This simple marinated tofu recipe requires no cooking and delivers unbelievable umami taste with low effort! Flavored with soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger, it’s excellent for meal prep and wholesome weeknight dinners.
I’ll admit it—I wasn’t at all times a tofu believer. However then I found this game-changing marinated tofu (and some different simple tofu recipes) that utterly reworked my relationship with this plant-based protein!
This marinated tofu is full of savory umami flavors from toasted sesame oil, recent ginger, garlic, and soy sauce, plus inexperienced onions and sesame seeds for texture and freshness. The most effective half? You don’t even have to cook dinner it! Simply press, marinate, and revel in. It’s develop into one in every of my favourite meal prep staples! Throw it in a bowl with rice, soba noodlesor quinoa and a few recent veggies, and also you’ve obtained an on the spot wholesome lunch or dinner!
Easy methods to make this simple marinated tofu recipe
Alex and I truly obtained the thought for this marinated tofu recipe from a dinner we ate on the Chicago Halfway airport. Wait: an airport? Sure, I do know, I can confidently say that that is the primary and solely recipe on this web site that has ever been impressed by airport delicacies!
O, so we had been at Chicago Halfway and we would have liked a wholesome dinner quick. Miraculously, Alex discovered some sushi and a field of marinated tofu. After the primary chew, neither of us might cease consuming it! It was significantly savory and satisfying, however tasted recent and wholesome on the identical time.
This marinated tofu is the definition of simple: there are principally two steps. Press, then marinate. There’s fairly a little bit of water in tofu, so to be able to infuse it with taste you’ll have to press it. Nevertheless: we’ve developed a fast method to do it!
A tip for urgent tofu—quick!
Many tofu recipes require urgent tofu for about 1 hour to empty it earlier than beginning the recipe. That is difficult on a weeknight, so I made a decision to analysis sooner methods to press the water out of tofu. There’s truly a shocking trick for dashing up urgent tofu: the microwave!
Oddly sufficient, when you microwave tofu for two minutes, it extracts fairly a little bit of liquid. Then place the items on a dry towel, place a slicing board on prime, and prime it with a heavy object. The load will extract extra water, and it is going to be finished after simply quarter-hour.
Easy methods to marinade tofu
After urgent the tofu, all it’s important to do is marinade the tofu for half-hour. Merely let it sit in a bowl with the marinade. The flavors are balanced with savory, candy, tangy, and spicy: soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil, tangy rice vinegar, maple syrup and a contact of gochujang scorching sauce for a touch of warmth.
Throw that every one along with some minced inexperienced onion and sesame seeds, and it’s so flavorful, you received’t know what hit you. After we first served this marinated tofu to our 2 yr previous, it disappeared instantly!
No cooking required (however you possibly can when you like)
With this simple marinated tofu, you don’t cook dinner it. This makes it 100% simpler than any baked the tactic. Tofu is suitable for eating uncooked as a result of it’s heat-treated throughout its manufacturing course of.
After all, you possibly can cook dinner it when you’d prefer to! You possibly can Pan Fry it or make baked tofu. However this simple marinated tofu recipe actually doesn’t should be cooked: it’s extraordinarily flavorful with out the fuss.
Is tofu wholesome?
Sure! Tofu is a part of a nutritious diet. In keeping with Harvardsoy is a nutrient-dense supply of protein that may safely be consumed a number of occasions per week. It’s doubtless to offer well being advantages—particularly when eaten as a substitute for pink and processed meat.
Serving options for marinated tofu
This marinated tofu is so easy as a result of it’s principally fingers off: there’s actually solely about 10 minutes of energetic time. This provides you ample time to organize the remainder of a meal. As a result of it will probably retailer refrigerated for as much as 5 days, it’s excellent for lunches! How would we serve this marinated tofu? Attempt serving it:
Lunch bowls: I like pairing this tofu with seasoned quinoa and pan fried broccoli for a protein-packed lunch. Add some tahini dressing to deliver all of it collectively.
With noodles for dinner: Serve it with peanut noodles or fast soba noodles with steamed greens.
Grain bowls: Layer it over brown rice with simple edamame and recent greens. I usually add sliced cucumber and shredded carrots.
Stir fry addition: Toss it into fried rice or cauliflower fried rice over the past minute of cooking for further protein with out extra cooking time.
Wholesome snacking: Get pleasure from it straight with chopsticks—it’s that good! It’s nice for workplace lunches with some crackers and greens.
Dietary notes
This marinated tofu recipe is vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and plant-based.
Simple Marinated Tofu
This simple marinated tofu recipe requires no cooking and delivers unbelievable umami taste with low effort! Flavored with soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger, it’s excellent for meal prep and wholesome weeknight dinners.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Prepare dinner Time: 0 minutes
- Whole Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Class: Most important Dish
- Methodology: Marinated
- Delicacies: Asian
- 12 to 16 ounces block of additional agency or agency tofu
- ¼ cup I’m Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon recent ginger, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon Gochujang Sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (or toasted sesame seeds)
- 1 tablespoon minced inexperienced onion
- Take away the tofu from the bundle and drain liquid. Reduce tofu into half lengthwise and place it in a big bowl. Microwave on excessive for two minutes; this helps to extract liquid.
- Drain off extra liquid launched within the microwave. Place the 2 items on a towel; place one other folded towel on prime and add a slicing board and a heavy object. Enable to press for quarter-hour till the water is drained.
- Reduce every sq. into 16 items, for 32 squares whole. Place all of them within the bowl with the marinade and stir very gently. Add marinade and place within the fridge for no less than half-hour, stirring gently midway by. Eat instantly (this tofu is served with out cooking it, which is completely secure; see Notes). Shops refrigerated for five days.
Notes
With this simple marinated tofu, you don’t cook dinner it. Tofu is suitable for eating uncooked as a result of it’s heat-treated throughout its manufacturing course of. After all, you possibly can cook dinner it when you’d prefer to: you possibly can Pan Fry it or make baked tofu.
