Scrambled tofu is probably one of the most mundane vegan recipes there is. Go ahead and roll your eyes when you open a cookbook and see the obligatory entry, I know I do, even at my own. But for a new vegan it’s one of the most important dishes to learn. And for me, even though my inaugural tofu was scrambled 20 years ago, it’s still a staple.
It’s one of those things that changes with you, kind of like a culinary mood ring. My scramble used to feel incomplete without mushrooms, but lately I prefer a simpler texture, even onions aren’t a necessity anymore. I went through a broccoli era, and used to take a hardline anti-red pepper stance, but lately the cruciferous is out and nightshades are in.
But you don’t have to stop at breakfast, or limit yourself to a plate of scramble and hashbrowns. Look at scrambled tofu with fresh eyes! Here’s a few ways to spruce up your scramble, or use up your leftovers.
Serve in a squash bowl: Serve in half a baked squash (acorn or carnival would work perfectly.) Caramelized onions would be nice, too.
Breakfast burritos: Wrap up with potatoes, fresh salsa and guacamole.
Add to mac and cheese: Use up leftover scramble (or make some scramble just for the occasion!) by adding it to your favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe.
Lettuce wraps: Tuck scramble into lettuce, serve with fresh tomatoes and drizzle with vinaigrette
Make a sandwich: Not the most ingenious idea, but one of my favorites! A scramble sandwich with avocado, red onion and sprouts.
Make a knish: Make potato knishes and add a layer of scramble
Stuff peppers: Mix with a can of black beans and some salsa. Stuff into red peppers, bake and top with a little vegan cheese at the end.
Crepe filling: Serve in a crepe, with a vegan hollandaise sauce.
And in case you don’t have enough scrambled tofu recipes in your repertoire, here’s another for good measure (from Vegan Brunch.)
Basic Scrambled Tofu
Serves 4
For me, a basic scramble should have nice big pieces in it. It’s crumbled, yes, but not completely in crumbles. Just kind of torn apart and then broken up a bit when cooking in the pan. The flavor should be lip smacking and just a bit salty, but not overly so. Garlic, some cumin, a little thyme – that is the base. From there you can do countless variations using whatever is in your fridge that morning.
So this is my basic recipe. When you want a trustworthy and easy to modify standard scramble, this makes a great go-to.
Spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper to taste
First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done, a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it. The tofu should get browned on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the ban. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.
Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.
You can include these additions to your scramble by themselves or in combination with one another.
Broccoli – Cut about one cup into small florettes, thinly slice the stems. Add along with the tofu.
Onion – Finely chop one small onion. Add along with the garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Proceed with recipe.
Red Peppers – Remove stem and seed, finely chop one red pepper. Add along with the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Proceed with recipe.
Mushrooms – Thinly slice about a cup of mushrooms. Add along with the tofu.
Olives – Chop about 1/3 a cup of sliced olives. Add towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast.
Spinach – Add about 1 cup of chopped spinach towards the end of cooking, after mixing in the nutritional yeast. Cook until completely wilted.
Carrots – Grate half of an average sized carrot into the scramble towards the end of cooking. This is a great way to add color to the scramble.
Avocado – I almost always have avocado with my scramble. Just peel and slice it and serve on top.
I made this tonight and am eating it right now as I write this. I like to add baked sweet potato and jalapeno to my scramble (and, of course, fresh avocado for garnish) and it just gives it a little extra texture. 🙂
I’ve just made my first ever scrambled tofu on a big fat mushroom and it was horrible 🙁 really sour.. I used a basic recipe, onion, green pepper and tumeric with salt, pepper and soy sauce to flavour. The texture was fine but the taste was awful.. So today I shall be mostly working out what I did wrong 🙁 btw I’ve cooked with tofu before marinaded in dishes, been a vege for 23 years and have now ‘grown up’ into a Vegan 😀 xxx
This is the best scrambled recipe that I have tired – it was fantastic this morning. Thanks!
Your scrambled tofu recipe was the first vegan recipe I made out of a cookbook, and it was such a pleasant surprise when it turned out to be soooo tasty. I’m still making it 4 years after I first tried it. In spite of trying other recipes, I always come back to yours and most often enjoy it breakfast burrito style with ww tortilla, potato pancake, tabasco sauce and daiya. Yum yum, and thank you!
Love this recipe!
This was sooo GOOD!!! My son loved it and said it was like eggs but with more favor (he’s 7). Made some potatoes and put it all in a tortilla. Was so yummy! Thank you!!
Thanks for your recipe!! I had used the Fantastic foods packet when I first made a scramble- hey, for first foray, it did the job!! For the one I made this morning I used:
extra firm tofu
nutritional yeast- YES, you need this!!! Makes it beyond delicious. I didn’t have any in the house either when I started. GO get it!
a couple of sprays of Braggs
crushed garlic, pepper, turmeric, onion powder.
Veggies: red pepper, shallots and mushrooms- All diced to around same small size
Yummers!! 🙂 Serve with an english muffin- double yummers!
I used Fanstastic Foods first, too!
Thank-you for this. I have made every vegan recipe I could think of except scarmbles before this – I was afraid of bring myself out of love with brunch. I tried your recipe and loved it!
LOVE this recipe! Recently went vegan and I’ve been doubting if I could do it or not until i tried this! I’m hooked! <3
Isa – or anyone else who might be able to help – You recommend a “large heavy-bottomed pan” in a lot of your recipes. What kind do you mean? Like a cast iron skillet? Or something else? My largest pan/skillet is my non-stick, and I feel like that may be why some of my dishes aren’t coming out right. This one (the scramble) doesn’t ever brown, and the mango fried rice went ALL the way to Hades. Suggestions?
Wow! This was delicious. I added 1 medium onion, 1.5 c sliced white mushrooms, and about 3/4 cup of mozzarella Daiya cheese. It was fabulous! I loved the herbs. Next time I’m adding diced potatoes and some spinach. Was missing the greens this time around.
And now that I think of it, I totally forgot the nutritional yeast! Darn. Was still amazing without it, obviously! 🙂
@Jess,
I used a non-stick pan, my largest one. I found that I had to cook the tofu much longer than 10 minutes as Isa states to drain out the moisture and get the tofu to brown. But it came out perfect in the end!
Awesome!!! I just made this and it is the best scramble I’ve ever had. I am headed back down the vegan path after many attempts over the years, this time without trying to dive in head first. A dish like this could convince me stay on this path a little more faithfully. I recall the original recipe using black salt, so I used this instead of regular salt. i added just a few sauteed shredded carrots, tri-color peppers, onions, and a kiss of habanero. DELICIOUS!!!
I am so glad I found this on my web search. I was just about to head to the library to find the book as I had been wanting to try this recipe for a very long time. You saved me the trip and the gas. Thanks!
I only had firm tofu on hand, but it browns like a dream in my cast iron skillet. The texture is perfect. Definitely wouldn’t achieve that beautiful browning in a nonstick skillet.
You mentioned crepe filling as an option. How do you make vegan crepes? And Vegan hollandaise sauce?
There are recipe for both in my book Vegan Brunch. I bet if you googled it you’d get the recipes.
I have been a vegetarian for 5 years in a family full of carnivores. My husband and I have made the decision to go vegan as a family largely for health reasons after much study, documentaries, and even a visit to a nutritionist.
We did go vegan for 2 months a couple of years ago but struggled with it so much as a family that we did not last. After trying several of your recipes that all turned out excellent, I decided to try this one on the family, who – though they are convinced in the head- are still anti-tofu. I am proud to say that it was a hit all around, from the 8 year old who desperately misses eggs, to the 19 year old protein-a-holic who vehemently hates anything tofu, to my chef husband who also has never developed a taste or appreciation for tofu. He actually said it was EXCELLENT!!!
Thank you so much for this website and for your cookbooks that I have checked out all of from the library! I plan on working my way through all of your recipes.
Try adding a little Kala Namuk salt – it has a sulpherous quality that really brings an eggy taste to recipes!