This Caribbean stir fry takes a great shortcut and adds fresh ingredients and pantry staples together for a quick delicious meal full of flavor. It proves that nutritious meals aren’t huge projects to put together, where you have to run to 18 different stores to pick up specialty ingredients.
Instead, you can focus on a few fresh ingredients and pantry items that are like your secret weapon in the kitchen for putting easy, healthy meals together. The perfect example of this? Zatarain’s Garden District Kitchen rice mixes.
These rice mixes from Zatarain’s only need ten minutes to cook on the stove, and while you get that going, you can put the other ingredients together in about the same amount of time. Does it get better and easier than that? The marinade is something else!!
In this Caribbean Stir Fry With Roasted Garlic Adobo Rice & Beans recipe, we use that exact method to get this quick dinner or meal prep ready to go ASAP.
Zatarain’s rice mixes pack in a ton of nutrients AND flavor, with half the work involved.
This roasted garlic adobo rice blend tastes so good it felt like I was cheating, since it was already packed with flavor and I didn’t have to add any from my own spice cabinet, as I usually would. Love that!
The cooking method is the same as regular rice: add the blend to a pot of boiling water with a little butter or oil. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for ten minutes until the water has been absorbed.
Boom! Flavorful rice is all ready to go. And you don’t even have to be a master rice maker to get it right.
Check out all of Zatarain’s delicious Garden District Kitchen rice mixes, including Spanish Style, Salsa Verde and Parmesan Garlic.
How to Customize this Caribbean Stir Fry
You can easily replace the tofu with chicken or shrimp in this recipe if you prefer meat to tofu! The marinade works perfectly for other proteins.
Not into bell peppers or peas? I recommend trying this with mushrooms, corn, red cabbage, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini. It’s also nice with some spinach or your favorite dark leafy greens.
Chopped green beans and cauliflower can also work! Whatever you choose, think about the colors you’re including on your plate.
How to Tweak the Jerk Marinade
- Do you love hot flavors? Use a habanero pepper instead of a jalapeno for a mighty kick in your tofu.
- You can also use cayenne to make it spicier. Start out slowly and with small amounts, and then add as you go. As with salt, it’s harder to correct over salting and over spicing/over heating your dish!
- As always, if you’re gluten-free you can substitute soy sauce for tamari or liquid aminos.
- Substitute olive oil for any oil of your choice.
- Instead of a white onion, you can use a sweet onion, red onion or shallot.
- Don’t have ginger? You can use one teaspoon of ground ginger instead.
How to Store and Reheat this Caribbean Stir Fry
This Caribbean Stir Fry With Roasted Garlic Adobo Rice & Beans recipe can last in the fridge for up to four days. It’s not freezer-friendly. I recommend reheating it in the microwave or on the stove.
It is more freezer-friendly, however, if you make this dish with chicken or ground beef, turkey, or chicken. Tofu just doesn’t take well to freezing and reheating.
Happy prepping!
If you liked this recipe, SAVE it for next time on your Easy Meal Prep Recipes board or your Vegan Meal Prep Recipes board!
TRY THESE OTHER RICE AND BEAN DISHES
- Budget Friendly Fiesta Salsa Rice and Beans
- Easiest Chicken Burrito Bowl for Meal Prep
- The Best Slow Cooked Beef Chili
- 5-Ingredient Black Bean Enchiladas
Caribbean Stir Fry With Roasted Garlic Adobo Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- 14 oz package of firm tofu pressed, then cut into cubes
Jerk Marinade
- 1 jalapeno deseeded and chopped roughly
- 1/2 white onion chopped roughly
- 1 clove garlic chopped roughly
- 1 inch ginger chopped roughly
- 2 TBSP soy sauce
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 limes for juices
- 2 TBSP brown sugar sub honey, maple syrup or agave
- 1 tsp ground thyme
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
Rice & Veggies
- 1 box Zatarain’s roasted garlic adobo brown rice with black beans
- 1 TBSP butter
- 2 TBSP olive oil divided
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 ½ red bell pepper chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- To a blender or food processor, add all the marinade ingredients. Blend until smooth, then taste and adjust any flavors as necessary. You might want it to be spicier, sweeter, saltier or you might want more lime flavor.
- Add the drained and chopped tofu to a large bowl or baking dish and cover it with the marinade. Let it marinate for 20 minutes to an hour.
- Meanwhile, cook the Zatarain’s roasted garlic adobo brown rice with black beans according to the package.
- While the rice and beans cook, add half of the olive oil to a nonstick skillet over medium heat, followed by the minced garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant, then adde the chopped bell peppers and peas. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium/high heat for about 10 minutes, until the bell pepper is soft and the peas are warmed through. Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the same nonstick skillet and let it heat up for a mintue or two. Using tongs or a fork, carefully transfer the tofu cubes to the skillet without getting too much extra marinade in the pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes over medium/high heat, flipping the pieces occasionally. You’re going for brown crispy edges.
- Add the veggies back to the skillet and spoon 3-4 spoonfuls of extra marinade over the mixture. Turn the heat up and toss everything in the sauce for 2-3 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
- Assemble: divide the rice between three meal prep containers, followed by the tofu and veggie mixture. Top with cilantro if desired.
