Chicken-fried steak and I go way back. I have fond memories of making and eating them at my grandparents’ place as a youngster. Not so much the eating of the meat part, but the whole experience of visiting the kitchen of my grandparents’ Chinese and American food cafe.
While I haven’t had chicken-fried steak for many, many years now, I thought I could apply the same cooking method to tofu. Chicken-fried doesn’t actually have chicken in it; it’s a cutlet, battered and fried in a skillet like fried chicken, hence the name. Except I’m baking mine for a healthier version, it still came out very tasty and nostalgic.
Chicken-Fried Tofu
Makes 8 pieces
1 pound fresh firm tofu
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Old Bay seasoning
Salt
Cut the tofu into 1/4″ slices and wrap in paper towels. Place a weight on top for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a shallow bowl, combine the nutritional yeast and breadcrumbs and mix well. Dip the tofu slices in the soy sauce and place in the breadcrumbs mixture, coat well on both sides. Place coated pieces on a oiled baking pan.
Season to taste with Old Bay and salt. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over, season and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately with creamy gravy on the side.
Creamy Gravy
Makes 1 cup
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup soy milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Poultry seasonings (a mix of sage, oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme and salt) to taste
In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the flour. Whisk the flour and butter together to form a roux. Add the soy milk gradually, whisking constantly until smooth and lump free. Lower the heat and continue stirring until the gravy reaches desired thickness. If necessary, thin with a bit more soy milk. Add the salt and pepper and poultry seasonings to taste. Stir to combine and serve.
I’ve been wanting to try tofu prepared like this for a while. We’re off to see a band tonight, but I’ll be back to note your recipe another night! Looks delicious.
Thanks Lisa! I know what you mean. I wanted to try making vegan chicken-fried for awhile now too and finally got around to it. :-)
that looks delicious! such beautiful pictures show it off well too. i am not a huge cook, but this recipe looks simple enough for me to tackle, and glancing over it i realize i have all the ingredients. i will try it out and get back to you! yum!
quarrygirl – thanks for your comments! It is a fairly simple recipe, I would love to hear how it came out for you if you do try it. :-)
Yum! I can’t wait to try this. Nice photo too.. I just licked my computer screen.
Wow!
Thanks for the recipe, Chow; it sounds and looks amazing!! I can’t wait to try it!
Peace & Light!
tried it, and it is SO incredibly delicious!
why need nutritional yeast? what is means by 375 degrees?
Nutritional yeast adds flavor and helps with the breading. The oven needs to be at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hey there, love you blog! I just made this last night and posted it on my blog. Thank you for such an awesome recipe! I could eat this every day…:-)
Cheers,
Amanda
sorry, I meant I love YOUR blog lol..
I know this is an old recipe now, but I did this tonight. It was very tasty. I used a different seasoning instead of old bay, and used another brand of bread crumbs instead of panko. I also put the seasoning into the nutritional yeas/bread crumb mix. I have added this to my recipe binder.
Wow, this was delicious! I’ve experimented with baking tofu with similar methods and wasn’t impressed with them, but this recipe is right on the money! Very nice country gravy too!
I have all the ingredients on hand, except nutritional yeast. Could I just substitute more bread crumbs for the yeast?
lucyyyy – Yes, you probably could just sub it. The nutritional yeast adds flavor and some of the texture as you can see in the photo but it should be ok without. I would love to hear how it came out if you do make it. :-)
Just made this for dinner–so delicious. My non-veg roommate loved it, too, and told me the kitchen smelled like KFC when he got home.
One change I made was to add about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast to the gravy. I really liked the additional flavor. In the future, I’d also opt for low sodium soy sauce. I’m a huge fan of Old Bay and the salt in that plus the soy sauce made it a little too salty for my tastes.
thanks so much–I love your blog and will definitely make this again!
I made the tofu last night, and it turned out great–nice and crispy and flavorful! I added more spice to the breadcrumb mixture, including poultry seasoning, salt, and some Old Bay spice, plus more nutritional yeast. I made my own gravy and some mashed potatoes and veggies, and it was a hit with my whole family, including my three kids, mom, and sister. Thanks for the recipe! Baking the tofu was much easier and less messy than the way I’ve tried to pan-fry it in the past. We’ll be having tofu sandwiches for lunch! =)
I was trying to think of what to do for dinner tonight for myself and my toddler and remembered seeing this recipe a few years ago. :P So, this was the first time I’ve ever made tofu this way… and it was great. :)
I didn’t have Old Bay seasoning, and I generally don’t add salt to many recipes… so I just skipped those. I used Bragg’s Aminos instead of the soy sauce and made the gravy, too. Yum!
Thanks for a great, easy recipe!
All I can say is AWESOME!!!!! I literally go back for seconds every time my husband makes this meal for dinner. It makes my mouth water every time I even think about it!
saw this months ago, but finally got around to making it tonight – my hubby & i agree, this is our new favorite tofu recipe! didn’t have old bay so i used italian flavored panko breadcrumbs, and added a little “chick’n” seasoning before putting in the oven. awesome!
Can you believe how long this recipe has been kickin’ around, and folks (like me) are still lovin’ it? KUDOS, girl…..well done! And, thank you for sharing this. It’s WONDERFUL!!
Oh my gosh…..this was delicious!! Thanks!
This turned out so well. All but the gravy. There was only sweetened almond milk ( i dont like soy) at the store so it turned out too sweet. I tossed out the gravy and added red skinned mashed potatoes as a side. The result was amazing. I will try this recipe again.
Bummer on the gravy. I have eaten it without the gravy before and it’s totally fine and good. Mashed potatoes sound like a great side, that alone makes up for no gravy… :-)