Oven-Baked Crispy Coconut Crusted Tofu Bites
These crispy coconut tofu bites are SO delicious! Made with a quick marinade, a sweet coconut-panko breading and then cooked in the oven until golden brown. They are crunchy on the outside and savory + tender on the inside. Great as finger food or to top salads, buddha or poke bowls.
Servings: 4
Calories: 350kcal
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
To make the tofu
- 454 g extra firm tofu (or one block) patted dry and cut in 1-2 inches cubes
- ¼ cup ground flax seeds
- ¾ cup water
- ⅓ cup flour all-purpose, whole wheat or gluten-free
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs choose gluten-free ifg necessary
- ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
To make the orange sauce, click here.
Instructions
Marinade the tofu
- Combine together all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Then, add the cubes of tofu and toss them gently so they all are covered with the marinade. Let sit until ready to use or about 120 minutes.
Bread the tofu
- Pre-heat the oven at 400°. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the flax eggs: in a medium size shallow bowl, combine the ground flax seeds with the water and let it sit until ready to use, about 5-10 minutes or so.
- Then, add the flour in a second medium size shallow bowl.
- Finally, in a third medium size shallow bowl, combine the panko breadcrumbs with the shredded coconut.
- Start by tossing each marinated cubes of tofu in the flour. Then, cover them with the flax egg and finally, coat them with the panko-coconut mixture. You will have to press gently to make sure that the cubes are completely covered by the coconut. Transfer the covered cubes on the parchment paper and keep going until you breaded all the tofu bites.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then flipped the cubes and cook for 15 more minutes or until golden browned.
- We love them serve as finger food with a side of orange sauce, but also serve with rice or noodles and vegetables.
Video
Notes
- Keep leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for a few days and reheat using the oven. They will lose on their crispiness after storage, but will still remain delicious.
- You can also pan-fry them, although you will need to add oil to your pan. Baking them in the oven helps make this recipe healthier as you don't need any oil.
- Be sure to fully cover the pieces at each step of the breading.
- While breading, you can keep one hand for the dry ingredients and the other hand for the wet to help the breading process.
- You can marinate the tofu in the fridge overnight before breading it.
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving (without the dipping sauce) provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
Nutrition
Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 921mg | Potassium: 435mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 4mg