Vegan Nashville hot tofu nuggets: All of the heat, none of the meat

This crispy baked tofu gets tossed in a vegan Nashville-style hot sauce. It makes a perfect appetizer or potluck dish; even your non-vegan friends will love it!

This recipe comes courtesy of Rabbit & Wolves, a blog specializing in vegan comfort food.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Ingredients

1 block extra firm tofu

1 cup almond milk or other nondairy milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon hot sauce, divided

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup vegan butter, such as Earth Balance

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

First, you need to press the tofu. You can either use a tofu press, or place the tofu on a plate, and put something heavy on top. Press for at least 30 minutes, but the longer the better, and you can even do it overnight. 

Once you are ready to make the tofu nuggets, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Now, cut the block of tofu into cubes. Set aside. 

Then take 3 medium/smallish mixing bowls. In the first bowl, whisk together the almond milk, apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon of hot sauce.

In the second bowl, whisk together the flour and the 1 teaspoon of salt. In the third bowl, add the panko. 

Now, taking a few cubes of tofu at a time, toss them in the flour, shake off excess, now put them into the almond milk mixture, make sure they are totally soaked, then back into the flour then back into the almond milk, then into the panko coating completely.

Pat the panko on to the tofu to make sure it is fully coated. 

Repeat with all the tofu cubes, placing them on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray, until all the tofu is coated.

Then bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes flipping them halfway through baking, or until they are brown and crunchy. 

While the tofu is baking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter and olive oil together on medium-low. Then whisk in the 2 tablespoons of hot sauce, agave, paprika, garlic powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Let simmer for a minute, then turn the heat off. 

Once the tofu is done, toss the nuggets in the sauce and serve immediately!