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Filling and flavorful spicy peanut tempeh bowl with roasted broccoli and kale. This nourishing dish uses a revised version of my peanut dipping sauce recipe. Use the residual sauce from the tempeh as a dressing for this flavor-packed dinner or lunch.
How to Cook Tempeh
Simmering the tempeh in water or vegetable broth will help remove some of the bitterness. My favorite method is using vegetable broth to add more flavor. I normally use a homemade salt-free vegetable broth. If you’re not, be cautious of the sodium content and how it may impact the seasoning of the dish. If you’re adding a very flavorful sauce to the tempeh (like in the recipe below), then just use water.
Step 1 Simmer
Place the tempeh block in a saucepan or skillet, cover with water or vegetable broth, simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. The tempeh will swell and puff up.
Step 2 Dice or Slice
Remove, let cool, then slice, dice (like our recipe below) into desired pieces, or crumble.
Step 3 Add Flavor
Tempeh tends to be bland, with a slightly nutty note but takes on flavors well. In this recipe, we’re adding a spicy peanut sauce. For other recipes, you can choose to marinate, cook in a flavorful liquid, or add desired dry seasonings.
Step 4 Cook
In the recipe below, we're coating the tempeh in peanut sauce just until it’s warmed through and the sauce has thickened. For other recipes, it can be baked, sautéed, added to sauces, or used in burgers for a meaty texture.
Tips for Peanut Tempeh Buddha Bowls
- If you don’t use fresh ginger often, it can be peeled then frozen for later. It’s actually a lot easier to grate while frozen.
- To not waste the stem of the broccoli, I dice it into small bite-size pieces and roast them along with the florets. Make sure they're much smaller than the florets because they take longer to cook. The end of the stalk can be fibrous, so trim off about an inch from the bottom, peel the outer layer, and then dice.
- A Microplane works great for grating ginger.
- This sauce can be made ahead of time, it may thicken while chilling in the fridge so thin it back out with more water to be able to coat the tempeh in the pan.
- The recipe works well for meal prep, store the kale separately.
- Add more kick with more crushed red pepper or sriracha.
Substitutions
- Fresh ginger is much better, but in a pinch, a ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger can be substituted.
- The lime juice can be substituted with rice vinegar, which may produce a stronger flavor.
- Tofu can be substituted for the tempeh, check out my instructions for oven-baked crispy tofu. To substitute follow the tofu instructions all the way through, once baked add to a pan with the sauce, tossing to coat and flavor the tofu. Once the sauce has thickened add to your grain bowl.
More Bowl Recipes
- Chickpea vegetable rice bowl
- Sweet potato bowl with smoky tahini dressing
- Vegan sushi bowl
- Taco bowl
- Burrito bowl
- Roasted vegetable quinoa bowl
More Tempeh or Tofu Recipes
As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe for peanut tempeh!
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Peanut Tempeh Bowl
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Filling and flavorful spicy peanut tempeh bowl with roasted broccoli and kale.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (180 g) uncooked brown rice
- 1 large head (1.7 lbs (775 g)) of broccoli, cut into florets
- 8 ounces (227 g) tempeh
- 4 handfuls of kale, remove from the stem and torn into bite-size pieces
Peanut Sauce
- ⅓ cup (80 g) natural peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ inch fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼-½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ cup of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).
- Start the brown rice, and cook according to the package instructions.
- Roast the broccoli florets for 2o minutes (no need to line the baking tray) or until they have softened and the tips start to brown.
- Place the tempeh in a small skillet or pot and just cover with water, simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Once done, remove the tempeh, let cool slightly, then cube into bite-size pieces. Discard the cooking liquid, reserving the pan for later use.
- While waiting, make your sauce. Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together (except the water), then whisk in the ½ cup of water to thin out. Or add all of the ingredients (including the water) to a blender and blend until smooth.
- About 10 minutes before everything else is done, preheat the pan and return the tempeh with the watered-down peanut sauce.
- On low to medium-low heat toss the tempeh in the sauce to warm up, thicken, and flavor the tempeh, cook for roughly 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The residual sauce will also work as your sauce for your bowl and the rest of the components. Cook the sauce down to your desired thickness or thin it back out with more water.
- Plate by adding rice, roasted broccoli, a handful of kale to a bowl, then top with the peanut tempeh and sauce.
Equipment
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Notes
I only tested with natural peanut butter, which only contains peanuts or peanuts and salt. Other jars of peanut butter with added oils and sweeteners may alter the taste.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: main course
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: peanut tempeh bowl, tempeh bowl, tempeh buddha bowl, spicy tempeh bowl
As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe for peanut tempeh rice bowl!
Jessie
I made this but substituted chickpeas for the tempeh and thinly sliced red pepper for the kale, it turned out great! I also used wild rice. I really enjoyed the peanut sauce and will definitely make again as it seems like a meal that you can easily substitute any protein and a variety of veggies. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Allie
I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and your substitutions sound delicious!