Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli with Quinoa

by Sabrina Snyder

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14 Comments

5 from 2 votes
4 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
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Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli with Quinoa is a healthy, flavorful vegetarian lunch option. A perfect meal to pack for work or at home!

If you liked my Pomegranate Quinoa Salad, or my Tofu Stir-fry, you’ll love this recipe! It is the perfect Vegetarian lunch or dinner to help get you through the week!

close up on finished dinner, fruit and veggies
close up on cooked tofu
three section dish with tofu dinner, tomatoes, and raspberries
close up on tofu, fruit, and veggies

Sabrina’s Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli with Quinoa Recipe

Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli is a flavorful vegetarian dish that transforms a unique tea-based marinade into a satisfying, easy meal. With its delicious texture, make-ahead convenience, and leftovers that stay crisp and flavorful, it’s a recipe you’ll want to add to your regular lunch or dinner rotation. Using iced tea in the dish is the ultimate amazing shortcut too because you don’t have to brew it and wait for it to cool down. 

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli with Quinoa Recipe

Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli with Quinoa is a healthy, flavorful vegetarian lunch option. A perfect meal to pack for work or at home!
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Asian
Author Sabrina Snyder
close up on finished dinner, fruit and veggies
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Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups uncooked quinoa
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup Unsweetened Black Iced Tea
  • 1 pkg (14 oz) extra-firm tofu
  • 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 cups broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds , for garnish

Instructions

  • Rinse the quinoa 3-4 times and add to the pot with the 4 cups of water.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce to low.
  • Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes until tender.
  • Fluff with a fork.
  • Slice the tofu into 1 inch thick slices and press between clean dish towels or paper towels to remove water.
  • Add the iced tea, soy sauce, ginger, garlic to a medium sized bowl.
  • Add in the sliced tofu and and let sit for 15-20 minutes (if you want to and have time, this can marinate as long as overnight.
  • Heat a large skillet with a lid on medium-high heat with canola oil and sesame oil.
  • Add the tofu slices and brown on both sides 2-3 minutes on each side.
  • Remove the tofu from the pan.
  • Add the broccoli and ½ a cup of the iced tea mixture and cover to steam for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the tofu back in, stir to combine and serve with quinoa and garnish with sesame seeds.

Nutrition

Calories: 499kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 704mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 425IU | Vitamin C: 61.4mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 6mg

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Sabrina’s Tips

Sometimes I like to steam my vegetables using chicken broth or teriyaki sauce for additional flavor options! A small change can make a big impact! This will give it an extra burst of flavor that you would’t get otherwise.

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About this Recipe

Marinated Tea Tofu and Broccoli is a dish I’ve been making for clients for years. The marinade for this dish came originally as a salmon marinade. The fragrant black tea notes, with the sesame oil, ginger and garlic are the perfect flavors to accompany the tofu in a delicious and easy stir fry. The time you take to brown the tofu in you skillet pays off with the texture and flavor of the finished dish and the steamed broccoli with the hint of black tea in the steaming liquid may actually change the way you steam vegetables in the future. The tofu is crispy and creamy and the quinoa it is served with is fluffy and provides a soft texture to your dish. The broccoli gets the flavors of the tofu while still being slightly crisp.

Can this be made ahead of time?

The best part about the crispy texture of this tofu is that it stays crispy for you to enjoy for lunch the following day! Even when warmed in the microwave you’ll keep that delicious flavor and texture. Its perfect for meal prepping and enjoying throughout the week.

Ideas to Serve

Want more of the sauce? You can double or even triple it, and when you finish steaming the broccoli add 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of room temperature water that you’ve mixed together to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens. Then add in the tofu and stir to combine.

Variations

  • Salmon: Use the marinade on salmon and cook at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until your pieces are cooked through.
  • Chicken: Use the marinade on chicken breasts and steam them (the delicate notes are amazing in this when steamed).
  • Rice: Instead of quinoa you can also serve with brown rice, the flavors are similar and brown rice holds up well to reheating.
  • Ginger: If you want to use fresh ginger, use 1 teaspoon and mince it as finely as you can, the ginger can overpower the tea flavors.

More Vegetarian Recipes

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Photos used in previous version of this post

tea bottle next to tofu and broccoli
tea tofu served with tea bottle in background

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Love the use of smoked Tofu in Quinoa. Quinoa salads are always so delicious and nice to make. And are always in my healthy salad list. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  3. I love Pure Leaf Tea! I’ve never thought about using it as a marinade–super smart! I’ll definitely be trying that!

    Reply

  6. I love the texture of the tofu in this dish! I love that it has a little crispiness!

    Reply