This sheet pan baked pomegranate tofu with agave balsamic Brussels sprouts creates an easy, but stunning centerpiece; however, it’s easy enough for a weeknight meal too!
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I want you to start building a list of recipes that are easy enough to make on a weeknight, but that can also double as centerpieces for holiday meals. This sheet pan baked pomegranate tofu with agave balsamic Brussels sprouts is just that type of recipe.
I really love that this tofu sheet pan meal is loaded with flavor that will make yourself and others think you grabbed it from a restaurant.
The color combo alone is definitely one to impress with! If you have ever wanted someone to ooohhh and ahhhh over your food, you have to make this recipe. Even people that you don’t think like tofu will want to give this one a try!
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Why you have to try this!
Flavor Impact
When we go in thinking about meals, we love creating full meals with in season produce, that build on flavors that make you say wow, I really made this.
The sweetness of the pomegranate with the savoriness of the tofu marinade and everything in between gives you a vegan sheet pan meal that you really feel like you could have gotten at a restaurant.
Prep Ahead Friendly
The tofu can sit in the marinade overnight, as well as prepping the Brussels and both sauces. When you’re ready to cook, all you have to do is heat up your oven, finish coating your tofu, bake, and heat up your sauces.
These few things save so much time and make the meal the day of even smoother.
Pantry Friendly
We try to build a lot of our recipes on similar ingredients. At least ones that you can continuing using products occasionally before they go bad.
That being said, all of the ingredients besides the pomegranate juice, fresh pomegranate, and Brussels sprouts are things that we regularly keep on hand and highly recommend you do as well, so it’s easy to make meals like this with just a few things needed.
Note on Ingredients:
Tofu
We love using tofu in recipes because it takes on the flavor profile of whatever you are trying to make with it. It’s also budget-friendly and meal-prep friendly.
We are using extra-firm tofu in this recipe. You could use super firm or firm if absolutely needed to make a tofu swap. Do not use silken or soft tofu for this recipe as it will not hold up.
Substitute: swap tofu for seitan, broccoli, cauliflower or even oyster mushrooms
Brussels sprouts
Loaded with nutrients, Brussels are a great choice to pair with tofu on a sheet pan meal because they cook around the same amount of time.
Substitute: broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower, carrots, onions and peppers could all be added or subbed for the Brussels
Pomegranate
We are using both pomegranate juice for the sauce to build a sweetness to the sauce, as well as pomegranate arils at the end to build flavor and texture.
Substitute: Cherry or Cranberry can be subbed for the pomegranate.
Umami Flavors
We are using soy sauce and vegan worcestershire sauce to build the umami flavors of the dish. When paired with the sweetness of the agave and pomegranate, your taste buds will beg for more!
Substitute: For the soy sauce, we can use coconut aminos, no soy soy sauce or tamari to swap.
For the vegan worcestershire, a vegan friendly steak sauce can be swapped.
Panko Breadcrumbs
We specifically call out panko because most traditional breadcrumbs contain milk, but panko usually doesn’t. We also love that panko gives us even more crunch which is great for building levels of textures.
Substitute: You can use gluten free panko if you need. Alternatively, swap the breadcrumbs for crumbled corn flakes.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT TOFU:
WHAT IS THE BEST TYPE OF TOFU TO USE?
We prefer extra firm tofu for this recipe and would highly recommend using that. This recipe will also work with firm tofu if needed.
We do not advise using silken or soft tofu for this recipe.
WHY SHOULD I FREEZE TOFU FIRST?
Freezing tofu gives it a more meat-like texture. While this isn’t a requirement, we highly recommend doing it this way.
Freeze tofu in the store packaging. Then let thaw completely before adding it to a tofu press to drain (see below)
HOW DO I PRESS OUT TOFU?
The easiest way to press out tofu is to use a tofu press. We use this tofu press because it’s easy to use and works great.
However, if you don’t have a tofu press then you could wrap the block of tofu in a kitchen towel, place it on a plate, and then put something heavy on top like a cast iron skillet.
What other vegan recipes could I make that double as centerpiece meals?
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Glazed Pomegranate Sauce Baked Tofu with “Honey” Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
For the Brussels sprouts
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, (455g) hard bottom removed, halved
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt , more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, more or less to taste
For the Tofu
- ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce (80g)
- ¼ cup vegan worcestershire sauce (60g) (sub with steak sauce)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (90g) (sub for GF 1:1 blend if needed)
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup water (180g)
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs (240g)
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut flakes (85g)
- 2 14 oz packages extra firm tofu, (800g) frozen then thawed and pressed (see post for details)
Pomegranate Sauce
- ½ cup pomegranate juice (120g)
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar (80g)
- ⅓ cup water (80g)
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (reduce by half for less spicy)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 1 tablespoon agave
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger, (2.5cm) grated (
- 4 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Agave Balsamic Sauce
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons agave
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Optional
- fresh parsley, chopped
- pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 9×13 baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with oil and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add 1lb halved Brussels sprouts. Drizzle with 3-4 tablespoons oil and season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Toss to coat and lay them all out in one even layer on the tray, cut side down. Set aside.
- Line up 3 shallow bowls for your work station. Bowl 1: add ⅓ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup vegan Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 2 teaspoons dried rosemary then whisk together. Bowl 2: add ¾ cup flour, 1 ½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika, ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper, then whisk together. Add in ¾ cup water and whisk to no dry ingredients remain. Bowl 3: mix 2 cups bread crumbs with 1 cup shredded coconut.
- Cut your 2 tofu blocks in half and half again (making 8 pieces total). Take one piece of tofu and press down in the soy sauce mixture, flipping to get all sides seasoned, then dip it into the flour mixture, then dredge in the breadcrumbs mixture, pressing to coat. Place onto prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining tofu pieces. Lightly spray each pieces of tofu over the top with cooking oil spray.
- Roast everything for 18-20 minutes until tofu is golden and crispy and Brussels sprouts are lightly charred.
- Meanwhile, make the sauces. Starting with the Agave Balsamic sauce. Set a small saucepan over medium heat and add 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons each olive oil and agave, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Use a whisk to mix everything together. Simmer the mixture on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Be careful, it may rise quickly when stirred. Take off heat and set aside until ready to use.
- Next, for the pomegranate sauce, set another small saucepan over medium heat, and combine ½ cup pomegranate juice, ⅓ cup each rice vinegar and water, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce, 1 tablespoon each rice wine and agave, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 inch freshly grated ginger. Stir together. In a separate small bowl, add 3 tablespoons water and 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch, and stir together to make your slurry. Bring the sauce to a boil then stir your slurry. Continue to let boil of 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
- Once done in the oven, add the Brussels to a bowl and toss them with their sauce. Brush the pomegranate sauce over all sides of the tofu or place in a bowl for people to serve themselves. Garnish the tofu with parsley and pomegranate arils if desired and serve immediately with the sauce.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Use gluten free panko breadcrumbs, gluten free 1:1 flour blend, one of the tofu swaps listed below and either coconut aminos or no soy soy sauce for a soy sauce sub.
Yes! This dish can be store in an air tight container after cooled for up 5-7 days in the fridge. Make sure they are completely cooled before storing
The oil in the dish, makes the recipe more crispy and yields a much better texture; however, it can be omitted entirely.
You could make this recipe with oyster mushrooms, broccoli, seitan pieces, or even cauliflower itself.
Yes! If you are doubling both the tofu and Brussels, you may need two sheet pans as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan. Everything should be in a single layer.
Since this is a sheet pan meal, we already have Brussels on the pan; however, you could serve with other veggies, even on the same tray or try making pasta, rice or vegan mashed potatoes.
You really want veggies that are going to cook within 20 minutes. So keep in mind that you want to have smaller pieces rather than larger. Some other great options are cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, snap peas, and mushrooms. Potatoes if diced smaller can definitely cook but you couldn’t do large pieces.
Yes! Same temperature as the oven method and check after about 18 minutes because some air fryers cook faster. Do not over crowd your tray or basket with this method.
Love the coconut panko breaded tofu!
Thank you so much!
I made this spectacular recipe for New Year’s Eve last year and it may be one of the best things I’ve ever made in my life! I’ve made many of the vegan recipes on this site and each one is a home run….like out of the park into the galaxy home run. He brings, skill, and artistry to each of his recipes. his recipes. Please try them. you won’t regret it
OMG thank you so much for sharing such kind words! We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe so much!
The flavors in this were really nice and different. I had trouble getting the panko and coconut to stick to the tofu after dredging it in flour, not sure what step I may have overlooked! Ended up dipping in the soy mixture to get it wet again and then covering in panko mixture 🙂
Awesome way to think outside the box! With the limited information, it sounds with the flour mixture you may have not saw it was supposed to have water added to it. It’s the very last line in the bowl lineup. Referenced on “bowl 2”. So technically, it’s another wet mixture. If you’re ever in doubt, there’s usually a video for a visual approach if you’re stuck on a step! Hope this helps.
This recipe was good but it made too much pomegranate sauce for the amount of food there was, like about double. I also tried double dredging some of the tofu in the flour breading and i found it got much crispier than the others.
Thanks for your feedback
oops is it me or…..
The recipe and video ingredients and amounts differ. I’m trying to make this right now and I’m not sure which to follow.
Examples: spice amounts for the second dredge station, oil or no oil for the pomegranate sauce.
Sorry for any confusion, follow the written recipe here please