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
Sam says
Hey Sam! Love this dish! How long does it keep? I want to make a large batch on Sunday to have for the week. Also super delish in a wrap with some vegan breakfast patties
Sam Turnbull says
I would say 4 -5 days. Enjoy!
Carlie Anna says
Amazing breakfast thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
You're welcome 🙂
Courtney Farmer says
This is awesome. I ordered black salt to try a few of your recipes, and I am so glad I did.
Best vegan tofu scramble I have ever had.
Thanks for sharing!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!! So happy you love it, Courtney 🙂
Bill Fox says
Hi Sam,
I cannot find black salt at any of my local grocery stores. Where do get yours?
Cheers,
Bill
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Bill, I get mine from a local Indian grocery store or you can easily order it online here on amazon. Enjoy!
Lynn says
Hi, I'm about to make this for the first time (and so looking forward to it because I do miss scrambled eggs!). I had to look up the recipe again and noticed that the spice mix in this recipe (nooch, chili powder, cumin, black salt, turmeric and garlic powder) is just a little different than your "Tofu Scramble Spice Mix" recipe (nooch, black salt, onion and garlic powder and turmeric). Just wondering which I should use (although I'm sure they're both great!). Is one a 'new and improved' version?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Lynn, yes, the are both great! The Tofu Scramble Spice Mix is designed to taste like eggs, whereas the seasoning on this scramble isn't focused on that. Enjoy whichever one you try!
Esther says
I LOVED this. Not a huge fan of tofu, but this was amazing. Add some chopped up jalapeno pepper for an extra kick. Tasted even better the next day on sandwich bread.
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!! So thrilled you're a fan, Esther! 🙂
Alissa says
A trick I like to use in my tofu scramble is to use more than one type of tofu. I use predominantly extra firm tofu but will crumble in a little squeezed medium tofu as well. I find the blend lends a really nice mix of softer and more firm bits just like real scrambled eggs. I do the same with my eggless egg salad. You do have to watch your liquids though.
Sam Turnbull says
What a great idea, Rebecca!
John W. McLaughlin says
Made this tonight with a few modifications and it was great, but I have a little feedback. I used diced green onions instead of yellow, left out the beans, cuz I don't eat anything from a can, and I used the whole dish to make lettuce wraps for dinner. It was yummy!
Having said that, I think a whole tsp of cumin was too much as it overpowered it a bit. A little cumin always goes a long way. Also, I agree that vegan food can sometimes be oversalted, but I think this dish needs about double the amount of black salt suggested. 2 tsp would give a bit more of the egg-ness without it being too salty. It's a whole block of tofu and a lot of mushrooms. This could also be due to varying strengths of the black salt. Lastly, I highly suggest you drain the mushroom/pepper/onion saute before adding the tofu. It was way to watery.
Otherwise, totally loved it and will make it again with a few modifications. Thanks for the recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed your version 🙂
Ines says
John, you could make your own black beans from dry beans instead of using canned. I've been trying to do more of that lately myself.
Michael says
I make this often. I modify it a bit with extra mushrooms and peppers. Great for burritos, reheats great and can make a batch big enough for a week of burritos all at once. Thanks Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy it's become a regular for you, Michael 🙂
Joe Brush says
Hi Sam,
I made this scramble today and used it for a breakfast burrito. So good ! And so filling, I ate only half of my serving.
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome!! So thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Joe 🙂
Stacy says
Excellent recipe with easy to follow directions. The spice mixture really makes the dish, so don't skimp! 🙂 I served my scramble with polenta, avocado, and a dollop of Just Mayo's chipotle mayo on top. I was full, but wanted more. It was so good! The awesome part? I wasn't hungry all morning! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!! So happy you enjoyed your delightful sounding breakfast, Stacy 🙂
Stone says
This was delicious! I’ve made tofu scrambles before, I think the difference was the spice mix. I made a big batch of it. I’m having leftovers tonight with fish. Thanks for the recipe.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you loved it, Stone 🙂
Julie says
Hi! I’m so glad you made a video for this; I haven’t worked much with tofu yet and I have seen other tofu scramble recipes , but seeing how you do it in a video really makes a huge difference. Thanks so much! I’m going to try this tomorrow morning- with my meat-eating spouse!
Sam Turnbull says
Oh that's so awesome, Julie! I hope you love the scramble 🙂
Christy says
Made this tonight to practice for a make-ahead-breakfast for my husband when a smoothie won't do the trick. Ummmm...I think I ate half it! Planning on making it again over the weekend & maybe freezing some in some fat free tortillas (I'm avoiding oil). Only change was I backed off the nutritional yeast & used some Tony Cachere's. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Christy!! So happy you enjoyed it so much 🙂
Amie says
Just now made this (my first ever vegan dish) and wow! It’s delicious! I didn’t have the yeast or black beans so I added tomatoes and some spinach to make up for it. The flavor was great! At first I was cooking it on too high of a heat so it was drying out but I lowered the heat and it turned out great! I will definitely be making this again. Full of flavor and so filling without the overly full feeling.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Amie 🙂
Sally says
I found this recipe to be dry. Next time I would add tomato. Also love my food spicier than this. Remedied spice level with hot sauce. Even so, this is just so healthy, and the flavor blend well. I am not new to vegan, and I always appreciate new recipes. Thanks so much, Samantha!
Sam Turnbull says
It should actually be quite moist with the mushrooms and tofu. I would recommend turning down your heat next time to now dry it out. Enjoy!
Laura says
I made this yesterday for breakfast, It was my first ever tofu scramble...it was delicious! I can't believe I waited so long to try making this. It was so easy. The recipe made plenty and I proportioned the rest out so I could have breakfast for the next 3 days. Problem is it was so tasty I finished the last of it this morning!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! That's awesome, so happy you loved it so much, Laura 🙂
Dane says
I'm just wondering if you could keep this in the fridge or freeze it and eat it over a week?
Sam Turnbull says
It stores in the fridge just fine 🙂
Lilly says
Ok funny story! I subscribe to you on YouTube and watch your videos regularly but had never followed a link to your blog. At the very same time I google almost every recipe that I need and have found itdoesnttastelikechicken.com to be a great source that I can trust and will enjoy but never looked into who was writing it. Today I scrolled just far enough down to see your beautiful face and realize you are one and the same! Maybe it’s not that funny but I laughed sooo hard! Anyway point of the story is your content is amazing! Thank you
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha I think that's pretty funny too, Lilly!! Well, I am glad you enjoy my work separately and now all together!! 🙂
Lola says
I have made tofu scrambles many times and failed.. Used your recipe as a base and just yum! Thanks for the spice mix 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it, Lola 🙂