Teriyaki Tofu

♫ Listening to: Skyscraper by Bad Religion ♫

It’s so hard to believe that I didn’t like tofu when I first went vegan 20 years ago. Now, I eat tofu every week! It took me awhile to realize that I just don’t care for the way most other people prepare it, haha. My unsolicited tofu advice to anyone who thinks they don’t like it is:

1. Marinate the hell out of it.
2. Cook it for longer than you think you need to.
3. Always buy extra firm tofu, because soft tofu is icky (that’s my professional toddler opinion).

If you’ve already passed the I-don’t-like-tofu stage in your life, you might also like my gluten-free tofurkey recipe, but it’s not as fun to eat as this jenga-style tofu.

This recipe makes 1 jenga stack (feeds around 4 people).

Teriyaki Tofu Jenga Ingredients

• 1 block of organic tofu (I like the high protein extra firm ones because I don’t have to squeeze out the excess water)*
• ¼ cup Bragg’s liquid aminos (or sub soy sauce)*
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup (or sub vegan sugar)
• ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Teriyaki Tofu Jenga Directions

prep time: 30 minutes; baking time: 30 minutes

Open the tofu, rinse it, wrap it in a tea towel, and set aside.

Heat the oven to 400°.

Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a bowl: ¼ cup Bragg’s, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, ¼ teaspoon ginger powder, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Cut the tofu into even rectangle pieces. It doesn’t really matter what shape you choose, as long as you try to make them all similar.

Coat a lasagna pan with oil.

Lay the tofu in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.

Brush the marinade over the tofu. Let sit for 5 minutes and flip all the pieces on their sides.

Repeat that step 3 more times until the tofu pieces have been marinating on each side for a total of 20 minutes.

Bake the tofu for 30 minutes.

Cool the tofu for a few minutes before removing from the pan gently with a spatula and stacking into a jenga formation.

Serve as a party appetizer, bring to a potluck, or just play it on a weeknight with your family to get everyone off their phones for 5 minutes.

Delicious Modifications

If you, your family, or your friends like this recipe, but you don’t want to have the same flavored tofu every time, try one of these other delicious gluten-free, vegan marinades from some super cool vegan blogs.

Oil-free teriyaki sauce from Veggies Save The Day

Pizza flavored marinade from Fried Dandelions

Bulgogi marinade from Cadry’s Kitchen

Balsamic marinade from Vegan Yack Attack

An awesome list of 6 marinades from The Hidden Veggies

Pineapple teriyaki glaze from Vegan Huggs

Oil-free red wine marinade from Nutriplanet

Oil-free teriyaki sauce from The Nut-Free Vegan

Thai peanut sauce from My Darling Vegan

Can you make this in the air fryer?

Yes! Here’s a stop motion video that me and Izzy made when we tried this teriyaki tofu recipe in the air fryer.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

* I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook, but I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to purchase all organic ingredients. Therefore, I only specify organic on the ingredients that really matter - when buying the organic (or non-GMO) version is the only way to ensure that the item is vegan.