Easy Weeknight Tofu Noodles Stir Fry Recipe

Q: How Can I Adjust the Thickness of the Sauce?

To thicken the sauce, you can whisk in 1 to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the sauce before adding it to the pan. If you’re making extra sauce, make sure to increase the cornstarch proportionally to maintain the same thickness. Tip: To avoid making the sauce too salty when scaling up, dilute it with a bit of water or low-sodium vegetable broth.

✦ Join the Kitchen

I don’t know about you but quite literally until making this recipe, tofu had been a pesky protein for me! I will admit that I was a naysayer and didn’t think it could be delicious, but making this tofu stir fry recipe proved me wrong! If you’re struggling with making tasty and crispy tofu as part of a mouthwatering meal, then I recommend you prepare this easy tofu noodles stir fry recipe as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Get started for free today by signing up to my email newsletter, plus you’ll receive all of my latest recipes directly to your inbox so there’s always a new fresh inspiration to try!

Be sure to follow along with the step by step video recipe for this vegetarian tofu noodles stir fry! I’d also appreciate it if you subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already, and make sure you hit the bell button so you receive the notifications when the recipe videos go live! Let’s get cooking!

Crispy tofu stir fry with bell peppers and green beans served over noodles on a white plate.

Why You’ll Love This Tofu Noodles Stir Fry!

Easy and fast to make: You can get this stir fried tofu ready in just about 30 minutes without many steps! The majority of the effort actually comes from the prep work, and then you just need to get cooking!
Great use of veggies: You can use the veggies that are hanging out in your fridge to prepare this healthy tofu noodle recipe! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!, using what you have in your fridge is an excellent source of inspiration! If you’ve got additional veggies or different veggies from what I’m using, then feel free to use them. I’ve got some other recommendations for veggies that will go well in this stir fry later on in this post!
Delicious: Of course this is always the most important reason why you’d make anything! The veggies and the sauce and toasted tofu all taste so amazing, and you’ll definitely want to have seconds!

Tofu noodle stir fry with bell peppers, green peppers, and carrots served alongside coiled noodles on a white plate.

Dietary Considerations for This Tofu Noodles Stir Fry

This tofu stir fry recipe is…

High in protein: From the tofu.
Vegetarian and vegan-friendly. More details later on in this post how to make this recipe vegan!
Can be gluten-free: See below on how to make this recipe gluten-free!

Colorful tofu stir fry with yellow peppers, red peppers, green beans, and chickpeas served on a white plate.

Tips for a Better Than Takeout Tofu Noodles Stir Fry

Prepare all of the ingredients for the dish before you begin cooking.
Use extra firm tofu and press it down briefly to ensure even and quick browning and crispy texture.
Avoid overcrowding the pan while crisping the tofu. Cook in a single layer to get that perfect golden crust.
Lightly dry-roasting the peanuts before adding them enhances their nutty flavor and adds crunch.
Cook noodles (if using) just until al dente, rinse with cold water, and toss with a touch of sesame oil to prevent sticking.
Toss the sauce in at the end once everything is cooked. This lets it coat the ingredients without burning or over-thickening.

Crispy tofu stir-fry with peppers and green onions served over coiled noodles on a white plate

Questions You May Have About This Tofu Noodle Stir Fry Recipe!

What Kind of Tofu Should I Use?▼

I used firm tofu. You could also use extra firm tofu if you would like. You want firm or extra firm tofu because you’ll really be tossing around the tofu with the other veggies. Due to the vigorous mixing, you don’t want the tofu to break down in the process.

Do You need to Press the Tofu?▼

You can lightly press the block of tofu while patting them dry to remove excess moisture. If done while the pan is pre-heating, this can help save time since lesser moisture in the tofu would mean they would become crisp faster. While this step is optional, it is very helpful.

Tofu noodle stir fry with cubed golden tofu, bell peppers, and green onions served over noodles with chopsticks.

How Can I Adjust the Thickness of the Sauce?▼

To thicken the sauce, you can whisk in 1 to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the sauce before adding it to the pan. If you’re making extra sauce, make sure to increase the cornstarch proportionally to maintain the same thickness.

Tip: To avoid making the sauce too salty when scaling up, dilute it with a bit of water or low-sodium vegetable broth.

Can I Use Frozen Veggies In This Tofu Stir Fry With Noodles Recipe?▼

Sure! Frozen veggies can really help save time. You can cook them from frozen, just make sure to stir fry on high heat to prevent them from steaming. You can use pre-mixed stir-fry veggie blends, mixed peppers or add additional veggies like corn or edamames.

How Do I Prevent the Noodles from Sticking Together?▼

If using egg noodles, once the noodles are cooked, toss them lightly with sesame oil to season them and prevent them from sticking.

Tools Needed to Make Healthy Stir Fried Noodles with Tofu

Ingredients for This Tofu Stir Fry Noodles Recipe

Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card, with all ingredients and their quantities. You can save this recipe for later and the recipe card will also allow you to scale the entire recipe based on how many portions you want to make. All the ingredient quantities will be automatically adjusted, so you don’t have to figure this out!

Ingredients for tofu stir fry laid out on a gray surface: noodles, tofu, bell peppers, cashews, green onions, sauces, and spices.

For the Stir Fry

Olive oil: To sauté all the ingredients together. You can use whatever cooking oil you’d like.
Tofu: I used one block of firm tofu.
Peppers: A mix of red, green and yellow peppers, thinly sliced.
Green onions: Slice them and separate the whites and green parts.
Peanuts: You can use either salted or unsalted peanuts. If you’re using unsalted peanuts, simply add more salt to the dish.
Garlic and ginger: Aromatics that enhance the dish overall.
Egg noodles: I used large egg noodles.
Salt: Always add to taste.

For the Sauce

Soy sauce: Use low sodium soy sauce if salt is a concern to you.
Rice vinegar: I’m using seasoned rice vinegar. If you’re using plain rice vinegar, you can add salt and additional honey to the sauce.
Honey: Some honey for sweetness. Alternatively, you can use maple syrup or brown sugar.
Red pepper flakes: You can omit these if you’re sensitive to heat.
Sesame oil: A little bit for some extra flavor.

How to Serve Tofu Noodle Stir Fry

Sides: You may like to have some Asian favorites, such as tempura or sushi cones.
Garnish: You could add a drizzle of Sriracha for some extra heat. You can also garnish with toasted sesame seeds and/or different nuts, such as cashews or almonds.
In spring roll wrappers: You could skip the noodles if you would like and use the veggie and tofu filling with the sauce as a filling in spring roll wrappers. This would absolutely be delicious!
Rice: If you don’t want noodles, you can mix this stir fry with some Simple White Rice or even sushi rice!

How to Make Tofu Stir Fry Noodles

Prepare the sauce by whisking all the ingredients for it together in a bowl. Set aside for now.

Dark soy sauce being poured into a white bowl containing stir fry sauce ingredients.

Dark brown stir fry sauce being poured from a small white bowl into a larger white bowl.

Spoon lifting a piece of ginger from a dark brown stir fry sauce in a white bowl.

Dark brown stir fry sauce with visible spices in a white bowl with a spoon drizzling sauce from above.

Whisking stir fry sauce ingredients together in a white bowl with a wire whisk.

Whisking stir fry sauce with soy sauce, vinegar, and chili flakes in a white bowl with a whisk.

Pat the block of tofu dry (or optionally also lightly press on the tofu to remove excess moisture) and then dice into 1 inch cubes.

Heat a pan on medium heat and then add peanuts. Dry roast for 2-3 minutes and then remove.

Dry roasted peanuts in a dark skillet on stovetop.

Hand adjusting temperature dial on stainless steel stovetop burner to medium heat.

Roasted cashews in a wooden spoon held in hand during tofu noodle stir fry preparation.

Add half the oil to the pan on medium heat and add the cubes of tofu. Toast 3-4 sides of the tofu cubes until golden brown and crispy. Remove the tofu and set aside.

Oil heating in a pan on medium heat for cooking tofu stir fry ingredients.

Cubed tofu pieces being toasted in a dark skillet with oil until golden and crispy on multiple sides.

Golden-brown tofu cubes and fried tofu pieces in a dark pan during stir-fry preparation.

Start boiling water for noodles (if using noodles). Add the rest of the oil and add peppers, ginger, garlic and white parts of the chopped green onions. Sauté for 3-5 minutes or until the veggies are tender-crisp.

Minced garlic and ginger held in a small white bowl with blue rim during stir fry preparation.

Chopped green onions on a wooden spoon, separated into white and dark green pieces, held over a stir-fry pan.

Colorful stir-fried peppers and vegetables cooking in a dark skillet on the stovetop.

Add tofu, peanuts and mix well.

Stir-frying vegetables, chickpeas, and tofu in a wok with a wooden spoon, showing mixed peppers, green beans, and beans mid-cook.

Cubed tofu stir-frying in a wok with peppers, peanuts, and green onions

In the meanwhile add the noodles to the water and cook according to package instructions.

Noodles cooking in boiling water in a large black pot on the stovetop.

Cooked noodles being lifted from boiling water with chopsticks in a black pot.

Add sauce to the pan, stir to coat and thicken.

Glossy sauce being poured over cubed tofu and vegetables in a wok during stir fry preparation.

Tofu and vegetable stir fry being tossed in a wok with sauce coating the ingredients.

Garnish with green onion greens and serve with noodles.

Tofu noodle stir fry held on chopsticks with green onion garnish and sauce coating, blurred plated dish in background.

Variations of Tofu Stir Fry

Vegan: The only non-vegan ingredient in this recipe is the egg noodles. If you need to make this recipe vegan, simply use another type of noodle, such as buckwheat soba noodles.
Gluten-free:To make this recipe gluten-free, you can substitute the egg noodles with rice noodles. Also, ensure that you are using a certified gluten-free soy sauce, or substitute with tamari or coconut aminos.
Veggies: Other delicious veggies that can go into this stir fry include sugar snap peas, snow peas, cabbage, bok choy, diced or sliced carrots, broccoli, peas, or even mushrooms.
Spice: Add in some Sriracha or chilli garlic sauce if you would like into the stir fry sauce.
Noodles: Feel free to use your favourite kind of noodles!
Protein: If you want additional protein, you could also add other plant-based protein sources, such as tempeh or seitan.

Tofu and vegetable stir fry with yellow peppers, green peppers, and red carrots served over noodles on a white plate.

Storing Leftovers

It’s really easy to make your tofu stir fry in advance and to keep it for later! My recommendation would be to only cook the tofu and veggies and prepare the noodles when you’re ready to eat. If you really need to have the noodles ready in advance, then store the noodles and the tofu stir fry in separate containers. You can keep your tofu stir fry in the fridge for up to 4 days due to the garlic in here.

Reheating Tofu Stir Fry Noodles

I recommend reheating the tofu stir fry in the microwave for the most convenient option. Then, you can add in the noodles and mix well, and heat the noodles with the stir fry before serving. However, if you have a few extra minutes, then you can toss the stir fry mixture with the noodles in a large pan over the stove.

Tofu stir fry with bell peppers and green onions served over noodles on a white plate

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra