The first time that my wife suggested tofu, I laughed because I didn’t like tofu, why would I want to try it again. The truth is though, that I just didn’t know how to cook and season tofu properly.
Now, with dozens of tofu recipes under my belt, I love showing just how easy it can be to make flavorful, delicious, and cheap dinners with this protein powerhouse.
This time, we are grating, seasoning and baking tofu with Turkish influence. Traditionally, they’d make a meat base similar to this to make lahmacun, a Turkish style pizza, but we are using it any way we wish!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Restaurant Quality – With the cooking technique and spice blend, you’ll be shocked at how great this is.
- Easy – This dish takes just a few minutes to toss together and then it’s just waiting on it to finish cooking
- Meal Prep – This dish tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for meal prep!
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Ingredients and Substitutions
Gather your ingredients!
Tofu
This is our protein in the dish. The shredding tofu gives us a great texture while also being able to take on any flavor. We are using super firm tofu since a good amount of water removed yielding a denser tofu that is perfect for a meat substitute without extra process.
Substitute: You could also swap soy-based tofu with chickpea tofu or pumpkin seed tofu (pumfu). You could also do this with cauliflower rice, seitan pieces, or mushrooms.
Dried Spices
We’re using cumin, regular and smoked paprika, dried oregano, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes to layer flavor into our tofu mixture.
Lemon
Not only does the lemon help with flavor, but it also helps the tofu crisp up in the oven and balance the flavor.
Substitute: You could swap lemon with lime.
Garlic, Onions, and Fresh Parsley
Adding in some fresh flavor and helps to build layers throughout the entire cooking process.
Quick Vegan Tzatziki-Style Sauce
This is an optional sauce. We’re using non-dairy yogurt, lemon juice, fresh parsley and garlic.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Other Dishes to Try:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
30 Minute Baked Tofu Crumbles (Turkish Inspired Flavors)
Ingredients
Spice Blend
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
Baked Tofu Ingredients
- 32 ounces super firm tofu, grated (908g)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced (about ½ cup diced or 80g)
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped fine (20g)
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Optional Quick Tzatziki-Style Sauce
- 1 cup non-dairy yogurt (225g)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Additional Recipe Ingredients and Toppings
- 4-6 Pita Bread
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- 1 cup Mini cucumbers, thinly sliced (120g)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced (150g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F (220˚C). Prepare a large baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoon each cumin and paprika, 1 teaspoon each smoked paprika and dried oregano, ½ teaspoon each cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, salt, and red chili flakes (if adding). Combine well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the 32 ounces grated tofu, ½ cup diced yellow onion, ½ cup finely chopped parsley, 8 cloves minced garlic and toss gently to combine ingredients. Then, add in 2 tablespoon lemon juice and half of the spice mixture. Stir together, then add remaining spice mixture and combine again.
- Now, add in 3 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoon tomato paste, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Stir together well until all ingredients have been combined.
- Pour mixture on your prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Add to pitas, flatbreads, salads, and more with the sauce and additional toppings!
- If making the optional sauce – combine all ingredients into a bowl, and stir together. Serve on top of baked tofu.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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Recipe FAQs:
While we haven’t tried, we do think that this would work well with shredded jackfruit. The soy sauce can be replaced with a safe for you option like tamari, coconut aminos, liquid aminos, or no soy soy sauce. If making the tzatziki – use a safe for you non-dairy yogurt option. You’ll want to use the crumbles on gluten free pitas or in something like salad or over a whole grain that’s gluten free.
Yes! Once cooled, store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Yes, this dish is good for 3-5 days after it’s made. Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge when not using.
Love this recipe; it’s very similar to another recipe I have for Vegan Taco Crumbles. Didn’t have regular paprika, but did use some extra smoked paprika in place. For the Tzatziki, I used Forager’s plain non-dairy yogurt. Also, used fresh dill instead of parsley. Didn’t have pita bread, but used Naan bread. Delicious recipe! A keeper! Thanks.
Happy to hear it’s a keeper!
Wow! This was beyond fantabulous, and it is definitely going on a regular rotation. For something that such amazingly complex flavour, it was surprisingly easy to make. I only had tortilla breads on hand, and they worked really well. I have yet to find a plant based yogurt that I don’t detest, so I made a tahini sauce with lemon, garlic, and parsley, and that worked out really well. My roommate said that if they hadn’t been told otherwise she’d have sworn this was meat.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!!!
Wow, this is amazing! We are thrilled to hear that both you and your friend enjoyed the recipe so much. And that tahini sauce you paired with it sounds so good! Thank you again for giving the recipe a try!
This came across my YouTube feed, and I came to your beautiful site to make these from the recipe. I make my own Greek yogurt, so did not used plant based. I also LOVE smoked paprika, so that is all that I had on hand. On naan, these were amazing!!! My meat-eating partner did not know it wasn’t meat. I followed your grating directions, that you emphasized on the video and, wow, I have a new way to cook tofu under the radar! Thank you so much! You are an incredible couple!!!
Love that you found us! and double love the “oh naan” joke !
Does the tofu need to be pressed? Thanks!
Super firm tofu doesn’t need to be pressed. If you can’t find that and are using extra-firm, then yes, you would want to press
Loved it! Easy to make!
Yay!
Yum! This recipe is a keeper. The biggest effort is gathering spices. I didn’t have the ingredients for tzatziki, so I whipped up a tahini sauce which was delicious.
Love you thought it was simple!
Easy to make and deliscious!
Awww, thank you so much!
Wow! This was AMAZING. This recipe will be made again. Out of the many recipes I have made from this page this is one of my favorites.
Awww, thank you so much! We’re so glad you loved this recipe!