Sheet Pan Tofu with Sweet Potatoes & Black Beans
on Sep 19, 2024
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This sheet pan tofu with sweet potatoes and black beans is a simple vegan dinner recipe. First, the tofu and sweet potatoes take their turn in the oven tossed with a mix of cumin, oregano, paprika and more dried spices and olive oil. Once they are lightly browned and tender, the beans join them on the pan for just a few minutes more. I serve the sweet potatoes, tofu and beans with an herby chimichurri sauce that I make while everything is in the oven.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It is a simple vegan sheet pan meal. The ingredient list is shorter than you think, if you lump all those dried spices on one category, assuming you might already have them in your pantry.
Herby chimichurri sauce keeps things fresh. While I am a big fan of roasted vegetables, adding something herby makes them more interesting. With red wine vinegar, shallots and garlic, chimichurri has a great zing to it.
This recipe to take you from autumn to winter. Sweet potatoes are my go-to root vegetable during the colder months of the year. They are nutritious and wholesome, but still manage to eat like comfort food. Also, they are vibrant with color and flavor when we need it most.
You can quickly reheat leftovers in the microwave. Add that to the countless reasons why I can’t get enough sweet potatoes. This is a foolproof and speedy way warm them along with the tofu and beans.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
For tofu sweet potatoes & beans
- Tofu: The recipe calls for extra firm tofu. This is best for roasting because it holds its shape and browns nicely on the pan.
- Sweet potatoes: I use 3 medium sweet potatoes which is about 1-1/2 pounds. Peel them before dicing them. You can substitute with cubed butternut squash.
- Black beans: Canned beans are one of my favorite pantry ingredients because they are convenient, and there are so many things you can do with them. Just crack open the can, dump it into a colander and rinse the black beans.
- Dried seasonings: The spice drawer is where the flavor comes from for this recipe. I mix together ground cumin, dried oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Olive oil: I stir the spices with olive oil before drizzling the mixture over the sweet potatoes and tofu.
For chimichurri
Hailing from Argentina, this herby sauce is usually served with meats. Here I pair it with roasted vegan ingredients. It’s considered a marinade and a sauce.
- Parsley: I like to stick to all chopped parsley, but you can combine it with chopped cilantro. I chop it by hand with a sharp chef’s knife and my cutting board.
- Garlic: I include 2 minced garlic cloves
- Shallots: To go with the garlic, I finely chop a shallot.
- Red wine vinegar adds pleasantly sharp acidity. You can substitute with white wine vinegar.
- Red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper season the chimichurri.
- Olive oil: Use extra virgin olive oil for the best taste.
How To Make Sheet Pan Tofu with Sweet Potatoes & Black Beans
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray.
1. Prep the tofu. Pat the block with a paper towel. Wrap it with another towel and place a heavy pan or cutting board on top to press out more liquid. Let it stand for 15 minutes. Cut the tofu crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rectangles.
2. Make the marinade. Stir the cumin, oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper with olive oil in a small bowl.
3. Marinate the sweet potatoes and tofu. Toss the sweet potatoes with half the spice-oil mixture on the baking sheet. Spread them in a single layer. Place the tofu slices between the sweet potatoes and lightly drizzle the tofu on both sides with the rest of the spiced oil.
4. Roast for 15 minutes before flipping over the tofu and roasting for another 15 minutes.
5. Add the black beans to the pan. Roast for a couple minutes until the beans are warm.
6. Make the chimichurri. In a small bowl, stir the garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and oil. Plate the tofu, sweet potatoes and black beans and drizzle with the sauce.
Serving
You can serve this sheet pan tofu recipe with a stovetop side dish such as brown rice, barley, farro, sautéed brussels sprouts or sautéed broccolini. For greens, try this napa cabbage salad.
Leftovers & Storage
Store the tofu, sweet potatoes and black beans in one airtight container and the chimichurri in another. You can keep them in the fridge up to 3 days. As mentioned, it is easy to reheat the tofu, potatoes and beans in the microwave.
Let the chimichurri sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. That allows the oil to turn to liquid again if it hardens in the chill of the refrigerator.
Recipe Tips
You don’t need to line the pan. Non-stick cooking spray is enough. When ingredients make direct contact with the hot metal of the pan, they brown better and their edges caramelize.
If you want a shortcut for the chimichurri, you can use food processor. Then you don’t have to chop the herbs or mince the garlic or shallots. Put the whole garlic cloves, whole shallot and a packed cup of parsley leaves in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. It will turn out smoother and more finely chopped. I actually prefer a more rustic consistency which is why I do it by hand.
More Tofu Recipes
Kung Pao Tofu
Vegetable Tofu Stir-Fry
Sheet Pan Teriyaki Tofu & Broccolini
Sesame Tofu and Asparagus
Vegan Pumpkin Curry
Sheet Pan Tofu with Sweet Potatoes & Black Beans
Ingredients
For tofu, sweet potatoes & black beans
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 14 ounce package extra firm tofu
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1-1/2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
For chimichurri
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Pat the tofu with a paper towel. Wrap with a dry paper towel and place a heavy pan or cutting board on top to press out more liquid. Let stand for 15 minutes. Cut the tofu block crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rectangles.
- In a small bowl combine the cumin, oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- On the sheet pan, toss the sweet potatoes with half the spice-oil mixture. Spread them into a single layer. Place the tofu slices between the sweet potatoes and lightly drizzle the tofu on both sides with the spiced oil.
- Roast for 15 minutes before flipping over tofu. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes until the sweet potatoes are browned and tender in the middle and the tofu is browned on both sides.
- Scatter the black beans over the sweet potatoes and tofu. Roast for 2-3 minutes until the beans are warm.
- While the tofu and sweet potatoes roast, make the chimichurri. Stir the garlic, shallots, parsley, red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, red wine vinegar and 1/2 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
- Arrange the tofu, roasted sweet potatoes and black beans on a large serving platter or individual plates. Spoon the chimichurri on top, serving the extra on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is amazing. It is now in my regular rotation. Only change is that I add the tofu and the beans at the same time.
Really good! Served it for dinner, and we both went for seconds I needed to double the marinade to cover our Costco size tofu, but really enjoyed the spice mix The sauce was perfect to finish off the taste. Thanks!
Omg this was so very good.
I added cauliflower and served it over farro. Delicious!
I loved this. I’m not even vegan but was craving tofu and looked up a recipe with certain ingredients that I had on hand. Easy and delicious!
Really good! Served it for dinner, and we both went for seconds I needed to double the marinade to cover our Costco size tofu, but really enjoyed the spice mix The sauce was perfect to finish off the taste. Thanks!