Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce. Baked Crunchy Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips with Sweet chili dipping sauce. Vegan Appetizer Recipe for Super bowl Gameday. How to make Crispy Tofu Fingers. Serve as appetizer, or over a salad or make a wrap.
One cannot have enough appetizers for gameday or any other event right! These Crispy crunchy strips of tofu are baked to the perfect crisp. Then served with a sweet spicy dipping sauce. Dip and coat those strips in the sauce really well and take a bite.
These vegan crispy Tofu Strips with the tangy Sweet chili dipping sauce are perfect to snack on. They also make a great addition to a salad. Chop up the strips and dress the salad generously with the sweet chili sauce. Or make them into a wrap with greens or crunchy lettuce and roasted veggies.
to make these soy-free use Chickpea flour Tofu and serve with buffalo sauce or other strong flavored dips
More appetizers from the blog
- Broccoli Balls with marinara
- Roasted Broccoli with Creamy Basil Dressing
- Jalapeno Popper Dip
- 40 Super bowl Recipes
Video:
Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce
Ingredients
For the Crispy Tofu:
- 14 oz (396.89 g) firm tofu
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) flour I use half white half wheat, as all wheat makes the batter taste too wheaty
- 1 1/2 tbsp (1.5 tbsp) or more Sriracha or hot chili sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) black pepper
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) salt
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) sugar
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) or more water
- 1 cup (108 g) breadcrumbs
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
For the Sweet chili sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp (1.5 tbsp) soy sauce
- 1/4 cup (63.75 ml) rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup (62.5 ml) water
- 3 tbsp or more sugar
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp (1.5 tbsp) or more asian chile sauce like sambal oelek
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cornstarch or arrowroot starch
Instructions
- Press the tofu in kitchen towel or tofu press for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. Slice into strips. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F / 200ºc.
- Prepare the breading station. In one bowl mix the ingredients from flour through water until well combined to make a just about thick batter. Add some more water if needed. In another shallow bowl place the breadcrumbs and mix in 1/4 tsp salt.
- Use one hand to dip the tofu strip in the batter to coat all sides. Tap to drop excess batter and transfer to breadcrumb bowl. Use the other hand to coat the strip with breadcrumbs and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for all strips. Spray oil on the strips and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or longer until crisp.
- Mix everything under the sweet chili sauce in a pan (while off heat). Heat over medium and bring to just about a boil. Carefully taste and adjust sweet, tang and spice. Take off heat and pour in serving bowl. Cool slightly and serve with the tofu strips. Dip the strips in the dipping sauce for 1 to 2 seconds to pick up enough sauce for each bite. There will be double dipping, so serve the sauce in individual bowls, or make a double batch if needed.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Andreea T Thomas
i only made the sauce and it was delicious!
Rachael
These are amazing!! Cooking tofu at home has been a new thing for me this year and definitely has been a bit challenging, but this recipe is incredible without any modifications and is a keeper for sure. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Vegan Richa Support
Yay! so good to hear. thank YOU!!
Susan
For the crispy tofu ingredients it says
1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic
Is that garlic powder? Minced fresh garlic?
Thanks!
Richa
Powder
Susan
Thank you!
Lisa
This was so easy to make and so yummy! Will definitely make again. Thank you.
Vegan Richa Support
I’m so glad you enjoyed this, thanks for stopping by!
Amy
This was fantastic. I made as an appetizer before ramen. I added more sugar to taste for the audience. I’ll be using this sauce for everything. The tofu came out super crispy. Thanks for the great recipe!
Richa
awesome
Stephanie Diersing
ER MER GERHD! This is hands-down the best tofu recipe EVER! And that’s saying a lot because I’ve been vegetarian for 23 years! Even my picky eater son said I should make it more and my husband did a happy food dance. Thanks for sharing your gifts!
Renee
We need a packed cold lunch for a field trip. I know they won’t stay crisp, but do you think they would make for a good on the go snack?
Richa
hmm, dont know. Try it i guess 🙂
Debra
This recipe looks great and I am planning on making it. One question-why do you need to spray oil on the strips before baking? How do you think the tofu would turn out if I didn’t? Thanks! I’m making it this week.
Richa
the oil helps crisp and brown the crumbs. you can omit it.
Susan
Absolutely delicious! I first steamed the tofu in the microwave to make it more sturdy for dipping in batter and crumbs, and instead of using a parchment-lined baking sheet I used a large iron skillet (I usually use my skillet for oven “frying”). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Bitter and Murky
Weird question but do you think millet flour would work for the ½ cup flour?
Or maybe chickpea flour?
I think that’s all I have in my kitchen right now 🙂
Diana
Love all your recipes! You have made our lives so much tastier. One question, my husband can’t eat Asian chili sauce like sambal oelek, is there anything to substitute this ingredient with? Thank you for your time.
Richa
Is there an ingredient that he cannot eat? Maybe make your own at home by substituting that ingredient. Any red chile peppers + vinegar + garlic should work.
leah
So tasty! I fried them (in coco oil) because I was in a hurry and in my oven they would take to long. Fantastic recipe still though, I’ve been looking for a recipe for a quick and delish fresh tofu dish for a while and this is it. I used matzo and ground chia instead of breadcrumbs because its what i had and surprisingly it worked! Thank you
Rizia
Can i use coconut flour?
Richa
coconut flour burns really quickly, so if you are thinking of substituting it for breadcrumbs, it will not work.
Harshita
Hi Richa
This is a wonderful recepie but how to avoid frying and still keep it crispy.
Richa
Hasrshita, please read the recipe. The tofu strips are baked. I probably have like 1 or 2 recipes on the blog which are fried. Pretty much everything is baked.
Pasha
The best part of the ultra lame super bowl was the food. I made these and they were so awesome, and the dipping sauce was amazing!!!
Richa
yeah. I was hoping It would be a high action game with how the Panthers have been through the season. 🙂
Anjali @ Vegetarian Gastronomy
These look delicious Richa! I love crispy tofu anything!
Cindy
Hi, I eat tofu just two times per month, Do you think tofu is bad for health? Is just that I read some articles on internet and said that is bad for the heart
Richa
Cindy, there are many studies about soy and most talk about the processed forms. I try to limit processed forms of soy like some fake meats, soy protein isolate which is in protein powders, other processed soy based sauces and soy cheeses. Edamame, Tempeh(which is fermented soybean patty), and traditionally made tofu are whole soy or less processed forms and we include them in our diet.
Jo
Cindy, if you need advice on nutrition I suggest you stay away from magazines and online news media (I say that as a physician). Dr Greger has well researched advice on nutritionfacts.org for free that you can trust. He has many short videos on the health benefits of soy such as: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-shouldnt-eat-soy/
and how mush soy is too much:
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-much-soy-is-too-much/
liene
Hey, looks really jummy!
Any idea how long does these stay crisp? Would like to make these ahead of time.
Thanks.
Richa
Hi Liene, they stay crisp for a few hours. The moisture from the tofu will make the coating softer as it sits by the next day. You can prebake them for 15-20 mins and then bake them again before serving to crisp up the breadcrumb coating.
Alexandra
Oh, great! Love this recipe! Thank you for sharing it!
Christine (Run Plant Based)
This looks wonderful and fun, thanks! Adore the sweet and savory flavor combo and crunchy texture.
ewlake
Sounds great! I don’t see any indication of how much water to use when making the batter with the flour?
Richa
1/2 cup or more . See the ingredients, its listed above breadcrumbs.
Aparna
What did you do with the chili sauce and remaining ingredients under “Crispy Tofu?” Do those also get added to the batter?
Richa
You add all the ingredients from flour, sauce, spices, and water and make a batter. See the step where it says mix everything from flour through water to make a batter.
Jill
Thanks for another amazing recipe! How can I translate to gluten free?
Just using cornstarch? Is there another option?
Thanks so much!
Richa
use any gluten-free flour blend or 1/4 cup rice flour and 1/4 cup starch, with gluten-free bread crumbs or coarsely ground oats or cornmeal.
Alain
I use corn flakes flour! Just grind them and season with salt, nutritiona yeast, garlic powder and they taste amazing