Baked eggplant and tofu in a super quick and flavorful peanut sauce is a one-pan meal that is super versatile! You can easily make this recipe gluten-free, soy-free, and even nut-free! Serve with rice, quinoa, or as lettuce wraps.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

For the Peanut Butter Satay Sauce

  • 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (, brought to room temperature or warmed in microwave)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or use tamari for gluten-free)
  • 1.5 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or use finely minced 1/2 inch of ginger and 2 cloves of garlic)
  • 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (or other Asian chili sauce, or you can use gochujang for different flavors. Use more for spicier)
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1.5 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the Eggplant and Tofu

  • 7 ounces firm or extra firm tofu (pressed for 15 minutes then cubed or torn into organic shapes)
  • 1.5 cups chopped eggplant (chopped into either cubes or 2” long slices, 1/2” thick)
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

To Serve

  • rice, (quinoa, or lettuce)

For Garnish

  • green onion, sesame seeds or (crushed peanuts, and lime juice)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 415° F (213° C). Press and cube the tofu, if you haven't already. You can cube it into 3/4” cubes or tear it into organic shapes. Slice the eggplant, if you haven't already. No need to peel

Make the peanut sauce.

  1. Add all of the peanut satay sauce ingredients to a bowl, and whisk really well to combine. The peanut butter should mix in entirely (warm the mix in microwave if the peanut butter is too solid)
  2. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of this sauce to use as dressing for later. (Thin the dressing sauce out with a little water or some more lime juice and set aside)
  3. To the bowl of remaining sauce, add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and mix well.
  4. Add the sauce to the tofu and eggplant, tossing well so that all of the tofu and eggplant are entirely coated with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick to coat, drizzle in a little bit of warm water to help the sauce loosen a little bit and coat all of the tofu and eggplant.

Bake the eggplant and tofu.

  1. Spread the eggplant-tofu mixture evenly onto a parchment-lined baking dish, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Check in at the 20-minute mark. If the eggplant is not cooked yet, cover the dish with the parchment and continue to bake for another 5-10minutes. You can also stir them if they aren't too stuck to the paper at this time to continue to bake.
  2. Once the eggplant is cooked and tofu is crisp on some of the edges, remove the baking dish from the oven.

Or stir fry the eggplant and tofu instead.

  1. Sprinkle an extra teaspoon of cornstarch all over the tofu and eggplant, tossing to coat well.
  2. Heat a large skillet over a medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, transfer the tofu and eggplant mixture to the skillet, and spread evenly. If it doesn’t all fit in the skillet, then you can do it in two batches. You don't want to overcrowd the skillet.
  3. Keep cooking until the eggplant and tofu are crisp on most of the edges. The eggplant should also be soft in the middle. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, and you will have to flip it at least 2 to 3 times.

To serve.

  1. Add your rice or quinoa to a bowl, top with the baked eggplant and tofu, and drizzle on the reserved peanut sauce. Sprinkle with green onion, crushed peanuts, and lime juice, and serve.
  2. To make lettuce wraps, add the eggplant and tofu to lettuce leaves, top with some green onion, crushed peanuts, reserved peanut sauce, and serve.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.