Serves 2 to 4
Total time: 30 minutes || Active time: 30 minutes
I needed a way to use up my leftover ranch dressing, so why not Buffalo some tempeh? Spicy, tangy, saucy tempeh over a cool ranch salad was just what the summer night ordered. And this recipe is capital E lowercase A lowercase S lowercase Y. (Um, that spells “Easy.”)
Secret: sometimes I google my own recipes. So instead of, you know, opening my copy of Appetite For Reduction, I found the Buffalo Tempeh recipe online. In fact, I came across a blog that mentioned crumbling instead of cutting. “Hmmm, no slicing, that sounds cool.” Thought lazy me. And so I crumbled. And then, once the laziness took hold, I really didn’t feel like steaming or marinating. Instead, I used the method for Tempeh Sausage Crumbles in Vegan With A Vengeance. Essentially, steam that yumminess in the same pan you’re going to saute it in. Pour in the sauce, and boom, a really really really easy summer night topping for your ranch salad!
The ranch will make more than you need, but I’m sure that’s ok, right? I looooove powdered onion and garlic in ranch dressing. I don’t know, I was born in the 70s, that’s what we ate, there were no fresh onions or garlic. But feel free to use fresh as you see fit. In my opinion, fresh chives are a must!
Notes
~This recipe makes the perfect amount if you’re having dinner for two. If you’re serving it with a soup or side, then it will be enough for four. The recipe doubles wonderfully, though, if need be.
~If you’re wondering if you can use another hot sauce besides Frank’s….no! It has to be Frank’s for that Buffalo flavor. I mean, I suppose another “Lousiana style hot sauce” might work, but don’t come crying to me if it’s not awesome.
Ingredients
8 oz tempeh
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot hot sauce
2 teaspoons dried oreganoFor the ranch dressing:
1/4 cup vegan mayo, homemade or storebought
1/4 cup unsweetened unflavored almond or soy milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
For the salad:
2 romaine hearts, chopped
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced cucumbers
Extra chives for garnish
Directions
Return to the stove and drizzle in two teaspoons of olive oil. Saute tempeh for 7 minutes or so, until lightly browned. Shove all the tempeh to the side, and saute the garlic in the remaining teaspoon of oil for 15 seconds or so. Then flip it in with the tempeh and cook for a minute or so.
Add the hot sauce, vegetable broth, and oregano and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 5 more minutes. The sauce should reduce by half. Taste for salt. It really shouldn’t need any because the hot sauce is pretty spicy.
To make the dressing:
Mix all ingredient together in a mug. Use a fork and just stir until well combined.
To assemble:
Toss the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers with a 1/2 cup dressing or so. Top with tempeh, spooning extra sauce from the pan over it. Serve with additional ranch and dig in.
We made this last night. Super good! I’ve been vegan for 2 years and have longed for a good fix for the old days of chicken wings. This did it!
This is definitely going into my regular menu! I love the dressing and the tempeh tastes amazing.
Made this for dinner tonight. Fantastic! Frank’s is now going to be added to my eclectic end-of-the-world stockpile of hot sauces which includes: Gator Sauce, Valentina, and now Frank’s.
I’m confused about the steaming of tempeh. Do I turn the burner off once it boils and let it sit in the hot water for 15 min?
I made this for the first time a little over a week ago, and if it were up to my husband, we’d eat it every night! I’m thinking about using the buffalo tempeh and Daiya as a pizza topping this weekend!
Tasty, but the dressing was a too thin. Next time I’ll adjust make it thicker. Also, my tempeh fell apart so it was grounds instead of nuggets. Looked terrible, but of course still tasted great. It went over well with the non-veg hubby (he had seconds!).
had this for the second time in two weeks! recipes don’t often get repeated over here, but we’re already planning it again for next week. (it’s so perfect for these warm southern california evenings).
whenever i ask my husband what sounds good for dinners next week, he says “anything by isa.” you’ve been our favorite cookbook author for years, thank you so so much for the delicious meals.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. I’m a sucker for Franks. This is amaaaaazing!!
You are the sh*t. How did you get to be the sh*t so well? I lOVE YOU!!!!!
I made this into a wrap and it was very good! I will use less milk in the dressing next time to make it more thick. Thanks for the great recipe!
Even I couldn’t screw up this recipe!
Super delicious. We had it two nights in a row – once with tempeh, once with seitan. (If you’re wondering, the tempeh holds the flavor MUCH better than seitan.)
We don’t have Frank’s in my ‘hood, so I used some generic hot sauce, which worked well.
I didn’t add as much almond milk to the ranch – my first attempt was a little runny – and added a little extra nutritional yeast.
We love crunchies, but I didn’t want to ruin this with croutons, so I threw some chow mein noodles on top – loved it.
A huge hit!
Isa – THANK YOU.
Just made the mayo, and the salad. Very good! Is there any nutritional analysis posted anywhere? That’s what I love about Appetite for Reduction, I like to plug the numbers into MyFitnessPal to keep track of my calories. Love your work!
Love your site!
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In Australia too and had to have this tonight so substituting ABC chili sauce until I can get my family back home to send some Franks or get an order from USA foods. Fingers crossed, steaming now.
I am made the tempeh and then decided, that since only 1/2 the sauce would soak up, I added 8 ounces of seitan. I have been wanting to try that; now is my chance. (I also used Earth Balance instead of the olive oil (lots of it) and pure corn syrup during the frying. It is yummy.
If anyone in Australia is after Frank’s Hot Sauce, it’s available at Woolworths for around $4 a bottle. There’s no need to order it online!
This is what I’ve been looking for for 3 years.
Ok, officially not hating tempeh anymore. viva buffalo tempeh!
Isa,
This recipe looks so darn good and I would love to try it out but the stores that are nearby don’t carry tempeh unfortunately. Woud this work if I made some seitan pieces or tofu?
I just made this and it’s SO F-ing GOOD!!!!!! You are the BEST, Isa!
This salad is a staple in our house. We add orange or yellow pepper to bulk up the veggies and switch out the tempeh for soy chicken breasts. We find it helpful to add a little cornstarch to the hot sauce as the soy chicken doesn’t soak up the sauce like the tempeh.
I also made the ranch to use on vegan BLTs last night with extraordinary results. My husband and I agreed they were the best BLTs we had ever had. I just used a bit less soy milk so that it wasn’t too runny on the bread. Amazing!
My first attempt at tempeh & a complete D.i.s.a.s.t.e.r. Don’t boil the tempeh (even by accident like me) it falls apart and goes squishy/slimy. I’ve read it can be steamed? I agree with an earlier post to use a high heat oil instead of olive because ohh the sticking was horrendous. To top it off (sorry Isa) i used a different hot sauce (it might just be me but we English folk don’t really know what a buffalo wing should taste like saucy wise). The one I chose was WRONG. I’m trying not to let this experience be my first and last with this apparently delicious and versatile vegan ingredient but maybe I just need time to recover from my overwhelming sense of disappointment and failure
P.S On the plus LOVED the ranch dressing on my salad, had it next day drizzled on a homemade vegan pizza and was better than my BF’s cheesy version by far!
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Mmm.. this is a PERFECT dinner on a hot (Indian) summer night. We added avocado but otherwise made exactly as listed. The ranch dressing is amazing, especially with the fresh chives. Thank you!
the ranch is so awesome! I used cashew milk and its so creamy!
Made this but used siracha sauce and served it with some lightly stir fried pak choi so no ranch dressing; AMAZING! Thank you for teaching me how to cook with tempeh!
This has been one on my go to recipes for years now, it’s a great easy recipe! The cucumber ranch dressing from ‘isa does it ‘ ( page 200) is excellent with this, it’s how I use up the leftover dressing from the recipe. Also, if your ever in Theodore for junk food, this recipe with the Gardin Chicken patties added to the sauce after they are cooked is pretty satisfying of your having a weird chicken craving. ( it happens!!) thanks so much Isa for the endless fantastic easy recipes, your a star in our house!!!
This was SO incredibly good. Steaming the tempeh really made it taste so much better than my normal sauté routine that I will be do that for all my future tempeh creations. Thank you for this and all you’re incredible recipes! You’re a goddess!
Followed recipe completely, ranch was runny, tempeh crumbled apart but WOW, the flavors were an amazing combo!!! Love it, will definitely make again, thank you Isa!!
The tempeh part of this recipe is a staple in our house. Buff Tempeh with roasted potatoes (or fries, sometimes) and celery sticks is so yummy (and easy!) on a Friday night after a long work week!
I make the buffalo bite part of this recipe at least weekly for months now. It’s actually excellent as it is, but the changes I have made to speed up the process a tiny bit are: A) after pulling off bite size pieces, steam the tempeh in the microwave: 6 minutes in a glass bowl with lid in 1 cup of water (my microwave is low wattage). B) then proceed with recipe from there except reduce oregano to 1 teaspoon.
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I made this this arvo and the tempeh is AMAZING! I had mine with rocket and celery, some black rice, maize meal and avocado and the dressing on top. I’ll defo add this into the rotation.
Very good recipe. I will do it again.