Baked Tofu Nuggets
These Vegan Tofu Nuggets are baked and not fried and taste just like Southern fried chikin with my secret marinade & spice mix! Nutfree Glutenfree
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 14 ounce extra firm tofu pressed for at least 20 minutes
For the marinade:
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons oil
For spice coating
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Ground sage
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon celery seeds or use ½ teaspoon celery salt and use only ¼ salt earlier
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- A generous pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning or mix of 1/8 teaspoons each of sage, thyme, rosemary
- 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or tapioca starch
To serve
- vegan barbeque or vegan ranch or hot sauce or dips of choice
- Garnish cilantro or green onion
Instructions
- Press the tofu if you haven’t already, then break into bite size pieces using your hands. Keep them at least 1 inch in size, add to a bowl.
- Marinate: Then add the marinade ingredients to the bowl and toss well to coat, let the tofu sit for 5 minutes(or longer in the fridge till ready to bake)
- Spice coating: In another small bowl add all of the coating ingredients and 1 ½ tablespoons of corn starch and mix really well.
- The marinade should have gotten absorbed in the tofu, there shouldn’t be any liquid left. Sprinkle all of the spice coating mixture over the tofu and toss well to coat. If the tofu is too wet then add some more cornstarch, 1 teaspoon at a time. Then spread this tofu on parchment lined baking sheet and keep at least ½ inch distance between all the pieces.
- Bake at 400F(205c) for 20-25 minutes or until the tofu is crisp to preference
- Depending on the brand of tofu, if it’s a good extra firm tofu then the coating will get crisp around 23-24 minutes and if the tofu is a bit softer then the outside will get crisp, but tofu might be somewhat soft in the middle.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven then let it cool for a few minutes before plating it and serving it with dips of choice. You can also use this tofu to add to wraps or tacos or serve it as a side.
Video
Notes
- Tear your tofu instead of slicing it into cubes. Tearing your tofu means there are more rough edges for not only the marinade to soak into, but for the cornstarch spice mix to coat the tofu.
- For extra crispy tofu: use 1/4 -1/3 cup breadcrumbs instead of cornstarch
- To make this soy free, use 12-14 oz seitan or use cauliflower florets. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce
- Variation: use (6-7 oz)dry soycurls, then rehydrate in warm stock, squeeze out excess stock and proceed.
- To make this without onion garlic, omit them and add 1/8 teaspoon asafetida(hing) or 1/8 teaspoon fenugreek powder. If you don’t have these, add a teaspoon of miso to the marinade and add 1/2 teaspoon a oregano to the spice mix
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 698mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 257IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 2mg