Tofu Burrito Bowls with Avocado Cilantro Sauce

Make these Tofu Burrito Bowls with Avocado Cilantro Sauce for a quick and easy weekday lunch or dinner. Balanced with plant-based protein, fibre and healthy fats to keep you feeling full and satisfied!

Ingredients for Tofu Burrito Bowls

These Tofu Burrito Bowls are pretty straight forward and easily adaptable. Here’s what you need for the crispy tofu:

• Extra firm tofu
  • The texture of the extra firm tofu is what we’re looking for to make sure it gets super crispy!
• Cornstarch
  • This cornstarch is used to coat the tofu before it is cooked. It helps enhance the texture of the baked tofu.
• Seasonings like garlic powder, cumin, chili powder
  • The combination of these seasonings is a match made in heaven and pairs so well with the remaining ingredients!

 

For the bowls you will need:

• Rice
  • You can use whatever rice you prefer; white rice, brown rice, wild rice, etc.
• Black beans
  • If you’re not a fan of black beans, you can use lentils instead.
• Corn
  • To make your life easier, I suggest using canned corn. It’s delicious too!
• Lettuce
  • In this recipe, you can use romaine, green leaf, red leaf, butterhead or iceberg lettuce. All of these have a bit of crunch for texture, as well as a leafy portion.
• Grape tomatoes
  • For simplicity sake, grape tomatoes are easy to slice in half and toss into the bowl. However, you can cut up a larger tomato if that’s what you have on hand.

 

For the avocado cilantro sauce, you will need:

• Avocado
• Cilantro
• The juice of half of a ime
• Garlic powder and salt

If you want to add even more flavour to this dish, you can add ingredients such as salsa, green or red onion, soy sauce or a dill yogurt sauce.

 

How to make tofu crispy

If you have ever made tofu before and haven’t enjoyed the soft and chewy texture, you need to try crispy tofu! It’s a game changer and adds so much texture to a variety of dishes. There are a number of ways you could go about making it but here’s what I do:

1. Cut up a block of extra firm tofu into bite sized pieces. Some people will drain the excess water from the tofu before cutting it, which will give an even crispier final result. I typically skip this step for sake of time.
2. In a large bowl, toss the pieces of tofu with cornstarch and the seasonings of your choice. In this recipe, we use garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. Make sure every piece of tofu is coated in cornstarch.
3. There are a variety of ways to cook the tofu, depending on what tools you have at your disposal.
   1. In this recipe, the tofu is sauteed in olive oil over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes each side.
   2. You can also bake the tofu in the oven or use the air fryer. Set the oven or air fryer to 400°F and bake the tofu for 10-15 minutes, depending on your desired texture.

How do I make vegan burritos?

Burritos and burrito bowls don’t always have to contain meat! There are a variety of ways to make them plant-based and even vegan. All you need to do is make a couple of substitutions, that may actually make your life easier.

Instead of meat you can use tofu (like in this recipe), tempeh or any kind of bean or legume. This could include black beans, lentils, chickpeas, navy beans, edamame beans, etc.

You can skip the grated cheese on top and either opt for a plant-based cheese or use avocado as a fat source instead.

An alternative to sour cream is the avocado cilantro sauce that we make in this recipe. It is a vegan sauce and incredibly easy to make. Plus, you can make extras and use it in a variety of recipes. You may also enjoy adding salsa for a plant-based flavour boost.

 

How can I make burritos healthier?

As I have mentioned in other blogs, making a recipe “healthier” means different things to different people. To some, it may mean lower in calories and to others, it could mean higher in nutrients. When I think about making a recipe healthier, I like to account for the ease and amount of time it takes to make it. Spending hours in the kitchen or stressing out about a complicated recipe isn’t a healthy way to spend my time.

Thankfully, this recipe contains a variety of nutrients AND can be made in less than 30 minutes!

This recipe provides plant-based protein from the tofu and black beans. It also offers a lot of fibre from the black beans, rice and vegetables. The avocado cilantro sauce provides a great source of healthy fats, keeping us full and satisfied.

If you have dietary restrictions, this burrito bowl also meets your needs! It is gluten free, dairy free and vegan!

 

Tofu Burrito Bowl Meal Prep

One of the best things about this burrito bowl recipe is that the majority of the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time, making it a perfect option for meal prep!

By cooking the tofu and rice in advance and storing them in airtight containers in the fridge, you can whip this dish together in no time. As previously mentioned, you can also prepare a large batch of the Avocado Cilantro Sauce and use it in this recipe and many others for extra flavour.

I hope these Tofu Burrito Bowls with Avocado Cilantro Sauce are your new favourite plant-based recipe. Don’t forget to check out some of these other easy recipes for more inspiration:

• Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
• Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad
• Shrimp Orzo Salad with Honey Lemon Dressing
• Yogurt and Dill Marinated Grilled Chicken

 

If you make these Tofu Burrito Bowls with Avocado Cilantro Sauce, I would love to see your comment and rating below. It also makes my day seeing your creations of my recipes on Instagram- don’t forget to tag @allnutrition.rd!