Blackened Tofu Steaks
If you’ve ever thought that tofu lacks flavour, you need to try these blackened tofu steaks. They’re marinated and coated in an aromatic blend of spices, then cooked until they become rich and smoky.
The toasted spices bring so much flavour to the tofu, and turn a simple tofu steak into a perfect focal point for all sorts of meals.
This is such a simple way to cook tofu, but it’s so effective. The flavour from the smoky spices infuses right through the steak, and makes every bite tasty. The middle remains soft, but the coating becomes rich and crispy.
If you’re a hesitant cook, take comfort from the fact that not only are you allowed to burn this dish – it’s actively encouraged! Not so much that all you can taste is carbon, but just enough that you get a lovely crumbly blackened crust that packs so much smoky flavour and really brings a boring slab of tofu to life.
I served my tofu steaks with asparagus and rice, but really these vegan steaks would be great with all sorts of side dishes – crispy jacket potatoes, couscous, cauliflower mash… it’s one of those recipes that can be repurposed in all sorts of ways.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The flavour of the toasted spices is incredible!
- It’s super simple to make, even if you’re new to cooking tofu.
- You can use whatever mixture of spices you choose.
- It can be served with all kinds of different side dishes, so it’s really versatile.
- It’s totally vegan.
🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
A few ingredient notes:
- tofu. You must use firm or extra firm tofu to make these tofu steaks. Silken tofu (which is better used in a creamy tofu sauce, for example) will not work.
- soy sauce. I used dark soy sauce for an intense flavour.
- spices – black pepper, smoked paprika, chilli powder, garlic granules, and dried thyme.
See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
Becca’s Top Tip
Feel free to use a different combination of spices, if you like. Why not go for an Indian vibe with garam masala or curry powder, or go for a simple garlic and herb mixture.
📋 Instructions
Here’s how to make these tofu steaks – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.
Step 1: Cut the block of tofu into 4 ‘steaks’.
Becca’s Top Tip
You can press your tofu using a tofu press, if you have one – here’s one with great reviews on Amazon US / Amazon UK. This helps to remove any water from inside the tofu, making it feel firmer, and allowing it to soak up more of the marinade.
If you don’t have a tofu press, you can sandwich the slices of tofu between some clean tea towels or kitchen paper, and press it down firmly a few times to remove the liquid.
Step 2: Marinate the tofu on both sides in soy sauce. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to give it some time to soak in.
Step 3: Mix up the spices.
Step 4: Coat the marinated tofu steaks in the spice mixture on both sides.
Step 5: Sauté the tofu steaks until they are crispy and blackened from the toasted spices.
💭 Tofu Steak FAQs
No, silken tofu will not work for this recipe. In order to get the ‘steak’ shape, you need to use firm or extra firm tofu.
No. This recipe is not designed to imitate meat in any way, and although I’ve never eaten a meat-based steak, I feel pretty confident in saying that they’re not particularly similar. These tofu steaks are a thing unto themselves, and they are delicious.
Vegan steaks can be served in all sorts of ways. For example: with a baked potato and some asparagus; with rice and stir fried vegetables; with pasta in creamy sauce, etc.
Yes! Marinades only get better the longer you leave them, so you could definitely prepare these tofu steaks in advance. I would probably add the soy sauce and spices, and then leave the coated tofu in the fridge for up to a day, until you’re ready to cook. Then just fry off the steaks before serving.
Blackened Tofu Steaks
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin Comment(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)
Ingredients
- 400 g (~ 14 oz) firm or extra firm tofu
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp oil
Instructions
- Cut the tofu into 4 ‘steak’ shapes. Use a clean tea towel or some kitchen paper to squeeze as much liquid out of each piece of tofu as you can (or you can use a tofu press, if you have one).
- Place the tofu pieces in a dish, and drizzle with half of the soy sauce. After a couple of minutes, turn the pieces over, and drizzle the remaining soy sauce on the other side. Leave to marinate for a few minutes.
- Mix all of the spices thoroughly on a small plate.
- When the tofu has marinated for a few minutes, press each piece into the spice mixture, on both sides.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the coated tofu steaks. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes or so on each side, until the spices are a deep brown colour and the tofu is beginning to crisp up. Best served immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
I haven’t made this yet but I want to say it looks really good!! I will make this soon! I just wanted to know what is in the rice in the picture?
Thanks Shannon! It’s just a splash of soy sauce :)
Thank you for the recipe! I find that using a tofu press really gets the water out better which allows the soy and spices to enhance the tofu. I use the Ez Tofu Press, it costs less money than the other brands, but get the job done.
I love tofu cooked like this… it brings me back to my macrobiotic days. Please share this on my foodie friday linky today. I am pining this also.
This looks delicious! I love to cook with tofu and a lot of the times no one knows it’s in the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday :)
Looks really yummy! You have a lovely blog. Have a nice day!
Funny, I spent yesterday working on a chinese-style version. Yours looks really delicious, great colour!
YUM! I need to try this. I think it would be so good to slice up top salads!
Hi Becca,
Thanks for visiting my blog. I don’t eat tofu very often, primarily because I’m not too sure how to cook it, but yours looks amazing here. I’ll surely have to give it a try. :)
I’m always looking for new ways to cook tofu also! Usually I just toss it in stir fries but this sounds like such a tasty alternative!
Becca this looks fantastic. I need to get over my (irrational) fear of tofu and make this. You may have just lit the fire I needed.
Yeah for some reason I never cooked with it until a couple of months ago, despite having been a vegetarian for about 13 years! It’s so easy though, I don’t know why I didn’t try it sooner :)