This simple, tangy Vietnamese tomato tofu is a comforting vegan dish that's very easy to make. It's made by adding baked or fried tofu cubes to a simple Asian onion-tomato sauce. Tomato tofu can be served with any rice or noodle dish.
I had never tasted Vietnamese food until we went on a long trip to Vietnam and Cambodia a few years ago. After that trip, Vietnamese cuisine became one of our favorite cuisines.
Today I am sharing a simple recipe for Vietnamese tofu in tomato sauce.
It's one of the few dishes that we ate the most during our Vietnam trip. But the dish was so delicious that we didn't mind eating it almost every second day. Even after returning, I didn't stop making it in my kitchen and still frequently make tomato tofu.
Jump to:
- Vegetarian and vegan food in Vietnam
- What goes in Vietnamese tomato tofu?
- Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
- How to make (step-by-step process)?
- Serving tomato tofu
- Storing the leftovers
- Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
- More easy tofu recipes
- More easy vegan and vegetarian tomato recipes
- Recipe
Vegetarian and vegan food in Vietnam
Finding vegan or vegetarian food in Vietnam is not very tough as most restaurants have a couple of vegan and vegetarian options on their menu.
Because of Buddhism, most people understand the meaning of vegetarian food. However, only a few main ingredients are served in different forms if you want a meat-free meal in Vietnam. These ingredients were tofu, eggplant, pumpkin, and Vietnamese morning glory.
To communicate your vegetarian food preference, you just need to remember the word 'Chay' with the correct tone (the Vietnamese language has 6 tones, more than Mandarin which has 4 tones).
What goes in Vietnamese tomato tofu?
To make Vietnamese tofu, you will need the simple ingredients shown below:
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
- Tofu: Use firm or extra firm tofu in this recipe. Silken tofu is too delicate for tomato tofu. In Vietnam, we were always served this dish with deep-fried tofu cubes. However, when I make it at home, I prefer baking them. You can choose whichever way you like. These days a lot of stores also sell fried tofu in packets. To save time you can use that too. However, it won't be a healthy option.
- Spring onion (Green onion): Instead of spring onions, you can also use fresh basil or chives.
- Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes are the best for an authentic taste of tomato tofu. However, if you want to use canned tomatoes, you can do that too. Cherry tomatoes can also be used in this Vietnamese dish.
- Onion: Use red onion to make this tofu recipe.
- Garlic: I used fresh garlic in the sauce and garlic powder to flavor tofu cubes. You can use only fresh garlic too.
- Thai red chili: If you don't have Thai red chilies, use any hot chili pepper. You can also add red pepper flakes to add heat. Skip chilies if your heat tolerance is low.
- Sugar: The sweetness of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes. However, if you don't want to add sugar, skip it.
- Cooking oil: Use any neutral flavored oil like canola oil or vegetable oil. Olive oil can be used too.
- Water: For more flavor, you can use vegetable broth instead of water.
Other ingredient details and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.
How to make (step-by-step process)?
Making Vietnamese tofu in tomato sauce is very easy, just follow the easy step-by-step instructions shared below:
Step 1: Put tofu cubes, oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl. Gently toss until all the cubes get evenly coated with the seasonings and oil.
Step 2: Spread tofu cubes on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (or, 400℉) for 12-15 minutes or until tofu starts turning brown.
Step 3: While the tofu is getting baked, heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute until it starts turning brown.
Step 4: Add chopped red chili and the white part of spring onion. Saute for a few seconds.
Step 5: Add sliced onion.
Step 6: Cook until the onion turns translucent.
Step 7: Add chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and pepper.
Step 8: Mix and cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy. You can cover the pan to fasten this step.
Step 9: Pour a cup of water into the pan.
Step 10: Cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat.
Step 11: Add baked tofu cubes, chopped green onions, and cilantro.
Step 12: Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Don't remove the lid for 5 minutes.
Your delicious Vietnamese tofu in tomato sauce is ready to be served.
Serving tomato tofu
Serve this tofu dish hot or warm.
In Vietnam, we were always served this simple dish with some steamed jasmine rice and I think it tastes the best with it. You can serve some finely chopped chili peppers, calamansi/ lime wedges, salt, and ground black pepper on the side.
If you don't have jasmine rice, serve any white rice, preferably a starchy variety of rice with it. Brown rice can also be served with Vietnamese tofu.
You can also have it with stir-fried noodles.
Storing the leftovers
Store the leftover tomato tofu in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 3-4 days.
To reheat, either microwave until evenly heated. Or, reheat on the stovetop. Add a splash of water while reheating if the sauce has thickened.
Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
- Use firm or extra-firm tofu to make this recipe.
- To get rid of the excess water from tofu, press the tofu block using a tofu press. Or, wrap the block of tofu in kitchen paper towels and press it with something heavy like a jar of beans, for at least 15 minutes. When you remove excess moisture from the tofu, it absorbs the flavors of the dish in a better way.
- Instead of baking, you can also shallow or deep-fry the tofu cubes until their edges start turning golden brown.
- Don't overcook tofu, it will turn chewy.
- Mix tofu cubes with the seasonings and oil gently otherwise, the cubes will break.
- Fresh tomatoes are the best for this recipe but if you don't have that canned diced tomatoes can be used too.
- Use juicy tomatoes otherwise the sauce won't get the right consistency.
- You can add a tablespoon of tomato paste for a richer tomato flavor.
- I have thinly sliced the onion to use in this recipe but you can use chopped onion too, if you prefer smaller pieces of onion in the sauce.
- Adding sugar is optional, if your tomatoes are already sweet you can skip it.
More easy tofu recipes
Tofu is one of my favorite things to eat and I cook it in a lot of different ways. If you are looking for ideas to start adding tofu to your diet, don't miss to check out the following recipes:
- Peanut butter tofu
- Orange tofu
- Tofu Fried rice
- Chili garlic tofu
- Pineapple tofu
- Lemongrass tofu
- Sweet and sour tofu
- Tofu noodle soup
- Vegan Thai green curry with tofu
More easy vegan and vegetarian tomato recipes
Want to try more tomato recipes from around the world? The following links are worth checking out:
- Tomato puff pastry tart
- Roasted bell pepper and tomato soup
- Bengali style tomato chutney
- Cherry tomato pasta
- Middle Eastern tomato salad
- Roasted tomato and quinoa soup
- Creamy vegan tomato pasta
- Greek tomato orzo
Recipe
Vietnamese tomato tofu
Equipment
- Oven
- baking tray
- 1 large wok or pan with a lid
- 1 Spatula
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
Ingredients for baked tofu
- 1 cup firm tofu cubes around 200 grams
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder optional
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- Salt to taste
Other ingredients
- 3 cups chopped tomatoes around 400 grams, 4 medium tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion sliced
- 3 stalks spring onion keep green and white parts separated
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 Thai red chili finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon palm sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 cup water or, as required to get the desired consistency
Instructions
- Put tofu cubes, oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl. Gently toss until all the cubes get evenly coated with the seasonings and oil.
- Spread tofu cubes on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet, Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (or, 400℉) for 12-15 minutes or until tofu starts turning golden brown.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute until it starts turning brown. Add chopped red chili and the white part of spring onion. Saute for a few seconds.
- Next, add sliced onion and cook until it turns translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and pepper. Mix and cook on medium heat for around 7-8 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy. You may cover the pan to fasten this step.
- Pour a cup of water into the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat.
- Finally add baked tofu cubes, green onions, and cilantro. Mix and cook for about a minute.
- Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Don't remove the lid for 5 minutes.
- Serve hot with steamed Jasmine or sticky rice.
Video
Notes
- Use firm or extra-firm tofu to make this recipe.
- To get rid of the excess water from tofu, press the tofu block using a tofu press. Or, wrap the block of tofu in kitchen paper towels and press it with something heavy like a jar of beans, for at least 15 minutes. When you remove excess moisture from the tofu, it absorbs the flavors of the dish in a better way.
- Instead of baking, you can also shallow or deep-fry the tofu cubes until their edges start turning golden brown.
- Don't overcook tofu, it will turn chewy.
- Mix tofu cubes with the seasonings and oil gently otherwise, the cubes will break.
- Fresh tomatoes are the best for this recipe but if you don't have that canned diced tomatoes can be used too.
- Use juicy tomatoes otherwise the sauce won't get the right consistency.
- You can add a tablespoon of tomato paste for a rich tomato sauce.
- I have sliced onion to use in this recipe but you can use chopped onion too, if you prefer smaller pieces of onion in the sauce.
- Adding sugar is optional, if your tomatoes are already sweet you can skip it.
- More recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.
My husband loved this! I will be adding this to our rotation. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Jess 🙂
Would this tomato sauce freeze well?
Yes, you can freeze it for 3-4 months in a freezer safe container.
I was craving this dish as my late mother use to make it when I was a kid. The dish brought back those feels! It is such a hearty dish x
Thank you, Huyen for sharing this comment. I am sorry for your great loss. This dish reminded you of something that your late mother cooked for you is a great compliment.
Thank you, this worked out really well! Luckily I can get hold of veggie "fish" sauce so played around with this and soy to taste. Delicious and will be making it again!
Hi Katy. Thanks for sharing your feedback, I am glad to know that you enjoyed it :).
recipe looks good. One suggestion to make it truly vietnamese traditional, in place of soy sauce, you use fish sauce. Another alternative instead of sugar, you can use a bit of ketchup.
Hi Thomas. Thanks for sharing the tips. As I am a vegetarian I use soy sauce, not fish sauce. I will definitely try using ketchup next time.
This is REALLY Nice. Thank you! And so easy!
Thanks a lot James.
This was a pretty easy and delicious dish to make. I had a whole bunch of tomatoes picked from the garden and was ready to use them, glad I found your dish first!
Thank you so much James. Very happy to know that you enjoyed it.
Oh yes none of us must have ever imagined about the current situation.. but your tofu dish definitely cheers up the mood...quick and easy recipe
Thanks Amrita 🙂
Vietnamese tofu looks very inviting! I m still trying to learn to cook inviting dishes with tofu, love how simple and tempting the dish is! Bookmarking this to try!
Thank you Priya 🙂
We love tofu and this tomato sauce tofu looks so so delicious, I would love tot ry this delicious recipe for my family. Pictures are so inviting.
Thank you Sapana.
I am LOVING all your vegan asian dishes, that are so easy to whip up and tasty same time. Let's hope everything get back to normal very soon.
Thanks a lot, Jagruti 🙂
This vietnamese tofu looks so delicious and the colour looks so vibrant and tempting me to try soon...Thanks fo rthe recipe!!
Thanks a lot Padma.
How times have changed for all of us. At this moment I was suppose to be in Montreal with my son ;( Well, we just have to be patient as there is always a greater plan. As for the tofu in tomato sauce it really looks so inviting. Love it. I wish I was able to buy tofu here to make it. I guess I'll have to just bookmark the recipe and try it when I get some tofu.
Thank you so much, Mayuri. You are right it's a challenging time for all of us. Hope it gets over soon :).
My kids prefer tofu to paneer so I am greatful that we can have an option without me messing the recipe. This vietamese tofu will be on the table sometime soon. Hopefully sooner ...Thanks a lot.
Thanks Archana 🙂
Fried tofu in tomato sauce sounds delicious. But never tasted vietnames tofu, i will try this as soon as i get tofu from the stores. thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Uma.
Trying recipes with tofu is on my to do list. Your recipe looks so interesting. The Colour of Vietnamese tofu in Tomato sauce looks so vibrant. A must try recipe.
Thanks a lot Lata.
We LOVE tofu in our house and this is a such delicious looking Vietnamese recipe. Crispy tomato cooked with tomato sounds yummy. I will try this recipe for my family soon.
Thank you Pavani.
I have never tried my hand on tofu but this lipdmacking recipe and pictures are forcing me to go for it. This is so lively in appearance.
Thank you 🙂