Skip takeout tonight and make my delicious Crispy Tofu Stir Fry! Crunchy tofu, ramen noodles, and sautéed veggies are fried in a delicious sauce that is spicy, sweet, and full of umami flavor. I love making this recipe when I’m craving takeout, but still want a home-cooked meal with simple ingredients .

Because this is a homemade crispy tofu recipe, you’ll know exactly what goes into it and can customize the ingredients to your liking.

Ingredients Needed for This Recipe

• Firm or extra-firm tofu: I recommend using either firm or extra-firm tofu for this recipe as it holds its shape better when fried.
• Green onions: The base of the green onion salad, this adds a fresh and oniony flavor to the dish. 
• Rice vinegar:  You’ll need rice vinegar for both the green onion salad and the stir fry sauce. It adds a tangy and slightly sweet flavor. 
• Soy sauce: You can’t have a stir fry without soy sauce!  This gives the dish its umami flavor and adds a deep savory element. 
• Chili garlic sauce: You can find this in the international section of most grocery stores. This adds a nice kick of spice to the stir fry.
• Veggies: I used staple stir fry vegetables like white mushrooms and bell peppers to give this dish a balance of flavors and textures. 
• Ramen noodles: Ramen noodles add a nice chewy texture to this stir fry and are perfect for soaking up the flavorful sauce. 

If you don’t have rice vinegar on hand, you can substitute it with apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Just note that the flavor might be slightly different.

There are all kinds of chili sauces you could use in place of chili garlic sauce. If you are sensitive to spice, try using sriracha or a sweet chili sauce instead.

I used mushrooms and bell peppers for the stir-fried veggies, but you could also use carrots, broccoli, or even snap peas instead.

If you can’t find ramen noodles, thin spaghetti noodles will taste just as good!

For the tofu, if you don’t have avocado oil, feel free to use your favorite high-smoke point oil. Canola or vegetable oil are both good options. You could even try using sesame oil for a deeper flavor profile.

How To Make Tofu Stir Fry

1. Press and Prep the Tofu: Be sure to give yourself an hour before you start cooking to press the tofu so it can release its moisture.
2. Make the Sauce & Salad: Towards the end of your wait, make the easy green onion salad and stir-fry sauce.
3. Cook the Noodles & Veggies: Cook the noodles to al dente, and saute the veggies over medium heat.
4. Pan-Fry the Tofu: Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and toss in cornstarch and salt. Then pan-fry the cubes on all 4 sides.
5. Combine Everything: Once the tofu has a nice crispy texture, you can add all the other ingredients together. Now it’s time to serve, and enjoy!

• Pressing the tofu is key for removing any excess moisture and getting it as crispy as possible. If you don’t have a tofu press, you may need to drain the water that builds up every 5-10 minutes while pressing. 
• The key to crispy, golden tofu is patience. Take your time while frying the tofu. Gently wiggle the tofu while it’s cooking; sometimes, it will stick to the pan. Don’t try to move it before it’s ready!
• Don’t overcook the noodles. Follow package instructions and cook them until just al dente so they don’t become mushy when added to the stir fry later on.

Serving Suggestions

Fried tofu stir fry is a whole meal in itself, but if you want to add a little something extra to really round out the meal, we’ve got you! 

For something fresh and flavorful, our  Sesame Soy Kale Salad and Ginger Pea Salad would be a wonderful pairing. This stir fry would also taste fantastic with my Quick Ramen Eggs or Pork Dumplings or Kung Pao Baked Chicken Meatballs for added protein.

​Store any leftover stir fried tofu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like to reheat the tofu in the air fryer for a few minutes at 400°F to crisp it back up. The stir fry and noodles can be reheated until warm on the stovetop or in the microwave.

More Tofu Recipes To Try

I love a saucy, nutty noodle, and this one—which just so happens to be vegan!—takes the form to the next level. The key is a batch of spicy, garlicky cashews, sizzled in hot oil and then poured into a sieve to keep them crisp and crunchy. The hot oil that streams through blooms the aromatics held in the bowl below: fragrant ginger and sliced scallion whites, which become the base of a slick tahini sauce.

Because you’ll use a good amount of the starchy noodle cooking liquid to loosen the sauce, too much seasoning in the water can easily tip the finished product over into too salty territory. Season the pot of boiling water very lightly—and use more cooking liquid than you think you’ll need in the sauce, as it’ll continue to thicken as it sits.

Step 1

Stir 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce, 2 Tbsp. sambal oelek, 2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. fish sauce, and 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar in a small bowl to combine; set sauce aside.

Step 2

Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high until oil begins to smoke. Add two thirds of ½ medium head of green cabbage (about 1¼ lb.), cored, leaves cut into 2″ pieces, and cook, undisturbed, until dark brown and blistered in spots, about 3 minutes. Toss, add 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil and remaining cabbage and cook, tossing occasionally, until cabbage is lightly charred in spots and mostly wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate; reserve pan.

Step 3

Meanwhile, mix 1 lb. ground chicken, beef, or pork, 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. baking soda, and remaining ½ tsp. dark brown sugar in a medium bowl until well combined.

Step 4

Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in reserved pan over medium-high. Add chicken mixture and cook, breaking up any large clumps of meat with a wooden spoon or heatproof rubber spatula, until browned and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, one 1″ piece ginger, peeled, very finely chopped, and most of 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, and cook, tossing often, until softened and very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add reserved sauce and cook, tossing occasionally, until thickened, 1–2 minutes.

Step 5

Return cabbage to skillet and add 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter. Cook, tossing often, until butter is melted and cabbage is glossy, about 1 minute. Serve stir-fry topped with remaining scallions.

Step 1

Stir 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce, 2 Tbsp. sambal oelek, 2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. fish sauce, and 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar in a small bowl to combine; set sauce aside.

Step 2

Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high until oil begins to smoke. Add two thirds of ½ medium head of green cabbage (about 1¼ lb.), cored, leaves cut into 2″ pieces, and cook, undisturbed, until dark brown and blistered in spots, about 3 minutes. Toss, add 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil and remaining cabbage and cook, tossing occasionally, until cabbage is lightly charred in spots and mostly wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate; reserve pan.

Step 3

Meanwhile, mix 1 lb. ground chicken, beef, or pork, 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. baking soda, and remaining ½ tsp. dark brown sugar in a medium bowl until well combined.

Step 4

Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in reserved pan over medium-high. Add chicken mixture and cook, breaking up any large clumps of meat with a wooden spoon or heatproof rubber spatula, until browned and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, one 1″ piece ginger, peeled, very finely chopped, and most of 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, and cook, tossing often, until softened and very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add reserved sauce and cook, tossing occasionally, until thickened, 1–2 minutes.

Step 5

Return cabbage to skillet and add 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter. Cook, tossing often, until butter is melted and cabbage is glossy, about 1 minute. Serve stir-fry topped with remaining scallions.

There’s one lone dragon making a huge roar at Universal Orlando Resort’s new theme park Epic Universe, the first American theme park to open in 24 years on May 22. While there’s an entire world dedicated to the mythical creature at How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, across the in Celestial Park section is a mega-sized statue of another dragon, greeting visitors into the pan-Asian restaurant The Blue Dragon.  

“We definitely wanted to pay respect to the cultures,” Robert Martinez, Jr., Universal Orlando Resort’s director of culinary and executive chef told Travel + Leisure about the full-service restaurant located near the park’s Universal Helio Grand Hotel, A Loews Hotel. “We didn’t want to recreate our own twist, but have pan-Asian influence, touching on different areas of Asia.”

To do so, the menu includes chicken khao soi and peanut shrimp noodles inspired by Thailand, tonkotsu ramen by Japan, double fried chicken wings by Korea. There are even more nuanced Chinese dishes, like dan dan noodles and wonton in chili oil highlighting southwestern flavors of Sichuan, beef noodles from the western province of Xi’an, and dim sum from the Guangdong region. Also on tap are snowflake potstickers, fused together with a lace crust just like I’d seen in Taiwan.

Adding even more inclusion, the traditional mapu tofu recipe with pork was instead switched out for tofu to provide a vegan option, the chef explained. 

“What’s great about Universal and our culinary team is that we’re so diverse,” he said, noting that many of the team’s chefs are of Asian heritage. “A lot of us working out the recipes was asking them, ‘Does this bring you home? Is this how your mother or grandmother would make it?'”

To double down on the authenticity, the food was tested in team member dining locations with an even broader audience. “More team members that are more diverse and absolutely have their own twist and would say, “You know, and my family does it this way,” as they made adjustments to get the flavors just right.

“The only dish that we did put our own little twist on it was the moon cakes,” he said, referring to the Chinese sweet treat traditionally filled with red bean paste. “In our case, we have delicious passionfruit cheesecake, with a little mango jelly in the middle.” The change, he said, comes from a place of love and kept guest preferences in mind.

On top of the food itself, the serving style is also thoughtfully executed. “We have a special place in our heart when it comes to Asian cuisine—it’s how we like to eat,” he said, explaining that it’s not just about the dishes, but about the communal style of dining too. “Things come out as they get made, allowing for the cultural environment of sharing and eating with your family at the table, which is very much associated with Asian culture. So it’s not just the flavors, it’s the experience.”

Indeed, from the moment I stepped into the restaurant, I squealed with delights seeing the neon street signs, so reminiscent of my Asian travels, with one of too-cute cartoons of soup dumplings getting snatched up by chopsticks and another featuring shapes of foods I recognized from Taiwanese night markets. My favorite piece of decor—perhaps in all of Epic Universe—was the happy noodle cat over in the restaurant’s Tiger Bar. It’s a combination of two Asian traditions: a beckoning cat, believed to usher in good luck and fortune, and the slurping of noodles, which is considered a polite way to show you’re enjoying your food. 

The main dining room stunned with a traditional red pagoda under a faux night sky that Rodriguez described as a “golden garden with lanterns moving up and down, so that you’re literally dining under the stars with music that has an upbeat kick.”

To the left was a separate room, with place settings and tableware that gave me an instant nostalgic feel of the Asian restaurants I grew up going to both in California and Taiwan. The room had traditional screen doors and it wasn’t until Rodriguez clued me in that I noticed art was of Celestial Park’s skyline but in the style of traditional Asian illustrations—a little Easter egg hidden for those in the know.

Another unique aspect Adam Rivest, Universal Creative vice president of creative management and branding, told T+L is The Blue Dragon’s full tea service. “It’s nothing normally offered in a theme park,” he said. “But it’s so awesome in the middle of the day to go sit and have a relaxing Asian-inspired tea.” 

After all, Epic Universe’s dedication to offering a diverse range of true dining experience can be proven in pure numbers: it has just 11 rides but 30 dining establishments, which show a “crossroads for all cultures,” Rivest said. Whether that’s French-inspired fare at Café L’air De La Sirène, Nordic eats at Mead Hall, or barbecue at The Oak & Star Tavern, it’s all about getting the dishes just right. 

“We didn’t want to make it anything that was going to disrespect the cultures,” Rodriguez said. “We want to hit you in the heart with authenticity in a way that show we’re really trying to pay respect.”