Looking for a great seitan or tofu marinade? Well, we got 12 seitan or tofu marinades in the house!!! After making my Vegan Seitan Tenders (a recipe designed to be similar to chicken), I've been having fun playing around with so many different flavour combinations and enjoying my seitan everywhere: on sandwiches, salads, pasta, as the main dish, in tacos or burritos, stir-fry, everywhere! Serving up my seitan with endless flavour combinations. SO MUCH YUM! So get ready, because with these seitan or tofu marinades, your life is about to take a turn toward the delicious!
How to Marinate Tofu or Seitan:
With these 12 Seitan or Tofu Marinade recipes on hand, you are on your way to some seriously scrumptious meals. Each recipe takes less than 5 minutes to prepare and makes enough to marinate 2 seitan tenders (or about 1 block of tofu), but you can make more or less as needed. Then just pop these in the fridge until ready to use! The flavours get even better the longer you marinate. Or you can put them straight in the freezer to save for another day. My 12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades are a real-deal game-changer! And for those of you looking to reduce the amount of plastics you are using, check out these reusable storage bags. I have a bunch in my kitchen and find they work perfectly when marinating my seitan or tofu. Now head on down to the recipe card and get marinating!
Common Questions:
- Do I need to press the tofu before marinating? If using tofu, use a medium, firm, or extra-firm tofu. It's also recommended to press the tofu first before marinating.
- How long should I marinate tofu or seitan? Marinate your seitan or tofu for a minimum of 15 minutes, but up to 4 days in the fridge for maximum flavour or you can toss these in the freezer.
- Can you marinate and then freeze tofu or seitan? The seitan freezes beautifully, but tofu changes texture when frozen (it gets kind of spongey), so freeze tofu only if you enjoy that texture (personally, I’m not a fan).
- Why should I marinate tofu or seitan? In a word: flavor. By marinating seitan or tofu, you can elevate your meals to all sorts of levels. BBQ, Thai peanut, Italian spices, lemon mustard, it goes on. Marinating is key to a delicious tofu or seitan dish.
12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades
Ingredients
BBQ Marinade:
- 6 tablespoons BBQ sauce, (check to make sure it's vegan)
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
Lemon Mustard Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Jerk Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons jerk marinade, hot or mild (I like to do a combination of both)
- 2 tablespoons water
Sweet Chili Marinade:
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Sriracha Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup
Italian Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Balsamic Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Thai Peanut Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoon agave
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Coconut Curry Marinade:
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
Mexican Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons light oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon agave
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Sweet and Smoky Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
Teriyaki Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons orange juice or water
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Instructions
- For any marinade you choose, simply add all of the ingredients to a resealable bag or airtight container, mix, then add your seitan tenders or sliced or cubed tofu. Let marinate for a minimum of 15 minutes or up to 4 days.
Notes
- These marinades are designed to be used with my Vegan Seitan Tenders recipe, but the marinades would also work gorgeously with tofu, tempeh, or another seitan recipe that calls for a marinade.
- If using tofu, use a medium, firm, or extra-firm tofu. It's also recommended to press the tofu first before marinating.
- Each recipe makes enough to marinate 2 seitan tenders or 1 block of tofu. Feel free to multiply or reduce the recipe as needed.
- I designed each recipe to be SUPER quick and easy to make- no chopping, mincing or cooking. Each recipe uses pantry staples- sauces, spices, and seasonings that you likely already have on hand. That said if you would like to sub in fresh herbs, garlic, or ginger, instead of the powdered versions, feel free to do so.
- Marinate your seitan or tofu for a minimum of 15 minutes, but up to 4 days in the fridge for maximum flavour or you can toss these in the freezer. The seitan freezes beautifully, but tofu changes texture when frozen (it gets kind of spongey), so freeze tofu only if you enjoy that texture (personally, I’m not a fan).
- If you prefer oil-free marinades, sub any oil in these recipes for water, vegetable broth, or aquafaba.
- Once marinated, cook up your seitan or tofu any way you like! Pan fry, grill, BBQ, bake. My favourite is to pan fry the seitan tenders over medium-high heat, a couple minutes per side so the seitan gets a bit crispy on the outside, and hot all the way through.
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Anne says
hi I got too excited and didn't steam the steak seitan before putting it in the marinade. how can I salvage the steaks? should I just go ahead and steam anyway or what I am so upset with myself pls respond quickl
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Anne, no stress needed. Just remove them from the marinade, steam them completely, then return to the marinade to cool overnight. Enjoy!
Krista Burbach says
Love this Chicken Tender recipe! We try to cook without any oil, so for your marinades, what would you recommend as an oil substitute?
Sam Turnbull says
You can sub vegetable broth. Enjoy!
olivier says
After discovering your site for the seitan recipes, I was thinking to myself, I need a list of marinades ... Well THANK YOU!!! Hope you're doing well!
alice appel says
After I marinate the tofu for awhile, what do I do with it? For example, the Italian marinade sounds wonderful. Do I saute it and add it to pasta or????
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Alice, yes that would be a great option. You can really do whatever you like, fry it, bake it, air fry it, grill it, the choice is yours 🙂
Christine says
Hi Sam! I love your recipes and cannot wait to try these marinades!
Can the marinades be frozen on their own?
Sam Turnbull says
THank you, Christine. Yes, I think the marinades would freeze well. You could even make bigger batches of them 🙂
Anna says
I have been using these for both tofu and seitan! I am in love! So grateful for these different variations because they can be used in so many different meals! Highly recommend making these!
Cheer says
How much is 1 block of tofu in grams? I'm getting different answers online 🙁
Sam Turnbull says
It totally depends on the brand you purchase, they can range greatly 🙂
Laura Monica Shaw says
I tried the recipe "VEGAN CHICKEN" from your video and I am honestly shocked. I cut meat almost a year ago and it was easy to cut red meat but I've missed the texture and taste of chicken. This comes extremely close! I never thought the texture would be so close to chicken! AHHH I'm sooo happy that I can make it at home now because we all know the vegan meats at the store are wild expensive. Thank you sugar!
Lariza says
WOW!! I made the vegan chicken tenders few weeks ago. I ate two of them and froze the rest. Yesterday I prepared them using the Italian marinade and my mouth was watering, I really enjoyed the flavor!! I will need to prepare more vegan tenders to try all your marinades.
Beata says
Wow - tried the balsamic marinade to marinate some of Sam's chicken seitan and could not believe how delicious my kitchen smelled while I was heating the tenders up for dinner!!! Even the dishwasher with the used marinating dish smelled amazing, lol!!! Definitely looking forward to using this marinade to marinate sliced/cubed pressed tofu for dinner in 2 days! Hard to believe how simple this particular marinade is to make, too. Thank you Sam. 🙂
Sarah says
Can't wait to try these marinades - I made the Seitan steak yesterday and I'm looking forward to trying the Seitan Tenders. Please could I ask if the peanut butter used in the Thai marinade is Smooth or Crunchy?
Bianca Neves says
Smooth is preferred.
Elise says
Hello, I tried some of the recipes and they’re delicious and thank you for them! I was wondering if there’s a substitute for lime juice though
Bianca Neves says
Rice vinegar works beautifully in the Thai peanut marinade! It's actually more traditional than lime juice.
Taylor says
Hi there, I was just wondering if I'm able to use this marinade for blocks of tempeh? Thanks! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Absolutely! Enjoy!
Cris says
The teriyaki marinade was amazing! I was out of orange juice so used grapefruit instead and let it soak into the tofu for 24 hours. Tomorrow is the lemon mustard that I added fresh dill to (because that seemed like a given)!
Sam Turnbull says
Sounds great!!
Sonya says
Ty for these marinades. I bookmarked this page:)
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you love them!
Diana Greenhorn says
I tried one tofu marinate which I then baked but I couldn't taste the marinate after. The marinades might be best for pan frying, etc.
Shanna says
Just want to tell you I've been vegan for 7 years and this marinade recipe has probably been the most helpful recipe I've ever found. I love tofu and eat it almost everyday and this has given me so many more flavors that I wouldn't have thought of. I actually tried the lemon mustard one tonight. And admittedly I thought that was a strange combo. BUT, I love your blog and cookbook and I trusted you. And yet again I was not let down. It was so good! I had it with couscous and steamed kale for dinner. So delicious. Thank you. I appreciate your recipes/blog/cookbook so much!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww shucks. Thank you so much, Shanna! So thrilled you're enjoying my recipes so much! Thanks for the lovely comment 🙂