Five Delicious Tofu Marinade Recipes

One of our favorite things about tofu is how easy it is to marinate. You can easily coerce tofu to take on multiple other flavors, so it is ideal for marinating, especially if you want your tofu to replace a certain type of meat.

So, what is the best tofu marinade? This is a subjective question, and the truth is there are so many fantastic tofu marinades – we don’t think that we’d be able to choose just one! However, we have come up with a list of a few of our favorite marinades. Feel free to try all of these and let us know which is your favorite!

BBQ

This is potentially the most popular tofu marinade, possibly because people are keen to replicate delicious BBQ chicken. To make BBQ marinade, you will need the following ingredients:

0.5 teaspoon of liquid smoke – this gives the tofu a really delicious smoky BBQ flavor.
6 tablespoons of BBQ sauce. If you are vegan, make sure that the BBQ sauce you choose does not contain any animal products.

Hot Chili

Do you like spicy food? If so, hot chili tofu marinade is for you! You can adjust this according to taste, depending on whether you want it spicier or milder.

To make hot chili marinade, you will need:

3 tablespoons of chili paste. You can either purchase this from most superstores or make it yourself by processing around 3 chilis in a food processor.
1 tablespoon of garlic paste – again, you can buy this pre-made or make it yourself.
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar.

Teriyaki

If you’re a fan of Asian food, why not try teriyaki tofu? This is a delicious marinade with Japanese ingredients. It combines sweet, salty, and bitter flavors to create a really delectable taste.

To make Teriyaki sauce, you will need:

2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of brown sugar. If you want to avoid sugar, you could substitute this for maple syrup.
2 tablespoons of orange juice
1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon of garlic paste

Peanut

This Thai-inspired peanut dressing is made primarily from peanut butter, but also has salt from the soy sauce, sweetness from the syrup and a slight tang from the lemon.

Gather the following ingredients to make peanut marinade:

3 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of agave syrup
1 teaspoon of ginger paste
1 teaspoon of garlic paste

Balsamic

This simple marinade is excellent for those times when you just want to throw something easy together. Its primary ingredient is balsamic vinegar, with a few other additions to balance out the flavors.

To make a balsamic marinade, you will need these ingredients:

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of salt

How do I make the marinades?

You should make all of these marinades in the same way. Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix them thoroughly. Then, once you’ve prepared the tofu (pressing it if necessary and chopping it into cubes) you can place that into the bowl as well.

You will need to marinate your tofu for at least 30 minutes before it is ready to be cooked. However, if you have longer, leave it for a bit more time – we recommend overnight if you can. If you are marinating your tofu for longer than an hour or so, put the tofu and marinade mix in the fridge in a sealed container to ensure that it stays fresh.

recipe for grilled tofu

What tofu do I need?

Firm or extra firm tofu is best.

Most tofu that you see in stores will be firm tofu and will be stored in water. If you have this type of tofu, you will need to extract the water before marinating. This helps the tofu to absorb flavors. To press your tofu, use a designated tofu press or create a DIY press using dish towels, plates and weights.
If you have extra-firm tofu, it may have come vacuum-sealed, and you do not need to press it.

Once your tofu is prepared, cut it into your desired shape – normally tofu cubes work best, but you may wish to cut your tofu into strips. Then, it’s ready for marinating!

Tofu is one of the best vegetarian foods because it is so easy to marinate and take on other flavors. You won’t be missing animal products at all with these tofu marinade recipes – they’re absolutely delicious!