Meatless Motivation: 10 Easy Tofu Recipes To Try Right Now

There’s a host of reasons to reach for tofu instead of meat, and vegetarianism is only one of them. For starters, it’s cheaper; according to U.S. News Health, “boneless chicken breasts cost an average of $3.27 per pound nationwide, while tofu sits around $2 to $2.50 per pound.”

Another great reason? Tofu is good, OK? I can't say the same for tofu's PR team, because a lot of people seem to really hate it. But there are so many ways to create flavor and texture from the soybean curd. Just ask these Redditors, who recently shared some of their favorite, easy tofu recipes in r/EatCheapAndHealthy. 

Here are 10 of our favorites.

“This is my new favorite recipe,” writes one user. Serve these as an appetizer, or over rice with green onions and sesame seeds for lunch.

Recipe: Delish

While the classic Korean stew requires a fair amount of specialty ingredients, this recipe from Cookerru only calls for ingredients you can usually find at your local grocery store. Though cracking an egg into your finished soup can kill the vegan vibes, I won’t tell if you won't.

Recipe: Cookerru

Chipotle is a lot easier to copy than you’d think. Here’s a good way to replicate its sofritas using tofu.

Recipe: Eating Bird Food

I’m very curious about this one. But please, consider tossing some real cheese on here if you’re only vegetarian. 

Recipe: Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

For more unusual recipe ideas, please sign up for our free newsletters.

One Redditor shared their own recipe for this unique dish, which consists of stuffing baked potatoes with silken tofu and spinach pesto and topping with breadcrumbs.

Related: Easy and Cheap Vegetarian Recipes Anyone Will Enjoy

This 30-minute, 9-ingredient recipe is an easy weeknight dinner — and a good way to switch up the flavor profile of a lot of the tofu dishes on this list.

Recipe: Short Girl Tall Order

Related: 10 Easy Vegan Meal Prep Ideas

There are variations of this dish across a lot of cuisines, but Korean-style braised tofu is always tasty. And as a bonus, dubu jorim can work both hot and chilled.

Recipe: Korean Bapsang

For a tasty, chicken fingers-style tofu snack, look to this katsu tofu recipe. There’s really something special about the way that crunchy panko houses soft tofu, you know?

Recipe: Yeung Man Cooking

I love mapo tofu so much. Many recipes will call for pork, but you don’t really need it if you’re trying to stay veggie-forward. The success of this dish relies on your ability to get high-quality Sichuan peppercorns. You need that numbing factor; otherwise, what are we even doing here?

Recipe: Serious Eats

Yeah, there are a lot of soups on this list. Guess why? Tofu is great in soup, and an easy spot in the tofu soup Mount Rushmore belongs to hot and sour. If you’ve got an Asian grocery store nearby where you can source the mushrooms required, the rest of the soup shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off. 

Recipe: The Woks of Life