Many followers shared with me about their main challenges in making bento recently. The main reason that people find making bento challenging is the required time and effort.

I for one can empathize the pain. There are times when I feel unmotivated and exhausted from work and school, and the least thing I want to do is spending time planning lunch menus. Not to mention cooking!

To save your time and still eating healthy homemade bento, I invented this recipe of tomato tofu sauce and three ways of using it in different bentos. These three bentos featured tomato tofu sauce as a:

Tomato Tofu Sauce Recipe

Yield: 8 bentos

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, grated or minced
• 8 oz grounded meat of choice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 7 oz extra firm tofu
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1.5 cup cherry tomato, halved
• 1.5 tablespoon hot sauce of choice

Method:

1. Use medium heat to heat the pan and add vegetable oil to saute minced garlic. Add grounded meat and fry till the color turns to light brown.
2. Add soy sauce and break extra firm tofu into the pan. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cherry tomatoes. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add hot sauce of choice and give it a nice stir.

Enjoy and happy cooking!