Baked Tofu

Let’s face it: Meat is expensive! One of the easiest ways to lower your grocery bill is to cut out meat, at least some of the time. But do you think of tofu as alternative? Bringing flavor to tofu is no easy task but this recipe will change how you feel about tofu! This homemade barbecue sauce makes this tofu taste amazing!

Tofu is one of those weird foods that seems to scare people away, but I think it just has a bad rap. It’s relatively cheap, healthy, and full of protein, and, provide it is prepared well, seriously delicious. The problem is that when it’s not prepared well it tends to be little more than a lump of bland, tasteless mush.

It took me a long time to figure out how to cook tofu. The secret is taking the time to press out all the excess moisture. Once you’ve done that, you can cook it and it will actually hold it’s shape and have a great texture when you eat it.

Adding flavor is important, and the possibilities are almost endless. In this case I literally just opened up my fridge, grabbed the first condiments I spotted–ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, & honey–and mixed them together, but I have also had great results with soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, & BBQ sauce. The key is flavor–the more the better!

Here is what you need:

1 lb firm Tofu

Sauce ingredients

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tsp yellow mustard

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce

Step 1: Pressing tofu is very easy. You just need a lot of paper towels and a big stack of plates. Wrap the tofu with several layers of paper towel (go around at least 10 times!), then place the lump of wrapped tofu on one plate, and place a stack of plates on top to weight it down. (Use the wall to stabilize the plates!)  Let sit for about a half-hour.

Step 2: Once your tofu is sufficiently squished, remove the plates and unwrap the paper towels, then cut the tofu into slices, cubes, or sticks (depending on your preference–I like cubes because they leave more surface area for the sauce!)

Step 3: Mix sauce ingredients well in a medium-sized bowl. Add cubed tofu and gently stir with a rubber spatula to coat.

Step 4: Place coated tofu on a greased tin-foil lined baking sheet.

Step 5: Roast at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, then stir and bake for another 20 minutes. Serve plain or over salad, pasta, or rice. Delicious warm or cold!

So what do you think? Are you ready to try tofu? Do you already eat it & love it? Still not convinced?