Scrambled tofu is probably one of the most mundane vegan recipes there is. Go ahead and roll your eyes when you open a cookbook and see the obligatory entry, I know I do, even at my own. But for a new vegan it’s one of the most important dishes to learn. And for me, even though my inaugural tofu was scrambled 20 years ago, it’s still a staple.
It’s one of those things that changes with you, kind of like a culinary mood ring. My scramble used to feel incomplete without mushrooms, but lately I prefer a simpler texture, even onions aren’t a necessity anymore. I went through a broccoli era, and used to take a hardline anti-red pepper stance, but lately the cruciferous is out and nightshades are in.
But you don’t have to stop at breakfast, or limit yourself to a plate of scramble and hashbrowns. Look at scrambled tofu with fresh eyes! Here’s a few ways to spruce up your scramble, or use up your leftovers.
Serve in a squash bowl: Serve in half a baked squash (acorn or carnival would work perfectly.) Caramelized onions would be nice, too.
Breakfast burritos: Wrap up with potatoes, fresh salsa and guacamole.
Add to mac and cheese: Use up leftover scramble (or make some scramble just for the occasion!) by adding it to your favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe.
Lettuce wraps: Tuck scramble into lettuce, serve with fresh tomatoes and drizzle with vinaigrette
Make a sandwich: Not the most ingenious idea, but one of my favorites! A scramble sandwich with avocado, red onion and sprouts.
Make a knish: Make potato knishes and add a layer of scramble
Stuff peppers: Mix with a can of black beans and some salsa. Stuff into red peppers, bake and top with a little vegan cheese at the end.
Crepe filling: Serve in a crepe, with a vegan hollandaise sauce.
And in case you don’t have enough scrambled tofu recipes in your repertoire, here’s another for good measure (from Vegan Brunch.)
Basic Scrambled Tofu
Serves 4
For me, a basic scramble should have nice big pieces in it. It’s crumbled, yes, but not completely in crumbles. Just kind of torn apart and then broken up a bit when cooking in the pan. The flavor should be lip smacking and just a bit salty, but not overly so. Garlic, some cumin, a little thyme – that is the base. From there you can do countless variations using whatever is in your fridge that morning.
So this is my basic recipe. When you want a trustworthy and easy to modify standard scramble, this makes a great go-to.
Spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper to taste
First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done, a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it. The tofu should get browned on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the ban. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.
Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.
You can include these additions to your scramble by themselves or in combination with one another.
Broccoli – Cut about one cup into small florettes, thinly slice the stems. Add along with the tofu.
Onion – Finely chop one small onion. Add along with the garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Proceed with recipe.
Red Peppers – Remove stem and seed, finely chop one red pepper. Add along with the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Proceed with recipe.
Mushrooms – Thinly slice about a cup of mushrooms. Add along with the tofu.
Olives – Chop about 1/3 a cup of sliced olives. Add towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast.
Spinach – Add about 1 cup of chopped spinach towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast. Cook until completely wilted.
Carrots – Grate half of an average sized carrot into the scramble towards the end of cooking. This is a great way to add color to the scramble.
Avocado – I almost always have avocado with my scramble. Just peel and slice it and serve on top.
I don’t make tofu scramble often enough. It’s so simple that I forget about it, but it’s so good! Thanks for the reminder, I’ll make a scramble this weekend with some roasted root veg.
aaahhhh…I LOVE a good scramble!
It’s possible that I’m just blind, but I don’t think I see any *tofu* in this recipe.
How much? Which kind?
Funny thing, I never made tofu scramble until I moved to Portland. I was never interested it making it until I started seeing it on breakfast menus around town and realized I could just make it at home! I usually don’t add anything other than a lot of garlic and mushrooms. Maybe spinach. You are crazy with your carrots and onions!
I featured this recipe with the spinach option on my blog Monday!
one of my faves is a spin on the sandwich front: add all the things you usually would have for an egg salad or tuna salad sandwich (veganaise, celery, pickles?) to cold leftover scramble and you get a “chicken or the egg?” salad sandwich.
i am psychic! i just ate scrambled tofu and as i was clicking on the blog link thought “i wonder if isa blogged about scrambled tofu” and here it is. neato.
I love those ideas! My go-to scramble I totally stole from a Seattle cafe – green curry scramble with turmeric, tomato chunks and green onions, served on buttered toast. Mmmmm…
Tofu scramble is a must in my house! I have altered though for my sons (6yrs and 2yrs) so that they enjoy it. I cube the tofu for little fingers and forks and use Nutritional Yeast, crushed black pepper, Mrs. Dash and Season All. We eat it for breakfast and dinner: over rice, noodles with veggies etc. I don’t know what we would do with out the basic tofu scramble.
Fine, I’ll write a post on cubes vs. mush. You convinced me. I was really hoping you’d dig a little deeper in the philosophic side of this.
Tofu scrambles were one of the first and hardest dishes I learned. I came to realize that I like it super simple too. At most, I’ll put some sort or bac’n bits. Though, the puttanesca scramble is an exception to this rule.
kimmykokonut- onions and carrots are crazy?! you crazy! :o) i do put carrots and onions (and cremini mushrooms) in anything i saute, which includes tofu scram.
isa- i just noticed today at work that we (Paradox) have no scrambles on our menu. does Vita? i don’t think the old owners (that owned the both) ever had it on the menu and the new owners haven’t added any. i suppose they figure vegans get enough scrambles at all the less-veg-friendly places. mamakim’s running joke when we go out for breakfast is always “karla, what tofu scramble are you going to get?”
Karla, you work at Paradox? There are scrambles there, the number 1 and number 2. Vita has lots of scrambles, too. Are you sure you work there? Are you sure you live in Portland?
Do you know that I’ve only made a tofu scramble once? And I think it’s documented on the ppk.
I think that means I’m not really vegan.
Good timing. I was just thinking about a tofu scramble stuffed into blue taco shells, but a breakfast burrito sounds good too.
I’m going to have to find ou what a knish is! Other than that those sound like delicious ways to have fun with tofu scramble.
I just made some scramble with scallions, red pepper and shredded carrot, and I substituted 1 T of soy sauce for the water with the spices. I used it as the filling for Chinese steamed buns. Num!
Hey Isa, I made a tofu scramble with some soy chorizo, and some peppers and onions, it was amazing! Possibly the best scramble I have had yet. It said on the package to serve with eggs (no thanks!) so I figured why not a tofu scramble instead!
those ideas sound great. I’ve never actually made a tofu scramble. Is it possible to do without nutritional yeast, since that’s not an ingredient I generally have around?
Adding avocado! – BRILLIANT!
I love revisiting the classics, especially when there are multiple ways to use it.
I never get tired of tofu scrambles. Thanks for the ideas.
Inspire by the blog post, I made tofu scramble-potato breakfast burritos for dinner – which I guess means we ate brunch.
The absolute best tofu to use for scrambles is found in the bulk section of your co-op. Here in AZ, we get a brand called “Sacramento” which is also the kind we used to buy living in Oakland. Trust me on this, buying fresh extra firm tofu will make you CRAVE all thing tofu. We eat scrambles at least once or twice per week.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sacramento-tofu-company-sacramento
Great tips. I especially think the “letting the water cook out of it” is key. In our vegan home, that’s when we know brunch is ready!
Probably the most useless, yet hilarious, scramble recipe is ” steda eggs,” which can be found in Marilyn Diamond’s American Vegetarian Cookbook. Without permission from the author, I’ll post this special recipe (which was, according to Marilyn, “sweeping the nation” in 1990):
step 1: buy Fantastic Foods Tofu Scramble
step 2: Add to tofu
Brilliant! Funny thing is, I can totally remember the days when I perceived tofu scramble as impossible to make without the Fantastic Foods magical spice mix.
hi
I am real encouraged with the mentation and don’t search like adding anything in it. It
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ISA Info
This is the best post on this topic i have ever read. Best of all, you’ll quickly realize how much easier your life is once you realize that you don’t need to plan a vacation – you let your all inclusive honeymoon simply unfold as the romantic escape and celebration that you always dreamed it would be.
i like to sub the black pepper for a healthy pour of paprika and crushed red chilis, and i use silken style tofu cuz i like the more what they call”scrambled soft/undercooked” textures. i like that green curry scramble erin was talking about. is it really made with green curry or is it just the scallions what make it green? either way, sounds good.
I always make mine with a cup of salsa at the end and then spread it over a cornbread waffle. It’s delicious!
“As long as it’s eaten in moderation, soy and tofu products can be extremely healthy and nutritious for you. Although it’s still being debated whether non-fermented soy and tofu products contain harmful toxins, most experts generally agree that the health benefits probably outweigh any dangers.”
http://www.veghealthguide.com/soy-tofu/
Does this keep in the refrigerator?
a) I always love being able to make things in advance and then just nuke them (though, as with everything except chili, it is best when fresh)
b) I’m hoping to not have to bust out my rusty math skills to divide this recipe into “serves one”
This looks great. We have a kid with dairy and egg allergies, so we often turn to vegan recipes — which is nice for all of us, anyway. (Sadly, she can’t eat nuts either, which is tricky, but whatever.) Anyway, we’re making this tonight, and it looks awesome. So excited. Thank you! PS We’ll be doing it with black beans, salsa, avocado – agreed, the greatest addition to everything — in a tortilla. Yum.
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve tried it and love it. I also love your books!
I tried this morning (+onion). Soooo much better than other times I have cooked scrambled tofu, as the nutritional yeast adds a great flavor. thanks!
I just made this for lunch. I made some black beans which i layered in a bowl over the scramble, then some fresh salsa i had made and chopped avacados on top! Freakin yummy!!!!
Just had it for lunch today! I usually use onions, sweet peppers, garlic, black sea salt, turmeric, nutritional yeast, and whatever else I have in the fridge and/or the garden. Today I added some broccoli, and some tomatoes and kale harvested from right outside. Yum! And I always always always put some sriracha over the top.
Oh dear, baby vegan question, ahOh dear, baby vegan question, ahoy!
Is the tofu just drained, or drained & pressed? I’m getting mixed signals from recipes but I want to make this soy-based relationship work!
I don’t press it for this. A lot of the moisture cooks out so you actually have to add a little moisture back at the end.
Ok. I don’t even know how the first sentence got like that. Gross. SorryOk. I don’t even know how the first sentence got like that. Gross. Sorry!
Wonderful. Went to two local health food stores and couldn’t find the box seasoning mix to make tofu scramble. I am so glad because this is the best tofu scramble I’ve had. My addition included 1/2 tsp curry powder, thin-sliced half zucchini and diced carrots, celery. Loved it.
Thanks Isa! I needed to hear that scrumbled (seeing as you can’t really scramble) tofu will no longer be an hour & a half long event! You have my 67 year old red-meat lovin’, ultra-conservative, Faux News lovin’ Dad hogging the scrumbled tofu whenever I make it. Awww so cutThanks Isa! I needed to hear that scrumbled (seeing as you can’t really scramble) tofu will no longer be an hour & a half long event! You have my 67 year old red-meat lovin’, ultra-conservative, Faux News lovin’ Dad hogging the scrumbled tofu whenever I make it. Awww so cute.
Hubby and I are just starting out on our vegan adventure. Made this tonight for dinner with some home-fried potatoes. YUM! Went together really fast and was so good. We added onion, red bell pepper, and mushroom. The seasoning was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe.