Easy Baked Vegan Tofu Nuggets (oil-free)

These easy baked vegan tofu nuggets are not only oil-free and super crispy, they also have the perfect texture! They are oil-free because we bake them in the oven instead of frying them. This also makes the whole process of preparing these baked vegan tofu nuggets much easier!

What are these vegan nuggets made out of?

These vegan nuggets are made out of tofu! Tofu is a great plant-based protein source and provides many important vitamins and minerals. It's made out of soy beans which is a complete vegan protein source (learn more about vegan complete protein sources here).

To make these easy baked vegan nuggets, you need:

• tofu
• soy milk (you'll want to use soy milk and not a different plant-based milk because soy milk really works best for this recipe)
• juice of ½ lemon
• breadcrumbs (choose Panko breadcrumbs for more crispy nuggets)
• nutritional yeast
• paprika powder
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper

What tofu works best to make tofu nuggets?

To make these easy vegan tofu nuggets, choose a firm tofu. Silken tofu does not work for this recipe.

If you have a soft/medium firm tofu, you can even use the thaw-and-press-method to improve the texture. To do this, put the tofu into the freezer for a couple of hours until it's completely frozen and solid. Then, remove it from the freezer and let it sit on the counter to thaw completely. You may want to put it into a bowl to avoid any excess water from spilling.

When thawed, you can just use the tofu as you would usually. This method gets rid of extra water and results in a more firmer, denser and chewier texture.

How to make easy baked vegan tofu nuggets

Step 1: prepare wet mixture

The trick to getting these healthy vegan tofu nuggets super crispy without using oil is a high oven temperature. So before you even begin breading the nuggets, preheat your oven to 230°C/450°F.

Then, prepare the wet mixture by combining the soy milk with the lemon juice. Stir the mixture and let it sit for a couple minutes to make a vegan buttermilk.

Step 2: cut tofu

Next, cut the tofu into small pieces. Alternatively, you can break it up into evenly sized pieces for a different texture.

Then, add them to the vegan buttermilk and let them soak for a few minutes. This prevents the tofu from becoming too dry during baking. It also helps the dry mixture stick to the tofu.

Step 3: prepare dry mixture

For the dry mixture, you can use any variation of bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, almond meal, shredded coconut and spices. Simply add everything to a (large enough) bowl and mix well.

Step 4: coat tofu

Take one piece of tofu and transfer it to the dry mixture. Coat it evenly and transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper or a baking mat.

When you add the tofu cubes to the dry mixture, it helps to use a fork and tap it on the bowl a few times. This way, the excess soy milk stays in the wet mixture bowl and doesn't clump the dry mixture.

Step 5: bake

Bake the tofu nuggets for 20 minutes in the oven, flipping them halfway through.

When you flip the tofu nuggets, be careful and again, use a fork. Gently lift each nugget with the fork so that the breadcrumb coating doesn't remain stuck to the baking paper.

How to serve these easy baked vegan tofu nuggets

You can totally serve these tofu nuggets on their own as a little snack with some bbq sauce, vegan honey mustards sauce or homemade salsa. They also make a great topping for salad bowls as you can see below. Alternatively, you can add them to a wrap or as taco filling. Or, you can make slightly bigger nuggets and use them as burger patties!

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Did you make these baked vegan tofu nuggets?

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