Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan-Fried Tofu is nutritious and delicious. Packed full of red pepper, carrot, courgette, and onion, which is paired with crispy fried tofu, rice, and quinoa, this tasty vegan dish is a must-try!
This recipe was inspired by a Savoury Rice Salad in my much-loved ‘Entertaining with Cranks’ book.
Even though I’m not a vegetarian, I have always loved vegetarian food and in some ways find it much more adventurous than cooking with meat.
My Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan-Fried Tofu uses the softer variety of tofu, not the more rubbery one. Hence, there is a divinely light soft centre beyond the crispy exterior, which is to die for!
We are all new to eating tofu, and everyone loved it. This warm salad was both nutritious and delicious.
I’d be interested to find out what you do with your tofu, as it’s a food I have yet to fully explore!
However, I recently made a delicious Blackberry Tofu Brulee, which went down a storm!
More Vegetarian Salad Recipes
For some more inspiring vegetarian salad ideas, you might like to check out:
- Warm Lentil, Cherry Tomato and Halloumi Salad
- Maple Tofu Skewers with Papaya Salsa
- Teriyaki Tofu Stir-fry
- Warm Dressed Noodle Salad
- Tea Smoked Tofu Gado-Gado (Indonesian Peanut Sauce Vegetable Salad
- Egg Noodles with Purple Broccoli and Grilled Tofu.
Pin for later!
Disclaimer: I won the Clearspring Tofu in a Twitter competition and received the other Clearspring products as samples.
Leave a comment and rating below when you’ve made this recipe; I love getting your feedback! You can also share your pictures by tagging @FabFood4All over on Instagram.
Warm Rice & Quinoa Salad with Pan Fried Tofu
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- cook’s knife
- Mandolin
- Set of measuring spoons
- Saucepan
- Frying pan
- Large plate
Ingredients
- 250 g Wholegrain rice with red, black and white quinoa
- 2 Medium Onions finely sliced
- 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil + extra
- 2 tbsp Tamari soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 Small courgette grated or make matchsticks with a mandolin
- 1 Carrot grated
- 1 Red pepper finely chopped
- 300 g Block of tofu I used Clearspring firm & silken which is actually soft
- Salt flakes & freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Slice the tofu into 8 pieces (or more if wished).
- Put on a plate lined with folded kitchen paper and pat dry the tofu with lots more kitchen paper.
- Once dry, put in a large dish and scatter with salt flakes then gently pour in enough boiling water to cover and leave for a minute. (This will firm up the tofu slightly and extract more moisture).
- Drain the tofu, pat dry again with more kitchen paper and set aside.
- Boil the rice and quinoa according to instructions and then drain.
- Meanwhile fry the onions in 2 tbsp oil until golden.
- Add the rice and quinoa to the pan along with the freshly ground pepper and Tamari soy sauce. Then leave to one side.
- In a large frying pan or wok add enough oil to coat the bottom and then fry the tofu on both sides until golden (it may break as it’s very fragile).
- Put the fried tofu onto kitchen paper to drain.
- Add the courgette, carrot and red pepper to the rice mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Place into 4 bowls and top with the fried tofu.
- Serve with an extra splash of tamari soya sauce if wished.
Mayuri Patel
That is a fantastic meal Camilla, filling and healthy. Love how beautifully you’ve pan fried the tofu. Whenever I get tofu I usually use it in stir fries. Love this salad, bookmarking it.
Camilla
Thank you so much Mayuri, it is a fabulous dish:-)
Amy Fidler
A nice light lunch recipe x
Jayne Sullivan
This looks so tasty. A recipe I will have to have a go at making.
Camilla
Thanks Jayne, it is lush:-)
Amy Fidler
I used to be a vegetarian,so i’ll love this xx
Lisa Williams
This looks so delish I adore crispy tofu so anything with that in is a winner in my book 🙂
Ninjacat
This looks divine ~ I’ve never tried tofu and looking at this I’m going to have to.
Camilla
Thanks Claire I’d never had it either but fried like this it was just divine, everyone loved it:-)
Paul Wilson
I’ve been trying quinoa, makes a nice change from rice/pasta.
Maya Russell
I really like this recipe and the pan fried tofu idea. I have never had tofu and I’m interested to know what it tastes like.
Camilla
Maya it really doesn’t taste of anything but when fried it has such a lovely crispy texture and absorbs other flavours well:-)
tiggerific1973
I love quinoa but still never tried pan fried tofu, next on my list 🙂
Jacqueline Roberts
This sounds delicious
Camilla
Thanks it is delicious:-)
Nancy G
Quinoa is so good with everything. I just saw a fresh fruit salad with blueberries, rasberries, 1/4 C quinoa,
a little OJ and some orange zest with a tiny bit of cinnamon if you like, vanilla powder, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds. It’s just a little of everything – don’t overdo it! And…..a mint leaf on top! mmmmmmm- great for a different breakfast.
Also, with soft tofu, I have this cheesecake recipe to die for – I’ll look it up and post it as soon as I can!
ng
Camilla
Sounds lovely, I think I’d have that as a dessert though, mornings always a rush:-)
Nancy G
Yes – you must have kids – mine are already older and out of the house! However, at your convenience,
if you’re interested in trying it you can make it ahead – should stay fresh for a couple days in an airtight
container.
ng
Nancy G
This is right up my husband’s and my alley – can’t wait to try it! We dry our tofu between saucer plates and paper towels – works pretty good!
ng
Camilla
Great – do let me know what you think:-)
Nancy G
I will!
Ursula Hunt
This is tasty and wholesome
Camilla
Thanks Ursula, it was a big hit here with the family:-)
Clare B.
This looks so yummy. At first glance I thought it was halloumi but think it could work with either. I’m going to try both.
Camilla
I love fried Halloumi but for this particular dish I think the tofu marries off better but let me know how you get on!:-)
William Gould
I have never (knowingly) tried Tofu – I think the name puts me off more than anything….
Camilla
I hadn’t either until recently but it was crispy, light and yummy:-)
Farhana
Thanks for a quinoa recipe.
Camilla
Pleasure:-)
Jane Middleton
This would be something I would love to try, never tasted fried tofu.
Camilla
Nor had I it was so good:-)
Heather Haigh
I keep meaning to eat more quinoa but often feel a bit stumped as to what to make with it. Thanks for a lovely recipe.
Camilla
Thanks Heather:-)
Lisa Howlett
Love Tofu and so going try this recipe thanks for putting this yummy recipe on
Camilla
Pleasure, enjoy:-)
kayleigh white
I’ve never heard of this before! Looks yummy and I will be trying it!
Camilla
Great, glad to inspire you:-)
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Love this recipe Camilla – so healthy and looks so tasty. Gorgeous photo too!
Camilla
Aaw, thank you so much Becca, that means a lot coming from you;-)
Ursula Hunt
Never had Tofu should give it a try
Camilla
Yes, you really should:-)
Jacqueline Meldrum
This is my kind of dish Camilla. I would happily tuck into that right now. Thanks for linking to me too 🙂
Camilla
Yay, that’s what I like to hear Jacqueline – it was fab:-)
Maddy
Thanks for the tip re Tofu – we often find it rubbery 🙁
Camilla
Maybe that’s because you’re using the harder type of tofu – this one is like soft curd.
Paul Wilson
Have to give this a go – keep meaning to try more quinoa and tofu.
Camilla
Me too!
Shubila
This looks amazing! I love tofu so I will be trying this recipe out soon.
Camilla
Fabulous, so glad you like it:-)
Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla
What a delicious salad and those flying pumpkin-bats are sooo cute!
Camilla
Thank you, it really was:-) I love my flying pumpkins too:-)
Keep Calm and Fanny On
I love the Entertaining with Cranks book, I learnt to cook veggie stuff from their books when I was young! I like my tofu deep fried, nice and crispy – yum… This looks great, thanks!
Camilla
Thank you:-) I was lucky enough to eat in their restaurants too as a teen and always loved all the luscious food there! I have 2 of their books and they are amongst my most treasured cook books:-)
kellie@foodtoglow
As a tofu aficionado (i.e. a vegetarian, leaning toward vegan) I am so happy that you are having success in your experiments with tofu. People deride its blandness but I see its neutral taste as a bonus: we can make it taste like whatever we want. And it is such a shape-shifter, going from unpromising blob to sizzling shimmering slice of deliciousness, like here. Nice recipe, Camilla. And Clearspring is definitely the go-to brand for tofu, tamari and grains.
Camilla
Thank you so much Kellie. I have to say I was a bit confused with all the various types of tofu and wasn’t sure if I’d fried the right variety but as it tasted so good I thought it can’t be wrong!