Butternut Squash Fried Rice with Crispy Tofu
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Butternut Squash Fried Rice will open your eyes to a whole new Meatless Monday! This dish is so tasty and easy to make – and FILLED with veggies! Just a few ingredients layered on top of each other – make a delicious “fried rice” out of butternut squash.
Jump to Recipe
This dish came from a new meal kit delivery service called Diced & Easy that’s based right here in Ohio. Perfectly Imperfect Produce sent me a box with prepared salads, grain bowls, fruits and even flavored water – along with the ingredients for this fried rice. This was so great for me because I work two jobs and this took all the hassle out of meal planning for the week! I had one dinner to make and then quick lunches every day!
What’s in Butternut Squash Fried Rice?
Well – not shocking – it’s loaded with butternut squash! It actually serves as the rice! If you can’t find riced butternut squash in the freezer section of your store, you could use the zoodles and dice them – or use cauliflower rice. Additionally, the recipe features:
- extra firm tofu – gave me another chance to use my TofuBud Tofu Press!
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- olive oil
- red onion
- asian slaw – any cabbage slaw will work
- garlic
- fish sauce – you can find this at Kroger or any Asian market
- green onion for garnish
With Diced + Easy, everything comes pre-cut, pre-measured and in compostable and recyclable packaging. Love the sustainability side!
How do you make fried rice with tofu?
My Diced + Easy kit came with easy-to-follow instructions:
- Tofu comes packed in a watery liquid so you need to drain it. You can do it with a kitchen towel or even paper towels. I had the TofuBud press and used that. Be sure to let it dry out for at least 15-20 minutes.
- After that, dice the tofu into 1 inch chunks and coat them with sesame oil and soy sauce
- Fry tofu in a non-stick skillet on all sides. It will take about 10 minutes to fry all sides.
- Remove the tofu and set aside.
- Add oil to the pan – once it shimmers – add in onion and slaw and saute 3-4 min
- Stir in garlic and butternut squash “rice” – heat for 5-7 min until softened
- Finally, add in your fish sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce
- Stir that all together and serve! Top with crispy tofu and diced scallions.
Tell us more about Perfectly Imperfect Produce
Perfectly Imperfect Produce was born right here in Ohio, back in 2016. It was created as part of the founding family’s 100-year-old produce company, which strives to end food waste and improve healthy food access for all.
Each week, PIP rescues the imperfect fruits and veggies from local Ohio farms and wholesalers that are at risk of going to waste because they are a bit blemished but perfectly fresh.
From that, they created Diced & Easy! Diced & Easy is a new meal kit brand that features the rescued produce and pre-cut and pre-measured ready for dinner for you!
They also offer pre-made salads and grain bowls, as well as fruit and veggie snacks and fruit-infused waters. All recipes are created by a registered dietitian and are “veggie forward” (many are vegan, gluten-free and nut-free too), helping you eat more veggies in a way that is tastier and easier than ever! Each meal kit dinner comes together in 30 minutes or less (some take only 15 minutes)!
Diced + Easy Review
I really enjoyed my Diced + Easy package. The Butternut Squash Fried Rice was really easy to make and tasty. BUT I LOVED the salads and grain bowls. My favorite was most definitely the Greek salad and the lemon/lime infused water. If you’re a meat eater like me, you can easily pop a chicken breast into the air fryer and add that to the salads or grain bowls!
I also like the fact that every bit of the packaging is compostable or recyclable. They really thought of every step there! I work on a lot of sustainable brands for my day job and the environmental impact has become a lot more important as I’ve learned more about it.
Meatless Monday Recipe Ideas
Butternut Squash Fried “Rice” with Crispy Tofu
Ingredients
- 16 oz extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 oz red onion diced
- 10 oz cabbage slaw Asian variety
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 14 oz butternut squash riced
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Drain tofu – you can wrap in a clean kitchen towel or use something like tofubud.com – to remove as much liquid as you can
- cut tofu into 1 inch cubes and place in a shallow bowl and drizzle with 1 tbsp of the soy sauce and 1 tsp of the sesame oil
- toss gently until tofu is coated
- Place large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the tofu in a single layer and brown on one side – about 3 min.
- Use tongs to flip tofu until crispy on all sides (about 10 min). Turn off burner and transfer tofu to a separate plate
- Add olive oil to the pan and set over medium heat. Add red onion and asian slaw until cabbage starts to wilt – about 3-4 min
- Stir in the garlic and butternut squash rice. Saute, stirring often for 5-7 minutes – until rice is tender
- Season with fish sauce and remaining sesame oil and soy sauce
- Fold in the cooked tofu
- Serve and top with green onions
