I have never liked chicken eggs. Not once. Those slimy, gooey, bubbly things some people call breakfast are just not for me. I used to eat them along with everyone else and pretended to enjoy them, while really hiding them under my leftover toast.
Gone are the days of eating what I don't want to eat! I have one friend who said if she went vegan, the hardest thing for her to give up would be eggs. I simply do not understand this. They're gross!! But you know what's not gross? Tofu. Shhhhh... I can hear the rants coming from anti tofu-ers all over the world.
Hear me out! Tofu comes from a bean. A soybean. Yep. Why people have such aversion to tofu, but not to chickpeas, or kidney beans, or whatever kind of bean they like is beyond me. It's just a lovely product that can be flavoured and loved to become all sorts of fabulous textures and flavours.
I admit I have had some pretty lousy tofu in my day. Even made by me (hey, I gotta learn somehow). When it's done right, it really can be damn tasty.
A tofu scramble is a classic hearty vegan breakfast, but there are some tofu scrambles that have these classic pitfalls:
Common mistake #1: no seasoning!
Common mistake #2: too much salt (a problem I see a lot when non-vegans try to make a vegan dish)
Common mistake #3: An odd mixture of veggies. Hello, dripping with soy sauce bok choy tofu scramble at the restaurant down the street: I'm looking at you.
So what makes a good tofu scramble?
- A well designed, super yum spice mixture.
- Hearty veggies that add texture and flavour.
- The right tofu texture.
And with that, I present to you, my favourite tofu scramble. Full of flavour without being full of salt, lots of texture with red peppers, mushrooms, and black beans, and hearty enough to fill even the hungriest of muscle covered vegan dudes.
I like to use extra-firm silken tofu for my scrambles, medium-firm tofu, or firm tofu. The extra-firm silken tofu (as seen above) will give you the silkiest egg-like texture all the way to the firm tofu which will give you a bit more chew. So choose your tofu according to how firm you would like your scramble to be.
Another key to this recipe is black salt.
The most unusual thing about black salt is that it isn't black. It's pink. No, this isn't the same as Himalayan salt. You can find this salt in Indian grocery stores or online here. Why bother? Just taste it, and you will discover it tastes just like eggs. I use it in dishes such as my Vegan Toast Dipping Sauce, and my Vegan Fried Egg to get that egg-y smell and flavour. Or if you're not into that taste or don't have black salt on hand you can just use regular salt.
To make Tofu Scramble: First, toss all the spice mix ingredients into a bowl and give a little stir.
Bonus tip: You can double, triple, quadruple, or whatever you like this spice recipe and save some for later so your next scramble will be even breezier... or cheesier. Maybe even try this cheater mix!
Roughly chop the red pepper, onions, garlic, and mushrooms. I like to leave things a bit chunky so there is lots of body and texture.
Drain and rinse the black beans. Rinse those beans well! The last thing you want to add to your scramble is slimy bean water.
Place a pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When hot, add the onions, peppers, and mushrooms and sauté for about 8 minutes until everything just starts to brown. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes.
Now add the tofu blocks and smash them apart with your spoon. Don't mash it to death, you want some nice scramble chunks in there. If you are using a different type of tofu you might have to break it apart with your hands.
Add the spice mix, and black beans and stir everything up. Heat through for about another 8 minutes. Then you're done! Serve with toast, some avocado, or however you want to dress up your scramble.
Tofu Scramble: Breakfast of (vegan) Champions
Ingredients
For the spice mix:*
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon black salt (also called kala namak) or regular salt
- ¾ teaspoons turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
For the tofu scramble:
- 1 tablespoon oil (such as olive or vegetalbe)
- 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced (about 1 ½ cups sliced)
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 454g block medium-firm tofu or firm tofu OR 2 349g blocks extra firm silken tofu (a little more or less tofu won't make a big difference)
- 1 19oz can black beans (2 cups), drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Add all of the spice mix ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When hot, add the mushrooms, pepper, onion, and garlic and sauté for about 8 minutes until everything just starts to brown.
- Add the tofu blocks and break it apart with your spoon until you get a nice scramble texture with lots of chunks. Stir in the spice mix and black beans. Heat through for another 5 - 8 minutes until hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam
Lily says
How long does this last in the fridge ?
AJ says
Love your energy! You make it fun! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Great to eat and put the leftovers (if I have any from the family) in a tortilla or pita for another meal. Keep up the cooking and sharing!
Jenny Allen says
Sam, you saved me again. Every time I despair over having to cook another dinner, I call up your blog and BAM - there's something easy and delicious! I happened to have all ingredients on hand, including my pre-mixed tofu scramble spices. I had dinner ready in record time. You make it a thousand times easier to be vegan. Thank you so much!
Fermin says
Good write-up. I absolutely love this website. Continue the good work!
Delisa Prioletti says
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your web site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident didn't happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Beata says
Just made this (again) and it totally hit the spot for me this morning. Yes, I really was craving this scramble this morning! Didn't feel like chopping the garlic so just skipped it, lol. Didn't have a red pepper (or any pepper for that matter) so just omitted that too. Used extra firm silken tofu that had been frozen and thawed out for this recipe.Followed the rest of the recipe as written and topped my scramble with medium heat salsa. Just. Freaking. Perfect. Period. Thank you Sam!!!!!
Becca says
This was great! I am not vegan but am trying to make some changes. I have been wanting to try this for a while and finally did today. I honestly don’t know that I would have been able to tell it’s without eggs if I’d been blindfolded. So excited to use this for all kinds of yummy meals! (Breakfast tacos are next!)
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Becca 🙂
Denali says
so so yummy! Today was the second time I've made this and it was a big hit with my whole family 🙂 I added in some kale and tomatoes and we ate it stuffed in roasted sweet potatoes. Thanks for sharing this!
Cindy says
This is by far the best tofu scramble EVER!!! Made it several times. The black lava salt is key. Used cooked dried black beans. I do not use oil so water did just fine for sauteing the onions, etc. I have had this for breakfast and dinner. Sides with sliced avocado and berries for breakfast. Sides of green vegetable and half of roasted sweet potato for dinner. Just yummy, yummy.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!
Dee says
First ever tofu scramble. I'm not really such a fan of tofu so I used half the amount called for just in case I was going to scrap it. I used extra firm silken tofu. Had to use what veggies I had on hand since it's grocery shopping day and the fridge has scanty yield at the moment, ha ha. Sweet onion, garlic, Serrano pepper, celery, carrots, snow peas, green beans, and chickpeas. Topped with parsley and cherry tomatoes after cooking. Pretty eclectic. Very delish! Bonus, I have enough leftover for at least 3 days!
Tagged you, with pics, on Instagram.
This is the first of your recipes I've tried and now can't wait to try more!
Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed, Dee!
Anne says
This scramble is so yummy and healthy! We have it for dinner once a week. Thanks for the recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome 🙂
Beata says
Hi Sam! Ready to try the tofu scramble but I have a question. This recipe calls for a different scramble spice mix than your recipe for just the scramble mix. Is the mix for this recipe different (added cumin, for example) because it is a southwest style dish with black beans and such?
Also, this recipe states that silken tofu can be used for the silkiest texture and your original spice mix recipe does not. I see that this recipe is quite older (2014) than your scramble spice mix (2019). Have you decided that silken tofu is really not the best for the "scrambled eggs"?
Please advise. Thank you!!!
Beata says
First off, this tofu scramble absolutely checks all the hearty breakfast boxes for me after eschewing the 3 eggs and 5 slices of bacon type breakfasts! Yes, I actually ate this many eggs and bacon slices in one sitting. Repeatedly, lol. I am definitely a savory and filling breakfast person and I find that the granola, smoothies, muffins and so on typically just don't cut it for me when it comes to breakfast. This one is a godsend!
I also answered my own question regarding the silken tofu, at least partially. When I made the scramble the first time on January 4th, I used 1 block of extra firm silken tofu that had been previously frozen and thawed out for the scramble. I hand squeezed A LOT of water out of the thawed out block of the extra firm silken tofu! I simply crumbled the resulting silken tofu ball into the scramble. This resulted in a fairly dry but still silky texture (I liked my eggs slightly wet when I ate them).
This morning, January 5th, I wanted to prep more of the scramble for the week, but I didn't have another block of thawed out extra firm silken tofu, so I used a block right out of my pantry, so not frozen and thawed out. This resulted in a very silky texture but somewhat watery scramble. Frankly, the texture was too silky - the real eggs are not that smooth when you scramble them. And the liquid in the pan was not very attractive and was making the entire scramble a little soggy. After this discovery, I immediately popped another block of extra firm silken tofu into the freezer for future use!
Of course, these are my personal observations and my own personal preference will be to use a thawed out block of extra firm silken tofu. I may try the scramble with refrigerated medium firm or firm tofu later because I love to compare different outcomes of the recipes depending on the kind of the ingredients used, but I am in no rush. The texture and moisture level of the scramble resulting from using the thawed out extra firm silken tofu was great for me. Who knows, maybe someone else will find this dissertation helpful too. 🙂
Since I didn't have any bell peppers, I simply skipped them but used 1 Serrano pepper for the heat. OMG yummy!!!
Thank you Sam!!!
Sam Turnbull says
You're welcome 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
The scramble spice mix is intended to taste like eggs. This one isn't. I have comments about the tofu textures in the scramble spice mix post. Hope that helps!
Steve says
Good Recipe, but your website is ABSOLUTELY APPALLING!. The ridiculous number of ads make it almost impossible to navigate. This is self defeating as, while the ads may generate revenue, most people will give up and find a recipe elsewhere. Honestly, it's just about the worst website I have seen.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Steve, I haven't heard this complaint from anyone else, so I'm wondering if there is some kind of glitch or that you are seeing something different than everyone else? The ads on my site help support the work I do so I can continue to provide free recipes.
Ulrike says
To answer Sam's question I only get one ad every now and then so check settings maybe. I use her site frequently too. Ive had other websites do that and also dislike using them for that reason.
Alan H. says
Sam, This recipe is the Bomb! I make it every couple of weeks, and then have it for breakfast almost every day. Also, I like to take some and make breakfast burritos, with Spanish rice and vegan cheddar cheese shreds. Anyway, thanks for sharing, and Bon Appetegan! 🙂
-Alan
Age 55
Vegan
Atlanta, GA
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing!! So happy you love it, Alan 🙂