Sheet Pan Teriyaki Tofu with Pineapple and Veggies

Cooking sheet pan meals is such an easy way to make a quick nutritious meal, which is super important when you want to prioritize nutrition during cancer treatment and recovery. It’s also a great option for family members to whip up for you when you need some extra help with meal prep.

I love the idea of simply preparing all of your ingredients, sticking them in the oven and letting the rest take care of itself. You can also cook some rice or another grain to serve it with. This is the best, easiest meal prep around. You can make several extra batches so that you have lunches and dinners all week long, which can really make eating healthy a lot easier.

What I love about this and other sheet pan recipes is that you can absolutely make them your own. Want different veggies? Perfect! I suggest you try asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, turnips, eggplant, peppers, or onions. There is no limit to the veggies you can cook in this way. Feel free as well to use frozen varieties. I almost always use frozen butternut squash or sweet potato because it’s so much easier than chopping up the raw variety. Up to you!

The Power of Sheet Pan Meals

Recipes like this are important for a couple reasons. You need to be eating a rainbow of colors – we’re talking green, orange/yellow, purple/blue, and white in order to get a variety of nutrients to support you in treatment and recovery.

White means garlic, onions, potato and cauliflower – amazing foods for your health. My sweet potato that I bought at the store turned out to be white. That’s ok! I was aiming for yellow/orange but my white matched the tofu and went well with the teriyaki sauce.

Orange and yellow veggies (carrots, squash, peppers, and sweet potato) have a lot to offer nutritionally speaking; they contain antioxidants and nutrients like like zeaxanthin, lycopene, potassium, vitamin C and beta-carotene to support the immune system, eyes and skin health. This recipe is also well suited for folks who tell you they don’t like broccoli – pro-tip: it’s way better roasted. Or people who don’t like tofu: try extra-firm, bake it and dunk it in spicy sweet teriyaki sauce. DONE. It’s really important to try foods with different preparations than you’re used to. It may really surprise you.

Making Sheet Pan Teriyaki Tofu with Pineapple and Veggies

You can either follow this recipe directly, or you can swap in what you enjoy the most. For sheet pans, hearty veggies like crucifers and root veggies seem to work the best because they’ll bake more evenly. Keep an eye on all your veggies as they’re baking as you may need to flip some or even remove them if they’re getting too well done.

I didn’t use it in this recipe but you can always line your pan with parchment or a silicon liner to make clean-up even easier.

Get those veggies cooking and while you do, multitask to make the sauce. It is very versatile and can be used for a lot of other recipes. It may become a staple of your weekly meal prep. Teriyaki sauce is fun to make at home. I love knowing the healthy ingredients that are going into it – fresh honey, grated ginger and garlic blend with Sriracha sauce, rice vinegar and tamari for a sweet, spicy, savory combo. If you want to make it vegan, that’s easy, and you can use agave or maple syrup instead. It will maintain the same taste. I do love the thickness of honey. It complements this dish very well. You can whip it up in 5 minutes on the stove with a simple cornstarch slurry as a thickener. It’s so simple, I’m never buying teriyaki sauce again.

After the veggies are done, drizzle the sauce over the top of them and enjoy them served in a bowl on their own or over rice. It’s up to you – a win either way!

What do you think? What is your favorite sheet pan recipe?

Ingredients

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed for 15-30 minutes

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (divided)

• 2 teaspoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce

• 2 cups broccoli florets (chopped into bite-sized pieces)

• 1 medium sweet potato (peeled and cut into small cubes)

• 2 medium carrots (peeled and cut into small rounds)

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cup cubed pineapple (fresh preferred (or canned if desired))

TERIYAKI SAUCE

• 1/3 cup low sodium tamari or soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons water

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 clove garlic (minced)

• 1/2 teaspoon sriracha

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

• 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch or cornstarch whisked together with 1of water

Instructions

1. Slice the tofu into 3 slabs vertically, press again to dry the inside, then cut into small cubes and place on a greased baking sheet. Drizzle with 1.5 teaspoons olive oil and 2 teaspoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl add the broccoli florets, sweet potato, and carrots plus the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Toss until coated then place onto the other part of the baking sheet and spread out into an even layer. Add pineapple to a corner of the sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes, tossing all ingredients at 15 minutes, until the tofu is golden and crisp on the edges.

3. While the tofu and broccoli bake, make the teriyaki sauce.In a saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together all of the ingredients for the sauce except the teaspoon of arrowroot mixed with a teaspoon of water. Bring the sauce to a boil then whisk in the arrowroot-water slurry. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens then remove from heat. Once the tofu and veggies have finished baking, drizzle them with 3/4 of the teriyaki sauce and serve hot. Garnish with additional sauce if desired.