These easy Tofu Nuggets pack some serious crunch! Marinated, tossed in a seasoned cornflake crust, and baked until golden, they’re a perfectly poppable snack to serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
I’m no stranger to feeding picky kids, which is why I have so many vegan kid-friendly recipes on my blog! My kids always love these Simple Vegan Pancakes, my Best Vegan Mac and Cheese, and, of course, Vegan Sloppy Joes.
These Tofu Nuggets, or vegan chik’n nuggets, have everything you love about classic chicken nuggets, just without the meat! They’re soft and tender on the inside and satisfyingly crispy on the outside (kids won’t even care that they’re eating tofu).
The trick to making them so amazing? We tear the tofu into bite-sized chunks, so the delicious 5-ingredient marinade gets trapped in the nooks and crannies. After a quick soak, they’re coated in seasoned cornflake crumbs and baked until super golden and crispy.
Serve them hot with the Classic Dipping Sauce or your favorite store-bought dip and watch them disappear!
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“These are amazing and so easy to make! I’ve been making them weekly now 🙂 The sauce is so delicious!” – Heather
Why you’ll love these vegan chicken nuggets
- The best dippable snack – I highly recommend making a double batch and serving them with my Vegan Ranch Dressing, ketchup, vegan honey mustard, and the Classic Dipping Sauce!
- Seriously crispy! Coating the tofu chunks in seasoned cornflake crumbs before baking gives them that satisfying fast-food style crunch.
- Packed with flavor – Marinating the tofu for just 10 minutes infuses every nugget with as much crave-worthy flavor as classic chicken nuggets.
How to make crispy tofu nuggets
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Prepare the tofu: Press the block tofu to remove the excess water, then rip it into bite-sized pieces.
How to press tofu
Pressing the excess moisture out of the block of tofu is how you get tender, meaty nuggets. To press the tofu, wrap the block in paper towels (or a clean, dry tea towel) and balance a plate or skillet on top. Place a few heavy books on the plate/skillet and let the tofu drain for about 30 minutes.
Marinate the tofu: Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the tofu pieces to the bowl and stir gently to coat. Set them aside to marinate for about 10 minutes.
Set up your dredging station: Add the plant milk to a medium bowl and the flour to another bowl.
Add the cornflakes, smoked paprika, onion powder, and salt to a food processor. Process until you’re left with coarse crumbs, then pour them into a third bowl.
Bread the tofu: Dip one piece of tofu at a time into the flour, then the milk, and finally, the cornflake crumb mixture. Place it on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat the same process with the remaining tofu nuggets.
Don’t overcrowd the nuggets
Leave about 1 inch between each nugget on the pan. If they’re packed too closely or touching, they’ll steam rather than crisp up. I recommend dividing them between two baking sheets if you run out of room.
Bake the tofu nuggets until they’re golden and crispy, then serve them hot with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Yes, it’s true that kids love these crispy nuggets in all forms: after school, for movie night, at dinner, and for an appetizer. As long as you have a few dipping sauces on the side, I know they’ll be gone in a flash. They go great with:
- The Classic Dipping Sauce (find it in the recipe card below)
- Sweet & savory sauces: BBQ sauce, sweet and sour sauce, vegan honey mustard, or plum sauce.
- Spicy & zesty sauces: Chipotle sauce, bang bang sauce, or vegan buffalo sauce.
- Kid-approved staples: Vegan ranch dressing, garlic mayo, or ketchup.
And if you want to make these tofu nuggets for a full meal, fold them into a tortilla or pita with fresh veggies and ranch dressing, top them on this Vegan Kale Caesar Salad for extra protein, or pair them with steamed broccoli and cooked rice for dinner.
Frequently asked questions
I like using firm or extra-firm tofu. They’re a little squishy in the middle but get nice and tender after baking. You can also use super firm tofu. It doesn’t need to be pressed ahead of time and has a less-squishy, meatier texture.
The coating will have a hard time sticking to dry varieties of tofu, like super firm tofu. It also helps to process the cornflakes into coarse crumbs, not huge pieces (those won’t stick). Lastly, dipping the tofu into the milk/flour before the cornflake mixture always helps the breading stick.
Sure. Just use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari instead of soy sauce in the marinade. For the coating, use gluten-free flour and gluten-free cornflakes.
Panko breadcrumbs do work, but I find that cornflakes have the most crunch!
Yes! Spray your air fryer basket with cooking spray and place the coated tofu in a single layer in the basket (work in batches so the pieces aren’t touching). Spray with cooking spray, then air fry at 350ºF for 10 minutes. Flip the tofu, then cook for another 15 minutes.
I prefer to bake the tofu because it’s less hands-on and requires much less oil than the stovetop. That being said, the pan-frying method does work! Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on the stovetop, then add the tofu pieces (making sure they aren’t touching) and cook until each side is golden brown. It helps if you leave the pieces alone so they have plenty of time to get crispy.
The leftover cooked nuggets will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in an air fryer, oven, or stovetop until crispy.
Yes, the leftover cooked nuggets will freeze well for about 2 months! I’d probably reheat them in a 350ºF oven or air fryer until warm and crispy.
Crispy Tofu Nuggets
Ingredients
Tofu + Marinade
- (2) 14.5 ounce blocks firm tofu
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Milk + Flour Batter
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
Cornflake Crumb Coating
- 4 cups cornflakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- spray oil, for baking
Optional Classic Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
Instructions
Press, rip and marinate tofu
- Press the tofu by wrapping in paper towels (or a clean dry tea towel). Place a plate or pan on top of the wrapped tofu, and put a couple of heavy books on top of that. Let the tofu press for about 30 minutes.
- Rip tofu into pieces – Slice the tofu into about 6 slices. Now, rip each slice into medium-large pieces. You can also simply cut them into cubes, if you prefer, but ripping gives the tofu a great texture for the nuggets.
- Marinate – In a large bowl, whisk all the marinade ingredients together until well combined. Add the tofu pieces to the bowl and stir gently to coat the pieces. Let marinate for 10 minutes while you prepare the batter and coatings.
Bread the tofu and bake the nuggets
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a large baking sheet or two with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. This will help the nuggets be very crispy and not stick.
- Place milk and flour in bowls – Pour the plant milk into a medium sized bowl. Place the flour in another bowl.
- Prepare cornflake crumb mixture – In a food processor, add the cornflakes, smoked paprika, onion powder and salt and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the crumbs to a medium bowl. Place the bowl of milk, flour and crumbs next to each other for a dipping station that is also close to the prepared pan.
- Coat the tofu – Remove a piece of tofu from the marinade and dip it in the flour. Shake off excess flour and dip into the milk. Shake off any excess milk, then roll in the cornflake crumb mixture to coat. Place on the baking sheet and continue until all the pieces are coated and ready to bake.
- Bake tofu nuggets – Spray the tofu nuggets well with cooking spray. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until golden and crispy. Alternatively, fry them for a few minutes on each side in a pan coated in oil over medium-high heat, in batches.
- Make the quick classic dip – Simply whisk all dip ingredients in a bowl. That's it!
- Serve vegan tofu nuggets with classic dip, ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce or ranch and enjoy.
Notes
- Gluten free? Use gluten free tamari and gluten free flour.
- If you don’t want to use cornflakes, vegan panko breadcrumbs work in place, though they are not gluten free. And I highly prefer the crunch of cornflakes.
- Leftovers: Store leftover nuggets in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, and reheat in an air fryer, oven or stovetop until crispy again.
I love this recipe! It’s great as-is.
I’ve also made it by cutting the tofu block into patties for sandwiches instead of tearing it for nuggets.
Thank you Nora!
Really delightful; sauce was excellent–will use that for other things!
They are a bit of a mess to make, but tasty. I found that I needed more cornflake mix (5cups) and less flour (1 1/2c) and milk (1c).
These sound amazing!! I can’t wait to try!! What kind of cornflakes do you use?
Could we use panko instead of cornflakes or would it change the taste too much?
Hi Tawnie. Vegan panko breadcrumbs work, though they are not gluten free. I highly prefer the crunch of cornflakes! Enjoy!
These are amazing and so easy to make! I’ve been making them weekly now 🙂
The sauce is so delicious!
Hi Heather. I’m so glad that you are enjoying the chicken nuggets! Thank you for sharing your terrific review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
Step 6 references pepper but the recipe never says how much and it’s not in the ingredient list. These were great but how much pepper should we be using for the coating? Thanks!
Oh, that’s a typo, I didn’t add pepper, but you could just add a few shakes of black pepper if you want. Sorry about that, I’ll fix it now! Glad you enjoy them.
Incredibly tasty. Recipe worked perfectly. I froze my tofu beforehand for nice chewy texture. Will definitely be making this regularly!
Hi Sarah. Thanks for sharing your recipe idea and awesome review! I am glad that you love the recipe! Wishing you happy cooking!
These are amazing 🤩 My son asks for them everyday! Can we freeze the cooked nuggets? I would like to batch make these and have them available whenever we want.
Yes, you can freeze them and then reheat. I’d probably reheat in the oven or air fryer until warm and crispy! So glad your son enjoys them so much. 🙂
These are so good!!!! And that sauce is dynamite!
Hi Amanda. Thank you for your wonderful review! I’m so glad you loved the nuggets!
Nora, all your vegan recipes are absolutely delightful. Whenever I need to google a recipe and yours comes up, with other authors, I always choose yours as I know they are a no fail and delicious every time. Thank you. PS, my husband and I both love this recipe.
Thank you so much Brenda! 🙂 That’s wonderful to hear.
the flavor was amazing, it tasted just like chicken nuggets. the only thing was the texture of the tofu is a bit odd for me. very squishy. i know that’s kind of just how tofu is, but do you maybe have any idea how i could make it a lot firmer? (i used extra firm tofu)
Press the tofu very well perhaps, and you could even buy the super firm variety of tofu, that is even more firm than extra-firm and not really squishy at all.
Freeze the tofu block, then defrost in the microwave and dry with paper towels. This helps to remove excess water from the tofu and makes the texture less squishy!
Freeze Tofu unpackaged
Thaw on counter
Freeze Tofu again
Thaw and prepare
Squeeeeeze out water
This is such a good recipe! My omni husband absolutely loves it. The latest time I made this I got lazy and cut the tofu into 3 cutlet-like sizes and it came out great!
Hi Anu. That’s a great idea, a good to know it turned out! Thanks for you wonderful review! I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipe!
Hello! Would these be able to be cooked in an air fryer? Or would the breading blow off? Thank you!
I think they will cook just fine in an air fryer.
Just made these! Soooo good! Question I have another batch in the fridge that hasn’t been baked yet. Do you think it would be okay to just freeze those and then when ready bake after thawing?
Yes, that should work just fine. So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi,
Looking forward to trying these!
Wondering why it is necessary to press water out of tofu if we’re going to be marinating it in a mix that contains quite a bit of water?
Thanks!
You press the water out, then let the flavored marinade in, but it doesn’t make the tofu water logged. It’s a basic technique with tofu. I hope you enjoy the nuggets!