These are friend date tacos.
A mix of sweet, spicy, tangy and salty, these tacos are both effortless and impressive. Perfect for when you are trying to say “I like you and want to keep hanging out” without accidentally saying “I want to marry you.”
We first made these tacos in January 2017, the night before the first Women’s March. We also made a too-big batch of margaritas and had to skip the march because of a hangover (that’s a story for another time). I guess we are saying… serve with margaritas. But don’t have anything important planned for the next morning.
Ever since we first created them, these tacos have been on heavy rotation as a favorite taste of summer when midwestern winters are getting us down. They have four major components:
- Crispy tofu coated in an asian-inpsired peanut sauce. This sticky sauce balances sweet, spicy and savory, just like so many of our favorite asian recipes.
- A crunchy cabbage slaw coated in a creamy sesame dressing. You can easily make this vegan by substituting a vegan mayo or cashew cream.
- A bright and zingy mango and avocado salsa. This salsa would go great on anything – serve with chips, throw some on a salad, or pile some on your favorite protein for a complete meal.
- Corn tortillas. You can use flour but I love the charred flavor of a tortilla heated on an open flame.
- Bonus: Top with your favorite garnishes, including sliced jalapeno, sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro, sriracha or pickled onions.
This recipe can easily be doubled (or tripled) to feed a crowd. We promise they will not disappoint even the pickiest carnivores in your family. The individual components make great leftovers but I’d be lying to you if I said we ever had any.
As impressive as these tacos look and taste, they are actually really simple to execute in a few steps:
First, prepare the tofu. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut your block of tofu into four slabs and wrap with some towels. Stack them and place something heavy on top (like a sheetpan with a heavier pot on top) to press out any excess liquid. The longer you can do this the better, but even 5 minutes will help you get a crispier tofu. Remove the weights and towels and chop into even half-inch cubes. Toss in a bowl with two tablespoons of cornstarch until evenly coated. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment and spray it with cooking spray. Toss the tofu onto the tray and spray the tops with cooking spray. Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through to ensure even cooking.
While the tofu is in the oven, make the slaw. Mix mayonnaise (or vegan substitute) with lime juice, sesame oil, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the shredded cabbage and toss to combine.
Next prepare the salsa. Toss together finely chopped mango, red onion, avocado, cilantro and jalapeno (more or less depending on how spicy the jalapeno is and your personal spice tolerance). Add the juice of one half of a lime and a half teaspoon of salt and some pepper and stir.
Finally, when the tofu is about 5-10 minutes from being done, start your super easy sauce. Combine soy sauce, sriracha or other chili sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup and peanut butter (we use unsweetened natural peanut butter – but if yours is sweetened then reduce the maple syrup) in a medium sauce pan. Heat over a low flame and stir until combined. Add up to a quarter cup of water to smooth things out. This will look lumpy for a while, but keep stirring and it will turn into a thick and glossy sauce. Once the tofu is done cooking, add the tofu right into the saucepan and toss it together to combine.
Taco time: Heat your corn tortillas over a flame (carefully) or on a hot pan. Top with tofu, then slaw and mango salsa and add any garnishes that speak to you.
Serve the first one to your friend. The second one is all you!
Peanut Tofu Tacos with Mango Salsa and Sesame Slaw
Ingredients
Mango Salsa
- 1 avocado
- 1 jalapeno deseeded
- ¼ red onion diced
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 /2 lime
Cabbage Slaw
- 2 cups shredded cabbage mix
- 2 tbsp mayo (substitute vegan mayo if desired)
- ½ lime
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp salt
Tofu Tacos
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 12 corn tortillas
Peanut Sauce
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (use gluten free soy sauce if desired)
- ½ tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- squeeze lime
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prepare and grease a baking sheet with parchment and oil spray or a drizzle of oil. Remove excess moisture from the tofu by gently squeezing, or by wrapping in a clean kitchen cloth and adding weight.
- Make the mango salsa: cut one mango and one avocado into small pieces. Dice jalapeno, red onion, and cilantro. Add everything to a bowl along with one half lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Prepare the sesame slaw: to a bowl, add shredded cabbage mix, mayo, sesame oil, and salt. The sesame oil should be fragrant but not overpowering. Squeeze half of a lime over the sesame mixture and mix everything together.
- Cut the tofu into small pieces, about ½ inch cubes. In a mixing bowl, add tofu and 2 tbs corn starch. Mix the tofu, coating it evenly. Then, spread onto prepared baking sheet. Spray oil spray or gently drizzle oil over the tofu. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, mixing once half-way.
- Make the peanut sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha, maple syrup, and sesame oil until it combines and forms a thick sauce, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of lime to the mixture.
- Add the baked tofu to the sauce pan and mix to coat evenly. Prepare your tortillas. Our favorite is to cook corn tortillas directly on the gas range, but this can be done in a skillet or in the microwave with a wet paper towel. Assemble the tacos and optionally garnish with extra jalepeno slices, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
