Tofu gets a pretty bad rap, and admittedly, it can be pretty slimy depending on how it is prepared. But I am prepared to change your mind with some of my favorite baked tofu recipes.
Tofu is a tricky beast. It is packaged in water to preserve it, but you want to get as much of that water out of it as possible before cooking it. The difference between a lot of sautéed and baked tofu recipes, is that baking gets more of the moisture out. So if you have tried tofu before and weren’t a fan, give it one more shot!
Baked Tofu Recipes Base
Baked tofu can be the base for a LOT of different recipes. To make a batch, start with a block of tofu, and remove it from the package, dumping all the water out. Then wrap the tofu in a cotton towel and press even more water out. The best method is setting something heavy on top of it for a while, or you can buy an actual tofu press.
Once it is sufficiently pressed, slice it lengthwise, in very thin pieces. If you still feel a little water in the tofu, you can dab the pieces with a paper towel. Once you have gotten all the water out, lay the slices on some parchment paper on a baking sheet. At this point, I like to lightly sprinkle them with some sea salt or liquid aminos, because once the pieces are baked they won’t absorb flavor as readily. Pop them into a pre-heated 350° oven for 20 minutes, then, flip the pieces and bake for 20 more minutes. It should come out a light golden brown.
Viola – baked tofu!
Baked Tofu Recipes
So now you have baked tofu, what do you do with it? You can use this pretty interchangeably with chicken in almost any recipe, but one of my favorites is a sweet and sour stir fry. This is pretty much my go-to on busy nights when I don’t have anything planned!
I shared my sweet and sour recipe in this post, which is just 2 T vinegar, 2T liquid aminos (or soy sauce or tamari), 2 T honey, 2 T orange juice, or what I actually use is 2 drops of Young Living Orange essential oil because I don’t generally keep orange juice on hand.
I let the baked tofu pieces soak on the sweet and sour sauce for a few minutes before throwing them in the skillet with some veggies.
Another way to use baked tofu is to add it to a sandwich. Remember that the tofu doesn’t have a lot of flavor on it’s own, so you will want to add a dressing or a marinade.
Yet another way to use the baked tofu is to serve it as your main protein. I like to serve it with chickpea gravy. Trust me when I say, chickpea gravy will be the best thing you ever put in your mouth.
I Soy Don’t Care What You Think About Tofu
Some people avoid soy because of claims it can mimic estrogen in the body. I have done a lot of research into this, and you can pretty much find all sorts of internet studies backing up BOTH sides. Let me just say that I am very comfortable consuming ORGANIC non-GMO soy on a regular basis and I believe it is a very different animal than the GMO, extremely processed crap they put in every single processed food on the planet. (No, I am not prone to exaggeration, why do you ask?)
Have you ever tried tofu? Dare I ask, do you like tofu? Give these baked tofu recipes a try, you might be surprised!
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