No cornstarch needed to make this deliciously crispy tofu recipe! This vegan air fried tofu tastes like it’s straight from the deep fryer (while being way lower in fat).
It’s the conundrum every tofu-eater has had at some point…”HOW do I get my tofu crispy??” Because anyone who knows what the magic of crispy tofu is like will also understand the turmoil of never getting your tofu just right.
Well no more, friends! I’ve unlocked the secret to ridiculously crispy tofu…air frying!
What the heck is air frying? Great question: it’s essentially cooking food really hot with air, so that the outside of your food becomes crispy (like it was fried) (but with way less fat). We’ve air fried French fries and fried “chicken” and avocados and now…we air fry tofu.
(Curious about which air fryer is right for you? We rounded up the best air fryers here.)
How to Make Crispy Tofu Video
Crispy Tofu Ingredients
There are two main components to this crispy tofu: the tofu (duh), and the marinade.
- Tofu: Use extra-firm tofu, which has more water squeezed out of it than the soft or silken varieties. Less water = more crisp!
- Soy sauce: Soy (or tamari for gluten-free) adds a rich and salty flavor that levels up your tofu.
- Oil: We’ll use a blend of sesame/olive oil to add flavor and enhance the crispiness. I wouldn’t recomend cutting out the oil completely, but you could use sprayable oil if you’re looking to reduce fat.
- Garlic: I use this for quick and simple flavor in the marinade. Feel free to go crazy with it and at your own blend of spices or herbs!
- A tofu press: You’ll want to press water out of your tofu before cooking it. I love this tofu press (though you could also use a heavy pan).
How to Make Air Fried Crispy Tofu
Okay, I sort of lied before. There are actually two secrets to making crispy tofu without cornstarch or bread crumbs.
Secret 1 – Press the tofu: Pressing your tofu before cooking with it removes moisture (which would otherwise make for soggy, not-at-all-crispy tofu). I recently got this tofu press and absolutely love it, but you can also press your tofu by setting a heavy pan (like a cast iron) on top of your tofu and letting the moisture drain out.
Secret 2 – Air frying: My newest cooking obsession and ultimate way to cook anything that needs to be crispy, air frying! I use this air fryer which has held up well with the many (many) kitchen experiments I’ve thrown in it.
Serve this crispy tofu with
- On Vegetarian Caesar Salad
- Mixed into Kimchi Fried Rice
- Sprinkled over Shakshuka
- Or by themselves with Romesco Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 16-oz block extra-firm tofu 453 g
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce 30 mL
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil* 15 mL
- 1 Tbsp olive oil 15 mL
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- Press: Press tofu for at least 15 minutes, using either a tofu press or by setting a heavy pan on top of it and letting the moisture drain. When finished, cut tofu into bite-sized blocks and transfer to a bowl.
- Flavor: Combine all remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over tofu and toss to coat. Let tofu marinate for an additional 15 minutes.
- AirFry: Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees F (190 C). Add tofu blocks to your air fryer basket in a single layer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to promote even cooking.
Tips & Tricks
- *You can sub the sesame oil for olive oil if needed.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. To reheat, pop them back in the air fryer or a pan for a few minutes.
- Which air fryer is right for you? We rounded up the best air fryers here.
Nutrition Information
Which air fryer is best?
Not sure which air fryer is best? Here are a few of our favorites (complete list of best air fryers here).
More Air Fryer Recipes
Here are a few more air fryer recipes you'll love (find all of our vegetarian air fryer recipes here).
Buttermilk Fried Mushrooms
With air fried oyster mushrooms and a crunchy coating, this tastes just like fried chicken!
Air Fryer Pizza
Perfectly crispy, easy to make, personal pan pizzas that are about to revolutionize pizza night.
How to Cook Air Fryer Potatoes
How to make baked potatoes, homemade French fries, and potato chips in your air fryer, using both white potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Dan says
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for a great idea, I often bake tofu slabs but I’ll try the airfryer now too. I think there is a typo in your recipe instructions – temp. 375 deg F is more like 190 deg C, not 300.
Sarah says
Thanks for pointing that out Dan!! 😀
tofu man says
amazing and just what I was looking for. 5/5 would press on my tofu again
Sarah says
So happy to hear! 😀
Mike says
I just did 2 batches using your recipe. The first batch I followed your directions to the letter. It turned out GREAT. The second batch I increased the temp to 400 for 15 mins and the bites got darker & crispier. I think I like that better. Thanks for the great inspiration!!! I do love tofu.
Sarah says
So happy you liked it, Mike! I’ll have to try it a bit hotter next time, sounds great! 😀
MikeL says
Delicious! Until air fryers, I never cared for tofu. Now,…I’m addicted to air fried tofu…and YOUR recipe is so, so good! Thank you.
Sarah says
YAY! So happy to hear we have a new lover of tofu and air fryers in our midst 😀 Glad you liked the recipe!
Vivian Cutler says
HI Sarah
I bought the exact Air Fryer you mentioned in this recipe.
I am trying to figure out how to Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees.
I looked in the directions and I couldn’t figure it out.
Will you please help me?
I just put it on 375 degrees and started the Tofu air frying.
I will keep checking on it till. It looks done.
I can’t wait to see what happens!!!
Thanks so much,
Viv
Sarah says
Hi Vivian! Yay for the new air fryer! When you set it to your desired temperature, it will take about 5 minutes and then it will beep to let you know it has reached the temp (that’s what mine does anyways!). With that said, you can get away without preheating with most air frying 🙂
Sara says
Turned out AWESOME! Hubby said he wanted to just stick some in a baggy and eat them as a snack. The only thing I did differently was I started with frozen tofu (just threw unopened package into the freezer when I bought it.. ), put the block-o-tofu in a pot of boiling water for 20-25min, grabbed it between two spatulas and squeezed what water I could out, put it on some paper towels and gently squeezed additional water out. Then cut then up and put them in the marinade. They pretty much immediately soaked it all up so after maybe 5min, I cooked them like your instructions say to.
I discovered that by doing the frozen to boiling bit, it totally changes the tofu texture into something our family likes WAY better- it becomes more “meaty” like instead of jello-like lol and they generally cook/crisp up faster and don’t retain nearly as much water.
But anyhoo..
This recipe is bloody awesome 🙂 I added them (what I could salvage anyway from my hubby stealing the crispy little buggers ) to this budgetbytes.com Singapore noodle recipe (the base for the sauce has some of the same ingredients as this recipe so they went really well together).
My hubby liked this stand alone tofu so much though he asked how I made them and started jotting notes down in his phone lol
Thank you so much! The air frier is amazing.. SO much easier than cooking them on the stove.. and SO much better with this marinate too!
Sarah Bond says
YES! Frozen tofu is the BEST! So happy you guys liked it. Budget Bytes has some awesome recipes, so I’m sure you all were eating like kings. Enjoy! 😀
Jose says
I loved it! It was easy and very tasty. I cut out one tablespoon of oil and it still came out nice. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Sarah says
So happy to hear, Jose! 😀
Macy says
I just got an Air Fryer for Christmas and this was the first recipe I made with it! It turned out great and I’ll definitely be making it again! Thanks!
Sarah says
So happy to hear, Macy! Enjoy your new air fryer! 😀
Rachelle says
Wow, I tried this for dinner tonight and it is fantastic.. Thank you for the thorough instructions and the tips
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Rachelle! 😀
Dolores says
OMG this recipe is perfection.
This is my second day with my airfryer and I just made 2 batches of this, yum.
I also added some chipotle seasoning to give it a little kick and it’s wonderful.
Sarah says
Yay! So happy you liked it, Dolores! Sounds delish with the chipotle!
Honey Covin says
The flavor was good, but the tofu pieces did not crisp up, and they were cooked for 20 minutes. Not sure why they did not turn out as expected
Sarah says
Sorry to hear it! Did you make sure the tofu was super dry (i.e. with paper towels and/or a tofu press)? That’s usually the difference between crispy tofu and “meh”.
Patsy says
Do you have to refrigerate any not eaten?
Sarah says
Yep, it’s best to keep this in the fridge!
Georgia says
Impressed! I made a miso mushroom dish that was good on its own but still needed a little somethin-somethin’ added to it. This was that somethin’! Easy to make, nice crisp to the tofu. And I like the subtleness of the sauce. Perfect and will be making again! Thank you for sharing.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Georgia! That miso mushroom dish also sounds amazing. 😀
Katy says
Great Recipe! I had to make many tweaks though due to my own errors and equipment. I accidentally got too impatient when pressing my tofu and squashed it. It also might not have been the right firmness to start anyway… So now with half-smooshed tofu it was difficult to make cubes and so I settled on a few small cubes and lots of crumbles. My air fryer also happens to be a multipurpose pressure cooker, and the rack that it came with for airfrying is almost always has gaps too wide, so my tofu just sat at the bottom. I preheated by air fryer for five minutes at 375, then cooked my marinated tofu for 6 minutes at 385. Stirred, reset for 6 minutes at 385. It wasn’t looking crunchy yet (and a bit wet still) so I sprinkled some cornstarch on it and stirred, then reset for 7 more minutes at 390. It came out nice and golden brown and crispy! A lot of the crumbles stuck together but it didn’t really affect how I was using them. In the future I would actually cook them just a few minutes longer.
Sarah says
So happy to hear you could make it work, crumbles and all! I’ve had that before with some tofu – it could have just been too soft or the brand. Thanks for dropping in to let us know how it went! 😀
Tracy says
Followed your recipe exactly and the tofu turned out delicious! I recently received an air fryer as a gift and ran across your recipe online. You didn’t specify soft, med or firm tofu. I used soft because I love PF Chang’s so much, crispy on the outside and melt in your mouth inside. I’ve never been able to duplicate it, until now! Thank you for your recipe!
Sarah says
So happy you liked it, Tracy!! 😀 The tofu firmness indeed doesn’t matter a ton for this recipe. I like firm, but soft is also tasty!
Tamara says
Haven’t made it yet because I have a question. I’m new to cooking vegan or vegetarian meals. I have all of the ingredients on hand and an air fryer. What could I eat with this? Can you recommend a side or something I can put it on? Thanks!
Sarah says
Great question, Tamara! I like this as a main with veggies on the side (like air fryer veggies). You can also add it into curries (like in place of chickpeas in this tikka masala, or this Thai curry). Or you can use it to add some protein and pizzazz to salads and pasta dishes (like these zucchini noodles). 😀
Steve says
Hi Sarah,
Great recipe. I’m on a diet so trying to figure out the calories. It looks like you are saying 212 calories for a 4 oz serving, or 848 for 16 ounces. My extra firm TOFU, without the oils, is 400 calories for 16 oz, and most TOFUs seem to be in the 350-400 cal, 16 oz range. Am I reading your nutrition facts wrong?
Thanks!
Sarah says
Hi Steve! Thanks so much for pointing that out, I think the numbers were a little off, as you mentioned. I’ve updated the nutrition information to reflect a more accurate calorie count (though you can safely add the calories from your specific tofu + about 200 from oils, and that will give you a good indication as well). Thanks again for dropping in!
Kris says
It was the best and healthiest crispy tofu I ever had….and the soy-sauce gave it that crispiness and the color like a deep fried tofu without any oil.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Kris! 😀
Esther says
OMG!!! Thank you so much!!! This will definitely be a permanent guest in our house 🙂
Sarah says
So happy to hear it! Enjoy! 😀
Micha says
I’m stunned. Pressing tofu, who’d’ve guessed. Good thing I came across this recipe because it would’ve been a disaster otherwise. I dropped the temperature to 180 C for the second batch and that worked just as well for crispiness, but the garlic didn’t burn so that was a plus. The sound the cubes made when I shook them in a dish… I never thought tofu could sound like crystal bells.
Anyway. Thanks so much. Gonna scour your site now for more unsuspected heavenly bites.
Sarah says
Aw, so happy to hear you liked it, Micha! 😀
Roops says
I got impatient with not enough pressing and drying of the tofu so it did crumble a bit but nevertheless it turned out soo amazing & tasty! The flavours were great. paired it with garlic salmon & voila perfect lunch!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it! Enjoy! 😀
Julie says
Not sure what happened, I feel like i followed the recipe properly, but I had 6 minutes left on the time and they somehow burned. Not at all crispy.
Sarah says
Sorry to hear it, Julie! Every air fryer is a little different, so you may just need to reduce the temperature a bit next time.
yoopervegan says
this was yummy. used chili garlic paste instead of the garlic. will make again
Sarah says
Yummm I’ll have to try with some chili garlic! 😀
Bri says
This turned out delicious.
Unfortunately I. didn’t have extra-firm tofu but it still works with firm if you cook it for a little longer.
I added some franks hot sauce to the marinade but overall the recipe alone is delicious 🙂
Sarah says
So happy to hear that it worked with firm tofu, enjoy! 😀
Janet Pettibone says
I made this per the recipe, pressed the tofu for 20 minutes, marinated 20 minutes
.. I dont like it at all. No flavor, just awful. Crispy yes, flavorful, not at all. Wasteful.
Sarah says
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it, Janet!
Joyce says
I am late into the Air Frying phenom, and honestly had given up on crispy tofu in a pan or oven as it never came out right. Tried this recipe and OMG perfectly crisp on the outside, still a bit tender on the inside – I am so hooked! I was ill-prepared and just sprayed the pressed tofu with cooking spray, next time will season it. Thank you for this recipe!!!
Sarah says
YAY! Welcome to the air frying train, where everything is more delicious! 😛
Barbara says
Perfect! Love how it came out. So simple. Cut the oils to 1.5 tsp each, and they still came out great. Thank you!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Barbara! Enjoy! 😀
eva says
This didn’t work at all. Tofu was still soft after 15 minutes, not crunchy, by the time it was crunchy it was chewy.
Sarah says
Sorry to hear it, Eva! Thanks for letting us know.
Hope says
Yummy thanks. Tripled the recipe so I could meal prep
lisa says
we’ve had an air fryer for years but i never tried tofu in it until today. this recipe is absolute perfection. thank you so much
Sarah says
YAY! So happy to hear it, Lisa! 😀
Maggie T. says
Just made today, and had some marinade leftover and used it as a salad dressing. Will be using this recipe again, so good!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Maggie! And an awesome reuse for the marinade!
Stuart says
This recipe gives excellent results, I got good results using ‘Bisto’, onion gravy, instead of soya sauce.
Hannah says
I’m not sure what went wrong but I’m so disappointed. Followed the recipe exactly and ended up with nothing close to crispy tofu and it popped and stuck to my basket horribly, despite frequent shaking, leaving me with an absolute disaster inside my air fryer. The flavor is delicious but next time I’ll go back to using corn starch. I’m not sure how the tofu is supposed to get crisp without something on the outside to crisp. Tonight I just have wet, squishy tofu cubes. 🙁
Sarah says
So strange! I would recommend adding only half the amount of tofu to your basket, they might just need more space around each cube to help them crisp up. This is especially a problem to watch out for in air fryers with baskets (as opposed to the racks).
Carol Meredith says
Absolutely delicious & super easy. I will definitely be making this again
Shub says
I added hot honey and baked at 400 for about 15 -2 0 minutes and it was great!
Kimberly says
My extra firm tofu didn’t crisp. 🙁 I put it in a tofu press overnight, draining the liquid three times. Question, does the marinade use a tablespoon of BOTH oils or is this supposed to be one or the other? I used both because there wasn’t an “or” in the ingredient list.
Sarah says
The recipe uses both oils. Sorry to hear it didn’t crisp up though! You might try lowering the temp on your air fryer and leaving them in for longer.
Suzie says
I made this recipe for three people and we all loved it. Crunchy on one side, moist and juicy on the other. I’m very new to cooking, so this recipe was very easy to follow. Will be making it again real soon!
Thanks so much!
Annie says
Hi Sarah,
If I cover pan with foil so I don’t have to clean after each time, will that prevent the hot air from covering all sides of vegetables, so less crisp?
Sarah says
That’s a great question, Annie! Yes, this will prevent the air from fully circulating, which will probably make the tofu less crispy.
Nancy Hamm says
I did it in my Instapot air fryer- 400 for 15 minn and it was DELISH!
Lucy says
Thank you, Sarah. I just found your website and I’m thrilled with it! I am new to eating Vegetarian. I’ve been struggling with what to cook. I did a batch of Tofu in a frying pan last week and mixed it with spaghetti sauce and other vegetables and it was fine. But, using my Ninja Foodie Air Cooker was easier and it came out super delicious using your recipe. I could eat them just as they are they are so good. Nice and crispy. I think I’m your friend for life. 🙂 God bless you. Can’t wait to try everything you suggest.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Lucy! Enjoy! 😀
Colleen says
I had some time to play in the kitchen, so I added a few things to the marinade (grated ginger, sriracha, lime juice, a smidgen of fish sauce). Following another comment, I went to a little higher heat, and the edges and corners of these got super crisp and almost blackened. They had more of a smoky grill flavor than fried–that’s not a complaint! Still tender inside. I might cut the cubes a little smaller next time to get more of those crunchy edges. I can’t stop nibbling on them. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe.
darty Sachezki says
I is be make this here dish and it be great! Me family love it yo. It ain’t like them other dishes over yonder on other sites that wants you to pressure cook then fry. Try it. Maybe you all is like it as much as me do.
Petri says
If one can get firm tofu, this would be excellent; with too soft tofu and a difficult-to-use air fryer slightly disappointing result. Shall try again with chili (sriracha) marinade.
Denis says
Tried various combinations of length of time to press tofu (up to six hours), temperature of air fryer (180C – 200C) , time to marinade tofu (15 minutes to an hour) and time in air fryer (from 10 – 20 minutes) – couldnt get anything even vaguely resembling “crisp”.
Sarah says
Sorry to hear it, Denis! What air fryer were you using?
ann says
Super delicious, easy and most importantly delicious crispy tofu.
margaret says
I am happy with the result without actual frying. I had to fry tofuwith longer time because tofu had a lot of liquid..I probably didn’t press long enough.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Teresa says
Your fresh veggies recipes look so good ! Thanks for sharing!
Mary says
I’ve never prepared tofu before so this was an easy recipe to start with and tasted great.
Ray Smith says
Air fry tofu is THE BEST for nice texture!!
SANYA says
How big is a serving size in grams? 🙂 This looks delicious!
Sarah says
This serves 4, so about 115 g per serving 😀