Crispy Tofu & Cilantro Soup

There is nothing I love more than a salty, sour, sinus-clearing, flavor packed soup. A good soup. And this vibrantly green crispy tofu soup is one of the best. It’s warm but doesn’t require any stirring over a sauce pot. It’s comforting but still light, and it’s just packed, packed, with flavor.

This soup is a mix of fresh cilantro, bright lime juice, hot Thai chilies (but I have subs for that, don’t worry!) and super-umami fish sauce. It’s heavily inspired by my favorite Thai ingredients, which is why it was perfect to pair with crispy tofu. The tofu kind of “grounds” the recipe and gives a nice blank slate for the rest of the flavors to build off of. Plus, its so crispy, so what’s not to love?

We’ll talk about how to make the broth, how to make crispy tofu, and how to put together this whole cilantro soup in the rest of this blog post, because it’s really super easy I promise.

The ingredients for this crispy tofu soup

Some of these ingredients are pantry staples, where others are a bit special for this recipe. If this is your first time stocking up on any of these items, I promise you won’t regret it. You can use them in so many other ways! Each ingredient in this cilantro soup recipe is designed to be versatile so it won’t be gathering dust in your pantry.

You will need:

• 15 ounces extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 handful cilantro
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 1 large lime for juicing
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 4 Thai chilies, seeds removed, you can also use 1 small jalapeño
• 2/3 cup boiling water

How to prepare the broth for this cilantro soup

This broth is super simple, blend and add hot water. Here’s a breakdown of how to make this crispy tofu soup broth:

• Add the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and chilies to a small blender and blend until smooth.
• When the mixture is done blending, pour in 2/3 cup of boiling water and stir to combine

The best way to make crispy tofu without cornstarch

When it comes to making crispy tofu, I’ve tried about every method in the books. And for so long I would swear by the cornstarch method. It just seemed to work the best. But sometimes I would be left with a thick, chalky exterior if I added too much cornstarch, and that was just not the move.

So I wanted to find a way to make crispy tofu that needed nothing else added to it. First, because I didn’t love the idea of adding cornstarch to every weeknight dinner recipe I was thinking of, and second, because it would minimize prep time and cut down on the extra bowls I seemed to be using to prep dinner.

For this crispy tofu soup I make crispy tofu using just a two step method:

• Step #1 – Press extra firm tofu between two sets of paper towels. Make sure you are pressing it with a heavy weight on top. I like to place my tofu on paper towels on a baking sheet, then place more paper towels and another baking sheet on top, and weigh that down with books. Let the tofu sit for about 10-15 minutes.
• Step #2 – get a skillet on medium to medium-high heat and add sunflower oil or another oil with a high smoke point. Then sear the tofu for 3-4 minutes on each side or until it is a rich golden brown.

They should come out crispy and you didn’t even need to add anything.

How to bring this recipe together

Now that we’ve made both components, the best way to compile this recipe is to pile up the tofu in a bowl, and then pour the broth over the top of it.

I like to garnish this recipe with black sesame seeds and more cilantro. Chili oil is also an option for topping if you think you want another hit of oil and spice!

Looking for other tofu recipes?

And that is it for this crispy tofu and cilantro soup recipe!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3