Orange Air Fryer Tofu
By Jessica Hylton -
- Updated
This Orange Air Fryer Tofu tastes just like your favourite Chinese takeout order! It’s crispy, delicious and coated in a sweet orange sauce!
Oh man, I’ve been waiting to share this Orange Air Fryer Tofu with you guys. The second I took a bite I knew it would be something you would fall head over heels in love with, just like I did. Let’s get into it.
If you’re brand new to air-frying, here’s a bit of a summary from my “how to make air fryer tofu” post:
An air fryer is much pretty exactly what it sounds like. It’s a small counter top high powered convection oven that through its cooking process, essentially cooks whatever you place in it as if it was being fried, except with air. Yes, that’s right, and it works too! Our air fryer is our most used device in our house and I would highly recommend everyone get one. My mom first asked for one and we were all shocked at what it could do. Fast forward a year later and I wanted one as a gift too. We make everything from fries (that are crispy, delicious and take 20 minutes), to burgers, bagels, toast, crispy roasted breadfruit and even plantain. I love the inside out crisp it gives everything and how quickly it works too.
The air fryer produces BEAUTIFUL tofu. I’m talking you’ll probably never wait on your oven to preheat again beautiful. That’s because it takes only 10 minutes to air fry this tofu.
After that it’s tossed in this beautiful orange sauce. Let’s talk about that sauce.
If you’ve been here for a while then you may recognise this sauce from my Orange cauliflower bites. It was my direct inspiration behind this since Tofu takes a lot less time than cauliflower bites and works better for meal prep.
This orange sauce is my take on what used to be one of my favourite takeout orders at my favourite Chinese restaurant. Think sweet but kind of sour and also with a nice kick of spice. It’s the kind of sauce that you would have asked for extra over your rice or noodles. It’s also the kind of sauce that‘ll take you just like ten minutes to recreate using easy pantry ingredients. Long story short – I LOVE this sauce.
You can serve this orange air fryer tofu over rice, cauliflower rice, noodles, with bread, or any starch you want. It’s beautifully crispy on the outside, very saucy and tastes absolutely amazing! It makes a little extra sauce so if you know you want more, double the sauce to pour over all the things!
Eat up and enjoy friends!
Orange Air Fryer Tofu
This Orange Air Fryer Tofu tastes just like your favourite Chinese takeout order! It’s crispy, delicious and coated in a sweet orange sauce!
Ingredients
Air Fryer Tofu:
- 1 block tofu
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon liquid aminos
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- to garnish: sesame seeds and scallions
Orange Sauce:
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon liquid aminos/low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch + ½ tablespoon water stirred together until cornstarch is dissolved
Instructions
Instructions
Orange Sauce
- While the tofu is air-frying and has about 5 minutes left, in a pot over high heat, mix all the sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch slurry.
- Bring to a boil and boil for about 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium low. Add in the cornstarch slurry and whisk vigorously until dissolved into the sauce. Let it cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Taste a little bit to decide if you need more sweetener or more liquid aminos.
Air Fryer Tofu
- In a medium size bowl place the pressed and cubed tofu. Add in liquid aminos and toss to coat. Add in all of the other seasoning ingredients and toss to thoroughly combine.
- Place in your air fryer in a single row, so that all the tofu has a little bit of space around each piece. Set your air fryer to 400 degrees F. Cook for 10 minutes, shaking the basket after 5 minutes, then continuing to cook.
Put it All Together:
- Remove after tofu is cooked. Toss the tofu in the sauce using tongs or even just a large spoon, coating completely. Serve with sesame seeds and scallions and enjoy!
NOTES
If you want to substitute soy sauce, PLEASE taste the sauce before it goes on the bites first. Some soy sauces can make this too salty. I recommend a reduced sodium soy sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 9.3g | Protein: 8.5g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 309.6mg | Fiber: 2.4g | Sugar: 4.3g
by Jessica
OMG! This looks and taste absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much Judy!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed!!
That was fantastic, better than when I fry my tofu in the pan.
YAY! Thanks for trying and letting us know!!
I made this recipe last night and it was SO GOOD and easy!
1) Being able to search Jessica’s website by ingredient was incredibly helpful, especially when trying to navigate what I already had in hand without going to the store to get something special.
2) This orange sauce was made with clean ingredients and didn’t taste too salty or sweet, it struck the perfect balance in flavor.
3) I love when recipes are full of flavor, but aren’t too time intensive to make.
Thanks, Jessica for an awesome recipe that I will definitely use again in the future!
Hi Jessica,
Aww I am so happy to hear that searching by ingredient was so helpful! So glad you loved this dish so much and thanks for your incredible comment. You’re so welcome!
The sauce is soooo good, I need to make it for more dinners. I added an additional tbsp of maple syrup, after the first time I made it felt needed a little extra sweetness and this time it was spot on!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Jess! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
I read this recipe, it looks and sounds delicious. How can I adapt it to cook without an air fryer??
Hi Su you might want to try another tofu recipe of ours and switch the sauce for example this one.
https://jessicainthekitchen.com/general-tso-tofu-recipe/