Five Spice Tofu with Sesame Noodles Recipe

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Crispy tofu is tossed with a flavor-packed (and deceptively simple) sweet and savory five spice sauce and served over my favorite sesame noodles.  Perfect for a weeknight dinner or easy meal prep!

Winner winner tofu dinner!

I’ve been on a bit of a five-spice kick lately, adding it to many of our everyday stir-frys, roasted veggies, and marinades.  But these five spice tofu noodle bowls that we whipped up for dinner a few weeks ago were such a hit that I had to write down the recipe to share with you guys!

The components here are super simple.  I just whipped up a batch of my favorite sesame noodles and sautéed some tofu until it was nice and crispy.  Then I tossed the tofu with a quick 3-ingredient sauce (made from hoisin, five spice and rice vinegar), served the tofu over the hot sesame noodles (yum), and topped the bowls off with some roasted broccoli (or whatever veggie you prefer).  And wow, all of the sweet and savory layers of flavor just worked here.  So, so good.

We also learned the next day that the leftovers arguably tasted even better, served either hot or cold.  So we’ve been making and enjoying these noodle bowls for meal prep for our weekday lunches ever since.  If tofu isn’t your thing, feel free to make them with chicken, pork, steak, shrimp, salmon, tempeh, or whatever protein you love best.  And if you feel like adding some spice, I highly recommend serving with a drizzle of sriracha too.

Here’s how to make them!

Five Spice Tofu with Sesame Noodles Ingredients:

To make these five spice tofu sesame noodle bowls, you will need the following ingredients (full recipe detailed below):

• Tofu: You will need one block of extra-firm tofu for this recipe, which we will dice and sauté in olive oil until crispy.
• Five spice sauce: A quick blend of hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and five spice powder.
• Sesame noodles: My favorite recipe for sesame noodles, made with your choice of pasta, soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, ground ginger, chili garlic sauce, garlic powder and black pepper.
• (Optional) veggies: I served this recipe with some roasted broccoli that I cooked in the oven while preparing the noodles and tofu, but feel free to add in any other veggies you love.
• Toppings: I just sprinkled on some toasted sesame seeds and thinly-sliced green onions.

How To Make This Recipe:

I highly recommend doing some multitasking while making this recipe if you would like it to move quickly.  And as I mentioned above, this recipe also tastes great using hot or cold sesame noodles, so feel free to prep those in advance if you would like to save yourself some time on a busy weeknight.  Here’s a quick overview of how to make these tofu noodle bowls (full details included in the recipe below):

1. Press the tofu. Slice the block of tofu into 1/2-inch slabs.  Lay some paper towels or a clean tea towel on a flat surface, and place the slabs side by side on top of the paper towels.  Cover with another layer of paper towels, then place a cutting board on top of the tofu, and stack a bunch of heavy cans or pots or whatever you can safely balance on the cutting board.  Let the tofu drain for at least 15-30 minutes.
2. Make the five spice sauce. Whisk together the hoisin, rice vinegar and five spice powder until combined.  Set aside.
3. Make the sesame noodles. Make the sesame noodles according to recipe instructions here.
4. Cook the tofu. Remove the paper towels and slice the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.  Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the tofu and sauté for 8-10 minutes, flipping and tossing the tofu every 2 or so minutes, until it is crispy and browned.  Remove pan from heat, add hoisin sauce, and toss until combined.
5. Serve. Serve the sesame noodles topped with the tofu (plus any extra veggies you might like to add), sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and thinly-sliced green onions for garnish.  Enjoy!!

Possible Variations:

Want to customize these five spice tofu noodles a bit?  Feel free to…

• Add veggies: I made some roasted broccoli to go with this recipe, but any mix of veggies that you love (such as asparagus, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, snap peas, etc) would be delicious!
• Make it spicy: Feel free to mix some sriracha or a pinch of cayenne into the five-spice sauce if you would like to add some extra heat.
• Make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free noodles (whatever type you prefer) and gluten-free hoisin sauce.
• Use baked (instead of sautéed) tofu: If you don’t have a non-stick pan, it would probably be easier to bake the tofu.
• Use a different protein: In place of tofu, feel free to use chicken, pork, steak, shrimp, salmon, tempeh, or whatever other protein you prefer.
• Use rice: If you want to make this recipe even easier, you could serve it with rice instead of the sesame noodles, which would still be delicious.

More Favorite Noodle Bowls:

Love noodle bowls as much as we do?  Here are a few more favorite recipes to try….

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