Crispy tofu and broccoli with sesame-peanut pesto from Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites (page 121) by Deb Perelman

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • lourdesj on May 19, 2026

    Very tasty and versatile - can serve with any grain or Asian noodle. Not a cloying or super heavy peanut sauce, still satisfying and vegan Deb’s fussy steps: roasting tofu and broccoli separately with different times, the tofu pressed and coated in corn flour. Uses peanuts and sesame seeds instead of peanut butter (I just use PB). The extra steps do make a difference, but not needed if you don’t have time.

  • rach3190 on May 11, 2026

    This certainly wasn’t bad, but the sauce was just decent and we’ve liked other dishes in this vein more before. The broccoli and tofu cooked up great though.

  • bridget_1h9ihe on April 30, 2026

    Great way to get the kids to eat broccoli. Serve with rice to make it a vegetarian entree.

  • nick_o0o1ib on March 15, 2026

    A go-to weeknight meal.

  • lily_z5lwe7 on March 03, 2026

    Perfect! Too salty with full sodium soy, make sure you use sow sodium (as directed)

  • julia_mk94cn on February 06, 2026

    We make this all the time!

  • thefritschkitchen on January 12, 2026

    I doubled the recipe and went with chicken instead of tofu. Next time I would pan fry the chicken instead of roast in the oven. This is a solid recipe, nice change of pace but not an absolute favorite. I did up the brown sugar to 1 tsp. Kids all ate well - Served over soy and sesame noodles from Trader Joe’s.

  • Skamper on March 13, 2025

    Not amazing but a solid weeknight meal. I used Hetty Lui McKinnon's method of boiling the tofu rather than pressing it, which worked well. I also put the broccoli in the oven for 10 minutes while I prepped the tofu, rather than letting it roast for an additional 10 minutes at the end. Based on other reviews I doubled the amount of honey.

  • tmitra on March 11, 2023

    I made this as written and used all of the pesto, but it seemed to disappear, which yielded a very generic tofu recipe. With brown rice, it served two.

  • anya_sf on May 27, 2022

    I made half the tofu but the full amount of broccoli and pesto, which served 2 over rice. My tofu got nice and crispy (pressed for 30 min). Like some others, I thought the pesto lacked enough sweetness and I ended up adding 1.5 tsp brown sugar. I would try making the sauce with peanut butter and tahini, in which case I suspect less sugar would be okay.

  • snoozermoose on December 07, 2021

    This was a decent weeknight meal. The tofu never actually got crispy for me but we still enjoyed it. Instead of the sesame-peanut pesto, I used the miso sesame dressing from Deb's miso sweet potato and broccoli bowls, which we love.

  • sgpinson on November 22, 2021

    Yum! I added a whole Thai pepper and subbed chili crisp for half the sesame oil to give the pesto some kick. I also reduced the soy sauce a bit. Next time I would serve it with rice or another grain to make it more filling, but this is amazing as is.

  • hbakke on June 20, 2021

    I added a red bell pepper for some extra veg. We both liked this recipe, especially the pesto. I halved all the oil amounts as it seemed like too much oil, and I think that worked out well.

  • lholtzman on August 07, 2020

    Make sure you use low-sodium soy sauce or tamari as indicated. I learned the hard way that it will come out way too salty. I also recommend using unsalted peanuts even though Deb says it’s fine. This recipe is one of my favorites. I probably make it more than any other recipe.

  • TrishaCP on July 01, 2020

    This worked really well for us, though I would love to find a way to cut down on the oil needed. (Not on the veggies though, because the char is wonderful.) We used a combination of broccoli and purple cauliflower because we didn’t have quite enough broccoli. Once everything got mixed together, I didn’t think it was too salty. I would happily make this again.

  • cariashley on March 01, 2020

    Delicious, better than expected and so easy!

  • Rutabaga on December 21, 2019

    This worked great for my family. Since they're not big tofu fans, I pan-sauteed chicken breast instead. To accommodate the kids, I served the sauce and green onions on the side. The kids were happy to just eat stir-fried chicken and broccoli with soy sauce and rice, while my husband and I enjoyed the peanutty sauce. I also like adding additional chili sauce to taste.

  • Mrs. L on December 07, 2019

    For non tofu fans, we loved the tofu done this way.

  • milgwimper on October 06, 2019

    This was delicious and now added to the rotation. We had it with rice. It was easy. personally I would double the recipe depending on appetite and how much people love broccoli and tofu. I would also make more sauce, it doesn't make a super wet sauce, but that could be because I did not peel the skins off the peanuts.

  • mindyb on January 08, 2019

    Good weeknight dinner served with brown rice. Didn't have peanuts and subbed peanut butter and tweaked ingredients to make sauce wet enough. I didn't press the extra firm tofu and it was fine.

  • hirsheys on May 13, 2018

    I made a few quick edits to the recipe based on Chowhound/EYB feedback and ended up enjoying it. My main difference was that I added a bit more sweetener (I used some of the honey powder I bought for Koreatown a few months back) and a few splashes of boiling water after I'd ground up the pesto a bit to help puree/thin it out even more. I far prefer it cold - in the future I'll definitely plan to eat it this way on purpose.

  • sosayi on May 11, 2018

    We really enjoyed this dish and prepped in advance this is a ridiculously quick weeknight dinner. Served over black rice noodles (I was fine without, but the husband needs a starch) and they combined beautifully with the sauce. I’d definitely make this again; this sauce would taste good on anything.

  • lizbot2000 on April 02, 2018

    This was a nice weeknight meal. I watered down the sauce some and added medium-boiled eggs and multigrain rice to make a bowl out of it. It ended up being super filling.

  • ksg518 on March 20, 2018

    I'm in the minority because I thought this was barely OK. I wonder if I just needed more sauce although I didn't skimp on the amounts. It was fairly bland - enough that I kept thinking chicken would have been better than the tofu but obviously that would defeat the purpose. This won't be a repeat.

  • westminstr on March 12, 2018

    I really liked the crispy tofu and think it can go on a single sheet pan with the broccoli. O tried one bite and E wouldn't eat it. E wouldn't eat the roasted broccoli either. Sauce was thick and salty as written but I thinned w some water and added another 1/4 tsp brown sugar and in the end was happy with it. I blended in the nuts and seeds but some use them as toppings instead and I may try that. Served w rice - I didn't need it but T definitely did. So it needs some tweaks to really work for us, but was a good veg meal, one that is worth tweaking.

  • BeckyLeJ on February 25, 2018

    This is really good. The sauce is what makes it, honestly, but it’s tasty and hearty enough to satisfy a non vegetarian for sure! One note, and I was fortunate enough to make this for a girls’ night with a vegetarian friend, do not buy silken tofu even if it is labeled “firm.” Because you have to press the liquid out of the tofu and then bake it crispy, the silken stuff just won’t work at all.

  • Bryan on February 10, 2018

    https://cookbookreview.blog/2017/12/30/crispy-tofu-and-broccoli-with-sesame-peanut-pesto-by-deb-perelman/

  • stef on December 08, 2017

    This was good. Nice and quick to make. It was the first time ever I've made tofu at home. Dh liked it and said it's a repeat.

  • clcorbi on November 29, 2017

    Well, we thought this was excellent. Per a comment I saw on CH, I omitted both the peanuts and sesame seeds from my pesto and used them as a mix-in instead. I also pan-fried the tofu just because my baking sheet was getting too crowded. Yum. We were both so pleased with the result and I would make this again.

  • rionafaith on October 31, 2017

    I ignored the fact that this calls specifically for low-sodium soy sauce and used regular, and it ended up quite salty. So yeah, be sure to use low-sodium and/or don't season the broccoli too aggressively. Other than that, this is a far cry from the cold sesame noodles Deb cites as inspiration, but it's pretty good. Vegan, too.

  • Lepa on October 28, 2017

    This was pretty good. We ate it over brown rice. My son liked the broccoli in this dish. My pesto was drier than the pesto in the picture. I think a thicker sauce like the picture might be better so I might tweak the recipe to make it more saucy next time.

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