• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Domestic Gothess logo

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
    • Biscuits/Cookies
    • Bread, Buns and Yeasted Bakes
    • Cakes
    • Cupcakes
    • Ice Cream and Sorbet
    • Jams, Chutneys and Preserves
    • Brownies & Bars
    • Desserts and Patisserie
    • Savoury
    • Breakfast
    • Drinks
    • Confectionary
  • Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
You are here: Home / Recipes / Savoury / Vegan Tofu Moqueca

Vegan Tofu Moqueca

February 14, 2019 by hannahhossack 5 Comments

Jump to Recipe -

Vegan tofu moqueca – a vegan tofu and vegetable version of the traditional Brazilian dish. This vegan moqueca is easy to make, healthy, satisfying and full of delicious tropical flavours.

Vegan tofu moqueca - a vegan tofu and vegetable version of the traditional Brazilian dish. This vegan moqueca is easy to make, healthy, satisfying and full of delicious tropical flavours. #vegan

Moqueca is a traditional Brazilian stew which consists of firm white fish cooked in a coconut, lime, tomato and palm oil sauce. Luckily, most things taste good in a coconut and lime sauce so making a delicious vegan version really wasn’t difficult!

This vegan tofu moqueca is one of my favourite dishes and is one that I have been making often. The sauce is rich and creamy yet light and fresh at the same time. It is packed full of vegetables, along with fried tofu for protein, and it makes for a very satisfying yet healthy meal.

Vegan tofu moqueca - a vegan tofu and vegetable version of the traditional Brazilian dish. This vegan moqueca is easy to make, healthy, satisfying and full of delicious tropical flavours. #vegan

I use a mixture of butternut squash, red peppers, green beans and spinach but do feel free to vary the vegetables you use to suit you. The peppers are traditional however so I would keep those in if you can.

I like to roast the butternut squash separately rather than cooking it in the sauce with the other vegetables as I think that it has the best flavour when roasted. If you want to cut out this step then you can of course cook it directly in the sauce instead.

The sauce is very easy to make – you just fry some onion in coconut oil then add garlic, chilli, ginger, chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, vegetable stock, lime juice and salt and pepper. It is simple but so full of flavour!

I like to serve this vegan tofu moqueca with rice and fried plantain on the side. It is also delicious with farofa, which is a toasted cassava flour mixture. If you are able to get hold of some cassava flour then I recommend giving it a try! There are plenty of recipes floating around on the internet which are easy to veganise by using vegan butter or olive oil.

Moqueca is traditionally made with red palm oil (also known as dendê oil), which has a distinctive flavour and colour. While it is possible to buy sustainably sourced palm oil, it can be hard to find in supermarkets, so I use unrefined coconut oil instead which I think is a great substitute and complements the flavour of the sauce well.

Close up of vegan tofu and vegetable moqueca stew in a black cast iron pan on a black background.

How To Make Vegan Tofu Moqueca:

Start by roasting your butternut squash for about thirty minutes until it is tender. Alternatively, skip this step and add it to the sauce to cook later.

tofu moqueca step 1

To make the moqueca sauce, gently fry a finely chopped onion in some coconut oil until it is soft and translucent. Add crushed garlic, chopped red chilli and grated fresh ginger and fry for another minute.

tofu moqueca step 2 - frying the onions, garlic, chilli and ginger

Add chopped fresh tomatoes and cook for about ten minutes until they are very soft. Now add coconut milk, vegetable stock, the juice of a lime and plenty of salt and pepper. Bring the sauce up to a simmer.

tofu moqueca step 3 - making the sauce

If you didn’t roast your butternut squash, now is the time to add it to the sauce. Simmer for about ten minutes until just tender before adding the other vegetables.

Add sliced red peppers, green beans and frozen spinach to the pan. Simmer gently for ten minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.

tofu moqueca step 4 - cooking the vegetables

While the veg is cooking, fry some diced tofu in a separate pan until it is crisp on all sides. Add the fried tofu to the moqueca, along with the roasted butternut squash (unless you cooked it in the sauce instead, in which case it will already be in there!) and some chopped fresh coriander.

tofu moqueca step 5 - cooking the tofu

Check the seasoning and add more salt/pepper/lime juice as required. Serve the moqueca with rice and fried plantain.

Close up of a grey bowlful of vegan tofu moqueca with white rice and fried plantain.

Can I Make It In Advance?:

I think that this moqueca is best eaten freshly made, but any leftovers are great re-heated so in a pinch it could be made in advance and reheated as needed. Bear in mind that the sauce will thicken over time however.

You May Also Like:

  • Vegan vegetable tagine with almond and chickpea couscous
  • Vegetable and pearl barley stew with herby dumplings (vegan)
  • Red lentil dahl with roasted cauliflower and butternut squash (vegan)
Vegan tofu moqueca - a vegan tofu and vegetable version of the traditional Brazilian dish. This vegan moqueca is easy to make, healthy, satisfying and full of delicious tropical flavours. #vegan
Print
5 from 5 votes

Vegan Tofu Moqueca

Vegan tofu moqueca - a vegan tofu and vegetable version of the traditional Brazilian dish. This vegan moqueca is easy to make, healthy, satisfying and full of delicious tropical flavours.
Course Main Course
Cuisine vegan
Keyword moqueca
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 5 people
Calories 385kcal
Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash (about 1kg unprepared weight) peeled, de-seeded and cut into 2cm dice
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
  • 1 large brown onion peeled and finely choppd
  • 1.5 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
  • 4 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 inch piece fresh ginger grated
  • 1 red chilli finely chopped
  • 3 large or 4 medium tomatoes finely chopped
  • 400 ml tin of full fat coconut milk
  • 240 ml (1 cup) strong vegetable stock
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 2 red bell peppers thinly sliced
  • 100 g green beans
  • 150 g frozen spinach
  • 300 g firm tofu well drained and diced
  • a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Spread the butternut squash out in a roasting tray and drizzle over 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes until tender.
  • Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the diced onion and cook gently for 10 minutes until it is soft and translucent.
  • Add the crushed garlic, chopped red chilli and grated fresh ginger and fry for another minute.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and continue to fry for about 10 minutes until they are very soft.
  • Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, lime juice and plenty of salt and pepper. Bring the sauce up to a simmer.
  • Add the sliced peppers, green beans and frozen spinach and simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
  • Meanwhile, fry the tofu in the remaining Tbsp of olive oil until it is golden.
  • Add the fried tofu and the roasted butternut squash to the pan, along with the chopped fresh coriander. Check the seasoning and add more salt/pepper/lime juice as needed.
  • Serve the moqueca with rice and fried plantain.

Notes

If you want to cut out the step of roasting the butternut squash then you can cook it directly in the moqueca sauce instead. Add it to the sauce before the other vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes until just tender. Then add the peppers, green beans and spinach and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Filed Under: Mains, Recipes, Savoury, vegan Tagged With: Butternut Squash, Coconut, vegetarian

Never Miss A Post!

Subscribe to get all the latest recipes delivered to your inbox.

Previous Post: « Chocolate Raspberry Skillet Cookie For Two (Vegan)
Next Post: Vegan Biscoff Banana Bread »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Annabell

    March 20, 2019 at 7:58 pm

    5 stars
    I made this recipe last night – absolutely delicious! I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out beautifully. This is very different to dishes I normally cook, so I loved the different flavours in it. Normally I add lots of spices to my cooking – this dish, with no added spices, had SOOO much flavour! beautiful flavour. thank you Hannah. x

    Reply
  2. Kat

    July 17, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    5 stars
    So flavourful!

    Reply
  3. Lakin

    February 18, 2020 at 12:04 am

    5 stars
    My girlfriend and I cooked together for the first time on Saturday and made this recipe. We’re not big on green beans so we omitted those and we don’t do well with spicy so we took out the chili pepper and just added in a few chili pepper flakes. It was super delicious and had a lot of flavor. It also made a lot so we have food for days and even fed one of our friends! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  4. Sean

    December 11, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    5 stars
    This was a HUGE hit!! Vegan girlfriend loved. Meat-eater roommates loved it. The combo of fried plantains and stewed veg were to die for! Highly recommended

    Reply
  5. Lauren

    March 1, 2021 at 11:35 am

    5 stars
    Mum made it for my birthday dinner – so much flavour! Yum 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Popular Posts

Curried vegetable pasties – vegan pasties filled with curried vegetables and chickpeas, perfect for picnicking! #vegan #baking #pastry
Vegan fruit and nut flapjacks - easy vegan oaty flapjacks (oat cookie bars) filled with dried fruits, nuts and seeds. Perfect for snacking, lunchboxes and hiking!
Vegan chocolate fudge cake - an easy to make, moist, fudgy vegan chocolate cake topped with coconut milk ganache. No one will be able to guess that it's vegan!
Vegetable tagine wit almond and chickpea couscous - an easy, healthy vegetarian/vegan meal with tonnes of flavour!
Easy vegan lemon curd recipe - egg and dairy free lemon curd that is sweet, creamy, intensely lemony, totally addictive and ready in under ten minutes!
Easy mushroom linguine - ready in fifteen minutes this vegetarian mushroom linguine is quick, easy, healthy and delicious.

Footer

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright Notice © Hannah Hossack-Lodge and domesticgothess.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of text and/or photos from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Disclosure & Privacy

Subscribe To Our Mailing List

Subscribe to get all the latest recipes delivered to your inbox.

Copyright © 2021 Domestic Gothess on the Foodie Pro Theme