Liven up your dinner rut with this easy 1 Pan 30 minute Blackberry Gochujang Tofu recipe – sweet, sour, fruity and spicy homemade takeout deliciousness! Served with rice, this one makes for a fantastic weeknight dinner. Try it tonight!
Coming at you with a refreshing, unusual but delicious tofu recipe that will turn into a favorite in no time at all. Blackberry Gochujang Tofu. Pan-fried crispy tofu, coated with a sticky, spicy & sweet blackberry glaze! This is a true flavor bomb and thanks to the blackberry it has a beautiful deep purple color. Pluck those blackberries and make this easy sauce!
Korean chili paste gochujang adds some heat to the glaze while maple syrup helps intensify the natural sweetness of the blackberries. A small amount of cornstarch helps thicken the glaze while simmering.
You will love the slight tartness the berries add to the glaze! Serve this with rice or cauliflower rice or make lettuce wraps.
More tofu recipes:
Sweet Sour Tofu Veggie Stir Fry
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Blackberry Gochujang Glazed Tofu
Ingredients
For the tofu:
- 7 ounces (198.45 g) firm or extra firm tofu pressed for at least 15 minutes then cubed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 - 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons oil
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons blackberry puree or ⅓ cup blackberry juice
- 1 tablespoon gochujang
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1.5 tablespoon maple syrup, less or more to preference
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or use soy sauce/tamari
To garnish:
- Green onions, sesame seeds
Instructions
- Press and cube the tofu and add it to a bowl. Add salt, black pepper, and cornstarch and toss well to coat.
- Heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 teaspoon oil. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu and cook until it is crisp. Flip the tofu after 3 minutes or so and continue to cook until is golden on most of the edges. This will take anywhere from 7-10 minutes depending on your pan.Alternatively bake the tofu at 400 deg F(205c) for 15-20 mins and use. **
- Then add the blackberry puree or juice, gochujang, garlic, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar in the center of the skillet. Mix really well. The mixture will start to bubble immediately as the pan is very hot.
- Make sure to mix the gochujang into the blackberry and maple syrup mixture very well.
- Toss the tofu in the sauce to coat. Once the mixture has thickened, 1 minute or so, take the pan off the heat. If the sauce isn’t thickening enough, add ½ teaspoon cornstarch mixed in 1 tablespoon water and bring to a boil.
- Serve this tofu over rice or some greens topped with chopped green onions and sesame seeds. Or add to lettuce wraps! Store refrigerated for upto 3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- for the tofu, we need firm or extra firm tofu, pressed for at least 15 minutes and then cubed
- before pan-frying the tofu, we coat it with salt, pepper and cornstarch
- for the sauce, we mix blackberry puree with gochujang, garlic, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar. Balsamic compliments the blackberry flavor, use soy sauce for variation
Tips:
- fry the tofu in a quality non-stick pan coated with a small amount of oil. Don’t touch the tofu once it hits the pan! Let it fry until they form a layer of golden crust. This makes them easier to flip and cook
- if you cannot find gochujang, you can use sambal oelek instead
- this recipe is Nutfree. Use gluten-free Gochujang to make gluten-free
How to make Blackberry Gochujang Tofu:
Press and cube the tofu and add it to a bowl. Add salt, black pepper, and cornstarch and toss well to coat.
Heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 teaspoon oil. Once the oil is hot add the tofu and cook until it is crisp on most of the edges.
Flip the tofu after 3 minutes or so and continue to cook until is golden on most of the edges. This will take anywhere from 7-10 minutes depending on your pan.
Then add the blackberry puree or juice, gochujang, garlic, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar in the center of the skillet. Mix really well. The mixture will start to bubble immediately as the pan is very hot.
Make sure to mix the gochujang into the blackberry and maple syrup mixture very well.
Toss the tofu in the sauce to coat. Once the mixture has thickened, around 1 minute take the pan off the heat.
Serve this tofu over rice or some greens topped with chopped green onions , sesame seeds. Or make lettuce wraps!
Storage
Store refrigerated for upto 3 days. reheat in the skillet or microwave and serve.
Kristin
Just made this because we had some leftover blackberries. It was easy and tastes super delicious! Will definitely make again! I will strain the blended blackberries next time because the seeds didn’t break down as much as I thought they would.
Vegan Richa Support
🙂 glad you enjoyed, and thank you for the feedback!
Sue
I was out of blackberries, so I used pureed strawberries, which I cooked down a bit before adding rest of sauce ingredients. It was terrific! Thanks Richa.
Richa
Awesome!!
Waylon
Loved this! So did my three daughters – served in lettuce cups
I didn’t strain the blackberries either — just added to high speed blender for a solid two minutes. End up very smooth that way.
Richa
Yayyyy
Suzanne
I just cooked this tonight having found a load of blackberries on the path outside. It tasted amazing, gonna make it again while there are still blackberries around. I didn’t have maple syrup so used brown sugar. I also just heated up the blackberries a bit and mashed them up then mixed all the sauce ingredients up before adding to the tofu pan. I used a mix of soy sauce and balsamic where the recipe says use either. The result was really yummy!
Vegan Richa Support
awesome! glad you enjoyed!
Sue
This glazed tofu is amazing! Roasted the tofu in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Then threw them into the glaze before returning to the oven for 8 more minutes. We all loved it! Thanks Richa!
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you! glad you enjoyed
Ellen Lederman
Made this for dinner. My taste buds are doing the happy dance! I will make it frequently. So easy to make and full of flavor. And unique. Had to use sambal Olek..I didn’t realize I was out of gochujang. Didn’t strain the puree..after all, I eat the seeds when I eat whole blackberries, so just more fiber. Served it with a side dish of mushrooms with basil, since I had to use those two up. Thank you for helping me rediscover my love of cooking..and eating!
Richa
Awesome! And so glad to see you back
Joellen Papworth
I picked fresh blackberries to make this amazing tofu. The flavor was so good. Just a hint of sweetness to go with the gochujang which carries the heat. I did air fry my tofu instead of pan fry .
Next time I will try with tempeh. Maybe skewers on the grill?
Richa
Yay! Yes, steam the tempeh in broth. Make the sauce and thicken it a bit, then brush and grill. Brush a few times in between for a nice thick glaze
Jill
This was so unique and delicious! The blackberries complement the gochugang so well.
Vegan Richa Support
thank you for trying! glad you enjoyed!
Nikki
this was awesome. i wasn’t sure if it would be too sweet for me, and i will probably try soy sauce in place of balsamic next time to get a little more saltiness but I still loved it and we both scarfed it up. The color is next level. I needed a new tofu dish in my rotation and so glad to add this as well as a unique recipe that uses gochujang. thank you!
Richa
Awesome! Yes use soy sauce or a sprinkle of salt. Either will work!
Gary Bagnall
Looks like a great recipe. I am going to try it this week. Could I use mulberries instead of blackberries?
Vegan Richa Support
of course!
Ellen Lederman
I always laugh at people who post before they make a recipe, but I can’t help myself! This sounds so flavorful and easy to make. And so unique..blackberries and gochujang…who would have thought to combine them? You! I can’t wait to make it but have a few other things to use up first, like your okra and onions, which is also amazing.
Richa
It is amazing!