Crispy Gochujang Korean Tofu
This baked Gochujang Korean tofu is crispy, packed with flavor and perfectly spiced. Serve it with your favorite veggies and fresh white rice for a quick and nutritious vegan dinner.
I go through major tofu phases. One week I’ll be eating my teriyaki tofu or orange tofu on repeat, then months will pass and I won’t want anything to do with the stuff.
Currently in one of those I can eat tofu all day phases, and this gochujang Korean tofu is next level good. It’s spicy, subtly sweet, oh so crispy and so easy to make.
It’s coated in some gluten free breadcrumbs, baked until crispy, then tossed in a simple gochujang sauce with a mixture of soy sauce, honey, sesame oil and gochujang for lots of delicious flavor.
I love to serve it buddha bowl style with rice and tons of veggies but it’s also delicious with my veggie stir fry noodles.
If you aren’t familiar with Gochujang, it is a savory, sweet and spicy fermented condiment also known as red chili paste.
It is not the same as Sriracha, but does have a spicy flavor. It has a slightly salty and sweet flavor with a meaty depth and pairs really well with the soy sauce and honey found in this recipe. Try my Korean gochujang noodles or crispy garlic tofu next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make
- Vegan & gluten free
- Crispy
- Packed with flavor
How to make Korean tofu
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the tofu from the package and drain off the excess liquid. Wrap in a towel and lightly press to absorb the liquid.
Cut into about 1 inch cubes and add to a bowl. Toss with the soy sauce, then cornstarch, then breadcrumbs until well coated.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and try to ensure no pieces of tofu touch each other. This helps it get crispier.
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Bake for 25 minutes, then turn off the oven and let sit an additional 5 minutes to get really crispy.
Meanwhile, whisk together all ingredients aside from the water/cornstarch for the sauce in a small pot.
Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the pot. Whisk, then heat over low/medium heat until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from the heat to let it thicken further.
When the tofu is done, let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Toss with half of the sauce (reserve the rest for serving) until well coated.
I served mine with rice, cucumber, carrot, avocado and sesame seeds. Also delicious with broccoli or just as is!
Air fryer instructions
You can air fry this tofu at 375 Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, shaking the basket every 5 or so minutes. Remove from the air fryer, then toss with the sauce. You can also tried my honey garlic air fried tofu!
Do I need to marinate tofu?
It totally depends on the recipe! For this Korean tofu, no marinating is required.
We’ll be tossing it in a bit of soy sauce to give it flavor before baking, then tossing it again in a final sauce to give it lots of flavor.
Does it keep?
Yes and no. Tofu really loses its crispiness after just a few hours, so prepping this recipe in advance is not recommended.
You can definitely prepare the sauce ahead of time and just make the tofu when you’re ready to serve.
If you love this recipe, try these next!
If you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on instagram so I can see your creation! Leave a comment and rating below and let me know how it turns out!
Crispy Gochujang Korean Tofu
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 16 ounce block extra firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons gluten free breadcrumbs can sub regular breadcrumbs
Sauce
- ¼ cup low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- ¼ cup gochujang/red chili paste be sure to check if GF!
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable broth or water
- 3 tablespoons honey sub maple syrup for vegan
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the tofu from the package and drain off the excess liquid. Wrap in a towel and lightly press to absorb the liquid.
- Cut into about 1 inch cubes and add to a bowl.
- Toss with the soy sauce, then cornstarch, then breadcrumbs until well coated.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and try to ensure no pieces of tofu touch each other. This helps it get crispier.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then turn off the oven and let sit an additional 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together all ingredients aside from the water/cornstarch for the sauce in a small pot.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the pot. Whisk, then heat over low/medium heat until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from the heat to let it thicken further.
- When the tofu is done, let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Toss with half of the sauce (reserve the rest for serving) until well coated.
- I served mine with rice, cucumber, carrot, avocado and sesame seeds. Also delicious with broccoli or just as is!
Notes
Comments
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fantastic recipe! I have been working with tofu for the last few months always looking for tasty, spicy recipes.. I actually have a tofu press that works great to really get the water out of tofu. Thanks so much for sharing!
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This was delicious! My husband thought the sauce was way too spicy so I didn’t mix the tofu with it but drizzled it on mine (all the more for me – I could easily have eaten more sauce). I’m trying to eat more plant- based and this really hit the mark. I followed your suggestion for accompaniments and will try it with other things next time. Thanks for the recipe!
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Hands down one of the best tofu recipes I’ve ever made! The sauce is positively divine. This one is going to be a regular in our house!! I paired mine with broccolini and brown rice. Heaven!!❣️
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Thanks so much Sarah!
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My husband made this tonight with panko bread crumbs. Definitely going into the rotation! Thank you for sharing!
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So glad you loved it!
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I keep wanting to try another recipe, and yet I am like why bother, I love this one!!! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you! Love to hear that 🙂
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I made this and it was so good. I recently became vegan and it is so cool to get to try new things. I never knew good food for you could taste this good. Excellent dish. Thank you.
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So glad you loved it! Thanks, Kyra!
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Made this tonight and it is delicious? I made it per the recipe but I had edamame in the freezer so I steamed that and added that also. I will definitely be making this again.
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Amazing, thanks Joey!
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Definitely lived up to my expectations!
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Cannot wait to try this recipe! I’m just curious about how well the breadcrumbs stick to the cornstarch without any egg wash? Also, what type of breadcrumbs would be best? Panko or a finer crumb type? (i.e. Italian breadcrumbs)
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I always use gluten free breadcrumbs and have no problem with them sticking!
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We love this! I make it quite often! I do the tofu in the air fryer. I don’t toss the sauce with the tofu because my daughter thinks the sauce is too spicy so she just uses a little bit with the tofu. I top it with green onions, cucumber, avocado, and carrots
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Sounds perfect, thanks Nicole!
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Yum I’ve made this several times 😋😋😋
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The flavors were good but that was an obscene amount of sauce. We used a quarter of it AND we added two heads of broccoli.
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I have made this dozens of times and never felt like there was too much sauce, but you can definitely scale back next time. Glad you still enjoyed the flavor!
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I liked everything about this meal. I followed the directions exactly, tofu and sauce was spicy and delicious, cut the avocado into bite sized chunks, steamed carrot ribbons and broccoli. Was a beautiful array of color and a joy to share.
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Recipe is super tasty, but unfortunately it’s almost impossible to read because of the number of ads that take up the screen.
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glad you enjoyed it! I share all of my content for free, so ads are how I am able to keep my buisness running. Appreciate the support.
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If you hit “print” when trying to follow a recipe you don’t run into the ad issue. I agree, it can be very annoying when trying to follow a recipe.
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I’ve been searching high and low for a good tofu recipe. I can never get it to the same texture as a restaurant. Not being vegetarians my husband was super over testing all my tofu recipes. This is so good he actually requested it again. The texture was awesome and very flavorful and spicy. I made my own stir-fry but am going to try it as you suggested here next time.
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