Sheet-Pan Sesame Tofu with Sweet Potato and Kale
Cubed tofu and sweet potato roasted hard on one tray, tossed in a ginger and soy glaze, with kale added late so the leaves go crisp at the edges.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
One pan to wash and no standing over a stove is the whole appeal. Twenty minutes of chopping, thirty five in a hot oven, and it comes out looking like it took real effort. I built it around cubed tofu because a sheet pan does something to tofu that a skillet cannot: dry heat from every direction pulls water out of the surface of every cube at once, so you get a crust all the way around rather than on two flat sides. It reheats well, which is not true of most tofu, and I often make it on a Sunday.
The order things go into the oven is the whole recipe. Sweet potato needs the longest, so it starts alone. Tofu joins it once the potato has taken color, because tofu roasted for a full forty minutes goes tough. Kale goes in for the last five minutes only, spread thin, so the edges frizzle and go crisp while the thicker parts stay green and tender. Glaze goes on after the pan comes out, never before, because maple syrup and soy sauce put onto a tray at 425°F (220°C) will be black long before the vegetables are done.
What makes it a real lunch rather than a side is how much tofu is on the tray. There is a generous portion in every serving and the cubes have enough structure to chew, which is exactly what makes a meatless plate hold you. The sweetness of the potato and the maple is checked by lime and by a lot of black pepper, and the sesame seeds go on last so they toast in the residual heat of the pan without ever burning. Eat it straight off the tray if you like.
Ingredients
- 21 oz firm tofu (two blocks), drained, pressed, and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 lb sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 5 packed cups curly kale, stems removed, leaves torn into large pieces
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 lime, juiced, plus wedges for the table
- 4 scallions, sliced on a long diagonal
- 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Press the tofu while the oven heats: Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper third. Drain the tofu, wrap both blocks in a clean towel, set a heavy pan on top, and leave them for fifteen minutes. Cut into 1-inch cubes and pat dry once more. Every gram of water you remove now becomes crust later.
- Start the sweet potato: Toss the sweet potato cubes with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and half the black pepper and spread them over a large rimmed sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for fifteen minutes, until the undersides have taken color and the cubes release from the pan when you push them with a spatula.
- Add the tofu: Toss the tofu cubes with the remaining olive oil and the rest of the pepper. Push the sweet potato to one half of the pan and spread the tofu over the other, keeping everything in one layer with space between the pieces. Roast for twenty minutes, turning everything once at the ten minute mark.
- Mix the glaze: While the pan is in the oven, whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, maple syrup, and lime juice together in a small bowl. It will look thin, and it should. This goes on hot food and reduces against the pan rather than in a saucepan.
- Crisp the kale: Toss the torn kale with a teaspoon of water so the leaves are barely damp, scatter it over the whole pan, and return it to the oven for five minutes. The thin edges will darken and turn brittle while the thicker parts of the leaf stay green. Watch it closely, since kale goes from crisp to burnt inside a minute.
- Glaze and finish: Pull the pan out and pour the glaze over everything while it is still hissing, tossing with a spatula so it coats and immediately starts to reduce against the hot metal. Scatter over the sesame seeds and scallions, toss once more, and serve straight from the pan with lime wedges.
Variations
- Peanut and lime: Whisk a tablespoon of peanut butter into the glaze for a rounder, thicker coating that clings more heavily to the tofu.
- Butternut squash: Swap the sweet potato for cubed butternut, which roasts in about the same time and comes out sweeter and softer.
- Chili and garlic: Add a teaspoon of chili powder to the glaze and double the garlic for a tray that carries real heat under the sweetness.
- Tempeh: Use cubed tempeh in place of the tofu. It needs only twenty minutes in the oven and comes out firmer and nuttier.
- Over rice: Spoon the whole tray over cooked brown rice and let the glaze run down through it for a much more substantial bowl.
Storage & Leftovers
It keeps four days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The tofu holds its chew better than almost any other preparation, though the kale gives up its crispness within a few hours and turns into a soft green ribbon through the rest, which is a fine thing rather than a problem.
Reheat it spread on a tray at 400°F for eight minutes, which brings the crust back on the tofu and re-crisps the sweet potato edges. A skillet over medium-high works nearly as well in four minutes. The microwave heats it through but softens everything, so save that for a day when you do not mind.
I would not freeze this one. Roasted tofu freezes acceptably, but the sweet potato turns watery on thawing and the kale disappears entirely. If you want a head start, cube the tofu and sweet potato and mix the glaze up to two days ahead and keep them separately in the refrigerator.
Notes & Tips
- Press the tofu, genuinely: Fifteen minutes under something heavy is the difference between gold cubes and pale ones. A stack of plates on a cutting board works as well as any gadget.
- Use the biggest pan you own: Everything on this tray needs to touch metal rather than each other. Two pans beat one crowded pan every single time.
- Give the sweet potato a head start: It needs roughly fifteen minutes more than the tofu. Put them in together and you will have either raw potato or tough tofu.
- Damp kale, not oily kale: A teaspoon of water helps the leaves crisp rather than scorch. Oil on kale in a very hot oven tends to smoke before the leaves are done.
- Grate the ginger, do not chop it: Grated ginger dissolves into the glaze and coats everything. Chopped ginger sits in little fibrous knots you find one at a time.
- Sesame seeds go on the hot pan: Thirty seconds of residual heat is enough to toast them through. Add them to the oven earlier and they go bitter.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Tofu, sweet potato, and kale split the work on this tray. The tofu carries the protein and the calcium, the sweet potato brings the slow carbohydrate and the color, and the kale roasted crisp adds bulk and a mineral bitterness that keeps the whole pan from tasting sweet.
- Tofu is set with a calcium salt as it is made, which is what turns soy milk into a block and also what makes it one of the strongest plant sources of calcium in the kitchen. Roasting it dry concentrates that protein into a cube with real chew.
- Sweet potato roasted hard rather than boiled develops caramelized corners and a deeper flavor, and its orange color is beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A. The fat on the tray helps that conversion along.
- Kale crisped at the edges tastes almost nutty and keeps its vitamin K and calcium, and roasting is the treatment that suits it best. The brittle edges and the soft middles in the same handful are the reason it goes in at the very end.
- Sesame seeds, fresh ginger, and a great deal of black pepper are what make this pan taste finished. Sesame seeds are unusually dense in calcium for their size, and they land last so the heat of the tray toasts them without taking them past nutty.
- As you eat, listen for the kale and notice the difference between a crisp corner of sweet potato and a soft one, and let a lunch you did not have to plate be a reason to sit down rather than to rush.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different green?
Collard greens torn small work well and take a minute or two longer to crisp. Mustard greens are excellent here and bring a sharpness that plays against the maple. Spinach is the one to avoid, since it steams into a wet patch rather than frizzling.
My tofu came out soft rather than crisp. Why?
Either the block was not pressed or the pan was crowded. Cubes touching each other trap steam between them and steam is the opposite of a crust. Use the largest sheet pan you own, or split everything across two pans and rotate them halfway through.
Can I use extra firm tofu?
Yes, and it needs less pressing, maybe eight minutes rather than fifteen. It will come out chewier and denser. Silken and soft tofu cannot be used here at all, since they will not hold a cube shape through roasting.
Why does the glaze go on at the end?
Maple syrup and soy sauce both burn well below 425°F. Put on at the start they would be bitter and black by the time the sweet potato was tender. Poured over a hot pan at the end, the glaze reduces and clings in about thirty seconds.