The best tempeh of all time!
This copycat Panda Express vegan Beijing tempeh is so freaking delicious, but so much healthier than the real thing. Tempeh strips are marinated in this super tasty Beijing sauce, that I made refined sugar. Then tossed in corn starch and made super crispy. It changes the texture and flavor so much, you will be totally amazed by how delicious tempeh can be!
After the tempeh is nice and crispy, you add in some garlic, onions and bell pepper. Then the super simple and awesome tempeh marinade becomes the sauce. Making this vegan Beijing tempeh like crazy fast and easy.
The sauce is sweet and salty and a little spicy and really just super incredible. It is my current favorite way to flavor tempeh. The first time I had tempeh, many years ago, I hated it. I thought the texture was strange and it tasted like nothing! After years of trying different recipes, I started to really like it, but I think if you start with this vegan Beijing tempeh, you will forever be addicted to tempeh.
This recipe requires very few ingredients, is very fast and very healthy. You can use low sodium soy sauce if that is a concern of yours as well, and you can very easily make this gluten free by using tamari instead of soy sauce. So one of the most delicious meals I have ever had can be eaten by almost everyone!
Vegan Beijing Tempeh
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Tempeh
- 1/4 C. Water
- 2 Tbsp. Coconut sugar or maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp. Tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. Hoisin sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Soy sauce, regular or low sodium
- 1 tsp. Chili sauce, I used Asian Chili Garlic sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar
- 1 C. Bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 C. Onion, chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1/2 C. Corn starch
- 3 Tbsp. Light oil, (veggie, peanut, sunflower)
Instructions
- Slice your block of tempeh into thin strips and place them in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add the water, coconut sugar or maple syrup, tomato paste, hoisin, soy sauce, chili sauce, and apple cider vinegar. Whisk to fully combine. Then pour the sauce over the tempeh and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Once you are ready, remove the tempeh from the marinade and save the marinade.
- Add the corn starch to a bowl, and toss the strips of tempeh in the corn starch shaking the excess off.
- Then, heat the oil on medium high in a non stick skillet or wok. Then add the strips of tempeh to the skillet, and brown on each side. It will take 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Next, add in the peppers, onions and garlic. Toss and saute until the veggies are cooked reducing heat as needed, about 4-5 minutes.
- Now, pour the marinade over the tempeh and veggies. Toss to coat everything in the sauce. Simmer for a minute to thicken the sauce.
- Serve immediately with rice or quinoa or veggies.
Notes
Made this tonight and it was really good. I’m think I sliced my tempeh too thick but it was still tasty. I doubled my sauce ingredients hoping for extra for my rice but it thickened too much and even doubled it wasn’t enough sauce to use on my rice. I wouldn’t change anything flavor wise!
I was so excited to try this recipe. I mixed the marinade added the tempeh. Then I realized I accidentally bought Italian herb tomato paste, which has milk in it (why?!?!). So my boyfriend ate it instead (he’s not vegan) and he said it was really good! Which means a lot coming from a carnivore! Will definitely make again with plan tomato paste! It smelled delicious !
Oh no! I’m so sorry:( Why do they need to put milk in tomato paste…..urgg! It’s so good! I do hope you get to try it, and I’m glad at least your boyfriend enjoyed!!
I made this last night. So delicious. The only change I made was that when doing the stir fry, I threw in a handful of unsalted peanuts as well. I always throw in either peanuts or cashews on any stir fry I do. Just make sure you use unsalted because there is already salt in the soy sauce and hoisin.
Thanks!
Great! I love to do that too
I made this last night. Ugh, yum!! My husband and I couldn’t get enough of it. That sauce!!! This recipe is definitely going into our weekly rotation.
I’ve made this a few times. We love it! My husband’s and my fav tempeh recipe. Thank you very much for all your wonderful cooking.
Hi,
I’d like to try this recipe. Do I need to steam tempeh before? I read that it’s supposed to be done but I didn’t see it mentioned here.
Thank you
Sometimes I do steam it, sometimes I don’t, it depends on what I’m making. I did not for this recipe, but if you are worried about the tempeh being a strong flavor and you have not had much tempeh before you can definitely steam it first. I usually slice it and put it in a steamer. Cover and steam 10-15 minutes. Then you can proceed with the recipe. I think this recipe is delicious without steaming it, but it will make the tempeh more mild flavored if you steam it!
Best vegan meal I’ve made
This was so good! Will double the sauce next time since it was that tasty.
I made this twice. The second time I doubled the sauce (it cooked down too quickly last time) and steamed some French green beans along with rice for serving. My meat eaters devoured it!!
I have a beautiful picture…but I can’t add it…so you will have to take my word for it!
This turned out really really great! We doubled the sauce,omitted the onions and added bean sprouts. Used Sririacha as the chili paste and doubled that as well. Can’t wait to make again with more sauce and more veggies. This is a winner!
Made this. Simple, cheap, delicious. Well done.
Mamma mia, this is soooo good! wow! I love the flavor with just the right amount of sweetness and a bit of stickiness. The cornstarch really makes this recipe come together. I didn’t have tom paste and made no substitutions. I will definitely be making this one again! Cheers!
Loved this. My fist time using tempeh and I am so glad I found your recipe. Based on other’s comments I tripled the sauce recipe. It made the perfect amount of sauce to serve with rice. I used tapioca starch because that’s what I had. It worked perfectly. I also added steamed broccoli at the very end for some more veggies. Honestly, any additional veggies would be great. Thanks for another great recipe!
Absolutely delicious, definitely double the sauce because it’s that good. Very good way to introduce people to tempeh if they’re apprehensive.
Delicious. I was kinda wondering if it would be cause the sauce didn’t seem like it smelled all that great when I initially mixed it in bowl. The tempeh was a great texture, the sauce was great after all. 😊
I definitely will make again. Thankful to have an Asian recipe that’s vegan. I served it with quinoa & broccoli. Definitely had to double the sauce!
Thank you for this recipe!
This is fabulous! My new favorite stir fry I’m hooked on! I added 1.5 teaspoons of liquid smoke and it was delicious. Love! Love! Love!
Such a great recipe!!!! The Tempeh Marinade was delicious. I made this as a quick recipe & realized I didn’t have rice. Luckily, I had leftover quinoa & substituted instead.
this was excellent! my favorite tempeh recipe so far, and i’ve made a LOT! i think the cornstarch coating really transforms the tempeh into little nuggets of goodness. i also added some peanuts in (as someone else mentioned) before the sauce at the end, so it turned it into a little more of a kung pao style dish. this wasn’t saucy but seemed pretty normal for this style of chinese dish, so wasn’t an issue for me.
I usually don’t leave reviews, but this recipe is a grand slam! LOVE IT. It is in our weekly rotation and it’s a complete WIN in our home. Thank you!
My son and I have been Vegan for over two years now. This recipe is sooo good. We had it last night. It’s moved up to #1 on our list of favorites. Absolutely delicious!
Made this tonight and absolutely loved it! Can’t wait to try some more of your recipes!
Is the onion supposed to be green onions or a regular onion? I see in the picture it looks like green onions. Is that just a garnish or the actual onions listed in the recipe?
This was my first time making tempeh (new to vegan). Was very delicious! Will definitely make it again (kids loved it too!) next time I will double the sauce.. Thanks for this recipe
Sooo good. I wish I made more sauce though. My husband who is a meat and potatoes kind of man even loved it. I added baby corn too 🙂
Really delicious and easy recipe.
I thought the ratio of tempeh to veggies was off. I would do half the tempeh and add more veggies, but that’s just personal taste.
Also hoisen sauce has fish sauce in it. If you are vegan there is a vegetarian version that omits the fish sauce.
Delicious! I made this tonight, my boyfriend and I both loved it — and he’s usually not so keen on tempeh! I added some greens (about the same volume as the bell pepper) and put in a little more soy sauce to balance out the sweetness.
Just made this for dinner & my boyfriend & I both loved it! My boyfriend isn’t vegan, but he is Chinese, so it is high praise, he ordinarily doesn’t much like American-Chinese food
This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much. It has become one of my favourites!
Are you sure 1/2 cup of corn starch is correct? I put in three tablespoons and the sauce solidified! Other than that, it was quite delicious. I will definitely make it again.
Thank you, Lauren.
Best tempeh recipe we have made. Two of the kids didn’t like it, but one of them doesn’t like anything, and the other calls tempeh his kryptonite. The other five of us loved it!
I did not steam the tempeh and it was fine. I lowered the garlic chili sauce, which was a mistake. Next time I will do it as written to give a bit of heat. Also, will double sauce next time.