move over seitan steak, we are making this easy vegan steak that is made from tofu! the perfect recipe for weeknight dinners or the holidays.
When you google “tofu steak” or “vegan steak” a few things pop up. Seitan steak recipes (which are delicious but do require some effort). Big slabs of tofu smothered in a sauce and grilled, which again look delicious but are a little different than what I had in mind. So, here we are filling the gap with this easy vegan steak recipe. Made from marinated tofu to appear like a piece of steak. Simple enough for a weeknight dinner or fancy enough for a special occasion.
The Marinade
At the beginning of the year I was recipe testing a vegan salmon recipe. I wanted to make it different than other ones I had seen, so I tried to marinate the tofu with pomegranate juice. To my surprise it ended up looking more like a piece of steak than salmon and that is how this recipe was born! You only need a few things for the marinade:
- Pomegranate juice to give a nice deep brown color.
- Soy sauce to add to the color and also give umami.
- A1 steak sauce to add flavor.
- Steak seasoning to add flavor.
And that is it! So easy.
Preparing the Tofu
To help make our tofu look like a piece of steak you need to do a few things. Make sure you use extra firm tofu. I prefer the Whole Foods 365 or House Foods extra firm tofu as it is a bit firmer. The Nasoya is unfortunately too soft for this recipe and comes out mushy. You then will cut the tofu into a rounded square shape. You can take the cut pieces and use them for tofu scramble. From there you will cut the tofu into thirds to make tofu steaks. Then, take a knife and make little, shallow cuts into the tofu this will help to just give it a bit of texture and allow the marinade to get into the tofu a little deeper. The tofu will then get marinated for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
Grilling or Basting
There are two ways to finish off cooking this vegan steak. You can either grill it or you can baste it. I prefer the basting method as it gives extra fattiness and flavor to this easy vegan steak. However, the grilling method is great for a bit of a more simple way of enjoying this. Both will first get seared in a pan with oil. From there you can then choose to grill or baste. If you decide to grill it, I suggest using a small indoor electric grill like a George Foreman. You can see a difference in what the grilled version looks like down below versus the first and second pictures on the blog with the basting method.
What Should I Serve This Easy Vegan Steak With?
Whenever I think of a steak dinner from before I went vegan, I felt like there were always mashed potatoes and some sort of roasted veggies. So, if you need some side dish inspiration check out these recipes:
More Tofu Recipes
Easy Vegan Steak FAQ
- Why is it still white inside? Unfortunately, it is a little hard to get the inside of the tofu to turn brown but that is okay!
- Will people actually think this is steak? You may be able to get people to take a second glance, but once they start eating it they will know it is a piece of tofu. The point isn’t to trick anyone just an alternate and different way to prepare tofu that is resembling a steak.
- How long does this last? Up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Is this recipe gluten free? Yes, as long as you substitute the soy sauce for coconut aminos or gluten free tamari.
- Is this recipe nut free? Yes.
- Is this recipe soy free? If you use a soy free tofu and swap out the soy sauce, yes. A a great soy free alternative tofu is Big House Mountain Foods fava bean tofu.
- Can I freeze this? Yes, but freezing tofu does change the texture.
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Easy Vegan Steak
Ingredients
Tofu Steak
- 1 block (16 ounce/454g) block extra firm tofu
- ⅓ cup (80ml) pomegranate juice
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegan steak sauce
- 1 teaspoon steak seasoning
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper a dash
Basting Cooking Method
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 ½ tablespoons (22g) vegan butter
- 1 sprig rosemary
Instructions
- Prepare the tofu: Start by pressing the tofu. Wrap it in a paper towel and press it gently with your hands. Don’t use a tofu press for this. Use a sharp knife to round the corners of the tofu out. If you don’t care about what it looks like you don’t have to do this. Then flip the tofu on its side and cut it into thirds. Use a knife to gently score one side of the tofu. Then wrap it in paper towel again to give one more gentle press. If you want a visual watch the YouTube video. Save the tofu corners for tofu scramble.
- Prepare the marinade: in a large dish that can fit all 3 pieces of tofu add the pomegranate juice, soy sauce, steak sauce, and steak seasoning. Mix together. Then place the tofu in there. Flip the tofu every 10 minutes to make sure it is getting coated evenly. Marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours in the fridge.
- Once the tofu is done marinating. Heat up a pan with the oil over medium heat. Place the tofu in. Sprinkle the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper on the tofu. Cook on both sides for 5 to 6 minutes to get a bit of browning going. From there you can finish preparing it two different ways. You can also eat it out of the pan as is but it takes it up a notch to prepare it these next ways.
- To grill: use an indoor electric grill and grill the pieces of tofu until it gets grill marks. This is a great way to add some extra crispiness to it.
- To baste: remove the tofu and add the vegan butter, garlic, and rosemary into the pan. Allow the butter to melt over medium low heat. Place the tofu back in, along with the remaining marinade. Pour the sauces overtop of the steaks for a few minutes, then flip and repeat. The garlic should be golden and cooked.
- Plate up with any little greens you like and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- My preferred vegan butter is Miyoko’s
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These tofu steaks look so good!! I was wondering if I could use super firm tofu? The only extra firm I can get is the nasoya.
thank you so much Shannon! you can of course the texture will be a little firmer than intended with the recipe but as long as you don’t mind then that it is totally fine. I would also let it marinate for at least an hour then, let me know how it goes!
Any suggestions for a substitute for the pomegranate juice?
hi Amy the pomegranate juice is what it is giving it that brown color. if you need to substitute you can use beet juice the color will not be the same though. as the marinade is only a few ingredients each one is important!
I sautéed onions, fresh garlic and mushrooms along with the steaks and added pressure cooked broccoli. Made one of the best, tastiest recipes I’ve ever made!
that sounds delicious!! love that! thank you so much for making it Chelly and taking the time to comment and review !
Can’t wait to try this!! Looks so good. Only thing I would change is Not rinsing the lil bits out of the pan, that’s flavor☺️ maybe reduce some onions n mushrooms to deglaze the pan then add the garlic, rosemary n butter
Hi Mel, I hope you enjoy. I had to do that because it was very burnt.
The flavors of this recipe are amazing. Definitely reminds me of eating steak, so flavorful and dare-I-say succulent. Definitely a keeper – thank you!
hi Madeline!!! yay!! i am so so glad thank you so much for trying it, it is truly my pleasure!
I saw this pop up on Instagram and had a block of tofu needing to be cooked.
I hadn’t prepped since this was very spontaneous so for the marinade I just used tamari soy, cocomino(?), Worcestershire, balsamic and a dollop of tomato sauce with seasonings and it turned out amazing. My only issue is that I used too much soy so it was a bit too salty.
Before going vegan, my fav meal was eye-fillet steak with mushroom/pepper sauce and mash. This was really convincing melt-in-my-mouth tofu. My fussy partner gave it a thumbs up and gobbled it all (except commented on the salt overdose haha)
I Served with caramelised onion, garlic mushroom, wilted spinach, blanched broccolini and of course vegan buttery mash. Just in case the tofu bombed, I wanted to have a great back-up ensemble haha.
Shame there’s no photo upload option!
hi Belle! oh wow welll I am glad you were able to make some improvisations! glad you found me on Instagram thanks for coming to the blog! 🙂
Oh my goodness! This tofu steak was so good! I altered the recipe slightly by adding a little better than bouillon to my marinade. But this is so much better and easier than a seitan steak. Along with the garlic potato and mixed vegetables I made to go with the steak, this meal was like “the risotto!’ You’ll understand this reference if you were a Seinfeld fan. 😂
hi Tammye! I am so so glad to hear you enjoyed it and haha yes I love the Seinfeld reference!!! thank you for leaving a review!
Love 😘
I absolutely love this recipe!!!!! I could eat the entire block of tofu.
Hi Polly, oh yay I am so so glad you like it!! thank you so much!
Delicious!!! Easy to follow, I have my “steak” fix.
yay so glad you enjoy it Hillary!
This looks delicious and I will be trying it. I’m not a fan of seitan Can I use an air fryer trying to cut back on oils and fat
Hi Judy there is the alternate method for using a small electric grill, I would recommend using that method! Otherwise, if you want to try air frying you can