Chicken Fried Baked Tofu

We eat a lot of tofu and I love finding new and different ways to prepare it. Anne's love of chicken fried tofu came from eating Whole Foods amazing take on it from the hot bar. Unfortunately, we only seem to find this at southern Whole Foods. After much research and trying different recipes, I think I have settled on a variation.


It is by no means as delicious as the Whole Foods tofu, but it is more healthy and is pretty easy to make.


Anne put on Ralph Stanley tonight in honor of this southern (inspired) dish for us to enjoy. My friends Will and Jake from Macalester of LP Juicer Consulting think that nutritional yeast is just dandy, so this is dedicated to them.


A special thanks to Chow Vegan and Whisk. Flip. Stir. whose recipes I have tried, loved, and now adapted.


Try this out and let me know what you think!


Chicken Fried (Baked) Tofu

• 1 lb extra firm tofu, drained and weighted with paper towels for an hour or so 
• 2 cups "chicken" flavored broth 
• 1 tablespoon brags essential aminos or soy sauce 
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast 
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs (I prefer panko but use whatever) 
• Old Bay Seasoning or some other poultry seasoning 
• Salt and pepper 
• Olive oil

Drain the tofu really well and wrap it in paper towels. Place a weight on the tofu to try and ring as much of the water out as possible. Check and replace the paper towels often to absorb more water.


While the tofu is draining and drying, prepare the "chicken broth." I use Osem Chicken Style Consomme, an instant soup. Good news--its both vegan and kosher! Its important to soak the tofu (once all the water is out) in this broth to give it some flavor. I also add some Bragg Liquid Aminos (you can also add soy sauce). Make sure the broth is not still boiling hot when you add in the tofu.


When the tofu is dry, cut into triangles (or squares or rectangles). Place in a dish big enough to hold the tofu and the broth. Allow the tofu to marinate in the broth for at least 30 minutes--but it can be in the broth for overnight if necessary. 

When you are ready to bake the tofu re-heat the oven to 400 degrees and get the bread crumb mixture ready. Mix the nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs, Old Bay Seasoning, and salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Prep a cookie sheet with olive oil/non stick spray.


Dredge each piece of tofu one at a time in the bread/yeast mixture taking care to coat all the sides. Transfer to the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with more old bay seasoning and bake for 15 minutes. Flip over and season with more old bay, and then bake for another 15 minutes. The tofu is ready when it is golden brown.


Serve with a grain or potato and a vegetable. Tonight we enjoyed it with some Trader Joe's Harvest grain blend and broccoli. Yum.