In my pre-vegan days, one of my favorite meals to make was this super simple sweet+sour chicken. It was a recipe that I used often. What I loved most was that the sauce itself was SO EASY to make. I’d always thought that sweet+sour sauce would be something that would be challenging to put together. When I found out that some of the main ingredients were simple, everyday items that I had in my pantry already, I was pleasantly surprised!
Don’t believe me? Check out the ingredients below! Ketchup, sugar, white vinegar… it just doesn’t get much easier folks! When I made it with chicken back in the day, the process was a little much. You had to first chop the chicken up into pieces, toss them in an egg wash, then transfer them to a cornstarch mixture, and fry each piece. After they were done frying, you had to coat each piece in the sauce and cook them in the oven in order to thicken the sauce for about an hour if I’m not mistaken. The end result was great, but it was a PROCESS!
Long gone are those days. So glad for this simple sweet+sour tofu! I knew that if I shared a veganized version with you all, it needed to be straight to the point. This version was simplified by using tofu, cutting them into cubes, and tossing them in a bit of cornstarch. I then used my air fryer to crisp them up. Before cooking, I sprayed them with a little olive oil and let the air fryer do its thing for about 15 minutes. If you don’t have an air fryer, or have another preferred way to make tofu (like baking it or cooking it on the stove) you can do that as well! However you like your tofu, cook it that way! 🙂
You might notice that when you’re making the sweet+sour sauce, it’s extremely watery. That’s because it needs to be cooked down a bit. Instead of doing this in the oven, I decided it would be much easier to simply whisk all of the ingredients together and allow it to thicken in a pan over the stove. Once you’ve reached this point, you’re just about done! After it thickens, toss in the tofu and voila! Your sweet+sour tofu dinner is ready. I usually pair this with plain white rice and broccoli, but it would be great with fried rice too!
Try this sweet+sour tofu recipe out and let me know what you think in the comments below!
Other Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
Hungry for more? Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
Sweet+Sour Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 package drained tofu
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (optional- depending on how you’d like to cook it)
- rice- for serving (optional)
- vegetable for serving (optional)
Sweet+Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Drain or press tofu then cut into small cubes. Cook according to your preference (baked, pan seared, or air fried). Note: I tossed mine in cornstarch and put it in the air fryer for about 15 minutes.
- While the tofu is cooking, begin cooking your rice and vegetables (if you so choose).
- Once your rice and veggies have started cooking, mix together the sweet+sour sauce ingredients and transfer to a large pan.
- On medium-low heat, allow the sauce to thicken. Stir consistently until sauce reaches a syrup-like consistently.
- Once your tofu is done cooking, toss the pieces in the sauce until all pieces are coated.
- Plate the tofu with your veggies and rice. Enjoy!
