vegan maple walnut crusted tofu

Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu

This flavorful tofu dish, baked to perfection, is sure to satisfy your palate. Paired with a nice starch – here we did a rice quinoa blend – but a baked potato or mashed potatoes would work too – and simple maple-dijon dressed greens. Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu needs to be in your weekly rotation. Easy for meal prepping and would work well in a sandwich or prepped for a grab and go lunch. I don’t know about you, but flavorful meals like this win me over!

The Walnuts

We met the Crazy Go Nuts folks a few years ago at the Natural Foods Expo and fell in love. Oil Free flavored walnuts (which are one of the healthiest nuts to eat with their perfect omega 3 to omega 6 ratios), they were the ideal snack. So when they reached out asking if we’d like to partner on recipes as an ambassador, we jumped at the chance. What does that mean for you? It means they send us some walnuts and provide us a coupon code for you. We use their products to create yummy recipes! Want to check them out? Here is a link to their website 

Other Recipes featuring these tasty walnuts: Chocolate Mocha Oat Cookies, Buffalo Salads featured in our Tahini Blue Cheez Dressing Recipe, and Peppermint Chocolate Fudge. YUM!

Perfectly Baked Tofu

I am in a lot of vegan and plant-based Facebook groups, and tofu is a hot topic. We were not fans of tofu when we transitioned to a meat-free diet over five years ago. We spent months experimenting with tofu, flavors, cooking techniques, etc. And then one day we just sliced it, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and baked it. 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes, flip, season, and bake another 10-20 minutes to desired texture. We use firm tofu that we’ve drained (we don’t press it), and we like it where it is firm in the middle and a little crispy on the edges. It is our perfectly baked tofu.

So in working with this recipe, we opted for extra firm tofu, but a similar baking time, and we breaded the tofu with a walnut bread crumb mixture. The flavors were spot on and the texture was perfect. Paired with some starch and veg it was an epic vegan dinner.

Watch Us Make It in this Video!

 

Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu

Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu

Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu

Perfectly baked tofu with a flavorful crust. A delicious vegan meal that is great for dinner, lunches, and meal prepping!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup maple walnuts, We use Crazy Go Nuts Maple Walnuts
  • 1 block Extra Firm Tofu, drained - RESERVE the liquid
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Instructions

  1. Preheat standard oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit or convection oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Food Process bread crumbs and walnuts to a fine crumble, pour into shallow dish
  3. Drain tofu into a shallow dish and reserve liquid for breading. Cut tofu into 8 equal slices
  4. To the tofu liquid, whisk dijon & maple syrup
  5. Working with one tofu slice at a time, dip in liquid mixture and coat evenly, place in walnut mixture and coat evenly and place on parchment lined baking sheet
  6. Bake 20 minutes, flip (fill in any voids with remaining walnut mixture) bake another 10-20 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately or refridgerate (these slices are good cold too).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 254Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 149mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 16g
© veginspired

Planning the Perfect Vegan Meal

We served this Maple Walnut Crusted Tofu with a brown rice and quinoa blend and some mixed greens dressed with Rice Vinegar, Dijon, & Maple Syrup dressing. We simply mixed those 3 ingredients to taste and consistency and then tossed them with our greens.

When planning the perfect vegan meal, focus on flavors and complementary textures. Pair your baked tofu with a soft yet hearty starch and tangy veg. Our first go at this meal, we used roasted broccoli as our veg and it was fantastic. When we are looking at our meals, we want there to be a nice helping of starches, some beans/protein, and some veggies. We always try to avoid oily foods and tend to steer clear of overly processed items. Hence our philosophy: #mostlyunprocessed!

Eat More Plants

Overall, we hope this recipe (and our other recipes on veginspired.com) inspire you to eat more plants. Do you have a favorite bean? We love chickpeas, which is why a lot of our recipes contain chickpeas. You can head to the magnifying glass up top and search “chickpea” and find some great vegan dinner and lunch ideas.

When you are whipping up VegInspired recipes in your kitchen, snap a pic and tag us @veginspired on Facebook and Instagram and #veginspiredfoodie so we can show your posts some love – and we love to share your creations!

Until Next Time!

XO,

Kathy & John