Before I was born, my parents had a neighbor from Mexico that taught my mom a few traditional recipes that we enjoyed all throughout my childhood. This tomato braised tofu recipe with cilantro lime rice is adapted from one that we simply called “Mexican Pork” where the pork is braised in a tomato sauce that is infused with traditional spices and aromatics.
Doing my own research, I believe the recipe is a rendition of pollo entomatadas, or chicken bathed in tomato sauce. Traditionally, the sauce may be left chunky instead of blended. Mom and dad probably blended in the onion because we were picky eaters as kids. Today I still like it that way because it infuses the onion flavor all throughout the sauce with minimal effort.
This is a great recipe for tofu because the flavorful sauce easily gets absorbed by the otherwise bland tofu. As kids we served this dish with mashed potatoes, but I preferred the tofu version with rice instead. The cilantro lime rice if full of flavor, and could easily go with many other dishes as well.
Variations to the Tomato Braised Tofu with Cilantro Lime Rice recipe:
- Swap out the Tofu: If tofu is not your thing, try this recipe with another protein. I think it would work with tempeh and/or chickpeas. You coud also try braising some vegetables like cauliflower steaks or portabella mushrooms.
- To Slice or Dice?: I tried slicing the tofu so they would resemble cutlets and found that I liked it much better as diced cubes. There is just greater surface area for all that flavor to infuse in the tofu, and it’s easier to eat.
- Added veggies: I tried cooking the green bell pepper right in with the sauce to add some vegetables to the dish and found I liked it fresh as a garnish instead.
- Tomato Sauce: I don’t tend to stock tomato sauce, so I tried this recipe with diced tomatoes and tomato paste and it was not as easy, and not as good. The small can of sauce is worth putting on the grocery list!
- Meal Prep the rice and use it with other dishes throughout the week such as curry, veggies burgers, or fried rice.
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup vegetable broth (or water)
- 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp oregano
- 1 TBS canola oil
- ½ tsp cornstarch
- 16 oz block tofu, pressed and cut into ¾ inch cubes
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- ½ cup minced cilantro
- 1 lime, juiced
- ½ a green bell pepper, sliced (optional)
- Combine tomato sauce, vinegar, broth or water, onion, garlic, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, ¼ tsp salt, and oregano in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet. Dust tofu with cornstarch using a fine colander (or toss it in a bowl) and sprinkle with ¼ tsp salt. Cook in the oil until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes on medium high heat.
- Pour in the blended tomato mixture and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occassionaly.
- Mix together the brown rice, remaining ¼ tsp salt, minced cilantro and lime juice.
- Serve the braised tofu over the rice with bell pepper slices, if using.
