Baked Vegan Chicken Nuggets, aka Tofu Nuggets, are delicious appetizers. These are great alternatives to chicken nuggets in the true sense. This is one of the best vegan appetizers, fun to make, and kids will also love these vegan chicken nuggets.
If you are new to this plant-based diet, trying new ideas, or craving your old chicken nuggets, you are in the right place. These vegan chicken nuggets are a delicious alternative to your meat craving. I won't say this tastes exactly like chicken, but these are very satisfying.
These nuggets are made with tofu, which is non-dairy (made from soymilk). But trust me, the texture is almost similar to the real ones. And it's healthy too. So these vegan chicken nuggets, aka tofu nuggets, are easy, quick, healthy (baked), and delicious. I will call this a win-win.
Similar recipes: Vegan Zucchini Fritters, Broccoli Fritters, and Mix Vegetable Lollipop.
How to make crispy vegan chicken nuggets?
Ingredients for tofu nuggets:
Tofu - Extra-firm tofu for the best results. You can also go for medium-firm ones if an extra-firm tofu is not available.
Vegetable Broth
Other Marinades (alternative to vegetable broth) -
You can also prepare other marinades of your choice. Some alternatives include soy sauce or tamari, along with garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Dilute this with twice of much soy sauce. Please don't add extra salt, as soy sauce already contains salt.
Vegan Egg - I make my flax eggs at home, which is easy also. Take the flax meal and add twice of much plant-based milk, then give it a good stir. Then refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow the texture to set like an egg.
Substitute for vegan egg - vegan buttermilk. Add apple cider vinegar to plant-based milk. Let it rest for some time. Use this vegan buttermilk for coating the tofu.
Flour
Panko Bread Crumbs
Nutritional Yeast
Seasoning - garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper as per taste, nutritional yeast, and vegan parmesan cheese powder
Method of Preparation - Oven Baked
This is a baked version and much healthier. You can also shallow-fry these nuggets in a pan on the stovetop, or combine both steps to get crispier tofu nuggets. For baked nuggets, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Step 1 - Prepare the tofu
Press the tofu hard of remove excess liquid and achieve a texture like chewy chicken. Use a tofu press or place it between two chopping boards and press. Break into uneven pieces. We need that natural break, and it will give our nuggets a nice, uneven, layered texture.
Step 2 - Marinate the tofu
Then take out the tofu and dip it in vegetable broth or a marinade of your choice for of least 30 minutes so it absorbs the flavor. You can also keep this overnight.
Step 3 - Coat the tofu pieces
Now take out the pieces from the marinade. And coat it with a layer of flour. Then dip it into the flax egg, then coat it again with flour. And lastly, on flax egg. Now roll it on spiced breadcrumbs and paint the piece nicely. This will be for double-coating tofu pieces. Repeat it for all pieces. And keep it aside on a dry plate.
An easier method -
Alternatively, you can make a batter of flour. This batter should be thin and of a coating consistency only. Mix the nutritional yeast and other spices into the batter, then whisk. Keep breadcrumbs seasoned. Now dip the tofu piece into the batter and let any excess batter drop off. Place it on seasoned bread crumbs and coat the tofu with crumbs. Repeat for all pieces. Then follow the instructions for shallow-frying, baking, or air-frying, as per your choice.
Step 5 -ย For Baking:ย Finally, grease the baking tray, lined with parchment paper, and place all the breadcrumbs-coated pieces on it. Then bake at 200 C for 30 minutes, flipping in halfway. You may spray or brush with a bit of olive oil on top.
For Pan-frying:ย Heat oil generously for shallow frying in a pan or on aย griddle. Place the coated tofu in a pan and shallow-fry it, flipping it after 3 minutes.
Air Fryer Tofu Nuggets
Preheat the air fryer to 400ยฐF (200 ยฐC) for 5 minutes. Grease the basket or tray. Place the coated nuggets. Spray or brush a little oil on nuggets. Start the air fryer at 400ยฐF for 15 minutes. Flip them in the midways at around 8 minutes.
Recipe Card for Vegan Chicken Nuggets
Baked Vegan Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
- Tofu press
Ingredients
- 1 Tofu block
- 1 cup Vegetable broth
For Flaxegg / Vegan Egg
- 3 tbsp Flaxmeal
- 6 tbsp Almond Milk or any plant-based milk
For Coating
- 1 cup Refined flour
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs or regular crumbs
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (skip if not available)
- 1 tbsp vegan parmesan cheese powder (optional)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- salt to taste (for crumb mixture)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 200 degree C.
Prepare tofu pieces into bite-sized nuggets
- Unpack tofu and press it to remove excess liquid.
- Slice the block into 2 pieces.
- Then place it in vegetable broth for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- After that remove the tofu block from broth.
- Break them into pieces or cut into equal-sized pieces as per your choice.
- Now take each piece and coat with a layer of flour.
Prepare Flaxegg
- Take a flax meal and warm milk. Stir well.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes before use for egg-like texture.
Coating of Nuggets
- You can do single layer coating or double layer coating.
- In a plate mix the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, nutritional yeast, and vegan parmesan cheese.
- Take flour-coated nugget piece and dip it in flax egg.
- For double coating, repeat the above step.
- And then next, roll it on bread crumbs mixture and coat it nicely.
- Repeat for all pieces.
Oven Baked Nuggets
- Now place all bread crumb coated pieces on the greased baking sheet.
- Bake on high heat for 30 minutes flipping in midway.
- Remove from oven and serve hot with any dip of choice.
Air Fryer Tofu Nuggets
- Preheat the air fryer at 400 F or 200c for 5 minutes.
- Grease the air fryer basket. Place the coated nuggets.
- Start the air fryer at 400 F for 15 minutes.
- Flip them in the midways at around 8 minutes.
- For extra crispy, add 3 - 5 minutes more for air frying. Keep Checking at 2 minutes.
- Crispy tofu nuggets are ready to serve.
Notes
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