This Spicy Thai Basil Tofu is one of my go-to meals when I need an easy dinner for my family. The recipe is quick, delicious, vegan, and flavorful.
This is a version of Pad KraPao that I made with homegrown Thai Basil. Have you tried Pad KraPao before? It’s a very popular stir-fry dish that you may have seen on the menu of most Thai restaurants here in the States.
Pad translates to stir-fry and KraPao is Holy Basil. Just by the name of it, you’ll know it’s an aromatic and flavorful dish with this fragrant herb, Holy Basil. I tried Holy Basil when I was in Chiangmai last year and fell in love.
I must admit, it’s not easy for me to find fresh Holy Basil here but I love to use Thai basil in a lot of my dishes such as in this delicious Three-cup or San Bei Tofu.
My family is fond of Thai Basil so we have started to grow them in our garden which is the best decision ever! That being said, this recipe is similar to Pad KraPao but since I am using Thai basil, I’ve named it Spicy Thai Basil Tofu.
How to make Spicy Basil Tofu
Step 1: Mix all the sauces ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Heat a non-stick pan and mash tofu until crumbly. Stir continuously until the tofu is slightly dry. Then, add 1 tablespoon of oil and continue to cook until the tofu turns golden brown. At this point, tofu crumbles will start to bounce from the pan, which shows that they are dry enough.
Step 3: Push tofu aside, add the chopped shallots, and sauté until translucent. Then add garlic and chili to the shallots, mix with the tofu, and toss until well combined.
Step 4: Slowly pour in the sauce and season with sugar if needed. Add the Thai Basil and give the mixture a final toss until all ingredients are incorporated. Turn off the heat and serve warm.
Key ingredients
1. Basil – as mentioned above, I used Thai Basil, but if you can find Holy Basil, definitely use that. If you can’t find either, sweet Basil will be a great substitute for this dish.
2. Chili – I used Thai chili in this recipe but any chili will work; for a less spicy dish, please omit this ingredient.
3. Fish sauce – Store-bought or homemade version works great in this recipe. As the saltiness varies by brands, please adjust other sauces accordingly or use this simple Easy 5-minute Vegan ‘Fish’ Sauce.
It is one of my go-to sauces especially when I need to add that umami punch in a lot of my Thai and Vietnamese dishes. So, give it a try and I highly recommend making a big batch of it and save for later use.
4. Spices – Shallots and garlic play a big part in this dish to give it a touch of sweetness. I love to use fresh spices in my cooking but you can use the dry version if you prefer such as onion granules and garlic powder.
How to serve Spicy Thai Basil Tofu
I make this recipe often and love it as one of the dishes for our dinner that I normally serve with rice. Other options include sandwich filling or as a side dish for this Steamed Buns.
Cooking Tips and Variations
How to prepare the tofu? I mashed the tofu in a non-stick pan without any oil, then, cook it until slightly dry, by stirring continuously. This step is to remove as much moisture as possible from the tofu which in return makes it more absorbent for the sauces later. Then, add some oil to the pan and continue to cook tofu until golden brown.
What if I can’t have tofu? You can always substitute it with seitan, or mashed chickpeas, or tofu made from pumpkin seeds or chickpeas. These are great alternatives that complement the sauce perfectly. For chickpeas, just replace the tofu in the recipe with a can of 15.5oz chickpeas or preferred amount of seitan.
Can I make this dish gluten-free? Definitely! Just replace the soy sauce and other sauces to a gluten-free one.
This Spicy Thai Basil Tofu is
- Super easy to make
- Flavorful
- Vegan and dairy-free
- Easily customizable
- Great as sandwich’s filling or side dish for Steamed Buns
- all done in 1-pan
- DELISH!
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends!
Spicy Thai Basil Tofu
Ingredients
- 14 oz [397g] firm tofu pressed
- 1 large shallot chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 Thai chilies chopped
- 1 cup packed Thai Basil leaves
- oil for cooking salt to taste
Sauce
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce thick
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce please see notes
- ⅓ cup vegan 'fish' sauce homemade or store-bought (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ⅓ cup water or vegetable broth
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl until well-combined and set aside.
- In a heated non-stick pan, add the tofu in and using a potato masher, mash tofu into crumbles.
- Cook the tofu crumbles until slightly dry. Then, add about 1 tablespoon of oil and continue to cook until tofu turns golden brown.
- Push tofu aside, and add a little more oil and sauté shallots until translucent.
- Continue to sauté garlic and chili for another 30 – 45 seconds. Then, bring all the mixture together and give it a quick stir.
- Add in the sauce and sugar and cook down the mixture a little.
- Finally, add the Thai basil and toss everything until all incorporated.
- Turn off the heat and serve warm.
Video
Notes
- Vegan ‘fish’ sauce – store-bought or use this Easy 5-minute Vegan ‘Fish’ Sauce. If using store-bought, taste test as you go as some brands’ sodium level is higher than others. [added notes 1/27/22] If you are unsure about the saltiness of the sauce you have mixed, please add half the sauce before and taste test as you are making the dish.
- Dark soy sauce in this recipe is for color which I used the thick version, please see video for the texture.
- Cornstarch substitution – Since this ingredient act as a thickening agent, arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch can be used instead.
Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It hit the spot and was easy to make. I used your vegan fish sauce recipe and found it to bring excellent, complex flavor to the dish! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes soon!
Made this today and it was incredible! I used your homemade 5 minute ‘fish’ sauce recipe for it and the flavors were PERFECTLY balanced. I didn’t have to adjust salt at all. So if anyone has had issues with salt in this recipe, they should definitely use her ‘fish’ sauce recipe on here for best results. The only modifications I made were adding sautéed green beans and using onions because I didn’t have shallots.
Thank you for another incredible recipe!
Delicious and easy! Flavor is exactly what I wanted it to be! Next time I’ll be more careful with my store-bought fish sauce to account for saltiness. Thank you!
made this recipe last night! it was lovely! absoutely delicious and so easy to put together. I made ur vegan fish sauce and ommited the extra chillis in the recipe cause my fish sauce turned out quite spicy for my taste. Loved the recipe thank u so much!
The amount of soy sauce makes the dish very salty, I even used the low sodium one. Somewhat disappointed with how this turned out, especially after spending some time on cubing the tofu for a better bite.
Hi Mo, thanks for your feedback. I’m sorry that the dish turns out salty for you. As mentioned on my notes that if you are using store-bought fish sauce (vegan or non-vegan), it’s always saltier. I have two sweet components on my sauce, thick dark soy sauce and my homemade fish sauce is sweet, so it balances out the soy sauce that I have. Hope this helps, have a great day!
Quick, no-fuss and delicious. Recipe and instructions spot on. Thank you for introducing me to my new favourite staple fare! I used soy mince in place of tofu, but still followed drying out step as makes a huge difference in flavour binding.
Delicious and east to prep. I added some fresh ginger to the sauce and added zucchini / red pepper to the mix.
This is outstanding. If you enjoy spicy food I would say increase the Thai chili a bit, my boyfriend said the heat is perfect for him though. I even gave my 14 month old daughter a taste and she seemed to like it but she likes spicy food
yay! I’m so happy you love spicy food too. Bravo to your daughter – wow! And many thanks to you, Adriana. Best, WoonHeng
This is so delicious and easy to make vegan dish. Both my husband and I love it. Great recipe.
Hi Woon Heng! This is the first recipe of yours I’ve tried, and it was so good!! My boyfriend also loved it.
That’s so awesome, Lilian. Thank you so much and I’m super happy you loved this recipe. It’s one of our to-go tofu recipes for weeknight meals. 🙂 Hope you get to try other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
Question If you cannot find Thai basil is there something that can be substituted until mine grow!
Hey Suzanne, great question. you can sub with sweet basil. 🙂
Made this tonight and it was amazing. Thank you!!
That’s so so awesome, Steph. So happy to hear that you loved it, yay. Hope you get to try other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
I made this recipe and used the vegan fish sauce recipe as well. Wow it turned out amazing! I was very happy with all the flavors! I love spicy food so I used a lot of chiles (and added fresh chiles on top). I also added fresh veggies and it was lovely. Your recipes are fantastic!
That’s so awesome, Tahottie. So glad you loved this recipe and great idea with more chiles. 🙂 Yum Yum! Thanks so much for your feedback and rating. Hope you get to try other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
It’s great advice to taste test store bought fish sauce….mine was way too salty. (3 Crabs Brand). I will be trying it again with something a little more smooth. I did add extra chilies, basil, and a few teaspoons of sugar to try to balance it out. Onto tofu “meat” balls next! Thank you for the well written recipes and insights!
Thanks so much Micah! the store-bought version does taste a little saltier. So glad you gave this a try with extra chilies too. If you like, you can try my homemade vegan fish sauce that’s a little sweeter (inspired by the Vietnamese version). Thanks again for your feedback too. Have a wonderful day. best, WoonHeng
I’ve been following Woon Heng on Instagram for a while but this is her first recipe that I have made. It is SO delicious! My meat eating husband loved this tofu dish so much that he went back for seconds 😊 I really like the cost effective simplicity of the ingredients and recipe- super tasty without having to spend hours in the kitchen. I’m really delighted as well that I have found a dish that both myself and meat eating husband can eat together that doesn’t require modifications. This is definitely going into my regular meal rotation! I have earmarked some more of Woon Heng’s dishes for later this week so looking forward to some more delicious vegetarian goodness!
Hello Fiona, thanks so so much for sharing your feedback. I’m really glad to hear that your hubby likes this dish as well. This is what I made for my sister too and she loved it. I hope you get to try more recipes soon and feel free to reach out if you need anything else. Have a beautiful day. Best, WoonHeng
This was SO delicious. It tastes exactly like the ones I’ve purchased from Thai restaurants, which I won’t do again now that I have this recipe.
The vegan fish sauce was awesome, too. Glad I have that to reference for future recipes that require the sauce.
Thank you so much!
Forgot to rate the recipe. 5+ stars!
Thanks again sweetie. Yay!! 🙂
Thanks so much Alice, I’m blushing reading your compliment and so happy to hear it. So glad you liked it! Hope you get to try other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
This was so good. I am adding it to my regular rotation.
Yay! That’s so great to hear, many thanks. I hope you get to try some other recipes soon. Have a beautiful day! Best, WoonHeng
Brilliant idea. I modified it with simpler taste ingredients without fish sauce and made it a wet vers. with a little bit gravy as I’ve tasted one from a Thai cook which is with gravy that goes so well with rice.
Thank you so much!! I am so glad you loved it and it’s such a wonderful compliment to receive from you. 🙂 Have a beautiful day. Best, WoonHeng
Thank you WoonHeng! I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious!
I’m so thankful for this Vegan Asian site and all the recipes that capture the flavours I remember so well.
I will be trying one of your bun recipes next.
Amazing!! It was so yummy. We eat as lettuce wraps with butter lettuce. We even loved the vegan fish sauce. It was delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Sunitha, thanks so much for recreating this dish and served with lettuce wraps! YUM! Thank you so much, the vegan ‘fish’ sauce is so versatile. 🙂 Best, WoonHeng
We just had this for dinner. It was so easy to make and yummy 😋 Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much Sunhee, really happy to hear that you loved it. Thanks so much!
Made this, so easy, so tasty! I did use regular fish sauce so took the recommendation and started out with just a little bit. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much Elaine! I am so happy that you adjusted the sauce to your liking. Thanks for the tip and really appreciate your feedback and rating! Have the best day, WoonHeng
This is absolutely delicious and simple! I’m sorry to say that I had to make some changes, but only because I didn’t have any Thai basil and I really didn’t think that regular basil would be great with the other flavours. So I ended up using a third of a bunch of cilantro which was I thought would go best…it was delicious and all four of us gobbled it up! I had no dried chillies or Thai chillies either so used some Sambal Oolek instead.
Thanks also for the recipe for vegan ‘Fish sauce’. I love this as I have a love hate relationship with regular fish sauce…(can’t stand the smell lol)
I also will be using this in place of ground beef for Bibimbap bowls which we eat quite often. It’s a long trip to the Thai grocery in Ottawa though so will have to grow some Thai basil next summer….
Thanks again!
Hello Claire, thanks so much for making this dish, and I love your substitution. They must taste amazing, and I am greatly appreciate your feedback. Thanks so much and wish you all the best for growing your Thai Basil next summer. I’m sure it will be fantastic! Best, WoonHeng