Today seems like a fitting day to share my roasted tofu recipe, considering that I attended a tofu cooking class last night. If you had told me a few years ago that I would attend a tofu class later in life, I would have called you nuts, but there I was.
The instructors were fantastic and demonstrated that tofu can take on any flavor you add to it, whether savory (like in our “fish” tacos) or sweet (such as silken tofu in a strawberry smoothie). The longer you let the flavors marinate with the tofu, the more pronounced the flavors become. The chefs emphasized, however, that you can marinate it for just a few minutes with tasty results.
The most interesting tip I picked up is that if you freeze the package of tofu, the tofu develops a more meat-like texture. The longer the tofu stays frozen, the more dense it becomes. All you have to do is defrost it in the microwave or in the refrigerator. Who knew?
Anyway, I was intrigued by the idea of roasting tofu when I came across Gluten Free Girl’s super simple baked tofu recipe. I had never heard of baking tofu. Have you?
It turns out that roasted tofu is great with stir-fried or steamed veggies, rice or quinoa, or on salads and light entrées that need extra protein. I decided to heat up leftover quinoa, and steamed some snow peas from the farmers’ market with carrots and roasted red pepper. Topped with a drizzle of tamari, it was a delicious, satisfying Asian-inspired meal!
Roasted Tofu with Ginger Garlic Marinade
- Author:
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Snack
This method is more labor intensive than some, but the end result is totally worth the effort. It’s full of flavor, and so good for you. Save any leftover tofu for a salad or a snack!
Ingredients
- 1 block (12 to 15 ounces) of organic extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari (or shoyu or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (or ½ teaspoon ground ginger)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (or ½ teaspoon powdered garlic)
- ½ cup chopped scallions
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Open a package of extra-firm tofu, pour out the liquid, and gently squeeze the tofu between the palm of your hands to get rid of the excess water.
- Cut the tofu into one-inch chunks. Place the tofu in a medium sized bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine all of the marinade ingredients and whisk them together, or screw on a lid and shake until well combined.
- Drizzle the marinade over the tofu and toss to coat evenly. Cover the tofu with a lid.
- Let the tofu marinate in the fridge, anywhere from 30 minutes to a full day. I let mine marinate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss the marinated tofu onto the baking sheet and spread the tofu in an even layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip the tofu so it bakes evenly, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Savvy Vegetarian.
Preparation tips: I miraculously had all of the marinade ingredients on hand, but I’m sure you could omit an ingredient or two without any problems.
Make it gluten free: Just use tamari instead of regular soy sauce.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
sweetie
hello kate + cookie,
as you know, the texture of the tofu is key. i have some questions for you:
how long should the tofu be frozen in order to become firm and does this freezing technique apply to freezing the EXTRA FIRM type of tofu? do you think i should press/squeeze the water out and then freeze? i want to give this recipe a go but only if i can get some good texture going! ; p
many thanks for sharing your new learnings with your readers!
kate
Hi there, thank you for asking! I actually learned the freezing technique after making this recipe, so you don’t have to freeze the tofu. However, you can just throw the whole package of tofu in the freezer for extra texture later on. I think that a couple of days in the freezer would suffice. You can then put the frozen package of tofu in the fridge to defrost, or run it under water, or defrost it in the microwave. It’s up to you!
Charissa
I wish I were having this for lunch…I’m off to somewhere right now, so I have to stick with a sandwhich, lol. It looks so yummy!
birdie to be
Thanks for the tofu tips!
blogbytina!
freezing tofu!? who woulda thunk it? this looks fantastic.
Heather
This is really helpful since I like tofu but have never made it at home. I like the Asian-inspired recipe too!
Tammi Kibler
I have shied away from tofu, but maybe freezing will give it a texture I enjoy. I will have to try this. The marinade looks perfect.
Jess
Yum, yum, and YUM! Tofu has never looked so pretty! :)
Z
I made this today. We are just trying out quinoa and tofu for the most part, so I’ve been scouring for recipes. My young teen has required sudden drastic diet changes so she is not a very willing participant. I didn’t have the agave nectar so just skipped adding sweetness to it. After marinating the dried tofu for half an hour I put it in the oven. The quinoa I made with chicken broth, and once it was done, I added a teaspoon of the marinade and mixed it in with the quinoa. This was delicious! The cumin & coriander was so very yummy, will def make this again and let it marinate overnight!
Laura
Made this for dinner, and it was great! I have never thought of roasting tofu but boy, it’s a whole lot nicer!
Yum! Thanks! L
★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Laura! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Coral
Just made this. It’s great! I have never been able to really “like” tofu, even though I love asian cuisine. I stumbled across this recipe and decided to try it. I served it over tri-colored quinoa, LOVED IT!
Kate
Hooray! Thank you, Coral. Glad you like tofu now. :)
A Cook
Hi I just cooked this but after 10mins at 230C which I converted online from your 450f, it is almost burned without turning over & not puffed uo – is the temperature really that high? Or have I not got enough marinade on them? Any advice?
Tasted lovely if a little well done! Happened to have left over quinoa & sugar snap peas too.
Kate
Hmm, that’s strange! I just checked another tofu recipe of mine and I can’t figure out why your tofu baked so quickly! Either your oven is much hotter than it says it is, your pan was too close to the heat source, or maybe you used a dark pan, which tends to cook things more quickly? Regardless, I’d turn down the temperature significantly for the next batch. I don’t think it was an issue with not having enough marinade. I’m sorry for your troubles! Hope the next batch turns out better.
A Cook
Thanks so much for getting back to me, hmm think it might be my oven then, I rarely use it that high since I gave up making bread. I used a new v heavy (professional) grade of non-stick baking tray which now you point it out could be the cause. I haven’t used it on anything else yet. Thanks to your reply I’ll keep an eye on that one.
Normally not thrown by things in my kitchen, but this had me puzzled. Time to get an oven thermometer I suspect. And then try this lovely recipe again.
Kate
Hope your next batch turns out great! I got an inexpensive oven thermometer and it has been enlightening.
Sally
Delicious!! The tofu was great. I also made a second batch of the marinade and poured it over shredded cabbage like a salad dressing – YUM!
Kate
Thanks, Sally! Great idea to use marinade like that!
Jenny Jen
I had never cooked tofu before and was a bit scared of the outcome – especially since my boyfriend has never been keen on eating tofu, quinoa and mange-tout. But in the end it was very very yummy!! Thanks for the recipe, it is tasty and easy to make. I made a quinoa salad to go along with it – just like you – and the mix was just perfect. I will do it again!
★★★★★
Jean
Well, hmmm. Will have to try this again. Mine overcooked in 15 minutes (like a previous reviewer). I turned oven down after tossing the tofu but only left in another couple minutes because I was afraid I’d have mini hockey pucks. I just looked at the package – it was 16 oz. Maybe too much tofu for the amount of marinade.
I started with a layer of quinoa, topped with roasted veggies and the tofu, then drizzled with peanut sauce – overall was tasty.
I have a double “convertible” oven. Next time I’ll take out the insert so that it’s the full oven…and make sure I’m doing “12-15 oz”.
★★★★
Annie
Made it! Followed the instructions to a T and found it bland until we added lemon juice and soy sauce to each plate. That made it quite tasty. I served it with white rice and on the last 15 mins added snap peas and yellow bell peppers to the pan of tofu. Thank you!
★★★★