Gado-Gado
Prep
20 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Flavor
Nutty · sweet · spicy · fresh
The Story
Why this dish — and how it became plant-based
Gado-gado is Javanese street food at its most generous: a platter of just-blanched vegetables, golden fried tofu and tempeh, boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, all united by a peanut sauce so rich you could eat it with a spoon. It is the dish that proves a salad can absolutely be the main event.
Almost every component is already plant-based; only the eggs need to go, and they aren't doing anything the tempeh and tofu aren't already doing better. Make the peanut sauce from scratch — it takes 5 minutes and is the difference between dinner and revelation.
Ingredients
What you'll need
Vegetables (each blanched separately, 30 sec–2 min)
- •200g green beans, trimmed
- •1 small cabbage, shredded
- •2 cups bean sprouts
- •1 medium cucumber, sliced
- •2 medium potatoes, boiled and cubed
- •Optional: ½ cup blanched water spinach (kangkung)
Protein
- •200g extra-firm tofu, cubed and pan-fried until golden
- •150g tempeh, sliced and pan-fried until crispy
Peanut sauce
- •¾ cup natural peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
- •1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- •1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce) — or 1 tsp soy sauce + 2 tsp brown sugar
- •1 tbsp tamarind paste (or 2 tbsp lime juice)
- •1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
- •2 garlic cloves, grated
- •1 small red chile (or sambal oelek to taste)
- •1 tsp grated ginger
- •½ cup warm water (more to thin)
- •Pinch of salt
To finish
- •Crispy fried shallots
- •Krupuk (shrimp-free vegetable crackers — emping or melinjo)
- •Lime wedges
- •Fresh cilantro
Method
Step by step
- 1
Make the peanut sauce: whisk all sauce ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Taste and adjust — should be punchy, sweet, sharp and just spicy enough to wake you up. Add warm water a tablespoon at a time to reach a thick-yogurt consistency.
- 2
Boil the potatoes until tender, 12 minutes. Drain.
- 3
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch each vegetable separately for the right time — green beans 2 min, cabbage 1 min, bean sprouts 30 sec. Plunge into ice water after each. Drain.
- 4
Pat tofu dry. Pan-fry cubes in 2 tbsp oil until golden on all sides. Pan-fry tempeh slices alongside until crispy.
- 5
Arrange everything on a wide platter or 4 individual plates: potatoes in one corner, each blanched vegetable in its own pile, cucumber slices fanned out, tofu and tempeh in the centre.
- 6
Pour the peanut sauce generously over the centre. Don't pour over everything — half the joy is the contrast of bright vegetables next to glossy sauce.
- 7
Top with crispy shallots, a few krupuk crackers stuck in at angles, cilantro and lime wedges.
- 8
At the table, mix it all up — 'gado-gado' means 'mix-mix' for a reason.
The Veganisation
Traditional → Plant-Based, swap by swap
Original
Hard-boiled egg
Plant-based
Extra crispy tofu or seasoned chickpeas
Original
Shrimp-based krupuk
Plant-based
Emping or melinjo crackers (made from nuts)
Chef Notes
Get it right the first time
- →Blanch each vegetable separately. Different vegetables = different times. Otherwise some will be mushy and others raw.
- →Use natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt). Skippy-style adds sweeteners and oils that throw off the balance.
- →Kecap manis is THE secret ingredient — sweet, syrupy, garlicky. If you can't find it, soy sauce + brown sugar gets you close.
- →Krupuk crackers add the essential crunch contrast. Make sure they're the vegetable (emping/melinjo) kind, not shrimp-based prawn crackers.
- →Sauce keeps a week in the fridge. Thin with warm water before serving.
Serve with
Steamed jasmine rice or coconut rice · Iced tea with lime · Sambal oelek on the side for heat-lovers
Questions
Gado-Gado — frequently asked
Is this Gado-Gado recipe fully vegan?
How long does Gado-Gado take to make?
Can I make Gado-Gado ahead and store leftovers?
What should I serve with Gado-Gado?
Keep cooking
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One Plate, Two Wins
Delicious tonight. Kind every night.
Every traditional dish has a plant-based soul waiting to be uncovered — you just have to listen to the spices, not the meat.
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