This crispy baked tofu is so flavorful, versatile, and a simple way of making tofu taste amazing with just 5 easy-to-get ingredients.
Baked tofu is one of my favorite ways of cooking tofu. It's tasty, crispy, and packed with lots of good-quality protein. This recipe is also delicious, nutritious, and so healthy.
The marinade gives the tofu an amazing flavor. However, you can add, replace, or change the ingredients and customize this basic recipe with your favorite spices, herbs, sauces, or seasonings.
This is the recipe I would like to have on hand when I cooked tofu for the first time. It can be challenging at the beginning, so I've included it in my Veganuary collection for anyone that is not used to cooking it.
Although you can eat this baked tofu just by itself, it can be used to make other recipes, like my General Tso's tofu, sweet and sour tofu, or Kun Pao tofu, but also to incorporate extra protein in salads, soups, or even stews.
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🌟 You’ll love this recipe because it is
- Made with only 5 simple ingredients.
- Really affordable.
- Super crispy, full of flavor, nutritious, and healthy.
- Very versatile and totally customizable with your favorite seasonings.
- Perfect to eat by itself or to incorporate extra protein in salads, soups, or stews.
🧾 Ingredients
- Firm tofu: firm or extra firm tofu work best for this recipe. Soft or silken tofu is not a good choice as it will fall apart easily.
- Soy sauce.
- Extra virgin olive oil: this is my favorite oil for this recipe, but any other type of oil will do.
- Garlic powder: this ingredient is optional, but it will make your tofu taste even better.
- Cornstarch.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400ºF or 200ºC. In the meanwhile, add the tofu cubes, soy sauce, oil, and garlic powder to a large bowl, mix until well combined, and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
Step 2: Drain the tofu and transfer ⅓ of the tofu cubes into a freezer or plastic bag with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and toss to coat. Repeat this step with the remaining tofu and cornstarch.
Step 3: Transfer the tofu cubes to a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip each of the tofu cubes so they can cook evenly on the other side. Bake for 15 more minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.
📋 Substitutions & variations
- Make it gluten-free: use tamari instead of soy sauce.
- Soy sauce also can be replaced with coconut aminos, or just some salt to taste.
- Make it oil-free: just omit the oil, although this baked tofu will be crispier if you use it.
- Garlic powder can be replaced with onion powder, or you can use them both as well. Minced fresh garlic should also work, although I've never tried it myself.
- Feel free to use any other type of starch instead. You could also omit it, but your tofu will be crispier if you use it.
- I prefer to add 6 tablespoons of cornstarch because I like my tofu cubes super crispy, but you can use only 3 tablespoons or even 1 or 2 tablespoons.
- Feel free to add any herbs and spices you want, such as onion powder, black pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, Cajun seasoning, or chili powder.
🍽 Equipment
To make this recipe you'll need:
- Measuring tablespoons and measuring cups (or a scale) to weigh your ingredients.
- A large bowl and a spoon for mixing the tofu with the soy sauce, oil, and garlic powder.
- A freezer or plastic bag to coat the tofu cubes with the cornstarch.
- If you don't want to use a freezer or plastic bag, just add the tofu cubes to a shallow dish, then the cornstarch, and toss to coat, but use the bag for the best results.
❄️ Storage
- Refrigerator: although it is best when served immediately, so it can keep its amazing texture, you can also store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
- Reheat: it can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed through. Add a little oil, water, or vegetable stock if needed.
💭 Expert tips
- Cut the tofu into ¾-inch chunks (about 2 cm). This size makes the ideal bite.
- I hardly ever press my tofu, but I know many people think this is a must if you want your tofu to absorb even better the flavors from the marinade or sauce you're using.
- If you press it, you'll get extra crispy tofu. Just wrap the tofu in a clean towel and apply a steady weight to squeeze out the moisture. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- If you freeze the tofu and then defrost it, it will become more porous and it'll absorb flavors more easily. I don't do it very often to save some time and effort, but it's a great tip.
- The best way of reheating this baked tofu is by adding it to a frying pan with extra sauce (just make some more) and cooking over medium heat until it's warm enough.
- It's important to add extra sauce so the tofu doesn't get too dry, but you also can add oil, water, or vegetable stock as I explained above.
❓Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! Just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days. However, keep in mind it won't be as crispy as freshly made.
Extra-Firm tofu has the least amount of liquid and is a great choice for baking.
However, I find it too dry sometimes, so I prefer to use firm tofu because it has the proper amount of liquid without falling apart like silken or soft tofu, but it's not as dry as extra-firm tofu.
You can serve it in salads, soups, stews, or bowl meals. Also with rice or noodles and veggies, or with a stir fry.
In addition, you can use it to make delicious Asian-style recipes that call for tofu, or to replace animal-based protein.
I wouldn't suggest you freeze it since the tofu would probably get a soft texture, and this recipe is amazing because of its flavor but also because of its wonderfully crispy texture!
As I explained above in more detail, I hardly ever press my tofu and I'm so happy with the results.
But for extra crispy tofu and if you want the tofu to absorb even better all the flavors from the marinade or sauce you're using, you can press it.
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a rating and comment below!
Crispy Baked Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 block firm tofu, about 14 ounces or 400 g, patted dry and cubed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder, optional
- 3-6 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF or 200ºC.
- Add the tofu cubes, soy sauce, oil, and garlic powder to a large bowl, mix until well combined, and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
- Drain the tofu and transfer ⅓ of the tofu cubes into a freezer or plastic bag with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and toss to coat.
- Repeat this step with the remaining tofu and cornstarch.
- If you don't want to use a freezer or plastic bag, just add the tofu cubes to a shallow dish, then the cornstarch, and toss to coat, but use the bag for the best results.
- Transfer the tofu cubes to a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip each of the tofu cubes so they can cook evenly on the other side. Bake for 15 more minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Make it gluten-free: use tamari instead of soy sauce.
- Soy sauce also can be replaced with coconut aminos, or just some salt to taste.
- Make it oil-free: just omit the oil, although this baked tofu will be crispier if you use it.
- Garlic powder can be replaced with onion powder, or you can use them both as well. Minced fresh garlic should also work, although I've never tried it myself.
- Feel free to use any other type of starch instead. You could also omit it, but your tofu will be crispier if you use it.
- I prefer to add 6 tablespoons of cornstarch because I like my tofu cubes super crispy, but you can use only 3 tablespoons or even 1 or 2 tablespoons.
- Refrigerator: although it is best when served immediately, you can also store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
- Reheat: it can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed through. Add a little oil, water, or vegetable stock if needed.
Jan says
Delicious tofu
Iosune says
Hi Jan! So glad you liked it 🙂
You says
Just made this and it came out great. Thank you!
Iosune Robles says
Hi You! Thank you so much 🙂
Katie Ahlers says
I have made baked tofu many times! I love this recipe! So easy and delicious! One time I didn’t have enough cornstarch so I used xanthan gum instead. Wrong choice! Tasted terrible! All I could taste was sticky mess of xanthan gum, but not the tofu! I had to throw it out. 🥲. I’ll never make that mistake again and just make sure that I have enough cornstarch.
Iosune Robles says
Thanks for your kind comment Katie 🙂
Merryl says
So simple to make. Came out great. Served it with a stir fry of carrots, brussel sprouts, green beans, soy sauce, black pepper and maple syrup.
Iosune Robles says
Hi Merryl! Sounds so good 🙂
Katie Ahlers says
I have made this baked tofu so many times! Love them! So quick and easy. I have limited time to prepare and cook and I refer to Simple Vegan Blog for quick and easy vegan meal ideas! Thank you!
Iosune Robles says
Hi Katie! Thanks for your kind comment 🙂
Lorna says
This was easy and tasty. I added a splash of a few other seasonings to taste. The only reason I took off a star is because of the single use plastic bag for coating with cornstarch. Instead, put the cubed tofu in a bowl and fit a saucer on top. You can coat the tofu with cornstarch without creating plastic waste.
Iosune Robles says
Hi Lorna! So glad you liked it 🙂 Thanks for the tip!
Lauri says
Good technique but way too much corn starch and not enough soy sauce for me, though 🙁
Iosune Robles says
Hi Lauri! Maybe you can try to add less cornstarch 🙂
Marilyn Mendelson says
Your recipe reminded me that baked tofu was my introduction to a total addiction! The people who first introduced me to tofu placed slices on a baking sheet, then sprinkled soy sauce over the tops, followed by garlic powder, and then topped off half of the slices with yellow mustard. (Some of them liked that, others preferred it without). They'd then bake it in a hot oven for 30 minutes. It was delicious! Now, I'm looking forward to trying it your way,
Iosune Robles says
Sounds so good Marilyn 🙂 Have a nice day!
Christine H. says
Made it and it was delicious. Making it again!!!! Thank you.
Iosune Robles says
Hi Christine! I'm glad you liked our baked tofu 🙂 Have a nice day!
Sue says
Absolutely delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Iosune Robles says
Hi Sue! Thanks for your kind comment 🙂 Have a nice day!
Mike Seamon says
Ingredients changed