Crispy Pizza Tofu Nuggets — Kid Approved!

All the flavors of pizza in a bite of tofu!  These homemade crispy Pizza Tofu nuggets are sure to be a hit with your kids!

I didn’t plan to post two tofu recipes back to back, but I made this yesterday and it was so good—I had to share.  In fact, I did share the picture on What Fat Vegans Eat and the picture received over 100 likes!  I figured I’d switch up the order and share the recipe today.  I’ll give you the ‘Smores Cookie recipe later this week!

Crispy Pizza Tofu Nuggets

Years ago, before I was on Pinterest, I saw a recipe for some pizza tofu and I copied and pasted the recipe into a word doc.  Old school.  Yesterday I was in the mood for some tofu to go with a pasta dinner and I remembered that old recipe.  Of course, I didn’t actually use the recipe, because I never do things like follow directions.  I just sort of set out on my own path of experimentation to see what would happen.

^^^ Just look at that crispy texture!

I marinaded the tofu for about 2 hours, then I breaded it and baked it.  It came out perfectly crispy and devourable.  That’s a word, right?  By the time Irving walked in the door for dinner I had finished several slices!  So good.  The texture reminds me of our very favorite “Chicken Fried Tofu” from Whole Foods, but the flavor is just like a pizza/Italian sausage/pepperoni/marinara sauce.   I was pleasantly surprised at how crispy it got without frying it!

So many serving options!

This delicious Pizza Tofu would be great served with pasta, on it’s own in lieu of veggie nuggets (dip in marinara sauce!), in a sandwich—ooh….an Italian “Meatball” sub—, or even sliced up on an actual pizza.  I’m looking forward to making this again….and again…and again!

I hope you have a chance to try these for your next Friday night dinner/football watching/happy hour/kid sleepover!  They are likely to be a hit with everyone!  I’d love for you to follow me on Instagram, and tag photos you post of my recipes with #frieddandelions so that I can see!  I love to see what you’re cooking!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Pizza Tofu

All the flavors of pizza in a crispy bite of tofu! These homemade nuggets are sure to be a hit with your kids!

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time1 hr 45 mins

Total Time1 hr 50 mins

Course: Tofu

Author: Sarah De la Cruz

Ingredients

• 2 blocks firm tofu preferably organic

Marinade:

• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon no-chicken stock concentrate I like Better Than Boullion No-Chicken, or use veggie bullion cube)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds whole or ground is fine
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon agave

Breading:

• 2/3 - 3/4 cup rice flour you can sub regular all purpose flour if you don't need to be gluten free
• 2 T corn starch to help the rice flour to stick better, you can omit if you use all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• Marinara sauce for dipping if desired

Instructions

• Press your tofu to release as much water as possible.  Set aside.  Mix together the soy sauce, water, spices, boullion, tomato paste and agave.   Slice the tofu into whatever size you want—I sliced each block into 8 pieces for easy cooking/flipping in the oven.  Marinate the tofu for at least 1 hour, but you could do up to 3 or 4.
• Preheat oven to 425°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Remove the tofu from the marinade and use your hands to wipe off the excess marinade. Set aside.  (Trust me, do this first, all at one time rather than for each dip—it gets messy).
• Mix rice flour with 2 T cornstarch and 1 t salt.  In separate bowl pour 1/2 c of unsweetened milk (I just blended 1/2 c water with 2 T hemp seeds and did not strain—I was out of milk).  Dip tofu into flour mix, lightly coating all sides, give it a slight shake, then dip quickly into the milk, then back to the flour to coat again. Shake once again to remove excess dry flour.  Place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. (If you have dry spots of flour on the tofu you can give it a quick spritz with a spray cooking oil (I have spray olive oil) and that will help the dry flour to crisp up as well!)
• Bake for 30 minutes.  Flip all tofu carefully and return to the oven for 15 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve right away.  Enjoy!

Notes

Cook time includes time to marinate the tofu.

Want more great Tofu Recipes?