I’m partnering up with House Foods today to bring you this awesome Jamaican jerk tofu recipe! Thanks, House Foods, for sponsoring this post!
Tofu is the perfect balance to the intense spice of a jerk sauce. In the recipe below, I provide a recipe for making jerk sauce, but you can also use store-bought sauce instead. Traditionally, jerk sauce is made with Scotch Bonnet peppers. However, those peppers are difficult for me to find, so I am using habanero peppers instead.
For the tofu, I used House Foods’ organic extra-firm tofu. I love cooking with their tofu because the quality is consistently good. Their cute packaging scores bonus points with me, too. The Doraemon packaging is my all-time favorite.
MASTERING MY MISTAKES / COOKING NOTES
- A note about the spice: Traditional Jamaican jerk marinades are made with Scotch Bonnet peppers. I haven’t seen them around yet, so I used habanero peppers instead. This sauce is definitely spicy! Feel free to use fewer habaneros or one seeded jalapeño pepper for less spice. Warning: If you’re using habaneros, resist the urge to test the sauce before it is cooked down. I made that mistake when I was testing the recipe, and my mouth was on fire!
- You can make the tofu with or without the crust: For this recipe, I decided to toss the tofu in cornstarch and pan fried them separately to give the tofu an extra crust. Because I’ve already featured several recipes that are straight-up tofu stir fries, I thought this would be a good change of pace. Feel free to skip the crust.
- Blending the sauce: Because we’re not mixing a lot of ingredients for the sauce, I like dumping all the ingredients into a jar using my immersion blender for the job.
If you try this recipe, let me know how it goes by leaving a comment or sending me a message! You can also take a photo tag me on Instagram so that I can give you a fist bump! Seeing your creations makes my day!
Jamaican Jerk Style Tofu Stir Fry
Ingredients
Jamaican Jerk Sauce
- 2 to 3 habanero peppers, seeded and ribs removed
- 4 stalks of green onions, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lime juice, about 1 to 2 limes
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon tomato paste, depending on your taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Tofu
- 1 12-ounce package of House Foods extra-firm tofu
- 4 to 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Vegetable Stir Fry
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 medium red pepper, seeded and sliced
- 2 cups snow peas, about 1/2 pound / 225g
- 1 stalk of green onion, sliced
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Drain tofu and wrap it around paper towels. Press it down with something heavy. I used my skillet for this. Set aside.
- Blend jerk sauce ingredients in a blender. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and pour in jerk sauce. When the sauce starts boiling, turn off heat and set aside.
- Chop tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. Pour tofu into a gallon-sized freezer bag, and add about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch. Give everything a shake. If all tofu pieces are not coated with cornstarch, add another tablespoon and shake.
- Heat a skillet or pan over medium-high heat with 1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. When the pan is hot, add half of the tofu cubes. The tofu should sizzle upon contact with the pan. Lightly brown each side of the cube (about 2 minutes total cooking time). This should take about 2 minutes. Dish up tofu, add remaining sesame oil to pan, and brown remaining tofu. Dish up tofu and set everything aside.
- Wipe down the pan and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Make sure the pan is over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about a minute or two. Add red peppers and snow peas and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the snow peas turn into a vibrant green color. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and add green onions and tofu. Add jerk sauce, one tablespoon at a time, until you get the right amount of sauce for your taste. Stir everything up and turn off heat. Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This recipe is sponsored by House Foods. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen! To learn more about House Foods products and recipes, check them out at their website or follow them on Facebook!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean says
Right on, Lisa! First, a gorgeous and mouthwatering post.. but BALLROOM Dancing?! What can you not do? Amazing! I bet it’s great exercise too. This sauce sounds amazingly flavorful, but honestly, I’m afraid of fresh habanaro peppers! And I looove spicy, but they are waaay over the top! I’ve never worked with fresh.. but you’ve given me a nudge here because I love a good, flavorful tofu and this is it. Crust or no crust! I take it either way! Thank you for this my dear!
Lisa Lin says
Haha, Traci, I just have far too many things that I’m interested in—I just can’t concentrate on one! Cooking those habaneros down was definitely important. My lips were on fire when I tried the sauce! Thank YOU, Traci!
Marshie Boswell says
This looks like the kind of tofu I could get my husband to eat!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Marshie!
Catherine says
Dear Lisa, this looks wonderful. What a perfectly, light and healthy meal. I love the flavors and spices…I think this would be a hit with my family! xo, Catherine
Lisa Lin says
Thank you so much, Catherine!!
Megan Keno says
I love the Jamaican Jerk sauce, I’ve been hearing a lot about it but I’ve never tried it! The ingredients sound great together, I’ll have to give this a try!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Megan! Jerk sauce is definitely worth a try!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
Oh man. I don’t even know if I can remember what my resolutions are at this point. Ha ha ha. This stir fry looks perfect, Lisa. Tofu stir fry is such a great way to eat healthy and it’s so quick to make that there are no excuses not to cook it at home!
Lisa Lin says
Thank you, Liz!
Zainab says
The flavoring here is stellar!! Love that you made a stir fry out of jerk seasoning!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Zainab!!
Axe says
I just wanted to say thanks for such a lush recipe! ;)))