10 Minute Tofu Satay

Packed with creamy peanut flavour, healthy and 100% vegan, this delicious 10 minute tofu satay makes the perfect quick supper for the whole family!

A classic sauce originating from South East Asia, satay is the perfect accompaniment to so many different types of recipe! Smooth, earthy peanut butter combines with creamy, exotic coconut milk to give a fantastic flavour combination that works so well with almost any savoury dish.

Chicken satay is a particularly popular combination that I adore, however that doesn’t lend itself too well to quick cooking. I’m all about the quick when it comes to recipes! So, marinated tofu is the protein of choice in this satay recipe as not only is it a fantastically quick ingredient to cook with but it is also very adaptable, healthy and 100% vegan. Fantastic!

Satay is so popular in it’s country of origin – Indonesia – that it has become the national dish of it’s home nation. Here, various different types of meat and fish are seasoned and placed on skewers then grilled or barbecued to perfection. They are then typically served with a deliciously creamy river of satay sauce, mmm. It’s a popular street food and is becoming rightly more recognised around the world for the fantastic dish that it is.

I’m a huge fan of Asian inspired recipes of all different types and this 10 minute tofu satay is no exception! These dishes are delicious but also healthy and above all, super quick to make! As my blog is all about quick cooking, it’s therefore no big surprise that you’ll find a selection of tasty and quick Asian inspired recipes here, such as my 15 minute beef ramen and my 10 minute Thai green tuna fishcakes with chilli and lime mayo. Perfect for a fantastically flavourful meal when you’re short on time.

As with all of my quick recipes, getting the right ingredients is crucial to creating a super fast and tasty dish. Let’s have a look at each main ingredient and how they all combine to create the perfect quick tofu satay…

Peanut Butter

Of course, you can’t make a classic satay sauce without that all important ingredient…. peanut butter! Traditionally, there are two types of peanut butter available – crunchy and smooth. Some people enjoy adding crunchy peanut butter to their recipes for the texture, but there are others who dislike this so to make this satay recipe more crowdpleasing, I use smooth peanut butter.

There are loads of different peanut butters available to buy but I like to use a high quality one. Although a little more expensive, the best types of peanut butter don’t have the preservatives, sugar or artificial flavourings you can find in the cheaper brands. The best peanut butters contain ground roasted peanuts and very little else- aside from a dash of salt and/or oil. Overall though, any peanut butter will be perfectly fine for this 10 minute tofu satay so don’t get too wound up with choosing one particular brand.

Tofu

Tofu is the quintessential meat-free ingredient enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike. It’s made from condensed soya milk pressed into blocks and is an extremely nutrient rich and versitile source of protein. As meat-free eating has increased in popularity over time, stores have increasingly stocked a wide range of different types of tofu.

For this 10 minute satay recipe, I’ve chosen marinated tofu pieces as the protein source. These are pre-chopped, seasoned and pre-cooked which saves you tons of valuable time. You therefore won’t be shocked to hear that marinaded tofu is an ideal ingredient for a blog stuffed full of quick recipes!

I think there’s still a place for using the traditional whole blocks of uncooked tofu. With these, you can prepare the tofu exactly as you’d like and flavour it from the very start which is a big plus. However, most recipes demand that you first squeeze out as much of the moisture from the block as possible. This process usually involving pressing the block with heavy weight from above. (People know when I’m cooking with fresh tofu in my kitchen; They walk in and see a tall stack of my heaviest cookbooks, piled up and teetering precariously on top of a little white block whilst a lake of cloudy liquid oozes satisfyingly from it!)

Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soya sauce is a staple in South East Asian cooking and packs a salty, earthy punch to your tofu satay sauce! It’s therefore no surprise that I’ve included it in this recipe. Everyone should have a bottle of soya sauce in their store cupboard on standby, as most savoury South East Asian dishes require a generous slug of this rich and flavourful condiment.

Golden Syrup

The golden syrup is crucial to add a touch of sweetness to your 10 minute tofu satay, which would otherwise end up overall too salty. Some people might like to use honey instead, especially if golden syrup isn’t widely available where you live. This substitution is all good, however of course this would stop the recipe being vegan so just bear that in mind. Alternatively, an equal amount of light brown sugar would be fantastic as well for this recipe so feel free to use that instead if you need to.

Lime Juice

Lime juice adds that all important zesty zing to your tofu satay which lifts the whole dish up to new levels of deliciousnes!. I find that 1/2 a lime works well for 2 servings but if you love citrus as much as I do, you’ll be tempted to add a little more- and that’s totally fine! Same goes for all the other flavourings of course, it’s totally fine to add your own unique stamp on things with a dash more of this or a dash less of that. Go for it!

Mange Tout and Baby Sweetcorn

Mange tout and baby sweetcorn are my veggies of choice in this super quick tofu satay recipe. I find they work brilliantly well here for so many reasons! Of course, they’re super healthy and packed with nutrients. The beautiful green and yellow colours that they add to the dish makes it more attractive than plain brown satay sauce alone would be.

Finally, and probably most importantly, mange tout and baby sweetcorn are incredibly quick to cook! I’m always on the hunt for veggies that cook in mere minutes – as you would expect me to be as the writer of a quick cooking blog; and these two veg really do tick all the boxes. Which is why you find them featuring here!

STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO MAKING THE PERFECT 10 MINUTE TOFU SATAY

Now lets have a peek at each of the stages of making your perfectly tasty tofu satay, with helpful pictures and guidance. This recipe makes 2 servings.

STEP 1;

To get started, you’ll need to warm approx. 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. (Sunflower oil also works well).

STEP 2;

Whilst the pan warms up nicely, grab yourself 100g (3.5oz) of baby sweetcorn. Chop these spears into approx 1 cm chunks. Add these chopped chunks to your preheated pan and fry for approx 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

STEP 3;

Add 100g (3.5oz) of mange tout and 160g (approx 5.5 oz) of marinated tofu to the pan with the sweetcorn and fry everything together for a further 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

STEP 4;

Now it’s time to get saucy! To the vegetable / tofu pan add the following; 3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons of golden syrup, 5 tablespoons of coconut milk (shake the tin or carton first to mix it) and finally, the juice of 1/2 a lime.

Cook everything together for a further 2 minutes, stirring frequently so the sauce ingredients melt and coat everything in a glossy, rich sauce. Mmmm.

STEP 5;

Whilst that finishes cooking, grab yourself a 250g (9 oz) microwave rice pouch. I usually use basmati but other types like jasmine rice would work just as well. Cook this pouch according to pack instructions – typically 90 seconds.

STEP 6;

Divide the cooked rice pouch between two serving bowls or plates. Portion out the cooked satay mixture between the dishes.

Finally, to garnish, finely chop up 4 spring onions and scatter over both portions. (The spring onion is optional but really tasty!). That’s it, you’re done! Serve to your hungry guests, sit back and wait for their appreciative ‘mmmm!’s.