Healthy Vegan Chopped Asian Salad With Gochujang Tofu

A healthy vegan lunch idea.

We absolutely love Asian salads like this. You just chop a bunch of fresh veggies up and toss them together with a nice dressing. This makes them great for lunches throughout the week, as you can prep it all in advance. It’s also no big deal if you haven’t got one of the ingredients for the salad, as you can just swap it out for something else, and the salad still works a treat. Broccoli, any other type of cabbage or mushrooms would be a great swap or addition. The magic for this recipe really happens in the dressing and sauce. The simple sesame dressing only has a couple of ingredients in it, but it makes the veggies shine. The flavour of the sesame goes perfectly with the crunchy sweet vegetables and spicy tofu.

Sweet, sticky, crispy gochujang tofu tops this Asian salad.

Oh, how I love tofu! This stuff is so moreish, you could easily eat double the serving. You don’t have to make it to go with this salad, but we think it takes this dish to the next level! It’s spicy, sticky, sweet, and when cooked right, very crispy. We coat ours in cornflour before frying, as this really helps to crisp it up. Gochujang paste has got to be one of our favourite ingredients for cooking tofu in. It has such a unique flavour, but it also seems to go with everything! You used to only be able to buy it from Asian supermarkets, but I’ve seen it in some of the bigger chain supermarkets recently too. 

An Asian inspired salad.

This recipe is inspired by the many wonderful flavours found in East and South-East Asian countries, such as Japan, Korea, China and Thailand. It is by no means an authentic recipe. However, we can promise you that it’s very tasty! If you’re looking for more authentic recipes, check out some of our favourite chefs The Korean Vegan and Woon Heng. They create delicious vegan Asian recipes!

This chopped vegan Asian salad is:

• fresh and healthy
• full of delicious colourful veggies
• 100% vegan 
• simple and easy
• perfect for lunches

If you liked this, then why not try:

• Sushi Bowl with Crispy Vegan Duck – Quick & Easy
• Vegan Thai Inspired Noodle Salad
• Vegan Gochujang Tofu Noodle Bowl

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Healthy Vegan Chopped Asian Salad With Gochujang Tofu

A fresh chopped Asian inspired salad with sesame dressing & crispy gochujang tofu. It's full of veggies and perfect for your next lunch!

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1/2 red cabbage shredded
• 1 red pepper finely sliced
• 2 carrots sliced into batons
• 1/2 cucumber cut into small cubes
• 2 spring onion sliced
• 120 g edamame beans
• handful coriander roughly chopped
• 50 g peanuts toasted

For the gochujang tofu

• 1 280 g block firm tofu cubed
• 25 g cornflour
• 1 tbsp gochujang paste
• 1/2 tbsp ginger grated
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp maple syrup

For the sesame dressing

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
• pinch of salt & pepper

Method

• Place all the chopped veggies in a bowl (red cabbage, red pepper, carrot, cucumber, spring onion, edamame beans, coriander and peanuts). Leave to one side.
• Make the gochujang sauce by adding gochujang paste, ginger, sesame oil, white wine vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup to a bowl. Stir to combine, then leave to one side.
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Whilst the pan is heating up, add the tofu cubes to a Tupperware with the cornflour. Cover with the lid, and shake to coat the tofu cubes with the flour. Immediately add them straight into the hot pan.
• Cook the tofu pieces for about 10 minutes until they’re crispy and golden brown. Now add the gochujang sauce and stir until it’s coated the tofu pieces.
• Make the sesame dressing by combining sesame oil, lime juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Plate the chopped salad, drizzle over the sesame dressing, then top with some crispy gochujang tofu pieces.