A nourishing and filling vegan bowl with only 5 main ingredients! Filled with creamy sweet potato mash, crispy chicken tofu, garlic mushrooms, white onion, fresh spinach + lemon asparagus. This recipe is gluten-free, oil-free + salt-free!
I have a confession to make. I didn’t try tofu until maybe my second year of veganism. Is that bad?
It’s weird to admit, but if you’ve never cooked tofu or tried it before, it can seem like a really scary ingredient because of the prepping that goes with it. And now I eat it all the time and I actually look forward to cooking it and making it niiiiiiice and crispy. Plus, it’s super healthy and packed with plant protein + calcium!
So if you’re a tofu virgin, then you have come to the right place because I’m going to show you how to make the most banging crispy vegan chicken tofu. I promise you’ll absolutely love this recipe and you’ll kick yourself for not trying it sooner!
This vegan bowl is also made with creamy sweet potato mash, garlic mushrooms, fresh lemon asparagus + spinach!
TIPS FOR OIL-FREE COOKING:
This recipe is completely oil-free. When cooking with a griddle pan, keep adding water to keep your food from sticking to the pan. You can also add other liquids like lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, tamari or liquid smoke.
RECIPE FEATURES:
- nutrient packed – this recipe has approximately 610mg of calcium + 8mg of iron!
- filling + nourishing – it’s a great recipe if you want to get more plant protein in your diet
- vegan and gluten-free – also suitable for those on a whole-food plant-based diet
- perfect for meal prep – an amazing recipe you can easily batch cook for easy vegan meal prep
TOFU instructions:
STEP 1. PRESS THE TOFU
Make sure your tofu is EXTRA FIRM TOFU as this recipe won’t work with silken tofu. First you need to begin draining and pressing your extra firm tofu. If you’ve never cooked tofu before then don’t be put off by this process, it’s super easy!
Get either a clean kitchen towel or kitchen paper/roll and wrap your block of tofu. It’s obviously more eco friendly if you use a clean kitchen towel as you can easily use 10-15 squares of kitchen paper while pressing your tofu. Either way, use your hands to push down on the top of the tofu to get as much water out as possible.
You can also put something heavy on top of the tofu and leave for 10 minutes, but I like to do it this way because it’s less time consuming and my tofu always tastes amazing!
STEP 2. MARINATE THE TOFU OVERNIGHT
After your tofu has been pressed and most of the liquid is gone, place your tofu block on a chopping board and chop into small squares. Try not to make your tofu cubes too small. Transfer the cubes to a glass tupperware (i’ll explain why in the next step).
Now you can begin making your vegan chicken stock. In a small bowl, add 1 stock cube with about 1/4 cup of boiling water, liquid smoke + tamari and mix until its fully combined. I like to use this basic marinade for my tofu because it works really well, but any marinade will give the tofu more taste!
Pour your marinade/stock mixture over your tofu in your glass container. Put the lid on the container and shake until the tofu is fully covered in your stock mixture.
Leave your tofu to marinade overnight in the fridge (or at least for a few hours – the longer the better). Once the tofu has soaked in all the flavours you are ready to cook!
Scroll down to see the ingredients and full recipe instructions!
Crispy Tofu + Sweet Potato Mash Bowl
A nourishing and filling vegan bowl with only 5 main ingredients! Filled with creamy sweet potato mash, crispy chicken tofu, garlic mushrooms, white onion, fresh spinach + lemon asparagus. This recipe is gluten-free, oil-free + salt-free!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mushrooms
- 8 pieces of asparagus
- 1/3 block extra firm tofu
- 1/3 white onion
- 1 handful spinach
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 tbsp dairy free spread (I used Flora Light)
- 1-2 tbsp plant-based milk
Seasoning: (Use as much as you desire)
- Boiling water for the stock cube
- 1/2 tbsp Liquid smoke
- 1/2 tbsp Tamari (you can use low sodium soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- Dash of Black pepper for taste
Instructions
- First drain and press your extra firm tofu. Get either a clean kitchen towel or kitchen paper/roll and wrap your block of tofu. Use your hands to push down on the top of the tofu to get as much water out as possible.
- After your tofu has been pressed and most of the liquid is gone, place your tofu block on a chopping board and chop into small squares. Try not to make your tofu cubes too small. Transfer the cubes to a glass tupperware.
- In a small bowl, add 1 stock cube with about 1/4 cup of boiling water, liquid smoke + tamari and mix until its fully combined. I like to use this basic marinade for my tofu because it works really well, but any marinade will give the tofu more taste!
- Pour your marinade/stock mixture over your tofu in your glass container. Put the lid on the container and shake until the tofu is fully covered in your stock mixture.
- Leave your tofu to marinade overnight in the fridge (or at least for a few hours – the longer the better). Once the tofu has soaked in all the flavours you are ready to cook!
- Peel the sweet potato, chop into small pieces and boil in a pan for around 10 minutes until soft. Drain the sweet potato and add it back into the same pan. Add around 1 tbsp of the dairy free spread and a splash of plant-based milk to the sweet potatoes and start to mash until it becomes creamy but not runny.
- To save washing up, I like to cook all the vegetables and tofu in 1 griddle pan. Start by adding the tofu to the griddle pan with a splash of water and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the asparagus + chopped mushrooms + chopped white onion. Keep adding more water to the pan to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. For extra flavour, I like to add lemon juice + garlic powder to my veggies.
- Once the sweet potatoes are cooked and mashed, and the vegetables + tofu have cooked in the pan for around 10 minutes (depending on how crispy you like them), you can now start to assemble your bowl.
- Don’t forget to add the spinach at the end – you can have it fresh like I did or cook for 30 seconds in the griddle pan so it wilts down. This option is great if you want to hide your healthy greens in your meals!
Notes
*If you don’t have vegan chicken stock then use any vegan stock but add more tamari + liquid smoke.
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VITAMINS + MINERALS IN THIS RECIPE:
Calcium – 610mg
Iron – 8mg
Vitamin D – 21mg
Recommended Products
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Massel, Bouillon Salt Reduced Stock Powder – No MSG, Gluten-Free, Chicken Flavour – 140 g, Pack of 6 Canned Soup Stock -
Food Storage Containers with Lids (20 Pack) – Plastic Storage Containers with Lids Food Container Set BPA-Free Containers -
Orrington Farms All Natural Vegan Broth Base & Seasoning, Chicken, 6 Ounce
Nutrition Information
Yield 1 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 456Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gSodium 526mgCarbohydrates 62.9gFiber 12.5gSugar 21.3gProtein 28g
Are you a big fan of vegan bowls? If you liked this recipe please leave a comment below so I know what kind of recipes you’d like to see in the future!
