Breaded and baked in sweet BBQ sauce, these hearty and crispy 4 Ingredient Baked BBQ Tofu Nuggets are a fun way to jazz up your protein source.
You'd think this plant-eating, tofu-loving girl would be in heaven living in China with how cheap and accessible tofu is here. And in one sense, I am! You can find vendors selling tofu on almost every block and all throughout the markets. Plus it's CHEAP! A 15 ounce square of tofu costs me about $0.30! Don't mind if I do.
BUT, what you may not know is that Chinese people don't just eat one kind of tofu. Just like in American where you can buy silken, soft or firm tofu, here in China they eat dried tofu, moldy tofu (yes, the top literally has a ½ inch of white fuzzy mold), soupy tofu, spiced tofu and probably so many more variations that I'm unaware of. Unfortunately, the one type of tofu that most resembles the tofu sold in American just tastes weird. On it's own it has a super potent smell and a slightly musty taste. The first time I bought it, I used it to make a tofu scramble. After one bite I ended up throwing away because it had such a weird taste that no amount of seasonings could cover. I rarely through out food so that's saying something!
While I've never tried out the moldy, soupy or spicy tofu (and maybe never will), Brett and I LOVE the dried tofu. They sell it sliced really thin and it has a meaty texture to it. I love adding it to noodle and rice dishes, my Super Simple Homemade Sushi, or veggie sandwiches. In regards to the American-style tofu, I've thankfully learned that pressing it makes it taste more "normal," so I'm excited to start experimenting more with, starting with these Baked BBQ Tofu Nuggets!
I'm sure you've seen Buffalo Cauliflower Bites floating around the internet, and these Baked BBQ Tofu Nuggets are a spin off of those. If you're not a fan of tofu, this is a great recipe to try! By pressing (removing the water) and breading the tofu, you end up with a chewy, meaty texture that is hearty and finger-food-able (yes, I just made that word up). Then when you coat the breaded tofu in sweet BBQ sauce and crushed corn flakes, you end up with the cutest little nuggets that you can dip in more BBQ sauce, use as a filling for wraps, or add to rice dishes.
I'm gonna be making these lil' guys a lot.
I hope you guys give these 4-Ingredient Baked BBQ Tofu Nuggets a try! They are so simple to make and make a great protein source for any meal. If you give them a try, leave a comment letting me know what you thought or take a picture and tag #theconscientiouseater on Instagram. I hope to see your creations!
📖 Recipe
4-Ingredient Baked BBQ Tofu Nuggets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 15 ounce firm tofu pressed and cubed
- ½ cup spelt flour
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup BBQ sauce
- 2 cups corn flakes
Instructions
- Start by pressing your tofu block. Cut it into fourths length-wise and place it on a clean towel or paper towel. Place a flat baking tray on top and place something heavy on the baking tray to press all of the water out of the tofu. Let it sit for about ½-1 hour.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 450 °F.
- Once your tofu has been pressed, cut it into ½-1 inch cubes.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour and water until smooth. Dip each cube of tofu into the flour mixture and scoop it out with a fork, banging the fork on the bowl to let any excess flour mixture fall back into the bowl. Place it on the baking tray and continue until all the cubes have been coated.
- Bake the flour coated cubes for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- While the tofu is baking, crush the 2 cups of corn flakes in a food processor or carefully with your hands until mostly fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl.
- Once the tofu has baked for 10 minutes remove them from the oven. Pour ½ cup of your favorite BBQ sauce into a small bowl. Dip each tofu cube into the BBQ sauce and then roll it in the corn flakes crumbs before returning it back to the baking tray. Continue until all the tofu cubes are coated with the BBQ sauce and corn flakes.
- Return the tofu back to the oven and back for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm with more BBQ sauce.
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit says
It's almost unbelievable how easy this is! And cornflake crust, that's genius! Plus I always have them and never have breadcrumbs around. But moldy tofu?? That's some crazy stuff, I'll stick to nuggets please!
Faith says
I know! When I went to count the ingredients other than water, I did a double take haha! And yeah, I'll be sticking to these nuggets too;)
Rosey Rebecca says
I'll definitely have to pin these and give them a try! I'm not usually the biggest tofu fan but these look great! And moldy tofu? ew. haha
Faith says
I hope you do Rosey! Tofu is so much better once you press and bake it, so you may like these! Let me know if you give them a try! Nice to meet you!
Bethany @ athletic avocado says
Who knew there were more kinds of tofu that the U.S never knew about! How weird! Anyway, these nuggets look fantastic! Im all about tofu and bbq sauce together!
Faith says
I know! I bet there are still more kinds here that I haven't seen yet! Thanks Bethany:)
Hollie says
These look good and thanks for sharing. I actually tried tofu a while back in college and wasn't a fan. I think I just had a bad batch but these look like something I would like.
Faith says
Oh, I hope you give tofu another try Hollie!! It's so good once you press out all the water and bake it!
Leah M @ love me, feed me says
Oh my goodness!! These look so perfect, I'm obsessed with corn flakes and crunchy tofu so this is a match made in heaven.
Also the thought of the moldy tofu made me cringe, ick!!
Faith says
Glad you like them Leah!! And yeah, the moldy tofu is sooooo gross!!! Why China, why!?!
Sarah says
Yum! This makes me miss tofu so much!
Happy Meatless Monday thank you for linking up with us!
Faith says
Thanks for hosting Sarah!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
I used to love tofu!! It was fun to cook with!! But then right when I got into it...SOY ALLERGY!
Faith says
Ah that's such a bummer!! I hope you've found other new obsessions!
Alyssa @ renaissancerunnergirl says
I like tofu, I usually pan sear or bake it but never thought to make nuggets!
Faith says
I've been wanting to try tofu pan seared for a while now! I guess that will be my next experiment:)
Kat says
This reminds me of my cauliflower bbq wings recipe!! So yummy 🙂 I've never had tofu before [seriously scared to buy it and cook it!] but I would totally get this off a menu!
Faith says
You could totally cook tofu Kat! It's not as hard as it seems:) But Cauliflower wings would also work great instead!
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says
I love baked tofu! The corn flakes are super creative thanks for linking up w us for meatless Monday today!
Faith says
Thanks Deborah! Glad to know you like tofu!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
These sound so good! I love BBQ sauce way too much for a veg head, so these are great options for me to eat it!
Faith says
I hadn't had BBQ sauce in forever but just had some shipped to me in China. Now it's going on everything!
Angela says
These sound great, will have to give them a try! Pinned 🙂
Faith says
I hope you like them Angela! Thanks so much!