm. And I don’t find it any harder to handle it when I’m dusting and cooking the cubes.
Ingredients
- Tofu: As mentioned above, medium firm or extra firm tofu are the best types for this recipe. Make sure that the tofu you are using says non GMO. I usually go for organic US tofu or Japanese tofu – most of them if not all of them are all free of GMOs.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch gives the sauce a gooey texture and the tofu cubes a crispy exterior. I sometimes use potato starch as an alternative since both of them work the same way.
- Oil: Choose a neutral oil with a high smoke point such as vegetable oil or grapeseed oil.
- Honey sriracha sauce: A mix of garlic, sriracha sauce, soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar.
- Toasted sesame oil: A lot of people wonder why I add toasted sesame oil in the end instead of cooking the entire dish with it. That’s because toasted sesame oil is a delicate oil that has a low smoke point. It’s not the same as regular sesame oil which has a high smoke point. The toasted kind is much more concentrated in sesame flavor and can taste rancid when cooked at a high temperature for too long. Because of that I always add at the very end to preserve its clean nutty taste.
- Toppings: Green onions are an essential garnish for many Asian dishes. I added them to this one because of their refreshing and mildly sweet taste.
How To Cook This Dish
- Drain the tofu. Open the tofu package and drain the water. Place the block of tofu on a plate and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes. This is to drain any excess water.
- Slice the tofu. Place the block of tofu on a cutting board and slice it into bite size cubes.
- Coat the cubes. Dust the tofu cubes with cornstarch until all sides are well coated.
- Pan fry until golden brown. Put a little oil in a pan and when the oil is hot, fry the tofu for a few minutes, until all the sides are golden brown and crispy.
- Add the sauce. Add the honey sriracha sauce and briefly toss the cubes. Turn the heat off, drizzle with sesame sauce, and toss again.
- Add the garnishes. Transfer the dish to a serving plate and top with green onions and sesame sesame seeds.
Variations
- Make it spicier. Add an additional tablespoon of sriracha sauce.
- Make it sweeter. Add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of honey.
- Make it smoky. Add 1 teaspoon of gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes). This will not make the dish hotter, it will only add smokiness.
- Make it vegan. Use pure maple syrup or agave nectar.
Expert Tips
- Take your time cooking the tofu. This step is crucial to the success of this dish. The key to making crispy tofu is to wait until the exterior hardens and turns a nice golden brown color.
- Use the sauce for more than just tofu. I’m such a big fan of the sauce that I have used it on other proteins such as chicken, fish such as salmon, with deviled eggs, and even with roasted chickpeas. And it works just as well every time!
Storage
Make ahead: To make this recipe ahead of time, I recommend making the sauce and saving it in a jar or other container. It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Leftovers: For leftover honey sriracha tofu, transfer the dish to a storage container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most tofu is sold in aseptic containers to prevent any contamination. Left in these containers, tofu can last 1-2 weeks past the expiration date, stored in a refrigerator.
If the package is opened, it will only last 3-5 days. The best way to conserve leftover tofu is to transfer it to a storage container and fill it with fresh water. Change the water daily to prevent contamination.
Tofu is made with soybeans, water and curdling agent. So yes, plain tofu is gluten-free.
However, it should be noted that not all flavored tofu is gluten-free. Always make sure to check for the GF (gluten-free) label.
Yes, absolutely!
Just make sure you extract as much water as you can before freezing it. Slice the tofu into cubes and store it in an airtight plastic bag or container. When you are ready to use it, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Do not refreeze again though as this may contaminate the tofu. Frozen tofu will keep for 3-4 months.
What To Serve With
Whether it is plain white rice, egg fried rice, or Japanese fried rice, serving this dish with rice is a must!
The grains will soak up the sauce and intensify the flavors with each bite you take. Because the flavors of this tofu recipe are so intense, I recommend sticking to milder sides such as:
Did you like this recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
The Real Honey Sriracha Tofu
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Tofu
- Method: Stir fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Tossed in a sweet and spicy honey sriracha sauce, these tofu cubes are delectable and ready in just 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 14 ounce block medium firm or extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup cornstarch, for dusting
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 green onion, finely chopped (optional)
Sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Drain the tofu. Wrap the tofu in a couple of paper towels and place it on a plate. Cover with another plate and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, to remove excess water. Or, if you have one, use a tofu press to remove excess water.
- Make the sauce. Meanwhile, whisk the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.
- Slice the tofu. Unwrap the block of tofu and slice into bite size cubes (about 1½ inches all around).
- Coat the cubes. Dust the tofu cubes with cornstarch until all the sides are coated.
- Cook the tofu. Use a medium large pan and turn the heat to high. Add oil and when the oil is hot, almost smoking, add tofu cubes. Be careful of oil spits! Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes without touching or tossing too much, until golden brown.
- Season with the sauce. Add the sauce and gently coat the tofu cubes. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add some nuttiness. Turn the heat off and drizzle the sesame oil on top. Toss and transfer the tofu to a serving plate.
- Dig in! Top with sesame seeds and green onions and serve.
Notes
This honey sriracha tofu recipe is best when served immediately to enjoy the crispiness of the tofu cubes. Save the leftovers in a storage container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 373
- Sugar: 15.7g
- Sodium: 838mg
- Fat: 23.7g
- Saturated Fat: 5.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22.6g
- Fiber: 2.7g
- Protein: 19.5g
- Cholesterol: 10.5mg
Questions and Reviews
I just made it for the first time today, but unfortunately I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I substituted sriracha for gochujang and rice vinegar for spiced rice vinegar. I ended up not cooking for 3 minutes after adding the sauce because the honey reacted to the heat of the pan (I hadn’t turned it down as I didn’t know I needed to) and I just barely avoided setting off the fire alarm, especially since I added the sesame oil too early and just added to the smoke, lol. Anyway, it ended up being really bloody spicy, but it’s soooo good. Drowned myself in milk afterwards, but good. Might just continue to use gochujang again the next time I make it, just… less. Thanks so much for this recipe it was a great guide for cooking tofu for the first time!
I have made this recipe many times and never get tired of it. Thanks for a great dish!
Made this tonight and DELICIOUS!! We don’t have any sriracha in the house so used some sweet chilli sauce instead, also baked the tofu for a while first. My two boys, who can be really fussy, devoured it!! Thank you!! Am about to go and plan my week of meals around your other recipes 😉
Thank you Kath, that’s wonderful!!
This was DELICIOUS! I threw mine over a salad and my boyfriend has his in a wrap and they were both so tasty. Will definitely make again:)
Your boyfriend had such a great idea Paula! I’m going to try adding this tofu to a sandwich next time I make it 🙂
MAde this with some really good quality tofu. I am not a vegetarian but just wanted to try a meat free meal and this was really good. A but spicy since the sauce is mostly sriracha so not great for kiddos but really tasty for adults.
On the whole, this recipe is well worth a repeat. I need to practice my tofu cooking skills. When I added the sauce to the tofu pan, my pan was too hot and some of the sauce burned. Next time I’ll cook the tofu in a skillet and add to a pot with the sauce. I added broccoli and orange peppers. I would double the sauce, too. I subbed in a tablespoon of hoisin sauce for part of the sriracha sauce. Yummy!
After having my gallbladder removed in September I’ve had hardly any red meat and don’t eat spicy food nearly as much. And I’m trying new things…like Tofu. Cooked Honey Siracha Tofu with it last night for the 1st time. Doubled the sauce like reviews suggested, cooked a little longer to make sure it was crispy. Served on brown rice. My 25yo son made chicken stir fry just in case him and my 14yo son didn’t like it. This stuff was so damn good. My 14yo thought it was chicken! Didn’t know until after dinner what it was. And the tofu was gone, but leftover stir fry. 25yo said to save the recipe…what??!! Spicy and flavorful..here is where I did half and half. If anyone wants the recipe ill post it.
I just made this tonight. It was super easy and a very interesting take on tofu. I will say that I need to touch back on the Sriracha next time but that’s because I’m a weakling when it comes to spicy stuff. Tons of flavor and this will definitely be a go to tofu recipe for me
Loved this recipe! I’ve cooked lots of tofu before and this recipe rocks! I subbed chili garlic paste for the sriracha and in my opinion, I do think it decreases the spiciness. I love spicy though, so it’s hard to say if it would help for those that don’t like spicy! I’ll trial it on my mother’s spice-sensitive pallet and let you know 😉
This was one of the BEST recipes I have ever made. I actually powdered each individual piece of tofu in the corn starch to get them nice and crispy once I fried them! I added snap peas, green bell pepper and mushrooms to the pan once I sauteed everything. I also served it on a bed of coconut rice. I will be making this so many more times! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! We also LOVE sriracha! The spicier the better 🙂
Yay! Thank you Kristen for sharing your ideas, I’ve never tried adding veggies, sounds so yummy I will next time I make it! 🙂
Way too spicy! My mom and I both like spice, but we agreed that this way uncomfortable to eat. For the two person recipe, I would suggest just starting with 1 tablespoon of sriracha.
It has been my doctrine for a long time not to comment on cooking blogs, but times change. Ever since I saw this recipe on Reddit I just feel the urge to comment on it, because it’s good beyond words and I just have to encourage as many people as possible to try it out. It’s ridiculously well balanced, compliments to the author. I wouldn’t change a thing. There’s everything in there: sweetness, solid crunchiness, powerful spiciness — the combination is really tasty. I’ve made it 3 times in a very short time. The last time was yesterday for a number of guests and they were disappointed that I only managed to make 2 batches… Just WOW. Served with some sticky jasmine rice it takes you on a sensory journey to distant Eastern lands! Besides, the ingredients are readily available. No need to search countless hours for that bottle of chili paste with a garlic hint from brand XYZ, you know what I mean. Seriously, what more can one wish for?
It’s true that the recipe requires some technique though. As usual, you have to press the water out of the tofu really well. Believe me, this makes a huge difference and takes time so don’t rush it. The last thing you want is the tofu to start leaking water in the frying pan; you’ll spend the rest of the day cleaning. I do it by slicing the tofu first, putting the slices flat on a plate, covering with some paper towels and then pushing down with a pile of heavy pans. So a layer of tofu, paper towels and pans. I change the paper towel and flip to tofu slices 2-3 times and pat the tofu dry after the last time. It’s ready for coating! Coat them well (inspect visually) and make sure you begin frying immediately after coating, because the starch layer might stick to whatever utensil you have the tofu in and come off. Medium firm and firm tofu works quite well, but be gentle because it brittles easily. You’ll get the hang out of it eventually if you cook a lot of tofu. With really firm tofu you would lose the smooth texture and that ruins it for me.
You’ll notice I speak of slices and not cubes. To avoid having to flip 5 times while frying I slice the tofu in rectangular blocks instead of cubes so I only have to flip once. I don’t think the crunchiness suffers, but I haven’t tried cubes so it’s possible 🙂 Just make sure you’re temperature is OK for frying, don’t burn them, but also don’t get them soggy. Test with 1 slice first, as suggested. Also, the oil is hot so don’t stick your head in the pan while checking on the progress 🙂
And now for my top tip: do use your faithful wok to coat your fried tofu with the Sriracha mix and the sesame oil / seeds, it’s so much easier than the frying pan; especially with moderately sized tofu slices it should be very easy to toss them around a couple of times to get even coating. Buying a wok is a decisions which you are not going to regret.
So I’m now going through all the recipes on the blog and discovering all the gems, but — you know — oh so little time ;(
I wish you all the best!
Made it, with some minor adjustments and came out great! The honey, vinegar and sriracha was a great combo.
DEElicous!!! I paired it with brown Basmati rice, will make again 🙂
Full of flavor, very very tasty with complemtary notes of spicy and sweet.
I agree with another commentator that there’s too much oil; I had to pour off half to get the tofu to brown quickly and get crispy without being oily.
This recipe can be done in a flash and it’s delicious, healthy and filling all on its own.
I love it! I had not idea about the beauty benefits of tofu. I’ve always liked it, but I think I will work it in more often. I try to fit a protein into every meal, but get tired of chicken, and beef is not good to eat every day. When I cook tofu, I typically use the extra firm because I always seem to have trouble with it getting mushy and falling apart. Do you have any recommendations for this? Thanks!
I use to have the same problem, I’d recommend using a tofu press. I got mine from Tofu Express, it’s durable, I’ve had it for a few years. Easy to clean and store. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe twice now in the last week…so yummy!! I’m allergic to peppers so i replaced the Sriracha with ketchup. It tastes like a sweet and sour sauce! Yum!!!! Thanks for the recipe Caroline! 🙂
You’re welcome Kristina! It must be good with ketchup since it would add sweetness to it, great idea!
Just a FYI…. Trader Joe’s brand “Sriracha” sauce is MUCH less spicy than the original for anyone looking for a substitute. I would venture to say it has no heat, but I do enjoy spice foods so it may have a slight spice if someone is hyper sensitive. Might be a nice way to keep the flavor without the spice.
Thank you Chelsea, that’s really good to know since I have quite a few readers who are sensitive to spicy foods!
OMG I loved this recipe!!! I used extra firm tofu and didn’t use or potato starch and it was still super yummy! Steamed green beans and threw them in at the end- thanks for the awesome recipe.
You’re welcome Tanya!
HEY! I would love to try this recipe! I had a question, however. Another site with a tofu recipe recommended marinating the tofu for a couple minutes in soy sauce, bfore dusting it in corn starch. Do you think that will work out well with this recipe? I’m just a teen and I’ve never made anything with tofu before, so I want to know the best strategy. Thanks
Hi Manaal,
You can definitely try marinating the tofu but I’m not sure if a couple of minutes would make any difference since tofu doesn’t absorb flavor as well as meats. But it can’t hurt, the more flavor, the better! 🙂