Baked Toficken Nuggets (Vegetarian Chicken Nuggets)

Submitted by lunaorion

"I've made these a few times now, with different seasonings, and I think I have the technique down perfectly. The key is to freeze and thaw your tofu before you use it-- this gives it chewiness. I actually freeze all my tofu because I like it this way in all my recipes. For this, I have used poultry seasoning, sazon, Cajun spice blend.. all with good results. Be gentle if you add extra salt, as many seasoning mixes are very salty on their own. Cooking time doesn't include freezing, thawing, or marinating time."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package firm tofu, frozen and thawed
• 1⁄2 cup cornmeal, medium ground
• 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• pepper, to taste

directions

1. Slice the tofu into bite sized pieces or larger if you prefer.
2. Combine yogurt and poultry seasoning (or whichever other seasonings you are using).
3. Place tofu and yogurt mixture into a ziploc bag and allow to marinate several hours or overnight.
4. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal and starch- You may add additional seasonings to this mixture as well.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F.
6. Spray a cookie sheet with PAM.
7. Dredge the marinate tofu in the cornmeal mixture to coat, and lay on the cookie sheet, leaving room between each piece.
8. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, turning once, until browned.
9. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce (I like BBQ sauce myself).

Reviews

[Queen Roachie]

I enjoyed this, but you have to at least like tofu's texture for this one. Even with freezing and thawing and pressing, this still had that tell-tale sponginess. I cheated after baking, as I couldn't get the coating to crisp up, and so I did finish these by frying in a skillet. Next time I'm splurging on carbs, I'll keep the marinade, but use panko rather than the cornmeal/starch mixture to see if it crisps up better in the oven. I only had Greek yogurt, so I added some buttermilk to thin this out a bit. Other than that (and the frying) I followed the recipe. Thanks for sharing.

 

[alyssiah1]

I am in charge of catering for a sorority and this recipe is a hit for our vegetarian members. Our cook omited the yogurt and soaked the tofu in soy sauce for a vegan version which is fantastic.

 

[White Rose Child]

Can't give any less than 5 stars- these are so cool! The breading and the texture of the defrosted tofu were spot-on! Great for dunking in ketchup, sweet and sour, or my favorite honey sub, agave nectar :-) The only thing I'd like to change is trying different marinades. My brother found the poultry seasoning tasted "soapy" (LOL) and I feel like the tofu could have been more flavorful (for one thing, my poultry seasoning didn't have any salt in it)... anyway, lots of interesting variations in the future for this recipe in our house! Thanks so much for this creative post!