Crispy Baked Tofu
Comments(73) 
Could you eat a whole pound of tofu in one day?
I can!
Well, I almost did. When it comes to Crispy Baked Tofu, I actually have to stop myself from pigging out on it. The story is – I have a few when they first come out of the oven, because they’re so nice and crispy. Yum. Later on, I need a snack and have a few more. Yum again. Over half is gone already, I could have some more for dinner but probably best to save the rest for tomorrow. Future yum. See? I could if I really wanted to, eat a whole pound of tofu in one day.
Crispy Baked Tofu
Makes 10 to 12 slices
1 pound firm or extra firm tofu, drained and water pressed out
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tofu into 1/4″ thick slices. In a shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder and salt, mix well.
Brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Take one tofu slice and brush the sides and edges with olive oil, place in the breadcrumbs and coat well. Then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all the slices are coated.
Bake tofu slices for about 20 – 30 minutes until light golden brown and crispy, turning them over halfway through. Serve with your dipping sauce of choice – ketchup, bbq sauce, or ranch dressing.
This is wonderful and healthy, i never thought of that, thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it – an added bonus is that it makes less of a mess than frying too.
I’m one of the ones who cannot say no to tofu. especially not when crispy. ow, the stomach!
Thanks Celine! At least baked tofu is a little more healthy for those who can’t say no. :-)
This looks really good, I will have to give it a try!
This looks great, but panko breadcrumbs are made with partially hydrogenated oils…ruins the health benefits. I don’t fret overmuch about every ingredient but partially hydrogenated oils seem to be about the worst…anybody know a good panko substitute?
Trish – Thanks!
Susan – I use Ian’s Panko Breadcrumbs which does not have partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. I get it from Whole Foods, I think I may have also seen it at other grocery store too.
i can eat a whole pound of tofu in a day!!!!
hehe once i think i actually went through two boxes.
in the morning i had a tofu-berry smoothie. lunch was tofu with salad. snacks were baked tofu squares and dinner was grilled tofu!
haha. no wonder i’m tofufreak :)
Tofufreak – Wow, two boxes! It’s very easy to eat a lot of tofu, it’s so good in so many different dishes. I’m kinda of a tofufreak myself. :-)
How bout some funky dipping options? Plum sauce might be tasty? any other ideas??
Funky dipping sauces would be awesome! Plum sauce sounds very tasty. I’ve also used A1 sauce too. :-)
I’m looking forward to trying this tip on preparing tofu.
I’m thinking, as far as sauce goes, that most of the ways that either a chicken schnitzel or a piece of fried fish are served would also work well with this. (sorry to the vegetarians for mentioning that).
I might try some of the same chili sauce that would be with a piece of thai fried fish. MMM.
You’re right, a chili sauce would be so good with the tofu. Thanks!
How do these hold up for leftovers? I’m the only tofueater in the house and I’d hate to make a whole pound if I can’t store the rest for later.
They hold up really well as leftovers. You can chop them and toss into a salad or make a sandwich. They won’t be crispy anymore though, but they’re still tasty. :-)
Hi,
I made this tonight, even though I brushed the tofu with olive oil, the bread mixture kept falling.
Has this happened to you?
All in all, still tasty!
Thanks
Hi AZ – Some of the breadcrumbs do fall off. I try to get as much to stick as I can, but it’s never going to be a thick coating. Glad it still came out tasty! :-)
I make these with tofu cubes, maybe about 2/3″ squares, and the breading is a mixture of cornmeal and nutritional yeast, about half and half, with any desired seasonings. I don’t use anything to make the breading stick to the tofu, it just does – I toss the cubes in the breading, and place the cubes on a sprayed baking sheet. Then I spray the tops of the cubes and bake until crunchy. It would probably be fine without spraying the top.
That looks really good! Do you think tartar sauce would work as a dipping sauce? Kind of like a vegetarian version of fish and chips?
Thanks! Tartar sauce works great as a dipping sauce, I’ve tried it before, it’s tasty!
Hi again! I made these tonight and served them with home-made french fries and tartar sauce (mayo, diced sweet pickle, onion, and lemon juice).
Someone mentioned that they had trouble getting the breading to stick. So, instead of olive oil I used a batter made of Ener-G Egg Replacer, water, and soysauce. The breadcrumbs didn’t fall off!
I fried half of the tofu pieces (along with the potato wedges), and baked the other half. I liked the baked version better (less oily) but my husband liked the fried version better (different texture).
It reminded me of fish and chips, which I haven’t had in years. Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad the recipe worked out for you! Great idea for the breading – thanks!
Try it with Tahini sauce.
Good idea!
you people are making me hungry! and i just ate!
no one but me in my house likes tofu, but as soon as i get paid im SO going to try this! Thanks!
i love baked tofu, i have a great suggestion for you guys how i make mine! same tofu except i use Shaken’ bake and i add a little bit of cream of wheat for extra cripyness, then i just toss the tofu into the bag, shake it up, and bake it! YUMMY!!! and dip them in sweet chili sauce!!!
its amazing! but with my oven i actually have to cook it at a higher heat, between 420 and 425.
Heather – That just means there’s more tofu for you. :-)
javajunko – Thanks for your great suggestion! I’ll have to try that sometime.
cameron – Yup, different ovens, different temperatures. I also noticed a difference between using a gas oven versus an electric one and how close the heating element is to the tofu. Glad you figured out what works best for you. :-)
This is terrific! I made one change to the recipe and that was adding about 1/3 of a cup of veggie parmesan “cheese”. I ate four right out of the oven and then tried to decide what to do with the rest after they had cooled and were not crispy anymore. I ended up making a tofu parmigiana which was amazing! This recipe was such a wonderful find, they are great by themselves or as a base for something else. I will be making these over and over.
I made this again. Yum! I posted a picture this time. I improvised a bunch of stuff in the recipe and posted the changes I made, just so I wouldn’t lose them. I hope that is okay! Let me know if it isn’t, and I’ll just link to your recipe instead.
Jdub – I like eating them crispy right out of the oven. I also like them cold too. Your tofu parmigiana idea sounds delicious! I’ll have to give that a try. Thanks!
Jessica – Looks great! Thanks so letting me know.
i hate tofu…but i would try this
This sounds good, but what is nutritional yeast?? Is it different than the quick-rise yeast I use for baking breads, etc??
thanks!
miroslav – :-)
Kelly – Nutritioanl yeast is different than the quick-rise yeast used for baking. It’s a deactivated yeast that’s used as a condiment or flavoring. It’s an excellent source of protein and B-complex vitamins. It has a nutty, cheesy kind of a taste. You can usually find it in the bulk foods section at places like Whole Foods.
I was actually wondering how to bake tofu. I’ve been experimenting with it lately. Thanks for sharing. I wish I had a Whole Foods near home.
[...] recipe is from Chow Vegan (awesome website, check it out if you haven’t seen [...]
[...] recipe is from Chow Vegan (awesome website, check it out if you haven’t seen [...]
I”m on a low fat diet due to a liver problem so this is ideal. :-) Many thanks for sharing.
[...] [...]
Love the idea, but after 35 minutes in the oven the tofu is still limp. I’ve had this happen before. Any ideas on what happened?
colleen – How thick are your slices? Maybe make them thinner? I’ve also noticed the tofu texture firms up more overnight in the fridge. Of course, they’re not crispy anymore but it’s still good.
try putting the tofu slices in the breadcrumbs then dip them in soymilk then back in the breadcrumbs. yummy and thick
Good idea hannah! Thanks!
For the gluten free among us we can use corn-flake crumbs as a replacement for the breadcrumbs! Yumma.
Actually I preferred cornflake crumbs over bread crumbs long before I ever went gluten-free.
Corn-flake crumbs sounds like they would be really crunchy. I’ll have to try it sometime. Thanks!
teriyaki sauce, a little sriracha, YUM!
thank you, I make this ALL the time!
Well, I am ashamed of myself because I almost (by a mere 4 thin slices) ate a whole pound of this myself for dinner tonight.
However, I am very proud of you because you have given the world such an awesome recipe!
Thanks!
I have made these a couple of times now (they are in the oven as I type) and LOVE them. Took a batch to work and my coworkers, veggie and non-veggie loved them too. I like making smaller pieces and use either pesto/pesto-based or thai chili sauce. if you make them into little cubes they remind me of popcorn shrimp.
Zom – I’ve done that myself, it’s very easy to eat the whole thing. :-)
Tasha – Little cubes of tofu with sauce sounds great! Thanks!
It sounds simply wonderful & delish. I don’t have any panko on hand, but I did find a (japanese) steak marinade lurking about in the back of the cupboard. So I cut up some veggies I had on hand (red pepper & zucchini) and tossed it in the bag with the tofu. It’s marinading now… we’ll see how it turns out later.
I do have a silly question for you though… can you tell me the purpose of using the nutritional yeast? Thanks for the recipe idea! I am going to try making some crispy tofu next time around.
Sunny Jo – The nutritional yeast adds a bit more flavor. If you don’t have it, you can also leave it out. I’ve made it plenty of times without the nutritional yeast and it’s still good. :-)
Tried this last night for the first time, it was delicious!! My husband and 10 month old ate it all up, only leaving one piece for me!! Will definitely make it again…I also added some ground ginger and Bragg Liquid Aminos. Thanks for the easy recipe!
Chow, what type of A1 or steak sauce to you use that is vegan?
Christine H – I’ve used Kraft A1 steak sauce before but I haven’t eaten A1 in awhile now. From their website, the ingredients are:
TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), DISTILLED VINEGAR, CORN SYRUP, SALT, RAISIN PASTE, CRUSHED ORANGE PUREE, SPICES AND HERBS, DRIED GARLIC AND ONION, CARAMEL COLOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), XANTHAN GUM.
[...] the tofu be (essentially) deep fried and I didn’t want to do that either. So I used this Crispy Baked Tofu recipe from chowhound. The tofu worked out great. I especially loved the tofu with the ketchup [...]
OOO…OH YEAH…
Baked tofu is so wonderful, and especially great for when you travel or just munching on around the home.
For making the Tofu a different texture, I put the tofu package in the Freezer first. Then, thaw it out. Press it to squish out the water, like squishing a sponge, I use the palm of my hand with fingers together and press.
You can then bread and bake as per directions.
I love using yummy Nutritional Yeast for part of the breading ingredients. It can be purchased online at various places, if you are not near a local store which carries it. Just put in a search for Nutritional Yeast and many places will show up. You can buy bulk by the pound for MUCH cheaper than a tiny five-ounce container sold in some stores or online, so buy it in bulk if you can.
I also have been feeding Nutritional Yeast to my cat friends for over five years. They love their “sprinkles”. maybe a quarter teaspoon or less at at time. Because of the B Vitamins, this helps repel parasite-type biting critters from their bodies. (fleas, ticks, etc.) At least this has been our personal experience, according to time, place and circumstance.
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[...] I remembered having some baked tofu strips that were really good at a vegetarian potluck last year and google pointed me in the direction of this recipe for crispy baked tofu. [...]
[...] recipe for the crispy baked tofu is here. But as I’ve mentioned before, I can’t leave well enough alone so [...]
These taste AMAZING with rhubard chutney.
Hey Chow, the oven is just cooling down and tofu strips sit happily in my tum, along with a few baked potato fries….(she sighs contentedly). My suggestion is the thinner the strips the better as they have a better coating to tofu ratio, so flavoursome and crispy. Lovely, lovely.
[...] the pieces in a vegan-mayo/honey/mustard mixture to get the bread crumbs to stick but I spotted this recipe and decided to try olive oil instead. I prefer the former. And I would have gotten a better picture [...]
[...] pretty bland, so it's all about the sauce. Try This! Baked Tofu | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn Crispy Baked Tofu | Chow Vegan I make a great Asian chopped salad with baked tofu. can give you the recipe if you [...]
I’m about to make this, but instead of breadcrumbs I am going to crush up Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds cereal and use that, then try a thai peanut butter dipping sauce. Might sound crazy, but also sounds delicious!
Nick – it sounds crazy good! :-)
I am so in love with a local Thai restaurant’s “Crunchy Tofu” that I had go looking for a recipe. Totally jazzed about trying this out! About the funky sauces – I’m making a Thai sweet chili sauce (not original there – it’s what they serve at the restaurant).
These were delicious! Even my super picky, vegetable-hating husband ate them without complaining. I just sprinkled them lightly with soy sauce and served them alongside a savory quinoa and chard dish. I’ll definitely make these again.
I have made these twice. Once with nutritional yeast and once without. Both times they never got crispy, and most of the breading fell off!!! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!!!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times & played around with ingredients. Today I brushed the thin slices with sesame oil & added sesame seeds to the breading mix & used regular bread crumbs. Yum!
I also press the tofu, freeze it, then thaw and press more. It makes a big difference in getting the firmest tofu. (I do this process over a few days, just when I happen to be in the kitchen.)
I love that recipe and as a dipping sauce, I used Oyster Sauce.
Very delicious
[...] to allow the flavor to permeate more thoroughly, but it’s not necessary for this recipe from Chow Vegan. I prefer tofu in long thin slices, but smaller pieces will work well also. Baked tofu is great [...]
[...] though I have never attempted a breadcrumb coating. You can find the recipe I generally followed here. My only change was to make my own breadcrumbs by toasting two pieces of gluten-free brown rice [...]