Corned tofu marinated in a flavorful brine makes perfect vegan corned beef! Serve it with cabbage and potatoes or layer it into a hearty sandwich.
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The sandwich in the recipe below is an unconventional spin or a Reuben. Feel free to tinker even more with the sandwich to make something that suits your taste, if you like!
Or, use this corned tofu with sauerkraut, vegan Russian dressing, and vegan cheese on toasted rye to make a more conventional Reuben.
No matter how you serve it, corned tofu is a great recipe for St. Patrick's Day, an everyday lunch, or for meal prep!
✓ Ingredients and substitutions
Let's talk ingredients! First, we'll look at what's in the corned tofu:
- water - Base for the marinade.
- salt - Gives the marinade that brininess you expect from vegan corned beef.
- brown sugar - Adds a little sweetness. You can adjust the amount of brown sugar to taste. I wouldn't use white sugar, because the molasses in brown sugar adds a depth of flavor that's really special.
- spices - Ground cinnamon, mustard seeds, black pepper, cloves, allspice, bay leaf, garlic and ginger are there to bring the flavor. The smoked paprika or chili powder plus liquid smoke are for both flavor and color. The smokiness gives it a beefy flavor that really makes this recipe special!
- extra firm tofu - Cut this into thin slices for your vegan corned beef. You can use other meat substitutes, if you prefer. Sliced seitan would work great in this recipe!
If you're planning to make the Reuben-eque sandwich, you'll also need:
- rye or pumpernickel bread. You can also use swirl bread. If you don't like pumpernickel or rye, a good whole grain bread is also fine.
- vegan mayo for creaminess.
- vegan kimchi or sauerkraut. I like kimchi because it brings a little bit of heat and more layers of flavor to the corned tofu sandwich.
- haas avocado adds creaminess. You can use your favorite vegan cheese slice or a different kind of avocado instead.
📖 How to make vegan corned beef
Making corned tofu is so easy!
Combine all of the brine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.
Now, pour the brine all over sliced tofu pieces in a shallow dish.
Marinate the tofu for at least half an hour, but a whole hour is even better.
You can use the corned tofu now, or you can bake it in a 350° F oven for 25 to 35 minutes to firm it up more. Whether or not you bake is really up to personal preference. I do prefer it baked.
🥪 Making the not-a-Reuben sandwich
While the tofu marinates and bakes, get your sandwich ready to go.
This sandwich has similar notes to a reuben -- the brined vegan corned beef, fermented kimchi or sauerkraut, and avocado for creaminess instead of cheese.
You can leave the bread soft or toast it. Then, spread on vegan mayo and layer on avocado slices and a generous helping of vegan kimchi or sauerkraut.
When the corned tofu is ready, add it to your sandwich, and enjoy!
If you are doing this as a meal prep, I recommend keeping the sandwich ingredients separate and assembling them at lunchtime. The kimchi and the corned tofu can make the bread get soggy pretty quickly otherwise. You can layer the bread, mayo, and avocado, then just add the vegan corned beef and the kimchi or sauerkraut just before eating.
🥔 Other ways to serve corned tofu
Corned tofu is so delicious! Here are a couple of other fun ways to serve it:
- Dish it up with a side of vegan colcannon. You have plenty of time to make the colcannon while the tofu marinates and bakes.
- Make vegan corned beef and cabbage! While the tofu bakes, boil big chunks of cabbage and potatoes in the remaining brine plus enough water to cover until the veggies are tender.
- Make a proper vegan Reuben sandwich by layering the corned tofu onto rye bread with sauerkraut, a slice of white vegan cheese, and vegan Russian dressing.
💡 Helpful tips
- Definitely press your tofu before marinating. Pressing gets out the excess moisture, so your tofu can drink in plenty of that flavorful brine without getting soft and mushy.
- Don't skimp on simmering the marinade! That 10-minute cooking time allows the spices to release their flavors into the water.
- The rye or pumpernickel brings so much flavor! Splurge on some really good bread.
- Make sure your kimchi is vegan, if you're making the sandwich as directed. Many brands of kimchi contain shrimp paste or fish sauce, so read those labels carefully.
Frequently asked questions
You need a protein base, like tofu or seitan. To flavor it, you make a brine using salt, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, mustard seeds, black pepper, cloves, allspice, bay leaf, and ground ginger.
Corned beef is beef brisket preserved in a salty, flavorful brine. You can use a similar brine to "corn" other proteins, like tofu!
Corned tofu has an amazing salty-spiced-sour flavor. It's perfect in sandwiches or served up with veggies and potatoes!
Corned beef is basically salt-cured beef. To make animal-based corned beef, you cook up a brine and soak meat in it for a couple of weeks. It's a food preservation method.
To make this vegan corned beef recipe, I started with Alton Brown's corned beef recipe and tinkered until I got the flavor profile I wanted.
We are not preserving this tofu, so I treated the brine like a marinade. The marinade/brine comes together super fast, and I think the flavors are just perfect.
🍞 More satisfying vegan sandwiches
📖 Recipe
Vegan Corned Beef Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
For the Corned Tofu
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika or 1 tablespoon chili powder + 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 block extra firm tofu pressed, then cut into 16 very thin rectangles
For the Sandwich
- 8 slices good rye or pumpernickel bread or that swirly one that’s half rye and half pumpernickel
- 4 tablespoons vegan mayo divided
- ½ cup vegan kimchi Look out for fish sauce and shrimp paste in the ingredients. You can also use sauerkraut, if you prefer.
- 1 Haas avocado sliced
Instructions
Make the corned tofu.
- Combine all of the brine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.
- Arrange the tofu in a shallow dish, and pour the hot brine over it. Leave the tofu to marinate for at least 30 minutes, but if you can wait an hour, even better!
- Bake at 350° F for 25-35 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, until it reaches your preferred texture.
Make the not-a-Reuben sandwich
- Divide the mayo between your pieces of bread, and spread it on. Layer on the corned tofu, the kimchi, and the avocado. You can serve the sandwich cold or warm it up in a sandwich press.
Veggivet
Can't wait to make this. My local vegan diner charges $18, plus a mandatory 20% tip for their rueben!
Laura Eng
Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm going to try this recipe for my son-in-law today. I am wondering if you ever tried roasting the tofu after marinating it in the brine?
Becky Striepe
I haven't, but that does sound lovely!
Mark G
It is very easy to make vegan kimchi and it only takes a small amount of prep time. I make my own sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other fermented foods.
Here's one recipe that I like. There are a other good ones on youtube as well. Just search.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qisHfpI5QE&index=3&list=PLrIANjxIzEJyTpzb-KU9wjehpo0x54BZw
Becky Striepe
Thank you! I haven't done much fermenting. My kraut attempt didn't go so well, and it made me a little gunshy. I'll try again!
An Unrefined Vegan
Whoa! Must try!
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! ??
acookinthemaking
That is one gorgeous-looking sandwich! I have only had vegan reubens made with seitan but I love the idea of brining tofu--definitely must try this!
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! I wish I was eating one right this second.
FoodFeud
Cool! Finally another use for the mustard seeds I bought for who-knows-what purpose.
Becky Striepe
Yay! You can also use them to make pickles, if you have some left.
chow vegan
That is one amazing looking sandwich! And the recipe looks so easy! I know what I'm having for lunch today. :-)
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! I need to make another batch of the tofu, so I can eat this again this week!
chow vegan
I've been eating this sandwich all week, it's so good! I didn't have any kimchi and just stuck in lettuce but it's still very tasty. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Becky Striepe
Ooh thats good to know. We are out of kimchi, and i thought that meant no sandwich!
Karen D
Just an aside, read the label on the kimchi, as sometimes there is fish sauce as an ingredient.
Becky Striepe
Yes! Definitely. I am lucky that there's a local company here in Atlanta that makes aweome vegan kimchi. I've also seen shrimp paste in other brands of kimchi, though. Thank you for pointing that out, Karen!