Air Fried Buffalo Tofu

One of my favorite vegan fast food snacks are the buffalo wings at Veggie Grill. I decided to recreate my own buffalo tofu using healthier ingredients. This version is air fried to crispy perfection requiring no oil! They’re also gluten free and refined sugar free! This is how we made it:

Ingredients:

1 block of medium tofu prepared using Mary’s Test Kitchen Method (or extra firm tofu)

Batter:

½ cup sparkling water

¼ cup chickpea flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

Pinch of cayenne

Breading:

¼ cup almond flour

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp flax meal

Vegan Buffalo Sauce for coating

Plant Based Blue Cheese Dressing for dipping

Directions:

First, prepare your tofu. I have been super into the Mary’s Test Kitchen method for processing my tofu which is essentially to take a package of medium- firm tofu and place the whole package in the freezer. Once frozen, thaw it. Then freeze it again, then thaw it. Once it’s thawed the second time, squeeze out the water, and you get a super amazing, flaky texture for the tofu. Next, cut the tofu four times long ways, and then cut the for pieces in half longways creating 8 tofu sticks. If you’re using extra firm tofu, skip to cutting the tofu the same way.

Set up your tofu assembly station with the tofu, batter, breading, and then the tray of your air fryer. If you do not have an air fryer, you can also bake your tofu for longer. I’m not sure how much longer because my husband bestowed me with the gift of oilless frying for my birthday last year, and I’ve hardly touched my oven since! Pro-tip, if you have an air fryer, I highly recommend buying silicone dumpling basket liners to prevent your food from sticking with no oil or mess!

Dip the tofu into the batter, then into the breading, then place it in the air fryer basket. You will likely have to work in batches. Once your basket is full, cook the tofu at 370 F for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.

Once the tofu is cool enough to handle, gently toss the sticks in the buffalo sauce and serve with blue cheese sauce.