Baked Tofu
This is my mom’s recipe, and I cannot remember where it originated. Maybe the farm tofu cookbook? In any case, it’s a great recipe. Derek and I served it at Thanksgiving and everyone really liked it (and these were not a bunch of tofu eaters!).
Note: I’ve updated the ingredient amounts to reflect my mom’s note below.
Preheat the oven to 375.
Oil two cookie sheets with 1 Tbs. olive oil each. Do *not* use non-stick cookie sheets, or the tofu will not crisp up properly. Dark colored cookie sheets are the best–with lighter colored sheets the tofu doesn’t come out as well.
Cut across the short side of the tofu, slicing it into 1/4 inch slices (about 12 slices per 14-ounce block of tofu, or 14 slices per 16-ounce block of tofu).
- 3 lbs firm tofu
Let the tofu slices sit while you make the breading. Mix together in a flat bowl:
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour (you might get away with 1 cup flour, but you’ll be scrounging at the end)
- 1 – 1.5 tsp. salt (my mom likes it with the higher amount, and it does taste good, but it’s pretty salty)
- 1.5 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes (this can be omitted if you don’t have it–or substitute another herb like oregano)
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 2 Tbs. nutritional yeast
In a small bowl mix together: (lately I’ve been using 2 Tbs. soy sauce and 4 Tbs. water and it seems fine)
- 4 Tbs. soy sauce
- 2 1/2 Tbs. water
Dip each slice of tofu into the soy sauce mixture and then into the flour mixture, covering each side, but shaking off any excess flour so they don’t turn out too “floury”. Place the tofu slices on the oiled cookie sheet. The tofu slices can be placed very close together, as long as they’re not touching they will cook fine. If you made 12 slices per block, you’ll need to fit 18 slices on each cookie sheet, so plan accordingly! (A tip for making the tofu–use your left hand for the soy sauce bowl and your right hand for the flour bowl and you won’t get nearly so glue-y.)
Bake for 20 minutes on each side, or until the tofu starts to brown and the flour no longer looks “floury.” Halfway through flip the tofu. When you flip them, the breading should be slightly browned. If the breading is sticking to the pan or coming off the tofu when you try to flip them that means they haven’t cooked long enough on that side. Also, when you flip the tofu, switch the top and bottom cookie sheets. The cooking time will vary somewhat depending on the color of your cookie sheets, the thickness of your tofu slices, and the water content of the tofu. Be sure not to overcook the tofu, as it will become tough and too chewy. The texture should be crisp on the outside and still a bit moist in the inside, not totally dried out.
Depending on exactly how thin you sliced your tofu, and how closely you place them on the cookie sheet, you may have quite a bit of soy sauce and breading mixture left, and possibly room left on your cookie sheets as well. No matter how many times I make this I never quite use the same amount.
The size of the slices is quite important–too thin and the tofu gets too crisp and kind of tough, and too thick and they don’t brown enough, but it will depend also on the brand of tofu you have. You might try varying the thickness a bit to see what works best with your tofu. I like to use Nasoya firm for this recipe. I find that White Wave firm is a little too firm, and is more likely to get tough. If I use White Wave I opt for the medium tofu rather than firm.
This is a pretty big recipe. I think 3 pounds of tofu will serve 6 to 9 people (6 pieces to 4 pieces each, 1/2 pound to 1/3 pound of tofu per person). Then again, I’ve served it at a dinner with four hungry people and had it all eaten up (9 pieces each, 3/4 pound of tofu per person!).
I often serve baked tofu with a yogurt dipping sauce–yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and mustard. I’ve also tried it with a yogurt, cilantro, mint sauce, but I think it was a bit too overpowering for the mild tasting tofu.
This recipe always seems quite decadent to me, but it’s actually relatively low calorie when eaten in moderation. Of course, the challenge is to eat it in moderation. It is quite high in sodium though, and high fat and high protein (about 39% of calories, and 29% of calories respectively), so balance it out with some not very salty greens or salad, and a starchy vegetable or grain, and you’ll have a great meal.
Rating: A-
Derek: A-
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Serving Size: 6 slices |
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| Amount Per Serving | |||||
| Calories | 304 | ||||
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| Total Fat | 12.8g | ||||
| Saturated Fat | 0.6g | ||||
| Cholesterol | 0mg | ||||
| Sodium | 2433mg | ||||
| Carbohydrate | 23.9g | ||||
| Dietary Fiber | 2.5g | ||||
| Sugars | 0.2g | ||||
| Protein | 21.2g | ||||
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daily beard said,
July 6, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Your blog rules!
I’ve been eating a lot of canned food, but cold. It’s strange because I attended cooking school. Burn out. I know.
The other day I had a can of heniz vegetarian beans and a diced up tofu pup while I obsessively read and made blogs.
Your site inspires me out of the depths of my food rut.
Viva
captious said,
October 6, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Got this note from my friend Zelly: I made the “Baked Tofu” recipe from your blog last night for dinner along with the polenta and greens. First off, that baked tofu is outstanding! Definitely deserves the A-. I think I’m beginning to understand the RRRS (Rose Recipe Rating System). The husband man even liked them and he, well, pretty much thinks tofu is yucky. He had seconds!
Made the Baked Tofu again last night. Put them too close together and they didn’t crisp up very well. I ended up cooking them longer and that worked. I had one piece for breakfast this morning with an english muffin – very tasty and it satisfied my desire for something savory.
susan said,
November 1, 2006 at 6:39 am
I think the baked tofu need another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and another 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. And 2 teaspoons of parsley. It isn’t spicy enough for me.
I made it for a cooking class of 65+ers and they also thought it could have been spicier, but they did eat it all up.
And I like to cook it 25 minutes on the first side and 10 on the second side.
I agree with your A- rating.
cindy said,
January 17, 2007 at 9:26 am
YUM! I made 30 oz of tofu, had about 7 thin slices and then my fiance (who also isn’t a big fan of tofu) ate the rest! Now he wants to make it for a big group at a teen retreat.
I used one block of firm Nasoya & one of extra firm. I liked the extra firm better. Do heed Rose’s warning to shake off the extra flour mixture. I used too much and had to spray olive oil on some and put them back in the oven (those did end up crisping very nicely, which I love).
I also mixed up a yogurt dipping sauce but it didn’t turn out quite right. Rose, what proportions of yogurt/mustard/lemon/garlic do you use?
This recipe proves that non-deep fried versions of food can outdo their fatty cousins
Thanks!!
captious said,
February 16, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Here are working proportions for the yogurt sauce:
3/4 cup nonfat yogurt
1 medium garlic crove, crushed
2 tsp. mustard
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
It made just the right amount for 3 pounds of tofu (4 hungry people).
cindy said,
September 11, 2007 at 3:37 am
This is how much I love this recipe: I had my husband bring nutritional yeast from the US to China so I could make this (and enjoy the yeast on my popcorn!). It\’s in my 1940s toaster oven right now, so hopefully it will turn out okay. I\’m also going to make the yogurt sauce (BTW, both the mustard for the sauce and garlic powder for the tofu are from Kazakhstan). Thanks again!
cindy said,
September 11, 2007 at 4:27 am
Follow-up: OMG, so delicious! It\’s a little salty (as you warned)…I think it\’s mostly because the soy sauce here has mega-sodium. Reduced-sodium varieties? I dream. The texture was even better this time because I froze the tofu and then thawed it and then made the recipe (I don\’t know why but the texture changes a lot when you freeze tofu). Yum, luckily I only made half a batch.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts « From the kitchen of a captious vegetarian said,
January 9, 2008 at 8:39 am
[...] I’ve served them with a yogurt mustard sauce, like the one I described in my recipe for baked tofu. It goes wonderfully with the sprouts, with the mustard faintly echoing the cruciferous tastes of [...]
Xavier Shay said,
January 10, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I made this. I also had some pumpkin so I coated that too. Served with spinach and red quinoa. Pretty good.
http://flickr.com/photos/18919286@N08/3187014442/
captious said,
January 11, 2009 at 5:57 am
Your tofu looks pretty different than the tofu that I make, I wonder why? Would you make it again Xavier?
susan said,
January 11, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I think what you think is different looking might be the pumpkin.
I use the coating to make baked eggplant slices.
Pumpkin, hmm?