Vegan Tofu Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce

Usually with marinated chicken, beef or pork – it totally possible to make incredible satay skewers completely plant-based! Sticking to a marinade with traditional flavours but swapping in tofu for the animal-based protein, these skewers are so simple to make and very weeknight-friendly.

Tofu acts like a sponge and it soaks up the intense flavour of the marinade – so the longer you can let it soak, the better!

And to make this recipe even simpler, I opt to cook the skewers in the oven rather than grilling or pan-frying them. This gives you plenty of time to whip a quick Thai-style peanut sauce to serve alongside.

How to Make Vegan Satay Skewers

Start with prepping your tofu – and make sure you’re using firm tofu here.

Firmly pat the water from the tofu block – or you can press the tofu for under a heavy book for a few minutes while you get the marinade together. The latter step isn’t entirely necessary if you’re using very firm tofu.

Cut the tofu into cubes and then add it to a zip-top bag and set aside while you mix together the marinade.

In a small bowl, add some coconut milk (do not use light coconut milk – all of the flavour is stored in the fat), some soy sauce, a touch of tamarind puree for acidity, some palm sugar for sweetness (just use brown sugar if you can’t find this) and a mixture of ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and cinnamon.

Whisk all of this together until it’s thoroughly combined and then pour it over the tofu. Seal the bag and then squish the marinade all over the tofu, ensuring that it’s evenly coated.

Let it hang out in the marinade for at least an hour (at room temperature) or move it to the fridge and let it sit for longer – up to 24 hours.

This is a great thing to mix together in the morning (or night before), put it in the fridge and then you have perfectly marinated tofu to use for dinner that evening. The tofu gets better the longer it sits in the marinade, so let it sit as long as you can.

Once you’re ready to cook, all you need to do is evenly distribute the tofu cubes over the skewers and set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Move to a 200°C/400°F oven and bake the skewers until they’re golden and crisp in places – about 20 minutes.

While the skewers are in the oven, you can go ahead and make the peanut sauce! This is so simple, but if you want something even easier, you can use my peanut butter based sauce. Just note that this is not a vegetarian option as it uses fish sauce!

To make the homemade peanut sauce, start by finely grinding some unsalted peanuts until they resemble coarse sand. You can do this in a food processor, a mortar and pestle or by bashing them in a bag with a rolling pin.

Then, add some coconut milk to a small saucepan and bring it to a vigorous simmer. Continue simmering until it’s thickened and you begin to see the fat separate from it, Then, add in a bit of red curry paste – this is a similar step to what I do in my red curry fish recipe.

Keep in mind that some red curry pastes contain shrimp paste, so make sure you get one that does not if you’re making this vegan!

Cook the paste until it’s very fragrant – just a minute or two. Then, add in the rest of your coconut milk, your ground peanuts and some tamarind paste and bring to a simmer. Taste to adjust for seasoning and add a bit of soy sauce if you feel it needs it.

Simmer the sauce until it’s thick and spreadable – about five minutes or so. Then transfer it to a dish to serve alongside your satay skewers!

And once the tofu is done, you can serve the skewers right away!

This vegan version of a Thai restaurant favourite is super easy to make and absolutely delicious! They’re sure to become a weeknight favourite.

Are you after a vegan satay recipe? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!