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The most amazing vegetarian nuggets are baked to crispy perfection. They’re so good that you might finish a few servings in one sitting! {Vegan, Vegetarian}
I’m not a huge sports fan but I get super excited about football season every year, because it is the time that friends gather to have fun and enjoy party food. Recently I noticed that I’m getting more and more requests for vegetarian snacks. That’s why I developed these vegan crispy tofu nuggets that taste even better than chicken nuggets!
These tofu nuggets are perfect for your next game day party, because they are fussless to prepare, extra yummy, and even taste great when cold. I developed a batter that not only makes the tofu extra flavorful without marinating, but also is more adhesive than the average egg wash and can easily coat the tofu with more breadcrumbs. That equals extra crunchiness.
The recipe works great for baked tofu or fried tofu. If you want your tofu nuggets to have that beautiful, even, golden color, you need to deep-fry them. However I always opt to bake them. They might not look as perfect, but believe me, nobody will notice because they’ll be gone in a few seconds.
To make great tofu nuggets that hold together, here are a few things to note:
- Make sure you use firm tofu. Extra firm tofu works even better.
- Squeeze the water out of the tofu and dry it thoroughly, so your nuggets won’t turn out soggy.
- Cut the tofu into even chunks that are about 1/3 of an inch thick, so they will come out crunchy and be cooked thoroughly.
To serve these tofu nuggets, there are a few options such as the classic ranch or ketchup. However my favorite dipping sauce is Thai sweet chili sauce. My other favorite sauce is this homemade vegan Sriracha mayo.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can prepare the tofu in advance, bring it to the party, and reheat it in the oven or serve it cold. The breadcrumbs will stay crunchy and crispy no matter what.
Definitely try out these crispy tofu nuggets for your next game day party. Even if you’re not a football fan, make some for movie night and I’m sure everybody will love them!
More vegetarian party food
- Crispy Tofu with Garlic Sauce (without Deep-Frying)
- Low Sugar Kettle Corn (Better Than Caramel Corn)
- Szechuan Spicy Peanuts (Huang Fei Hong Spicy Peanuts)
- Crispy Hoisin Tofu Tacos with Creamy Sriracha Sauce
Baked Crispy Tofu Nugget
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz/ 396 g) House Foods extra firm tofu (or firm tofu)
Batter
- 1/2 cup soy milk (or other plant-based milk)
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons parsley , dried (or Italian seasoning blend)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Coating
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
Serving options
- Thai sweet chili sauce, ketchup, Sriracha sauce, or mayonnaise
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F (200 C). Spray a thin layer of oil onto a baking tray.
- Carefully press the tofu with your hands. Wrap a few layers of kitchen paper towels (or cheesecloth) around it to absorb the extra liquid. Cut tofu into squares that are about 1/3 inch (1 cm) thick and 2 inches (4 cm) long.
- Mix the batter in a large bowl. Mix the panko and cornmeal in another bowl.
- Set up your workstation by placing the batter, plate of panko mixture, and the baking tray all in a row.
- Pick up a piece of tofu with your hand and dunk it into the batter. Then place it into the panko bowl, flip to coat the other side, then transfer it onto the baking tray. Repeat the process with the remaining tofu.
- Spray tofu with a thin layer of oil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping once in between, until both surfaces turn golden.
- Serve hot or cold with homemade sweet chili sauce, ketchup, Sriracha sauce, or mayonnaise.
Never been a huge fan of tofu but this looks amazing! Nice work, love your blog btw.
These look amazing! Is there any reason why dairy milk cannot be used in place of soy milk?
Hi Mary, yes you can use dairy milk for this recipe. I used soy milk because it will allow people who follows a vegetarian diet to cook it.
This looks delicious, I’ve never heard of anything like it before, and I love tofu. Those are three huge bonuses!
Wonderful recipes, thank you so much for taking the time to perfect them before passing on.
Hi Maggie
I’d like to try this easy recipe.
May I Juz use normal fresh milk instead?
JN
Yes you could use normal milk instead. Happy cooking!
Excellent treat/recipe. Made this recipe two nights ago and will definitely do again. Perhaps not as crispy as deep fried but way more healthier. Next time I’ll spend a bit more time on getting water out of the tofu – maybe that will crisp them up even more. Please keep up the great work.
Hi Rob, I’m glad to hear you tried this recipe! Yeah I admit the texture of fried food is hard to replace, but I do like the crunchy texture of this one. And yes, squeeze out more water does help. Hope you’re having a great start of the New Year and I’m happy to hear from you 🙂
What can i substitute with cornmeal cos its not easily available here.
Hi Chrystie, you can substitute the cornmeal with bread crumbles. Happy cooking!
Maggie, my family is vegan/vegetarian and we all loved this tofu recipe so much. I made some vegetable stir-fry and topped it with these delicious nuggets. I’m sure it will become a staple in our dinner rotation. Thank you so much for posting it.
Hi Vix, I’m so glad to hear you like the recipe! It’s such a great idea to serve veggie stir fries with it. Yum! Can’t wait to try it out myself the next time. Have a great day!
Hi, this looks great. How can I put the oil on because I don’t know how I would spray it. Thank you
I just come upon several of your recipes today. They all look so fantastic , and most importantly, simplied to be used in everday home kitchens for busy lives! I will be looking your recipes s lot! Thank you so much!
Hello! This looks amazing. Can I use regular mustard instead of Dijon? Thanks!
Yes, regular mustard totally works too! Happy cooking 🙂
Oh, my goodness…these Baked Tofu Nuggets are really, really, good. I was concerned that I would have trouble locating this via a Google search and thankfully I did not have to search for very long. I am absolutely writing down this recipe along with the website. I remember making a flavourful soup that I found online, and when I went back to look for the recipe, the programmers removed it from their website. Yeap…Bummer!!!
At any rate, thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe and baked at that. It’s difficult to find a really good crispy tofu recipe. I avoid deep frying, so this was perfect. Truthfully this recipe is out of this world and should have a ten star rating as opposed to only a five star rating – actually there are no words that can explain or express just how delicious it really is. One just has to try it to find out for themselves, lol.
Bravo and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart, lol. Yeap, that is how much I love the recipe. 🙌
Tasty! Ate it with Thai sweet red chili sauce. Easy to make. Thanks for the recipes, will be trying more of them.
When my almost two years old picky eater twins said “More! More!” my heart leapt with joy and I wanted to sob. I’m so glad I found your recipe. Thank you! I enjoyed them too. Side note: I accidentally bought cubed extra firm tofu and it still worked, cooked for 15-20 min.
So good I almost could’ve been fooled if you told me it was chicken!
Wonder if this could be adapted for an air-fryer?
Excellent way to eat tofu. I ate it with a sauce made of a vegan mayo and sriracha. Definitely a repeat!
About to make this for the second time! Absurdly delicious and surprisingly easy. I keep forgetting to pick up corn meal and they’re still fantastic even without it. Can’t wait to try them a third time with it!