Description
This delicious, nutritious Chinese-style Crunchy Mandarin Tofu Salad is a vegan take on a classic Asian chicken salad. You’ll love this delicious, healthy mandarin salad for meal prep, lunches, picnics, parties and more!
Ingredients
Scale
Crispy Tofu:
- 1 (16-ounce package) extra-firm tofu, pressed (learn how to press tofu here)
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (optional)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Soy Sesame Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup (optional)
- 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground ginger
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
Salad:
- 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 2 cups finely sliced or coarsely shredded red cabbage
- 2 cups sprouts (i.e., alfalfa, mung, sunflower)
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 mandarin oranges, peeled, segmented (or 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, no sugar added, drained)
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 package (about 3 ounces) green ramen noodles* (i.e., GreeNoodles, or Lotus Foods), without spice packet
- ½ cup coarsely chopped almonds
Instructions
- To make crispy tofu: Press tofu (learn how here) in order to press out extra liquid. Slice into cubes. Place cornstarch, salt (optional), and black pepper in a shallow dish. Roll tofu cubes in the cornstarch mixture to coat well.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add coated tofu cubes and brown, stirring frequently with tongs to evenly cook, on all sides until light golden in color (about 8 minutes total cooking time). Remove from heat and set aside.
- To make Sesame Soy Dressing: Whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, agave syrup, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red chili pepper flakes in a small dish until well combined. Set aside.
- Assemble salad by placing romaine lettuce, red cabbage, sprouts, carrots, mandarin oranges, green onions, and cilantro in a large salad or serving bowl.
- Crush the dried green ramen noodles by making a small slit in the package, and crushing the package with your hands or with a rolling pin, until the noodles are broken into small pieces (about 1 inch). Add to the salad bowl. Add the cooled tofu and almonds.
- Drizzle with the Sesame Soy Dressing.
- Gently toss together the salad ingredients with tongs to distribute well.
- Serve immediately, or store leftovers up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Makes 6 large entrée-sized servings (about 2 ½ cups each).
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American, Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 313
- Sugar: 16 g
- Sodium: 628 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 12 g