It’s true what they say: tofu can be some pretty bland, mushy flavorless stuff. At least that’s how it is right out of the package, and if you don’t prepare it properly it wont get much better before it reaches your plate. If you’re new to cooking with tofu, I highly recommend you check out my comprehensive guide to tofu. But also, I suggest you get cooking with a really good tofu recipe. This crispy tofu “chicken” is a great place to start!
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe will impart your tofu with both a texture and flavor akin to chicken. For the texture component, we’re freezing the tofu. Freezing tofu opens up it’s structure, giving it a spongy, porous texture that’s meatier than tofu straight from the package. It also creates little pockets for the tofu to soak up a super flavorful marinade, which is how we’re adding savory flavor to our tofu. But we’re not stopping there! To add a crispy coating to the outside of our tofu nuggets, we’ll be breading and frying them, just like the chicken nuggets you probably grew up eating. Oh, and if you’re not down with frying, I get it. That’s why I’ve included some lighter options that skip (or reduce) the oil as well as the breading.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Tofu. This recipe works best with super-firm or extra-firm tofu, though you could probably make it work with soft or firm.Vegetable broth.Nutritional yeast flakes. Don’t confuse this ingredient with baker’s yeast, which is something totally different. Nutritional yeast will add savory flavor to your marinade. Look for them in the natural foods section of your supermarket.Soy sauce. Tamari or liquid aminos will also work.Spices. We’re using ground cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.Non-dairy milk. Any variety that’s unsweetened and unflavored will work. Try soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk.White vinegar. Apple cider vinegar works too.All-purpose flour. Whole wheat flour should work too.Ground flaxseed.Salt.Cornstarch.Canola oil. Just about any high-heat oil suitable for frying can be substituted, such as peanut oil, vegetable oil, or corn oil.Vegan barbecue sauce. This is just for serving! Feel free to substitute with your favorite dipping sauce. My husband likes his tofu chicken with vegan blue cheese dressing.
The Method
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Prepare the day ahead by freezing your tofu, then thawing it. It doesn’t matter how long you freeze it, as long as the entire block becomes frozen solid. Tip: I like to keep a package of tofu in the freezer all the time for recipes like this. It can always be thawed quickly in the microwave using the defrost setting.Cut your tofu into cubes, then use a kitchen towel to gently apply pressure and blot up any water that comes out of the tofu. After you’ve done this you can place the tofu in a shallow dish.Mix up your marinade using broth, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, cumin, onion and garlic powders. Pour it over the tofu and let it soak in for a bit.
Once you’ve given your tofu some time to marinade, mix up a bowl of batter using non-dairy milk, vinegar, flour, flaxseed, and salt. Mix a second bowl of breading using flour, cornstarch, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.Heat up some oil in a medium skillet. Be generous. You want the oil to be deep enough to come roughly halfway up the sides of your tofu cubes.Grab a tofu cube and dip it first in the breading, then in the batter, then back in the breading.
Place your breaded tofu piece in the hot oil. Do this for a few more pieces of tofu, but don’t crowd them — they’ll stick together if they touch while cooking.Fry the tofu pieces for a few minutes on each side, until they’re browned and crispy.
Keep frying the tofu chicken cubes in batches until they’re all done. You may need to add some oil to the skillet between batches.Serve them while they’re hot and crispy!
Variations
You can reduce the fat and oil content in your tofu chicken by skipping the batter and breading, and pan-frying or baking the tofu. It won’t be crispy, but it will still taste good. For pan-fried tofu chicken, lightly coat the bottom of a nonstick skillet with oil, let it heat up, and cook the tofu cubes over medium heat for a few minutes on each side until they’re lightly browned. I like to drizzle a bit of reserved marinade over my tofu cubes while they cook. For baked tofu chicken, place the marinated tofu pieces on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake them for about 25 minutes at 400°F, flipping and basting them with some reserved marinade halfway through.
Leftovers & Storage
Store your tofu chicken nuggets in a sealed container in the refrigerator and they’ll keep for 3 to 4 days. To reheat, place them under a broiler and broil them for a few minutes on each side until they become crispy again.
More Tofu Recipes
Lemon & Herb Baked TofuGrilled TofuTofu Stir-Fry with Garlic SauceBBQ Baked TofuSmoked TofuSesame Ginger Marinated Tofu
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