Miso Tofu

This Miso Tofu offers the perfect marinade for tofu. Make this miso tofu recipe into savory, crispy tofu that can be used to make tofu rice bowls or even added to a salad. This miso-glazed tofu is gluten-free, low carb (keto-friendly), high protein, and nutritious addition to your plant-based diet. Get ready for delicious days ahead!

I made this miso-glazed tofu into a low-carb vegan or keto vegan recipe because so many of us are looking to reduce carbs in our diets. It’s good to have recipes to do that from a vegan perspective.

Besides, when you’re vegan and low carb, it can be tricky to get adequate amounts of protein. Tofu can be a nice low-carb solution.

This recipe has 153 calories per serving and 7g of carb per serving.

What Tofu Do I Need?

The trick to this recipe is to make sure you buy the right kind of tofu. Check out my Tofu Buying Guide for help with that.

For this Miso-Glazed Tofu, you’re going to want to buy extra-firm tofu. The good news is you can find it just about anywhere. Here are some places where you can find extra-firm tofu:

• The produce section of most grocery stores
• The produce section of stores like Target and Walmart (seriously)
• Most health food stores
• Sprouts (one of my favorites)
• Trader Joe’s
• Whole Foods

Some day I hope to find tofu at Costco, but we’re not there yet.

How to Work with Tofu

If this is your first time working with tofu, just take a deep breath and know that everything’s going to be OK. I’ve got you covered!

Believe it or not, tofu is one of the easiest ingredients I’ve found to work with.

One thing you’ll want to do is press the tofu. That’s because it comes packed in liquid. So, once you drain that liquid, you’ll need to press the block of tofu to get more of that liquid out of the tofu.

You can buy fancy gadgets to make the tofu pressing process go much faster. When you’re pressing the tofu, protecting the texture so that it doesn’t become too crumbly is important too.

The goal is to replace whatever fluid is in the tofu with the flavors of the marinade…or whatever other flavors you’re cooking it with.

Sometimes I’ll wrap the block of tofu in paper towels or a kitchen towel and then set something heavy over it. That usually does the trick!

What You Need

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

• Lemon — We’ll use both the zest and the juice of the lemon.
• Oats — I used rolled oats for this recipe, but you can substitute instant oats.
• Chia — We’ll add some ground chia seeds to create a thicker texture. You can use whole chia seeds; I just prefer ground because it creates a smoother finished texture.
• Syrup — I used maple syrup, but you can substitute agave nectar.
• Milk — We’ll use almond milk for the best overnight oats! Substitute your favorite plant-based milk.
• Yogurt — I love adding some plant-based yogurt (plain, unsweetened) for an even more tangy flavor.
• Protein Powder — I add some vanilla protein powder for increased flavor and nutrients. If your protein powder is not sweetened, you may want to add an extra teaspoon or two of sweetener.
• Cornstarch — We’ll use cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd topping.
• Turmeric — A pinch of turmeric makes that lemon curd sunny yellow.

• Extra firm tofu
• Onion
• Garlic — I love using the tender garlic (and the oil) from garlic confit.
• Olive oil — Substitute sesame old for even more flavor.
• Miso paste — Using either white or yellow mild miso paste works best. You can find it in the refrigerated sections of most health food stores, and even some chain grocery stores.
• Tamari — This is a gluten-free soy sauce so you can substitute soy sauce if you don’t have concerns with gluten.
• Rice vinegar — substitute apple cider or white vinegar.

How to Make Miso Tofu

The ingredients list is minimal: extra firm tofu, onion, garlic, olive oil, miso paste, and coconut aminos.

Begin by pressing the tofu to remove the fluid it’s packed in. That way you can replace it with the marinade flavors!

If you press the tofu by hand, just be careful not to break it into pieces, otherwise, it will difficult to chop it into cubes. Once the tofu is pressed, cut it into ½ inch slices and then ½ inch cubes.

Make the marinade by combining onion, garlic, olive oil, miso paste, and coconut aminos together in a bowl. It helps if you combine the miso, tamari, and vinegar first so you can break the miso down. Stir it all together and then add the tofu and let it marinade.

Note: If you’re not worried about carbs, adding a tablespoon of some type of syrup like maple syrup or agave nectar can deliver enhanced flavors from the marinade.

My marinade recipe calls for tamari, which is basically a gluten-free version of soy sauce. You can use soy sauce, but if you’re avoiding gluten, you’ll definitely want to use tamari.

Or you could go with coconut aminos. But you want that savory flavor, referred to as Umami, that you’ll get from these sauces.

Once the marinade is ready, place the tofu in with the marinade and stir to make sure the tofu cubes are coated. Then let it marinade.

Alternatively, you can use an instant marinater which will infuse the tofu more quickly. However, if you’re going old school, just know the longer you let it marinade, the more it will take on the marinade flavors. I think anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour is good.

This is a great dish to get started the day before and let the tofu marinade overnight.

Cooking Miso-Glazed Tofu

Once the tofu is marinated, add some oil to a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Remove the tofu pieces from the marinade and cook it until browned on all sides. Or follow my Air Fryer Tofu recipe if you’d like to skip the skillet.

Miso falls into the category of fermented foods and is a flavorful seasoning to add to a lot of recipes! I love this post from Epicurious on the ways to use miso.

Serve your tofu over brown rice (follow my instructions on How to Make Brown Rice) and it’s very tasty. Or, follow my recipe for How to Make Cauliflower Rice to serve this delicious glazed tofu in a low-carb way.

More Vegan Asian Recipes

Sticky Sesame Chickpeas

15 mins total

Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry

25 mins total

Crispy Orange Tofu

35 mins total

Kung Pao Tofu

40 mins total

That’s it for this miso tofu recipe. Enjoy!

Subscribe and get a free Easy Vegan Recipes eBook

Plus our latest vegan recipes, delivered right to your inbox!

First Name

Email Address

Subscribe

Loading…

Thank You!

You are now subscribed. Check your email for your free eBook!

Miso Tofu

Make this miso tofu to add more plant-based protein to your diet. This low carb recipe is perfect for vegan keto diets, or anyone looking for a nutritious tofu recipe! 

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate Save Saved!

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 153kcal

Author: Marly McMillen

Ingredients

CupsMetric

• ▢ 15 oz extra firm tofu
• ▢ ½ cup onion , peeled and chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic , peeled and minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• ▢ 2 tablespoons white miso paste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons tamari
• ▢ 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (sub apple cider or white vinegar)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Remove the tofu from the package and press to remove excess fluid. See note on pressing tofu.
• While the tofu is pressing, place the chopped onion, garlic and one tablespoon olive oil together in a medium-size container.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, tamari, and vinegar. Add this to the chopped onion mixture and stir until well-combined.
• Chop the tofu into 1/2" cubes and place in the pan with the miso marinade. Stir everything together gently so that the marinade permeates the tofu. Let the tofu marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour. 
• Pour remaining oil in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Let the oil heat up for about a minute. Use tongs to carefully place tofu pieces in the skillet and slightly brown each side of the tofu cubes. Continue cooking and tossing the tofu until the tofu is slightly browned. Then turn heat to low and add the remaining marinade. Cook for a minute or two until the onions are tender.
• Store cooked tofu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Tofu changes its consistency when frozen so it's not recommended to freeze this recipe. 
• To serve, place tofu pieces over rice, cauliflower rice, in vegetable wraps, salads, etc. To reheat, cook in a skillet, air fryer until, or microwave until heated through. 

Recommended Equipment

Tofu Press

(The products above contain sponsored links to products we use and recommend)

Notes

You can also cook this tofu in an air fryer. See the post above for the link to my air fryer tofu recipe.

To press tofu, remove from the package and wrap in a kitchen towel or paper towels and sit on a plate with something heavy over the top, like a small casserole dish. Alternatively, using a tofu press results in an evenly pressed tofu.

If you are not worried about carbs, adding a tablespoon of agave nectar to the marinade can greatly enhance the flavors and the browning effect of the tofu.

Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 887mg | Potassium: 229mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1.7mg

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a rating below then tag @namelymarly on Instagram and hashtag it #namelymarly. I love seeing your creations!

You can serve Miso-Glazed Tofu with cooked onions and garlic over brown rice, rice noodles, or even atop a salad. It’s a delicious and healthy way to eat tofu any time of the year. Sorry Rodney, but this tofu gets lots of respect!