Baked Tofu Sliders
What do you get when you mix firm tofu with oats, carrots, onion, nutritional yeast, tamari sauce and a bunch of tasty spices? If you make this recipe, you’ll find out! But allow me to spoil it a bit for you: you’ll find yourself with these adorable sliders that no one can resist trying and everyone will be glad they did. Great with vegan barbecue sauce or your favorite spread or dip, give this one a whirl and get ready to be pleasantly surprised!
Whole Food Plant-Based, Vegan, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free, Gluten Free.
If you follow me on Instagram and have seen my Stories, you probably already know about my quest to conquer cooking with tofu. It’s an ingredient I’ve always stayed away from, despite eating plant-based for around 7 years now.
In fact, this is the first tofu-based recipe I am sharing here – but I think it more than deserves the honor of introducing this healthy and protein-packed ingredient to the Wholistic Bella recipe trove.
One thing I love about tofu is that it has very little of its own flavor, which means it takes on the taste of whatever you throw at it. And in this case, I can only describe the taste with one word: awesome. Yes, it took me three tries, but that’s actually pretty good compared to my number of tofu failures overall – I’ve been experimenting with it 4 times a week lately! Let me just say that I’m so glad I persisted.
These sliders make a great healthy appetizer, game day snack, or fun lunch for the kids. Who doesn’t like something that looks just like a mini burger? These are amazing with vegan barbecue sauce on a bun with some red cabbage, or you could serve them with a portion of my Vegan Mac and Cheese, Avocado Dip, or mashed potatoes. It’s up to you!
Another bonus? You really only need tofu, flour, onions and carrots to make these. If you eat plant-based meals often, you probably already have the rest of the ingredients in your pantry. Plus, they’re freezer-friendly, so go ahead and double or triple the recipe to freeze some for later. Don’t you just love it when you don’t have time to cook and you remember you have something delicious and ready to go in your freezer?
Ingredients:
Makes 6
-300 g firm tofu
-1/2 cup (50 g) oats, processed into flour
-1 small onion (50 g), chopped finely
-1 small carrot, 1/3 cup (35 g), grated
-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
-1 tablespoon tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
-1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 ½ tablespoons water, mix and set aside for 15 minutes)
-1 tablespoon tamari sauce
-1 tablespoon white miso* (see note)
Seasoning:
-1 teaspoon turmeric
-pinch of black pepper
-1 teaspoon smoked paprika
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / 390 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Drain as much liquid as you can from the firm tofu and chop it into ½-inch cubes.
3. Place the tofu cubes on a clean kitchen napkin, cover with another napkin, and press the tofu for 30 minutes by placing a heavy skillet or pan on top. You want to remove as much liquid as possible.
4. While the tofu is being pressed, grate the carrot, chop the onion and process the oats into flour. Prepare the flax egg if you haven’t yet as it needs to sit for 15 minutes.
5. In a food processor, place the pressed tofu cubes and crumble them up nicely for about 30 seconds. There should be no large chunks left.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the seasoning, and process for about a minute or two, depending on your food processor. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl every 20 or 30 seconds to make sure all the ingredients are mixing well together.
7. Use a 3” / 8 cm cookie cutter to help you form the sliders. Place the cookie cutter on the baking sheet and fill it in with the mixture. Using the back of the tablespoon, press the mixture down so it’s compact. You want to fill the cookie cutter up to about 1.5 cm in height.
8. Gently remove the cookie cutter. Use the back of your tablespoon to hold the slider down on the sheet as you remove the cutter.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you have formed 6 sliders on the baking sheet.
10. Put the sliders into the oven and cook for 23 minutes.
11. Remove the sliders from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes. Then, transfer them to a cooling rack and wait until they’ve cooled down completely before storing in the fridge in an airtight container.
12. These will be good in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months.
13. Serve with some Vegan BBQ sauce or a portion of my Vegan Mac and Cheese. These Tofu Sliders are great in sandwiches/buns with some red cabbage and mashed potato (or my Avocado Dip).
*NOTE: You can use any miso paste you have. The darker one can be more pungent, so you may need to use a bit less (depending on your preference) and they may turn out a bit darker in color, but it won’t make a huge difference.
Nutritional Facts per serving (3 sliders):
Calories: 396
Carbs: 36.3 g
Protein: 29.9 g
Fat: 17.9 g
Fiber: 4.9 g