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With almost twenty 5-star reviews, you can be sure these almond-crusted baked tofu nuggets will be a hit with the whole family! Instead of a wheat-based breading, we’re using a healthy almond-based breading and pairing it with a creamy avocado dip. What’s not to love?
save this recipe!Chicken nuggets always have that crispy breading that people either love or hate. If they hate it, it’s usually because the breading is too thick and there isn’t enough filling.
But with these almond-crusted tofu nuggets, that’s not an issue because we’ve got a big chunk of umami-packed tofu and a light but crispy almond breading. Let’s cook!
Reader rating
“I made these for dinner tonight, and they were a real success! I eat a lot of tofu, and it gets hard after a while to find new and interesting ways to cook it. Thanks for the inspiration!” —Bess
Key ingredients
Jump to the recipe card for the quantities.
- Tofu: We’re going to make this by marinating firm tofu with sesame oil, olive oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Opt for reduced-sodium soy sauce.
- Breading Basics: You just need all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour) and an egg to get the crust to stick.
- Almonds: I prefer to pulverize whole almonds as opposed to using almond meal because the larger texture adds more crunch.
- Seasoning: Nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and paprika keep the spices simple but flavorful.
- Dipping Sauce: Just blend up avocado, Greek yogurt, parsley, garlic, lime juice, and a bit of salt and pepper.
how to make almond-crusted tofu nuggets
These are very simple to put together. Here’s a quick overview. Jump to the recipe card for the full instructions.
- Prep the tofu by draining it and pressing it dry. Then, marinate it in the sauce.
- Make the breading by pulsing everything in a food processor.
- Bread the tofu nuggets in the egg wash and breading.
- Bake, flipping halfway through.
- Make the sauce, then enjoy together!
make it vegan
You can easily swap the egg with a flax egg and the Greek yogurt in the sauce for a vegan mayo. Then it’s totally plant-based too!
more family-friendly dinners to try
Almond Crusted Baked Tofu Nuggets
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 16-oz block tofu, 453 g
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 15 mL
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL, or just 2 Tbsp olive oil if you don’t have sesame
- 2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, 30 mL
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Breading
- ¼ cup flour, 31 g, or all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 egg, or 1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp water for vegan, whisked
- 1 cup whole almonds, 170 g
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Dipping Sauce
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt, 142 g, or dairy-free alternative
- ½ cup fresh chopped parsley, handful
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Drain tofu and slice into 1’’ x 1’’ x ½’’ blocks. Lay on a few layers of paper towel and gently press with more paper towels to remove excess moisture. Place tofu blocks in a deep dish (like a storage container).
- Combine sesame oil, olive oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Pour over tofu, cover, and let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better). Every once in a while, flip the container so all the tofu gets exposed to the tasty marinade.
- In a food processor or by hand, chop almonds until coarsely ground. Mix with nutritional yeast, salt, paprika, and black pepper.
- Prepare your breading station, placing the flour in one bowl, the whisked egg in another, and your almond mixture in the last, with a parchment paper-lined baking sheet at the end. Shake off excess marinade from the tofu blocks then, 1 or 2 at a time, coat each lightly in flour, then egg, then almond mix, and set on the baking sheet.
- Bake tofu nuggets at 400 degrees F (204 C) for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown and toasted.
- While the nuggets cook, throw all the Dipping Sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve nuggets warm with dipping sauce!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!P.S. Love vegetarian nuggets? Try my chickpea nuggets next time, or these classic tofu nuggets.
I’m wondering about air frying. Any thought’s?
Ah why have I not thought to try this yet?! I think it would definitely work! 😀
Hi Sarah, through the photos I find them delicious nuggets, but is it recommended for sports? when?
Hi Milina! Happy to hear you like the looks of them! These are rather high in protein, so they would be a good post-workout meal 😀
LOVING these!
Even though I’ve been vegetarian for about 14+ years now (or more, I lose count haha), I’m still pretty weird about tofu. The texture can be a bit too chewy sometimes, sort of like a balloon or a piece of fat, and that’s a huge turnoff. But at the same time, I WANT to like tofu! So, when I saw this little recipe, I had to give it a go.
Once again I dragged my partner into the kitchen and we churned these out pretty quick. The breading goes a lot quicker with more hands since my fingers kept getting coated as well. Since we were careful to sift our breading at the end, we kept what was leftover to use later on, which is always a plus for me.
They baked up really well and the taste almost reminds me of chicken nuggets, if my memory is to be trusted after all these years. My partner, who eats meat, loved them and said she really wants to make them more often since they are a protein filled dish that is easy to transport. When it comes to refrigerating them, they actually hold up well. Just pop them in your toaster oven and they’ll be crispy and delicious all over again.
As a HUGE plus for me, the coating actually stays on! Far too often I see recipes where, when I make them, the coating sloughs off. But not here!
YAY! This is one of my favorites that I think people are too scared to try, but I’m glad you did (and even more so that you also liked em!) For the cakey fingers problem, try using one hand for wets and one hand for dries. I’ve found it helps to prevent the breading from caking on my fingers 😀
We’ll definitely try this ❣️👍
Thank you! This was a huge hit today. It was simple to put together and beautiful on the plate. Even my tofu-avoiding husband ate it. The sauce is fantastic and we’ll use it again. Next time, I’ll slice the tofu chunks thinner and make less dipping sauce because we had a lot left over.
I would advise only making this recipe if you already have most of the ingredients on hand. We made it as an experiment and no one in the house enjoyed it except the dog. I feel horrible wasting so much food and so much money.
Sorry to hear that, Rachel! This is actually one of our favorites, so we’d love to hear what you didn’t like about it to help us improve!
How many nuggets in a portion?
About 7 to 8! 😀
Can you freeze these nuggets?
Yes, these should do well frozen!
Simple and delicious. I made the full amount of almond mixture, but since I only made enough tofu for me I had lots of the almond mixture left over. I froze the left over almond mixture for the next time I make this tasty tofu.
I am going to make this tonight for my daughter and grandson. It looks scrumptious!
Happy cooking!