One-Pot Tofu and Broccoli Rice

By Ali Slagle

Published March 19, 2024

One-Pot Tofu and Broccoli Rice
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(1,868)
Comments
Read comments

One pot is all you need to make custardy tofu, fluffy rice, crisp vegetables and a spicy sauce for dinner tonight. Toast rice with ginger and garlic for a fragrant base, then partway through steaming the rice, add broccoli florets. Once the rice is tender and the broccoli bright green, use the rice’s resting time to warm the tofu on top. The tofu’s marinade of peanut butter, soy sauce and chile crisp adds a punchy, creamy complement that completes the meal. If you want to use another vegetable instead of broccoli, you may need to adjust when it’s added to the pot: add sturdier vegetables like sliced carrots and winter squash with the rice, as they take longer to cook, and more delicate asparagus or spinach with the tofu.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4garlic cloves
  • 1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger
  • 1½cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
  • 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil, plus more for serving
  • Salt
  • 2tablespoons soy sauce, plus more for serving
  • 2tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1tablespoon chile crisp or chile sauce, plus more for serving
  • 1(14- to 16-ounce) block extrafirm tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 12ounces small broccoli florets (about 6 cups)
  • Cilantro leaves and tender stems (optional, for serving)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

459 calories; 13 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 69 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 20 grams protein; 676 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Finely grate the garlic and ginger into a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the rice and sesame oil, set over medium heat and stir until fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in 2½ cups water and 1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), or ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt or fine sea salt. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    While the rice cooks, stir together the soy sauce, peanut butter and chile crisp in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and stir to coat; set aside.

  3. Step 3

    After the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, working quickly, scatter the broccoli on top of the rice and season with a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until the rice is tender and the broccoli is bright green, another 10 to 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Turn off the heat, then scrape the tofu and sauce on top of the broccoli, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve topped with more sesame oil, soy sauce, chile crisp and cilantro as you like.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,868 user ratings
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Comments

Maud Powell

This recipe did not work for me at all as a one-pot dish...the taste of the sauce is nice (though I would double the quantities next time as the tofu absorbed almost all of it), but the rice and broccoli took 45 minutes to cook rather than 25 total, and the rice cooked unevenly so that some of it was mushy and some still hard. It would have worked better (and been done in half the time) if I had cooked the rice and broccoli separately and then put it together w/ the tofu mixture.

emma

I would say lesser than the sum of its parts. Nice that it’s a one pot meal, but next time I would honestly rather go through the effort of making rice in the rice cooker and separately stir frying broccoli and tofu with double the sauce

Anne

As others have commented, this works better if you: (1) steam the broccoli ahead of time; (2) double the sauce; and (3) heat the tofu/sauce mixture before adding it to the rice.

Cassandra

Took the advice of several commenters here and sautéed the tofu with cornstarch, cooked the rice separately and the broccoli/ginger/garlic mix in yet another pan PLUS the sauce in another bowl, that it was such a mess for such a non-spectacular dish that I wouldn't make it again! ,

Rich

Makes a lot of food. Doesn't take long to steam the broccoli, then cook the rice while doing the tofu. Definitely double the sauce. I think the rice could be cut to 1 cup. I probably had too much broccoli (1 3/4 lb. of crowns probably yielded more than 12 oz of florets).

Jessica

I was excited that this was a one pot dish, but it really didn’t do it for me. If I were to make it again and wanted it to be a one pot meal, I’d cut the rice to one cup, double the sauce, and put the broccoli in a little later. The overall consistency was pretty mushy but I did enjoy the flavors of the sauce. Other reviews have great ideas on how to improve texture, but I do love a one pot meal.

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