Love the ease of freezer meals but not the sodium amounts? Check out how to make your own freezable tofu scramble for breakfasts all week!
Tofu Scramble
I’m pretty sure it’s a vegan right of passage to make a tofu scramble for breakfast to replace eggs. If you’ve been around you’ve probably heard me talk about how I don’t really love tofu, so if you’re not sure about it stick around. I really love Amy’s Kitchen’s Tofu Scramble. However, it’s to expensive to eat every day, and it’s sodium content is out of control like most frozen dishes. So, I’ve found a way to get a good texture of the tofu as well as a dish that freezes great and reheats in the microwave no problem!
Tofu Tips and Tricks
The first step to making tofu that isn’t too squishy is to buy the right tofu. I like to buy extra firm tofu. The softest type is silken tofu which is used in smoothies and other creamy applications. Firm tofu would work fine, but extra firm has even more water removed, and will have a more chewy texture in the end. I crumbled my tofu into pretty small pieces so that there would be more surface area to get crispy.
Next step to cooking tofu is to press the moisture out. Moisture will prevent proteins from getting crispy, so we want to remove as much extra water as possible. For the extra firm tofu, some of the water has already been pressed out, but I like to cut the block in half lengthwise because it’s pretty thick. Then using paper towels or cloths, layer the towel, tofu blocks, and another towel. Using your hands or a heavy item like a skillet, press down to push out any extra water. They sell tofu presses to help with this, but I haven’t felt this was necessary for me.
The next tip for getting crispier tofu is to use cornstarch. Coating the tofu in cornstarch will help absorb any extra moister that’s left over. It will also help the sides of the tofu crisp up in the oil. I have tried this with and without the cornstarch. If you don’t have any, you can skip it. However, the cornstarch speeds up the crisping process and let’s you use less oil. So, I’m all about shorter cooking times if possible.
Freezable Tofu Scramble
I truly did not think this was going to work as well as it did! Prepping all the ingredients one afternoon and freezing breakfasts for the week was really nice when I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t have the energy to cook. For freezing, you want to remove the extra liquid from the components so they don’t pool at the bottom and make your dish soggy. For the mushrooms and spinach, I squeezed out the extra liquid to prevent this. You can use a cheese cloth or paper towel to wring out the excess water.
The other trick is to use a container that can go from freezer to microwave is possible. I used Pyrex glass containers because they are basically indestructible. Also, the meal will reheat better if it’s a shallow dish where the food is spread out more vs. a small and deep dish where is all stacked on top. Of course, you can make what you have work. You just may have to adjust the cooking time.
If you’re not into the whole meal prep thing, you can make this and eat it without freezing it. Just decide how much is a serving for you and fry it up in a skillet and enjoy! and there’s no need to squeeze out the excess liquid in the veggies if you’re not freezing it. Looking for more tofu recipes? Check out this fried hoisin tofu recipe on the blog.
Freezable Tofu Scramble
Ingredients
- 16 oz. extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp Trader Joe's chicken-less seasoning
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 lbs. hash browns shredded potatoes
- 10 oz. frozen spinach
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 16 oz. mushrooms sliced
Instructions
To prep the Tofu-
- Cut the block of tofu in half lengthwise and place the halves on paper towels. Add more paper towels or cloths on top and use a pan to press out extra water.
- Crumble the blocks into small pieces into a bowl. Add the sherry vinegar, chicken-less seasoning , corn starch, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- To a pan over medium-high heat, add a neutral oil and add the tofu pieces. Let them sit and get brown before flipping them. Make sure they are getting crispy before you remove them from heat.
To prep the hash browns-
- To a pan over medium-high heat, add a neutral oil and the hash browns. Let the hash browns sit for a while and get crispy on one side before flipping them to the other side.
- To a pan over medium heat, add the frozen spinach. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the spinach is thawed and warm.
To prep the spinach-
- If you are freezing the meals, add the spinach to a cheese cloth or paper towel and squeeze out the excess water so that it will not get soggy.
To prep the mushrooms-
- To a pan over medium heat, add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are soft and have released their liquid.
- If you are freezing the meals, add the mushrooms to a cheese cloth or paper towel and squeeze out any extra liquid.
To assemble to freeze-
- In a bowl, mix together the tofu, spinach, and mushrooms.
- In a container that can go from the freezer to the microwave (I use Pyrex), add the hash browns in half the dish and the tofu mix in the other half. Put the lid on the container and freeze.
- To reheat, cook in the microwave for about 4 minutes depending on your microwave siring about halfway through.