These vegetarian tofu and spinach samosas are packed with fresh ingredients, and are cooked in an air fryer - a tasty and healthy snack or side dish!
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Hi all! Thanks for bearing with me the past few weeks while I've been off birthing babies and stuff. I'm back with another recipe for the Tefal Actifry - tofu and spinach samosas! These vegetarian samosas are surprisingly simple to make, and really easy to adapt if you want to make them your own.
What is an Actifry?
You may already have an Actifry of your own, in which case feel free to skip this paragraph! But just in case you're not familiar - an Actifry (Amazon UK* / Amazon US*) is basically an air fryer. It cooks food using a blast of hot air, meaning it's a pretty healthy way to cook up your favourite dishes.
Inside, there's a removable rotating paddle that stirs the food constantly, making sure everything cooks nice and evenly. The Actifry is famous for making the best chips (French fries) ever, using just one small spoonful of oil - they cook beautifully evenly and end up crispy all over.
But it's good for much more than just chips! In the past, I've used my Actifry for all sorts of recipes - breaded mushrooms, Tex-Mex cauliflower rice, and Madagascan bean stew, to name a few!
Samosas in the Actifry
This time, I used my Actifry to make these tofu and spinach samosas.
The recipe for these vegetarian samosas is actually one I found on the Actifry ActiProgramme app. This is a 'level 3' recipe, meaning it's a step up from the simplest recipes on the app, but still easy to make.
They'll definitely impress whoever you make them for - just don't tell them quite how easy they were!
What are samosas?
Samosas are little triangular pastry pockets stuffed with all kinds of tasty fillings.
Take something delicious, wrap it in pastry, and the only possible outcome is that it becomes more delicious - so you know samosas have got to be good.
Samosas are generally thought of as an Indian side dish or snack. These tofu and spinach samosas aren't Indian-spiced, but you can add some extra spices if you want to.
Tofu and spinach samosa filling
The recipe starts simply, with mushrooms, onion and spinach cooked together in a pan. Don't forget plenty of garlic! Garlicky mushrooms cooking is one of my favourite smells in the world.
Then add some diced tofu, for a bit of protein.
The original recipe on the Actifry app also has an egg mixed into the filling, but it says you can skip the egg if you want your samosas to be vegan. I tried making them both with and without the egg, and they ended up tasting much the same.
How to fold a samosa
Then, you just need to wrap up the tofu and spinach filling in some filo pastry, and your samosas will be ready to cook!
Folding a samosa might seem like it should be fiddly, but it's actually really straightforward. Just take a strip of filo pastry and fold it up into a triangle around the filling - it's hard to describe, but hopefully these photos will help explain how to fold a samosa!
Don't worry if the first couple of folds are a little messy - if some of the filling spills out, just poke it back in again. It doesn't even matter if you end up with some small tears or splits in the pastry, as once it's layered up, it will all be fine. For some reason, I find a lot of people are intimidated by filo pastry, but I actually find it really forgiving!
And hey, I love the rustic look anyway.
Baked samosas
Now it's time to 'bake' the samosas in the Actifry.
I removed the rotating paddle for this recipe, so the samosas were able to crisp up without being stirred round. The Actifry essentially functions as a mini oven for this recipe! The samosas end up beautifully crispy all over.
How do you serve vegetarian samosas?
I usually have samosas as a side dish alongside a curry and rice or naan bread. It's sometimes fun to turn a meal into a proper feast, with lots of different elements for people to pick from. My ultimate Indian feast would be something like this:
- a vegetarian curry
- one or two veggie side dishes, like saag aloo or tarka dal
- rice
- naan bread or chapatis
- onion bhajis
- poppadoms and chutneys for dipping
- ...and a few of these tofu and spinach samosas!
Samosas are great as a snack too - they're surprisingly healthy when cooked in the Actifry, at only 65 calories each! Or, serve them for lunch with some salad on the side.
Recipe video
Just in case you're a visual learner, here's a little recipe video I made to show you how to make these healthy tofu and spinach samosas. In the video I actually cook the spinach first, but it's even easier to cook it in the frying pan like I've written in the recipe!
📖 Printable Recipe
Tofu and spinach samosas
If you've cooked this recipe, don't forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ onion, diced
- 200 g mushrooms (~ 8 medium mushrooms), diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 200 g baby spinach (~ 3 large handfuls), chopped
- 200 g (~ 7 oz) firm tofu, diced fairly small
- 1 egg (optional)
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 4-6 sheets filo pastry
- Spray oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the diced onion, diced mushrooms, and minced garlic. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the chopped spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until all the vegetables are well cooked and any excess liquid has cooked off.
- Remove from the heat, and add the diced tofu and the egg (if using). Season very generously with salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Cut each sheet of filo pastry into wide strips - I found it worked best to cut each sheet into three strips, with each strip measuring approximately 10.5 x 3.5 inches (though the exact dimensions will depend on how big your pastry sheets are!).
- Place a spoonful of the tofu mixture at one end of a pastry strip, and fold the corner of the pastry over it at 45 degrees. Continue folding up the length of the pastry strip to form a triangular samosa (see the step-by-step photos in the blog post for a better explanation!).
- Place the folded samosas in the pan of the Actifry*, and spray with oil. Cook in the Actifry for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Serve 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.
If you have an Actifry, try my breaded mushrooms too - so simple to make but super delicious!
* This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Sisley White says
Samosa addict here and I have never made them. I will have to sort this out! I am salivating reading your post.
Choclette says
Ooh yum, I do love samosa. It's been far too long since I made any. Yours sound delicious, so I reckon I ought to try them. I find folding samosas really satisfying. Once you've got the hang of it, it's really easy and it holds the filling in beautifully - mostly!
And congratulations too. I think you can be forgiven for your absence.
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
They're surprisingly easy to fold once you get the hang of them aren't they! :)