Pineapple fried rice with “eggy” tofu

Whenever we’re getting Thai takeout, pineapple fried rice is one of our regular orders.

You’ve got to love that perfect balance of salty, sweet, and tangy.

It’s great on its own as a full meal. Or it can be used as a side dish.

But when you want to save time & money, it’s easy to make pineapple fried rice at home.

Plus, it’s a great way to make use of leftover rice!

This savory rice dish is filled with chunks of pineapple, peas, bell peppers, carrots, and onions.

Finish it with eggy tofu. And you’ve got a complete meal in a pan!

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The joy of fried rice is getting individual grains, fully coated with seasonings, and a bit of toasting for texture.

The key to achieving that perfection is using cold day old rice.

If you use freshly cooked rice, it will clump. And the flavorings won’t combine as nicely throughout.

I always have a box of frozen rice in the freezer. Simply move the frozen rice to the refrigerator the day before.

Or if you’re in a time crunch, put it on the counter to quickly thaw while you’re preparing the vegetables.

If you don’t have cold rice on hand but you need fried rice, here’s a workaround.

Make a fresh batch of rice. Then spread it out on a baking sheet and freeze for about 15 minutes until cooled.

Then continue with the recipe as written.

When making fried rice, a non-stick skillet comes in very handy.

You won’t need as much oil for browning the vegetables.

And when you add rice, you can let it toast before stirring it, adding a nice bit of color and texture.

Otherwise, the rice can stick to the bottom of the pan, which is less than ideal.

Very often pineapple fried rice includes egg.

Since this is a vegan fried rice recipe, I’m using crumbled eggy tofu instead.

I have eggy tofu for breakfast several mornings a week.

It’s simply made by browning slabs of vacuum-packed tofu in a skillet with kala namak (shown above). It’s also known as Indian black salt.

The same thing works here as a protein-packed finish for this rice dish.

Simply cut off a slab of tofu, crumble it in a hot skillet, brown, and add kala namak to taste.

I like to use it almost as a garnish, so that the sulfuric flavor doesn’t get lost in the mix of the rice.

If you’re not a fan of that eggy taste, you can easily omit this part of the recipe.

Or replace the eggy tofu with warmed Just Egg, browned cubed tofu, seitan, or vegan ham instead.

Sauté onions, red bell pepper, and carrot over medium heat until fragrant & softened.

Add oil, and sauté garlic.

Push the vegetables to one side, and add cold brown rice. Toast & combine with the vegetables.

Add pineapple, peas, and the tamari mixture.

Cook until warmed through.

Stir in a handful of chopped cilantro.

If you’d like added eggy flavor, crumble tofu in a separate skillet with oil. Add a sprinkling of kala namak (black salt).

Add the browned & seasoned tofu to the pineapple fried rice.

You can make this dish you own by varying some of the ingredients.

• Use white or pink rice instead of brown.
• Use soy sauce instead of tamari.
• Vary the vegetables by replacing what’s listed with an equal amount of your preferred produce. Think cauliflower, broccoli, or sugar snap peas. Remember to add hardier vegetables earlier in the cooking process. Garnish with green onions.
• For more spice, add up to a teaspoon of curry powder with the tamari mixture, an extra drizzle of sriracha as garnish, and/or sauté chopped jalapeño & ginger with the garlic.
• I like to use fresh pineapple. But in a pinch, canned pineapple will work just fine. Just remember to drain it first.
• Add browned vegan ham or seitan chicken instead of or in addition to the eggy tofu.
• For shrimp fried rice, garnish with fried vegan shrimp at the end.
• Add a handful of salted cashews or peanuts for extra crunch.

Pineapple fried rice can be a complete meal on its own.

Or you can fill out the stir fry with any of the following:

• Vegan crab rangoon
• Vegetable spring rolls
• Tofu satay
• Dumplings with gyoza dipping sauce
• Sugar snap peas stir fry
• Air fryer asparagus
• Potsticker soup

📖 Recipe

Pineapple fried rice with eggy tofu

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 2 votes

The sweet & savory combo of pineapple fried rice goes vegan with the help of eggy tofu. This meal is great for an easy dinner. It also keeps nicely in the refrigerator for packed lunches.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Thai, Vegan

Keyword: rice recipe, vegetable fried rice

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Fried rice

• ▢ 1 ½ Tablespoons tamari
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sriracha plus more for extra heat, if desired
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons avocado oil or your preferred cooking oil, divided
• ▢ ½ cup chopped onion
• ▢ ½ red bell pepper chopped
• ▢ 1 carrot chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 2 ½ cups cooked brown rice cold
• ▢ ½ cup chopped pineapple
• ▢ ¼ cup peas fresh or frozen
• ▢ Handful of cilantro chopped
• ▢ Pinch of salt

Eggy tofu (optional)

• ▢ ½ teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred cooking oil
• ▢ 3 ounces super firm tofu from vacuum-packaging
• ▢ ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon black salt or to taste (also known as kala namak)

Instructions

For the pineapple fried rice

• ▢
  In a small bowl, combine tamari, sesame oil, and sriracha with a fork until blended. Set aside for later use.
• ▢
  Bring a large skillet to a medium heat with one teaspoon of avocado oil.

  Add onion, bell pepper, and carrot to the pan. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until the carrot has softened but still has some bite.
• ▢
  Push the vegetables to the side of the skillet, and add the remaining ½ teaspoon of avocado oil to the empty area. Add minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, until the garlic is fragrant.
• ▢
  Push the garlic into the area with the peppers. Then add the cold cooked rice to the empty area of the pan. Allow it to toast a bit. Then combine the rice with the vegetables.
• ▢
  Add the pineapple, peas, and tamari mixture to the rice. Continue cooking until the pineapple is warmed through, stirring occasionally. Stir in a handful of chopped cilantro & pinch of salt.
• ▢
  Finish with a sprinkling of optional eggy tofu on top. For extra spice, add another drizzle of sriracha across the rice.

For the eggy tofu

• ▢
  Bring a separate non-stick skillet to a medium heat with ½ teaspoon of avocado oil.
• ▢
  Use your hands to crumble the tofu into the skillet. Allow one side of the tofu to brown before flipping it. Continue until it's fairly evenly colored.
• ▢
  Add black salt to the tofu and toss, so that it salts all sides. Start with ⅛ teaspoon and add more to taste. (If you like a very eggy fried rice, feel free to add a sprinkling of black salt to the fried rice itself just before serving.)

Notes

Using cold rice is very important for this recipe, so that the rice doesn’t clump & the seasonings get evenly combined. I recommend putting frozen rice in the refrigerator the day before to thaw, or move to the counter from the freezer if you’re in a hurry.

If you’re in a pinch, you can cook rice from scratch. Then line it on a baking sheet, and move it to the freezer to cool for about 15 minutes.

If it doesn’t matter if this dish is gluten-free, you can use soy sauce instead of gluten free tamari.

For more spice, add up to a teaspoon of curry powder with the tamari mixture, an extra drizzle of sriracha as garnish, and/or sauté chopped jalapeño & ginger with the garlic.

I recommend fresh pineapple, but canned will work fine. Just drain it first before using.

For the tofu, you won’t need a full block. Just cut off about 3 ounces of tofu from a vacuum-packed package. (Don’t worry too much about being exact.) Then save the rest in a covered container in the refrigerator to use for another recipe.

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Nutrition

Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 504mg | Potassium: 305mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3097IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

Content, recipe, and photos updated February 21, 2021. Originally posted March 12, 2014.