The Tofu Recipes My Family Begs Me For | easy plant-based recipes

Hi, I'm Jenea Claiborne, and this is Sweet Potato Soul. In this video, I'm gonna share with you 13 absolutely delicious and nutritious recipes for tofu. If you think you don't like tofu or have no clue what to do with it, this video is gonna give you lots of ideas and challenge your preconceived notions about this very versatile food. Oh, you do have my cookbook in stock? Great, thanks, bye! Have you ordered my cookbook? Vegan vibes yet? You're gonna love this book. It's got 100 delicious vegan recipes that are inspired by the South, by my travels all around the world, and just, like, good food. You know what I'm saying? Order today. I love tofu in all of its many forms, but I didn't always. When I was a little kid, my dad made tofu all of the time, and I did eat it, because I kind of had to, but it wasn't my favorite food. It was stir-fried with vegetables, and generally, I was a pretty picky kid. Now, today, I do love stir-fried tofu, but I also love that there are so many other ways to prepare it. Also, there are so many different types of tofu, which we will get into in this video. In this video, I'm sharing 13 tofu recipes, but if you're looking for even more, like more than double this, I've put together a blog post with over 30 tofu recipes over on SweetPotatoSoul.com. I'm gonna link to it down below. So let's dive in with my first recipe, one of my favorite tofu recipes, sofritas. Now, if you've eaten at Chipotle, you might already have had their tofu sofritas. They're fried and simmered in a rich sauce that's made with peppers, tomatoes, and loads of spices. I love sofritas, but I felt like I need to figure out how to make this at home, so I'm not having to run to Chipotle, and I did just that, you guys, and I have to say, my sofritas are even better than Chipotle's. To make my sofritas, I use super firm tofu, not extra firm, not firm, but super, and this is the firmest tofu you can buy, and a great thing about it is because it is so firm, you can actually shred it on a cheese grater to make long shreds that I then air fry. Now, that air fried tofu is then simmered in a sauce that you will make, and you would be surprised how easy it is to make this. You just roast your vegetables, so peppers and tomatoes and onion and garlic all gets roasted together to make the most delicious sauce. You guys have got to try this recipe first if you like spicy, meaty, Latin-inspired flavors. Speaking of Latin-inspired flavors, I also recently shared a recipe for tofu tacos on my blog. This is a super simple, easy recipe. You'll use extra firm tofu and then crumble it up. Then you'll season it with very simple, basic seasonings, and then air fry or bake it until it is perfectly crispy and crumbly. This is the perfect replacement for ground meat and tacos, and you can top it with all of your favorite regular toppings, guacamole, shredded lettuce, the onions, tomatoes, whatever you like, and this is just such an easy way to eat tofu and an easy, budget-friendly meal as well. I've got a little kid at home, and one of her favorite ways to eat tofu, though by the way, tofu is like one of her favorite foods, but one of her favorite ways to enjoy tofu is tofu nuggets. I usually do this along with sweet potato fries. I pair them together for her, and they are so great and so perfect for children. Even her friends, when they come over, I will make them these nuggets, and even the children who have never had tofu, who are used to eating Chick-fil-A nuggets, love these tofu nuggets. And the way I created the recipe was I was thinking about a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget and trying to figure out how to replicate that taste. Now, the ingredients are very, very simple, and I typically make it in the air fryer. You'll see I have a lot of air fryer recipes, especially for tofu, just because you can get crispy and meaty tofu without having to deep fry it like they do in the fast food restaurants. It's a lot healthier. So these air fryer tofu nuggets are one to try, and yes, if you do not have an air fryer, I also include instructions for preparing it in the oven too. One of my most creative ways to use tofu, and this one is very different than the other recipes we've already talked about, is to make these butternut squash tofu wraps. So if you're trying to cut back on carbs, maybe you're not eating so much corn and wheat products, or let's say you are gluten-free and you want a high-protein, high-fiber alternative to a wheat wrap, y'all, you've gotta try these. What I do is blend up the tofu and then mix it with spices and butternut squash. You can then shape that into super, super, super skinny rounds like tortillas and bake it until it holds together. That's because when tofu dries out, it holds together really well and it doesn't fall apart even without having any gluten or any egg added. You will love these. They are such a good replacement for your tortillas, for your tacos, and also your wraps. Definitely give this recipe a try. Now let's move on to breakfast. One of my favorite things to make for breakfast is this savory, amazing, filling tofu scramble. This is my favorite one. I add vegan sausage to it, peppers, onions, garlic, and I season it with black salt, which has an eggy flavor, as well as turmeric to give it a nice yellow, more appetizing color. Tofu scramble is one of my favorite things to make for meal prep as well because it's really easy to cook. It comes together really quickly. But if you make a large batch, you can enjoy it for breakfast throughout the week. And it is such a nourishing, healthy breakfast that is high in protein, high in fiber, and full of flavor. And another breakfast dish I love to make with tofu is a tofu omelet. Yes, you can make an omelet with tofu. You do not need to use eggs. And you can fill it with all the vegetables or mushrooms that you would with an egg omelet. It is so filling, and it's really nice to make this for the weekends or brunch. It looks so pretty when you serve it as well. If you're watching this video, obviously you have an interest in tofu, and you might know a little bit about tofu already, but here are just a few things that you might not have realized. Tofu is a rich source of complete protein. Just one cup of tofu has 19 grams of protein. And I know for myself, unless it's like in a stir fry with a lot of other things, I typically eat more than one cup of tofu in one sitting. This is a great way to get your protein needs met when you're eating a plant-based diet. Because tofu is prepared with calcium sulfate, it's actually a very rich source of calcium. And if you're thinking about increasing your fiber intake to lower your risk of heart disease or diabetes, or even to lose weight, then tofu is gonna be a great food for you, especially if you are replacing an animal product with it, like eggs or chicken. Animal products do not have any fiber in them. However, tofu and other plant-based foods, especially the minimally processed ones, do have a good source of fiber. And lastly, did you know you can make your own tofu at home? I have not done it, but I want to. But I'm really just telling you that to let you know that tofu, even though it comes in a package, it's actually really simple. The process of making tofu starts with making a soy milk and then letting it curdle, and then straining those solids, and then forming it and making it more solid. The more liquid that is removed from the tofu, the more firm it will become. And also, you can make soy-free tofu and even buy it at the store. I know that Whole Foods and I believe Sprouts has a soy-free version of tofu. Remember, soy is a type of bean, so why not make tofu with other beans as well? They're a little bit different consistency and flavor, but they are available and you can even do it at home. Now back to the recipes. I gotta hit you with one of my favorite, tofu chili. Now the reason I love this recipe so much is the tofu is crumbled and then seasoned, and then air fried or baked until it is crispy. The air frying or baking draws out the liquid and concentrates the texture, which is meaty, and the flavor, which is divine. You then mix that tofu in to a three-bean chili. It's one of my favorite things to make. It is so easy to make, by the way, and it's one of the things I keep on my meal planning rotation every single week, all year. Speaking of meal planning, if you are a meal planner or you wanna start meal planning, I need to introduce you to my marinated tofus. Now I know this is supposed to be a video with 13 recipes, but I actually have five marinated tofu recipes, and they're all super easy to make. You can blend them up in a bowl or in a food processor or blender, and then marinate your tofu with them. And it just gives you such a wide variety of flavors for your tofu. Of the five that I created, my personal favorites are the gochujang garlic one. I love that so much. And, oh, they're all really good. But I think my second favorite is probably the jerk tofu marinade. Check that recipe out. And like I said, it will make your life so easy. Just marinate it on like a sundae, and then you can cook tofu throughout the week. The longer it marinates, the more delicious that tofu will be. When I haven't meal prepped and I just wanna put together something really quick and easy, tofu stir fry is one of my go-tos. It's super easy to make. I don't bother with air frying the tofu. I stir fry my vegetables. I make my own very simple stir fry sauce. That recipe is linked also. And then I add the tofu. And it's a quick and easy, very nutritious and colorful meal that I enjoy and my daughter loves as well. And if I wanna spend a little bit more time making my sauce, I will sometimes make my teriyaki tofu. I love this recipe because it's got the perfect blend of sweet and savory. I've always loved teriyaki. Now, you can marinate the tofu overnight or for a few days in the sauce, or you can use it just right away. You can even do it as a sheet pan dish where you make the marinade and then put all your vegetables and your tofu on a sheet pan and bake it, or you can stir fry it. Whatever you wanna do, you're gonna love it. It is so flavorful and delicious. And because it's summer, I have to mention a nice, summery, fresh, refreshing, crunchy sesame tofu salad. This is a crispy tofu that is coated with sesame seeds and it's well-seasoned and then served over shredded carrots and cabbage. It is so light and fresh and delicious and actually also perfect for meal prep. And for another summery salad, I recommend my Mediterranean pasta salad. For this recipe, I marinate the tofu in a Mediterranean-inspired vinaigrette. The idea of it is that it's supposed to be a replacement for feta, and then, you know, you make your salad with, I like to grill or roast my zucchinis and there's sun-dried tomatoes in there and fresh herbs like basil, of course. And the tofu just brings it all together, making it more nutritious, improving the protein content of the salad. And this is a really nice one to take to summer potlucks. You know, when you're at the cookout, everybody is going to want seconds of this pasta salad. And lastly, I have to mention my butternut squash lasagna. This is an interesting recipe because I don't use pasta noodles for the lasagna. Instead, I thinly slice the butternut squash, roast it, and then use that as the noodles, which gives this lasagna so much rich, like lovely, kind of sweet and very savory flavor. And the tofu is used to make a tofu cheese that I season with a little bit of apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor. Whether you're vegan or not, like cheese or not, this recipe you will love. Now, this is definitely more of a fall recipe, so put that on your calendar for when the temperatures start to drop and you want something cozy and comforting, but still super healthy. So those are my 13 tofu recipes that I wanted to introduce you to. I hope it gave you lots of ideas and showed you how versatile this food is, because it really, really is. You can buy tofu at any well-stocked grocery store in the United States. It's pretty common these days. You can buy it at Trader Joe's, at Kroger's, at Aldi. You can buy it at health food grocery stores, or you can make it yourself at home if you're feeling very DIY adventurous. If you're looking for even more recipes, I've got them for you on my blog post for this video. Head to the link in the description box down below, or go to my website, SweetPotatoSoul.com, and search tofu recipes. In that roundup, I also included some recipes from my blogger friends. Let me know in the comments section down below what is your favorite way to cook tofu, and also which of these 13 recipes you're excited to try first. Thank you guys so much for watching. I will see you next time, and in the meantime, you can find me on my website, SweetPotatoSoul.com, where I publish new recipes every single week. Make sure to join the newsletter as well so that you don't miss any recipes, and I'll see you here on YouTube next time. Thanks for watching. Bye.