Crispy Baked Sesame Tofu
For an easy weeknight dinner, look no further than this crispy baked sesame tofu! It’s so easy to make, requires only 10 minutes of prep time and is completely vegan and gluten free.
It’s no secret around here that I’m a big, ok huge, fan of sesame anything. Sesame noodles, chickpeas, cauliflower, sesame chickpea meatballs, now sesame tofu?! Sesame salmon is next on my list but I’m always open to suggestions!
Easy dinners are my favorite kind of dinners. Easy dinners that are so flavorful are the absolute best. This baked tofu recipe is exactly that and I cannot wait for you to try it!
I love to serve it up with some rice and broccoli to make a sort of buddha bowl, but you can also serve it in a stir fry or with my vegan fried rice.
Tofu does not contain sesame as it is just made with soy beans, but this recipe contains sesame oil for a delicious sesame flavor. If you love this recipe, try my crispy garlic tofu, gochujang korean tofu or tofu burrito bowl next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Vegan & gluten free
- Packed with flavor
- Crispy
- Easy to make
Tips for crispy tofu
I’ll admit, I totally understand why some people are so turned off by tofu. It doesn’t look all that great straight out of the package, and without any sauce, it doesn’t have much of a flavor.
However, (and a big however!), if you know how to cook tofu properly, then you can make it taste seriously delicious. Crispy, flavorful, easy to make, high in protein… basically everything you could want.
The key to baking tofu is to bake it plain and with some sort of flour or starch. Baking it without any sauce ensures the tofu on its own is able to crisp up and without burning the sauce.
The flour/starch works to absorb any excess moisture to give us a super crispy exterior and soft interior. We’ll then coat it in the sauce after it bakes so it stays crispy!
How to make sesame tofu
Cut tofu. Cut a slit in the side of the tofu container and drain out all of the excess liquid. Remove the tofu from the package and wrap it in a towel just to get off as much liquid as possible without having to press the tofu. Once it seems dry, cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Prep tofu. Once the tofu is cubed, add it to a large bowl and toss with the soy sauce. Next, toss in the cornstarch then the breadcrumbs.
I like to just shake the bowl so the tofu doesn’t break (sometimes it breaks if you use a spoon) and toss until every piece is well coated.
Bake. Add to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and try to ensure none of the tofu pieces touch each other. I know that seems annoying, but the space between really helps it get crispy.
Make sauce. Add the tofu to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. While the tofu is baking, we’ll prepare the sauce on the stove.
Serve. Once the sauce and tofu are done, toss both together until well coated and enjoy! I like to serve it with brown or white rice and some steamed broccoli. Try my chipotle sofritas tofu next!
Do you need to press tofu?
Yes and no. You can absolutely get away with not pressing the tofu for this recipe. I don’t list it in the instructions because this recipe turns out really well without any pressing. Plus, it saves a lot of time!
Tofu is basically a sponge that sits in water and absorbs all of it. Pressing out the excess water does help make it more crispy and ensures it cooks evenly through the center.
If you’re trying to get flavors into the tofu, you do want to press it. In the case of this sesame tofu, we’re trying to get a crispy outside so the sauce will stick on the outside, so pressing isn’t necessary.
Moral of the story, nothing bad will happen if you don’t press tofu, but if you want the crispiest and most flavorful tofu around, press away!
How to store and reheat
Once prepared, this sesame tofu will keep in the fridge for 3 days. It is best served fresh, but you can pop everything back in the oven at 200 for 10 minutes to crisp it back up.
The microwave also works, but tends to make things a bit soft/soggy, but the flavor will still be delicious.
You’ll also love..
Follow along on on instagram and subscribe to my email list for more recipes and updates. Leave a comment and rating below if you try this recipe and let us know how it turns out!
Garlic Sesame Tofu
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 tablespoon low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 16 ounce block extra firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoons gluten free breadcrumbs can sub for regular
Sauce
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon oil I used avocado oil
- ⅓ cup low sodium tamari or soy sauce MUST be low sodium!
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2-3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup depending on preference
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 4 tablespoons water divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit.
- Drain the excess liquid from the tofu and dry it off with a towel*.
- Cut into 1 inch cubes and add to a large bowl. Toss with the soy sauce.
- Toss with the cornstarch and the breadcrumbs until all pieces are evenly coated.
- Add to the baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
- During the final 10 minutes, prep the sauce.
- Mince the garlic and saute with 1 tbsp oil in a small saute pan for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add in the soy sauce, honey or maple syrup, rice vinegar, 2 tbsp of water and sesame oil.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and other 2 tbsp of water in a bowl and add to the pan.
- Heat over low heat for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce bubbles and thickens.
- When the tofu is done, toss with the sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds if desired and serve over rice with steamed broccoli or enjoy as is!
Notes
Comments
-
This was my first time to cook a Tofu dish (or eat it for that matter) and I wasn’t disappointed! Easy and tasted great!
-
Best tofu EVER! Thank you for sharing this beauty!
-
Thank you, Lori!
-
-
Definitely need the honey or maple syrup to make this. Was pretty yummy though. I would say add garlic powder and black pepper too. Unless I was being dumb and accidentally left that out, but this was pretty gooood!
-
The honey/maple syrup is there for a reason! There is fresh garlic so I don’t think garlic powder is needed, but can be added if you like!
-
-
This was absolutely fabulous! The flavour and texture were just spicy enough without being overbearing. This must be my favourite tofu recipe by a mile.
A real keeper!-
Thank you, Debbie!
-
-
The absolute best tofu recipe I’ve tried! The tofu was crispy, and the sauce was perfectly sticky and flavorful. Thank you for the great directions!
-
So happy to hear that, thanks Crystal!
-
-
This was SOOO good, couldn’t stop eating and making another batch tonight.
-
Easy and delicious!
-
I have never made tofu or really had it outside of the stuff at chipotle and in miso soup. I made this recipe and it’s delicious! I’ve actually never left a review on a recipe either. I used about 1/3 of the 1/3 cup of soy sauce because I ran out so I added some Thai sweet chili sauce, mirin and a little bit of water to make up the difference. I also added a bit of sriracha for some heat. So. Good!
-
Thank you, Taylor! So glad you made it work for you.
-
-
Very tasty. It made the tofu have a wonderful flavor. Might sound weird but it made the texture like a potato verses tofu
-
Flavor is overbearing.
-
Sorry you weren’t a fan! You can definitely scale back on the ingredients.
-
-
I missed the part about using parchment paper and instead placed the tofu on tin foil which was a disaster as I waited 30 minutes for it to bake, only to find it was stuck on one side to the pan. Next time I’ll spray the tin foil with a non-stick spray or be sure to try the parchment paper instead. I do think the sauce has a nice flavor but might be a bit too salty and sweet for me. But it might not have been so overpowering if I hadn’t lost half of my tofu to the sticky tin foil gods.
-
Hi, Claire(I think that’s your name) my family LOVED your recipe I’m a vegetarian (and I’m a young kid)and I don’t really like tofu unless it’s cooked like I like it. And this is it! Thank you so much! By the way do you know how much iron it has, it’s not listed in the nutritional facts. We love the recipe thank you!
-
Hi Vivi! Thank you, that’s so sweet. So glad you loved the recipe. The iron will mostly come from the tofu itself, I would check on the package of your tofu brand and see what that says!
-
-
Ate one cube and threw it out.
-
Sorry you weren’t a fan!
-
-
Used low sodium soy sauce and it was still way too salty! Doubled the maple syrup and still much too much salt. Would recommend using only 1-2 Tbl of soy sauce. Also, noticed sesame seeds in the photo just now but missed where this was listed in the recipe? Toast these while tofu is baking!
-
Sesame seeds are just an optional garnish, so didn’t list in the recipe. But it says “garnish with sesame seeds if desired” in the instructions.
-
-
What is the nutritional information? Maybe I missed it
-
At the bottom of the recipe card!
-
leave a comment and rating