Fluffy vegan scrambled tofu is a great alternative to eggs at breakfast time. This basic recipe can be customized to suit your preferences or to use up any leftover veggies in your fridge.
Tofu was never a foreign food for me. My brother especially loved tofu as a kid; it was easy to chew and took on any flavour. In Chinese cuisine, we have many types of tofu, each serving a different purpose. Firm is good for searing as steaks, pressed is good for sauteing, and silken often acts as a bed to steam other foods on. We have spongey tofu and sheets of bean curd that soak up delicious sauces and soups. In all those cases though, tofu remains like… tofu. It doesn’t pretend to be something else or get radically transformed into a new food. Up until I began exploring vegan food, crumbling tofu never crossed my mind. But it is a brilliant idea.
As a vegetarian who loves her tofu, I’m always searching for innovative ways to enjoy this healthy protein (and calcium!) option. Of course we can pan fry it and add it to fried rice, but why limit ourselves to that?
The saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ seems to reflect our vegan cooking endeavours. When faced with an unfamiliar ingredient, we prepare it using methods we do know. Sometimes this leads to exciting discoveries (like scrambled tofu), and sometimes the results are not so enticing. For a high school project, Chew had to use kimchi in a ‘Chopped’ style competition. She had no idea what to do with it and blended it up with cheese to make grilled cheese. Our Korean friends were appalled to know she put the entire cabbage, stem and all, into the food processor. It may not have been the traditional way to eat kimchi, but it worked.
Back to crumbled tofu though. I made these tofu ‘ricotta’ stuffed shells for our annual Christmas party and they were such a hit. The texture of crumbled tofu perfectly mimicked ricotta. Knowing that, we tried adding crumbled tofu into a ragu sauce for a vegan pot pie; it was a success and we will share the recipe in the near future. According to our friend, crumbling tofu is a very therapeutic process. Squeezing a wet curd block and feeling it between every crevice of your hands is oddly satisfying. This scrambled tofu will always provide you with the opportunity to experience this joy yourself.
The trick to getting ‘fluffy’ scrambled tofu is to use a medium firm tofu. A lot of recipes call for extra firm but we find that it results in a crumblier scramble that is difficult to spear with a fork, kind of like over cooked scrambled eggs. Medium firm lends some moisture which is needed to imitate the soft curds in properly scrambled eggs. Turmeric tints the tofu to make it look like eggs. We’ve got the texture and appearance covered but we can’t neglect taste! Caramelized onion, garlic, salt, and pepper are all that’s needed to complete this everyday vegan scrambled tofu. Of course you can play with other seasonings; paprika, garlic powder, and cumin would work particularly well. We’ve added fresh vegetables for additional colour and nutrients, but if you’re a fan of plain scrambled tofu, feel free to leave those out.
Wrapped in a tortilla for a grab ‘n go breakfast burrito or served with roasted potatoes and a light salad for weekend brunch, vegan scrambled tofu can be eaten any way, everyday!
- 1 to 2 tsp cooking oil
- ½ large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- About 2 cups of chopped vegetables (zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms etc.)
- 454g medium firm tofu, drained and pressed to remove water
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- In a large skillet or cast iron pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until caramelized.
- Add chopped vegetables and saute until heated through.
- Using your hands, crumble the tofu into the pan. Season with turmeric, salt, and pepper and stir until evenly coated. Continue cooking until tofu begins to brown. Serve while hot.
Want more tofu? ?
- Avocado Turmeric Tofu Toast
- Crunchy AF Tofu Tacos
- Furikake Tofu Sushi Bowls
- Nooch Tofu Burger
- These orange-glazed or ultimate vegan club sandwiches
- Stardust Cherry Tofu Custard Tart
Since you like to try new things, you should try a few pinches of Kala Namak, also called Black salt, although I don’t know why since it’s pink colored. But any way, it ‘s and Indian salt with traces of sulfur which adds a distinctly egg-y taste to scrambled tofu. I also add it to tofu egg salad with celery and vegan mayo and to something I call a vegan egg and cheese. I make that by slicing a 1/4 slab off a square of tofu and sauteing it with scrambled tofu seasoning on both sides. Then I add a slice of vegan cheese on top until it melts or slip it between two slices of wheat bread and put the whole sandwich in a pannini press. The tofu looks like the white of a fried egg and the cheese looks and has the consistency of fried yolk.
Yum, thanks for sharing your tips! We will definitely give Kala Namak a try if we come across it.