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    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    January 13, 2019 72 Comments

    12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades

    78.6K shares
    Jump to Recipe

    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!

    12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades! Each marinade takes less than 5 minutes to prepare using pantry staples you might already have on hand. Let your seitan or tofu marinate in the fridge for up to 4 days, or you can freeze them for later. #itdoesnttastelikechicken #seitan #veganrecipes

    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.

     

    Print Recipe
    4.98 from 41 votes

    12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades

    Each marinade takes less than 5 minutes to prepare using pantry staples you might already have on hand. Let your seitan or tofu marinate in the fridge for up to 4 days, or you can freeze them for later. 
    Prep Time5 mins
    Marinating time minimum15 mins
    Total Time20 mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American, Canadian, Indian, Italian, Jamaican, Mexican, Thai
    ingredient tag: coconut, peanut butter
    Servings: 2 each marinade makes enough for 2 seitan tenders or 1 block of tofu
    Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

    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
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    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

    1. 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.
    2. If using tofu, use a medium, firm, or extra-firm tofu. It's also recommended to press the tofu first before marinating.
    3. Each recipe makes enough to marinate 2 seitan tenders or 1 block of tofu. Feel free to multiply or reduce the recipe as needed.
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. If you prefer oil-free marinades, sub any oil in these recipes for water, vegetable broth, or aquafaba.
    7. 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.
    Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Bon appetegan!

    Sam.

    « Vegan Seitan Tenders (vegan chicken)
    Vegan Alphagetti »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anne says

      December 09, 2022 at 1:59 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        December 09, 2022 at 3:24 pm

        Hi Anne, no stress needed. Just remove them from the marinade, steam them completely, then return to the marinade to cool overnight. Enjoy!

        Reply
    2. Krista Burbach says

      August 07, 2022 at 1:09 pm

      Love this Chicken Tender recipe! We try to cook without any oil, so for your marinades, what would you recommend as an oil substitute?

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        August 17, 2022 at 2:40 pm

        You can sub vegetable broth. Enjoy!

        Reply
    3. olivier says

      July 14, 2022 at 2:01 pm

      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!

      Reply
    4. alice appel says

      March 30, 2022 at 11:09 pm

      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????

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        April 01, 2022 at 4:37 pm

        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 🙂

        Reply
    5. Christine says

      December 04, 2021 at 12:38 pm

      Hi Sam! I love your recipes and cannot wait to try these marinades!

      Can the marinades be frozen on their own?

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        December 06, 2021 at 4:16 pm

        THank you, Christine. Yes, I think the marinades would freeze well. You could even make bigger batches of them 🙂

        Reply
    6. Anna says

      June 07, 2021 at 12:02 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    7. Cheer says

      May 08, 2021 at 7:34 am

      How much is 1 block of tofu in grams? I'm getting different answers online 🙁

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 13, 2021 at 9:55 am

        It totally depends on the brand you purchase, they can range greatly 🙂

        Reply
    8. Laura Monica Shaw says

      November 20, 2020 at 4:52 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
    9. Lariza says

      October 23, 2020 at 4:10 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
    10. Beata says

      August 10, 2020 at 7:47 pm

      5 stars
      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. 🙂

      Reply
    11. Sarah says

      August 05, 2020 at 6:05 am

      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?

      Reply
      • Bianca Neves says

        December 07, 2020 at 10:38 pm

        5 stars
        Smooth is preferred.

        Reply
    12. Elise says

      May 26, 2020 at 6:21 pm

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
      • Bianca Neves says

        December 07, 2020 at 10:40 pm

        Rice vinegar works beautifully in the Thai peanut marinade! It's actually more traditional than lime juice.

        Reply
    13. Taylor says

      April 20, 2020 at 2:31 pm

      Hi there, I was just wondering if I'm able to use this marinade for blocks of tempeh? Thanks! 🙂

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 06, 2020 at 6:39 pm

        Absolutely! Enjoy!

        Reply
    14. Cris says

      April 02, 2020 at 9:24 pm

      5 stars
      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)!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        April 03, 2020 at 1:16 pm

        Sounds great!!

        Reply
    15. Sonya says

      February 17, 2020 at 9:27 pm

      Ty for these marinades. I bookmarked this page:)

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        February 22, 2020 at 12:02 pm

        So happy you love them!

        Reply
    16. Diana Greenhorn says

      December 22, 2019 at 10:08 pm

      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.

      Reply
    17. Shanna says

      October 11, 2019 at 6:42 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        October 16, 2019 at 5:41 pm

        Aww shucks. Thank you so much, Shanna! So thrilled you're enjoying my recipes so much! Thanks for the lovely comment 🙂

        Reply
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    Sam Turnbull

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    I'm Sam. Bestselling cookbook author and full-time vegan recipe creator! I LOVE vegan food, but it didn't start that way. As someone who comes from a family of hunters, butchers, and chefs I'm the last person I thought would go vegan. Here's My Story →

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