Teriyaki Tofu Crumbles for Tacos or Wraps

Quick and easy tofu crumbles for tacos or wraps, flavoured with teriyaki sauce. A simple must-try vegan tofu recipe.

I've seen people crumbling and frying or oven-baking tofu and I had to give it a go.

But it had to be packed with flavour and something I could add to tacos or wraps as a type of meat-free mince or plant-based crumble.

We were not disappointed.

Some of it was soft and chewy and some of the crumbles were crisp, but it was all super tasty.

Jump to:

• 🥘 What is tofu crumble?
• 💭 What type of tofu do you need for tofu crumble?
• 👩🏻‍🍳 How to press tofu
• 👩🏻‍🍳 How do you crumble tofu?
• 💭 Is tofu a healthy alternative to meat?
• ♨️ Fried, oven-baked or air-fried tofu?
• ⭐ Why are tofu crumbles so good?
• 🥘 Make tofu crumbles more crispy
• ⭐ Hit the heart (NEW)
• 🌯 How to serve tofu crumbles
• 🥣 Storing tofu crumbles
• 📋 Ingredients
• 🥢 Teriyaki Sauce FAQ
• 📖 Variations
• 👩🏻‍🍳 How to make this teriyaki tofu crumble recipe
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Related recipes
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Pairing tofu crumbles
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🥘 What is tofu crumble?

Tofu crumble is tofu that has been crumbled, coated in spices and cooked until starting to crisp.

It can be used as a plant-based mince or tofu meat.

Full of protein and the flavours can be changed each time you make it.

💭 What type of tofu do you need for tofu crumble?

You want to use firm tofu for this type of crumble, not silken tofu which is too soft and used for desserts and sauces.

If you use pre-pressed tofu, often called extra firm, there is no need to press it.

Just pat pre-pressed tofu with kitchen paper to remove any excess liquid.

Otherwise, you will need to press the tofu first to remove as much liquid as possible.

Love tofu? Try this crispy Gochujang tofu

👩🏻‍🍳 How to press tofu

It's super easy to press tofu.

You can either use a tofu press, which adds pressure allowing the liquid to drip out of the tofu or you can dry it off, wrap it in kitchen paper, then a clean tea towel and top with heavy books or a book topped with cans of food.

It's all about adding pressure to squeeze that water out

Leave it for about half an hour, then remove the kitchen paper and slice or crumble the tofu depending on the recipe.

👩🏻‍🍳 How do you crumble tofu?

Once tofu is pressed to remove the liquid (or not if you are using ready-pressed tofu), you can crumble it into a bowl with clean hands.

It's really quite satisfying.

You can crumble it as fine as you like or have a variety of crumble textures.

A larger crumble gives you the texture of tofu ground beef.

Smaller pieces will be more crunchy and larger pieces will be soft or chewy, depending on how big they are and which method of cooking you choose.

Also, try shredded tofu? This BBQ shredded tofu wrap is a good recipe to try first.

💭 Is tofu a healthy alternative to meat?

Tofu is a really healthy alternative to meat.

It's packed with protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.

What it doesn't have is all the calories, cholesterol and saturated fat that meat has.

Of course, if you deep fry it, it will contain fat.

♨️ Fried, oven-baked or air-fried tofu?

Fried tofu, and I'm just talking a little olive oil, not deep-fried tofu, is a good option if you want a softer crumble with smaller chewy pieces.

If you want a drier or crunchy crumble, crumble the tofu finer and either oven bake or air fry with just a light spray of oil.

Love crispy tofu? Try these balti tofu nuggets or my tofu pastrami which is great in sandwiches.

⭐ Why are tofu crumbles so good?

Tofu crumbles are a great option and alternative to meat or meat-free mince.

• Protein - it's full of protein
• Fibre - It's also full of fibre
• Vitamins and minerals - full of all the good stuff
• Calories - low calorie
• Easy - easy to make
• Flavour - it soaks up flavour
• Meat-free - a healthy and tasty alternative to ground beef or mince

🥘 Make tofu crumbles more crispy

If you want a crisper tofu mince, crumble it into smaller pieces.

Oven-baking or air-frying these small pieces of tofu will result in crisper crumbles.

All you need is a light spray of oil.

However, do make sure it is well-pressed and dry before crumbling.

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🌯 How to serve tofu crumbles

Tofu crumble is very versatile. Here are a few serving suggestions for easy tofu crumble recipes.

1. Wraps - use as a filling for wraps with salad
2. Tacos - vegan tofu crumble makes the perfect vegan taco meat filling
3. Pizza - top pizza with tofu crumbles
4. Salad - it's also good added to salads
5. Stir fry - add to a vegetable stir fry
6. Quesadillas - add as a quesadilla filling with vegan cheese
7. Stuffed pepper - add to stuffed peppers with rice and red onion, then topped with vegan cheese and baked
8. Burritos - add as a burrito filling, check out this spicy bean burrito
9. Nachos - top nachos with tofu crumble, vegan cheese, salsa, guacamole and vegan sour cream

Also, try easy tofu fried rice!

🥣 Storing tofu crumbles

Tofu crumbles can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days and used cold in wraps or reheated to add to hot dishes.

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge.

To prevent or catch moisture, add kitchen paper to the container, before adding the cooled crumbles.

📋 Ingredients

These are the simple ingredients you need to make teriyaki tofu crumble.

• Firm tofu - or extra-firm tofu
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Turmeric - optional but gives a good colour and a savoury flavour
• Chilli powder - you can add extra or use hot chilli powder for heat
• Teriyaki sauce
• Maple syrup
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

See the printable recipe card below for full quantities, method and tips.

🥢 Teriyaki Sauce FAQ

📖 Variations

Here are a few other flavours that could be added when making crumbled tofu instead of using teriyaki sauce.

• BBQ sauce
• Harissa paste
• Hoisin sauce
• Miso
• Sriracha sauce
• Hot harissa sauce

👩🏻‍🍳 How to make this teriyaki tofu crumble recipe

Step-by-step photos. Keep scrolling for the full printable recipe (with full ingredient list, calories and nutritional info).

👩🏻‍🍳 Related recipes

Looking for more vegan tofu recipes? Try these:

👩🏻‍🍳 Pairing tofu crumbles

These are my favorite dishes to add tofu crumbles to.