This recipe is sponsored by EZ Tofu Press. All opinions are 100% my own.
Crispy, spicy Baked Buffalo Tofu Bites are perfect dipped into rich-and-creamy Dilly Dipping Sauce. Serve them as party finger food or a main dish!
Y'all, I am obsessed with all things buffalo! That vinegar-forward, spicy sauce - named after the city in New York, not the animal - has a special place in my heart. Seriously, I'm yet to find any food I can't improve with a heavy hand with the buffalo sauce.
How to Make Your Buffalo Tofu
These crunchy Buffalo Tofu Bites couldn't be easier to make and only take about an hour. There's about 15 minutes of active cooking time, and then they bake for 50 minutes in the oven:
- Press your tofu with your EZ Tofu Press, then slice into mini fingers, like in the video or in the photo below.
- Dredge the cubes in spicy buffalo mayo and panko, and bake without flipping.
- Serve with Dilly Dipping Sauce, that you can make right in your blender, while the tofu is in the oven.
This recipe uses vegan mayo as the binder. If you haven't tried this trick yet, prepare to be amazed! It's one of the best vegan binders for breading that I've ever tried, and it's my go-to.
Just look at how well the crunchy panko coating adheres to that spicy tofu:
You will get the best results with this recipe if you take the time to press your tofu before you begin. Pressing the tofu is important for getting that good, chewy texture that makes tofu great.
Pressing also gets the water out, so your tofu can drink in plenty of spicy, vinegar-y buffalo marinade.
I have made this tofu both with and without pressing, and it's still tasty without. Just know that if you don't press, the texture isn't quite the same, and the extra water makes the panko coating flake off more readily.
You can use other methods to press your tofu, but I really love how quickly, easily, and evenly the EZ Tofu Press does it.
About the EZ Tofu Press
The EZ Tofu Press also gets out what is a frankly shocking amount of water.
I shot a little promotional video with them last year, and we pressed eight blocks of tofu over the course of the day. After we pressed the first block, we thought it would be fun to measure how much water we got out. We removed a full half cup of liquid, on average!
Serving Your Spicy Tofu Bites
But back to these Buffalo Tofu Bites for a second. There are so many delicious ways to serve these babies!
- Put them onto toothpicks, and serve as party finger food, with the Dilly Dipping Sauce on the side for dipping.
- Throw them onto your next salad, and use the Dilly Dipping Sauce as your dressing.
- Roll them into buffalo tofu wraps and serve the sauce on the side for dipping.
- Use the dipping sauce as a spread to make an awesome buffalo tofu sandwich with pickles, lettuce and tomato.
- Toss the dipping sauce with warm, cooked noodles of your choice and top with the tofu to make an easy buffalo tofu pasta.
More Buffalo Spicy Recipes to Try
If you love buffalo sauce like I do, chances are you don't want to stop with just buffalo tofu. Keep these in your pocket for your next buffalo sauce craving:
Whatever you decide to do, I think they will become a new favorite of yours, like they have for me! Let's make some Buffalo Tofu Bites, y'all.
Baked Buffalo Tofu Bites with Dilly Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Baked Buffalo Tofu
- 1 block extra firm tofu - pressed, and cut into 24 mini fingers (See the video for how to do this!)
- 1/2 cup vegan Buffalo sauce - divided
- 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Dilly Dipping Sauce
- 3/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar - optional
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic
Instructions
Make the Buffalo Tofu Bites
- Toss together the tofu pieces and the Buffalo sauce in a shallow dish. Set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes, then transfer the tofu to a plate, leaving any leftover Buffalo sauce behind.
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Add the mayo to the bowl with the reserved Buffalo sauce, and whisk together. Pour the panko into another shallow bowl.
- Dredge the marinated tofu in the Buffalo-mayo mixture, then in the panko, and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 50 minutes.
Make the Dilly Dipping Sauce - Do this while the tofu is in the oven!
- Combine all of the sauce ingredients in your blender or food processor. Puree until smooth, adding more water by the tablespoon, as needed, to get things moving.
Notes
- This recipe makes four main-course servings. If you are serving this as finger food or a side dish, you will get 6-8 servings out of this recipe.
Stacy
Super crispy, super good! I will do it again. I ended up having quite a lot of that buffalo mayo mix left, which I used as a sauce in a wrap.
Becky Striepe
Thank you for the review, Stacy! I love the idea of using the leftover sauce in a wrap. That sounds delicious!
Mel | avirtualvegan.com
Oh my word they look good! I would eat the entire batch! That sauce too. Yummy!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Mel! The dipping sauce is a new fave. Darrol has been eating all kind of veggies, if I give him that to dip them in!
Gwen
My kids were over my shoulder as I watched this video and they have asked me to make them. They don't have to twist my arm, these look so good, especially that crispy outside. YUM!
Becky Striepe
Yay! Enjoy them, y'all!
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
Buffalo sauce is life! These look perfect and I'll be having these asap!
Becky Striepe
Haha I agree. It's the best!