Last updated: July 11th, 2024
Easy, no-cook 5-minute Cold Tofu dish with a creamy peanut sauce and refreshing green toppings. Perfect for the summer, especially when it's so hot you don't have the energy to cook!

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What is Cold Tofu?
When you read this blog post, you probably wonder: How can you eat tofu raw (uncooked)? Yes, you can eat tofu straight from the package, as long as you drain off the excess liquid. As tofu is pressed and processed, technically you don't need to cook it. Cold tofu is perfect for summer days when it's just too hot. If you don't like to serve tofu cold, you can steam for 5 minutes or microwave it for 1 minute to make it warmer.
The Cold Tofu recipe used silken tofu - the softest texture tofu with a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth taste. The combination of the silky tofu, nutty peanut sauce, crunchy cucumber and coriander make this the perfect side dish or snack!
If you enjoy this recipe, check out Thai Tofu Satay with Peanut Sauce, Peanut Butter Soba Noodles, Vegan Summer Rolls and Cold Sesame Noodles.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
I love tofu, but sometimes I don’t have the energy to press and properly marinade tofu dishes. When I’m busy or lazy, I find myself keep coming back to this cold tofu dish. No actual cooking is involved and it only takes 5 mins to make! 😌
It’s super delicious, easy to make and nutritious, full of iron and protein. You can serve it with a warm bowl of rice or as a snack.
This dish is inspired by the Korean version of Spicy Cold Tofu, but I find the Korean version a bit too spicy. So this version has a Vietnamese touch, using a combination of peanut butter and soy sauce.
Ingredients
The recipe uses the following ingredients:
- Silken tofu
- Cucumber
- Coriander
- Peanut sauce:
- Peanut butter
- Soy sauce
- Gochujang or sriracha
- Sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Garlic
- Ginger
See recipe card for quantity.
Instructions
- Serve the silken tofu straight from the package. Pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Finely mince the garlic and ginger. In a bowl, combine the sauce ingredients to make the peanut butter sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the tofu.
- Thinly slice the cucumber and coriander. Top the cold tofu with the cucumber, coriander, and sesame seeds.
- Enjoy with a warm bowl of rice or as a snack!
Add the silken tofu to a plate, straight from the package
Combine the ingredients to make the sauce
Pour the sauce over the silken tofu
Garnish with chopped scallions, cucumber and sesame seeds
Substitutes
The peanut sauce is the dressing sauce of the cold tofu dish, combining soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, sugar, sriracha, minced garlic and ginger. Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your taste and make swaps like:
- Lime/lemon juice instead of vinegar
- Maple syrup or agave syrup instead of sugar
- Minced chili, chili flakes instead of sriracha
- Garlic and ginger powder instead of fresh garlic and ginger
The toppings in the recipe are coriander, sesame seeds, cucumber, but you can use any raw or cooked veggies and herbs, such as chopped green onions and chopped peanuts.
If you have tried my recipe, please let me know what you think by leaving me a review on this page or tagging me on Instagram @veggieanh. I would love to see your creations!
Print📖 Recipe
5-minute Peanut Sauce Cold Tofu
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Easy, no-cook Peanut Sauce Cold Tofu dish that only takes 5 minutes to make! For hot summer days when you don't have energy to cook.
Ingredients
- 400 g silken tofu
- ¼ cucumber
- 25g cilantro or 2 scallions
Peanut Butter Sauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp warm water
- 1 tbsp sriracha or gochujang
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 clove garlic (finely minced)
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (finely minced)
Instructions
- Serve the silken tofu straight from the package. Pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Finely mince the garlic and ginger. In a bowl, combine the sauce ingredients to make the peanut butter sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the tofu.
- Thinly slice the cucumber and coriander. Top the cold tofu with the cucumber, cilantro (or scallions), and sesame seeds.
- Enjoy with a warm bowl of rice or as a snack!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Main Course, Snack
- Cuisine: thailand, vietnamese
Valerie says
This was really tasty and fast to make. And it's healthy too! 🙂 As a busy person, I love quick meal ideas like this.
Veggie Anh says
Thank you so much Valerie for your review!
Eva says
Delicious!
I’ve made it for my partner and for my parents and they both loved it!
Veggie Anh says
Thank you so much, food is meant for sharing and I'm so glad you and they loved it 😀