Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice

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This Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice Rice recipe is a vibrantly flavorful tropical main dish that is both vegetarian and vegan.

Today I’m bringing you this Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice in partnership with ZICO Coconut Water; this partnership felt like such a no-brainer since coconut water is already usually part of my daily routine. I’ve stuck to ZICO since it’s one of the few brands available in my neck of the woods that doesn’t add sugar to their coconut water. Despite drinking it often as an afternoon pick-me-up, I’ve never tried incorporating coconut water into my cooking before this recipe (outside of throwing it into smoothies). I’ve made a similar version of this recipe with water before but adding ZICO’s new chilled coconut water + orange juice blend brought a deeper sweet flavor (without added sugar) that helped compliment the savory rice and veggies perfectly.

Make sure you have everything prepped before starting this recipe because you’ll need to keep your full attention on the wok or skillet since everything cooks fast over high heat. This rice is a bit stickier, but more flavorful, than the normal fried rice you’d pick up at a restaurant because of the sweet and sour sauce that it is sautéed in. You could make this with tofu or eggs instead of the tempeh but I find that tempeh holds up better to the sautéing in this recipe as tofu tends to break apart easily when handled too much.

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Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice

This Sweet and Sour Tempeh Rice Rice recipe is a vibrantly flavorful tropical main dish that is both vegetarian and vegan.

Course: Main

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Servings: 4 Servings

Author: Shelly Westerhausen

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons peanut oil , divided
• 8 ounces of tempeh , diced
• 1 red bell pepper , diced
• 1 sweet onion , diced
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 large tomato , diced
• 3 cups cooked rice (I used long grain brown rice)
• 1 cup diced pineapple (fresh or frozen)
• 1/3 cup ZICO’s Chilled Coconut Water + Orange Juice Blend
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• Cilantro , for serving

Instructions

1. In a wok or a very large non-stick skillet, heat 1-tablespoon peanut oil over medium-high.
2. Toss in the tempeh and sauté for three to five minutes or until the tempeh has browned on most sides. Transfer to a paper towel and set aside.
3. Add remaining two tablespoons of peanut oil, pepper, and onion, and garlic to hot skillet and sauté for five to seven minutes or until the vegetables begin to blister.
4. Add tempeh back to the wok with tomato chunks, rice, pineapple, ZICO’s Chilled Coconut Water + Orange Juice Blend, tomato paste, and soy sauce. Sauté until the liquid has been absorbed.
   
5. Remove from heat and serve warm with cilantro.

This post was sponsored by ZICO Coconut Water but all opinions in this post are of my own. Thank you so much for helping to support brands that keep VV thriving!