Vegetable Fried Rice With Tofu

Fried rice is the best! It’s so good, you just can’t stop eating it. While you probably think of takeout when you hear the magical words “fried rice”, you can make this quick tasty meal at home in like 15-20 minutes. It’s super easy! All you need is some leftover rice, vegetables, garlic and soy or tamari sauce and your homemade fried rice is on its way.

Today I’m sharing a super easy vegan recipe for vegetable fried rice with tofu, it’s absolutely fantastic. I promise you won’t miss the meat or eggs at all. It’s that tasty, rich in plant protein and super healthy too!

Whether you’re vegan or not, you will love this quick meatless dinner!

Fried Rice Is The Best

As you may or may not know, fried rice is a favorite of mine. We rarely get takeout, so I make a variation of it at least once a week. It’s just so easy and so satisfying.

I was trying to go for something without an egg and without meat and tadaaaa this thing was born. I mean…Can you believe it? Another tofu recipe? In like what 2-3 years…I’m on fire with the tofu. To be honest with you, I wasn’t a huge fan, like at all, but now I love it. It’s versatile, you get to eat something that doesn’t have animals in it and it’s actually good for the environment and you in moderation. And it tastes so good in this veg fried rice recipe!

Vegetable Fried Rice Ingredients

Vegetables. You can use whatever leftover vegetables you have in your fridge to clean it out, I always try to go for something like cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower, carrots and peas. I did not have peas, so I stayed with the cabbage, carrots, scallions and a good amount of garlic.

Rice. I used white day-old rice for this recipe. You can also use quinoa like I did for this recipe, and brown rice will work as well. The important thing is to use a non-mushy or overcooked grain here. Day-old rice or quinoa is great, because they stay “crunchy” as you stir fry them.

Tofu. I used firm, actually smoked tofu. You can use any type of tofu that is available where you live.

Seasoning. Keep it simple! Fried rice is so delicious, because it uses simple ingredients and lets them shine. No heavy spices – just some oil (sesame would be great for flavor), tamari and if you desire – some chili flakes. 

How To Make Vegetable Fried Rice With Tofu

Start by preparing your ingredients. Chop the tofu, cabbage, carrots, scallions, mince the garlic and get your cooked rice out. This recipe goes really quick, so you need to have all your ingredients ready to go once the pan is hot.

Add the tofu to a pan with some oil and the minced garlic and stir fry for 2-3 minutes at medium-high heat. I recommend using a nonstick pan to make this recipe. Optionally you could also add some chili flakes here if you want to use them.

Stir in the cabbage, then the carrot and add tamari sauce. I sometimes like to cover the pan for 1-2 minutes to speed up the cooking of the cabbage and carrots, but that’s actually optional.

Last thing you need to do before serving is to add the rice, scallions and some more oil. Stay close to the stove and stir from time to time for 4-5 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Meal Prep Fried Rice

This vegan fried rice would be a great meal prep recipe for the week. You might want to double the ingredients to have for the next 3-4 days. Especially if you’re sharing your dinner with someone or eating this for, I don’t know lunch and dinner. I did that and it’s just not enough. Make more if you intend to eat it more than twice.

What Vegetables To Use For Veg Fried Rice?

I love using extra vegetables when it comes to fried rice. The good news is you can use lots of them and they taste good! The recipe is very forgiving and adding more vegetables is a great way to make this takeout meal so much healthier. Here are some great vegetables for fried rice:

• Cabbage: Any variety of cabbage is great in vegetable fried rice, I usually go for white or green cabbage
• Broccoli
• Peas or green beans
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Cauliflower: it’s super easy to sneak in cauliflower because you can make it into cauliflower rice…it will make the recipe healthier and lower in calories
• Garlic and onion…just cannot make good fried rice without them!

If you want to make the recipe high-fiber you can do so by using cooked quinoa or brown rice instead of regular white rice.

More Easy Vegan Dinner Recipes:

• Spicy Vegan Tofu Wraps
• Easy Coconut Red Curry Noodles
• 30-Minute Vegan Dinner Ideas

I hope you enjoy this simple vegan fried rice!

The recipe was originally published in September 2021 and updated in August 2022.