3 Tasty & Easy Recipes You Can Make With Dollar Tree Tofu
I bought tofu at Dollar Tree, not knowing if it was any good. I've been creating recipes to make Dollar Tree meals and wanted to add a vegetarian option. I was drawn to tofu because it is high in protein, it is shelf stable, and it seemed like it could be used in various things. I started with one package of dried tofu and one package of non-dried tofu.
1. Drain the tofu
For it to mimic the texture of meat, you need to take the tofu out of the box and place it on a tea towel. You're going to be draining all of that water out.
Wrap a tea towel around the tofu and place something heavy on top, like a cutting board and a couple of cans. This will press a lot of the water out of the tofu.
Once the tofu has been pressed for about an hour, it smooshes a little, which is fine. You are trying to remove as much liquid as possible to replace the tasteless packing liquid with more flavorful things, like chicken broth, vegetable broth, or soy sauce.
Once the tofu was pressed, I put my tofu in a container and put it in the freezer. After I took it out and thawed it, it had more liquid. I drained this.
I divided the contents of each package into two cubes because I am making three recipes. I used one cube each for two recipes, and then for the last recipe, I used two cubes (one from the dehydrated package and one from the non-dehydrated box).
2. Make the marinades
I went directly to the tofu manufacturer's website to get all three recipes. I've included the link at the end of each recipe. I'm making a simple rice stir-fry for the first recipe.
For the marinade, I mixed green onions from my garden, chopped purple onions, brown ginger, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, vinegar, and a few chopped carrots.
I gave the marinade a good mix, then poured half on one of the chopped-up tofu cubes and half on the other. Then I mixed it to coat the tofu and let it marinate for about half an hour in the liquid. While this is marinating, you would want to go ahead and cook some rice.
Next, I'm making another marinade. This one will be for some
fried tofu, and we're just using a dash of hot sauce, some vinegar, some soy sauce, with egg to dip in, and some flour, to which I added some salt too. I also put a little bit of Worcestershire sauce into our marinade. This recipe ended up being my least favorite out of all.
I marinated this for 30 minutes. The tofu that is not dehydrated did tend not to soak up the marinade liquid as well, and as a result, it just wasn't as flavorful.
3. Stir-fry tofu
Now we're ready to finish off that rice stir fry. I'm going to start with the dehydrated tofu mixed in the marinade. I poured some oil into the bottom of the pan and got it nice and hot. I also added a bit of soy sauce to the pan, and with some green onions on top, the tofu was flavorful and had a nice crunch.
The dehydrated tofu crisped up well and had a nice caramelized look and taste. I poured the hot mixture over freshly cooked rice for a delicious stir-fry.
The complete recipe with measurements can be found here: https://morinaganutrition.com/blogs/main-dishes/tofu-rice-stir-fry
4. Batter-coated tofu
I'm going to fry up my battered tofu slices. To prepare the tofu for frying, I put it first in the flour to dry it completely off, then dipped it in the egg, and then back in the flour again to get a thick coat on the outside that would help it crisp up.
Now that it's fully coated, I put it in the pan with the oil and let it fry on both sides until it is golden brown. I added some soy sauce for my second batch of tofu, the non-dehydrated kind.
The complete recipe with measurements can be found here: https://morinaganutrition.com/blogs/main-dishes/golden-tofu-fillets
5. Faux chorizo
For the last recipe, I'm crumbling up the last two sections of tofu, one from each of the blocks, both the dehydrated and the non-dehydrated block. It looks very similar to shredded chicken to me.
For the marinade with this, I'm going to be using some chopped garlic, some soy sauce and vinegar, a little bit of oil and a little bit of chili powder, some paprika, some oregano, some cumin, coriander, a dash of brown cloves and a dash of cinnamon as well. This one was probably the most flavorful of all the recipes.
I poured half of the mixture on one of the bowls of tofu and half on the other, mixing it around and letting it marinate for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Once the tofu was done marinating, I went ahead and chopped up some green onions on top. I heated a tortilla and put the mixture on top of the heated-up tortilla. It was crumbly, so I think it needed some cheese or something to help it pull together.
The complete recipe with measurements can be found here: https://morinaganutrition.com/blogs/main-dishes/tofu-chorizo-tacos
Dollar Tree tofu recipes
Final thought. Is the tofu any good? Yes, but would I recommend it straight out of the box? No, I think dehydrating it improves that flavor. I also would say you would want to add other ingredients like rice or cheese.
It needs different things to help spice it up because, just on its own, it's very bland. It is an excellent protein source to make Dollar Tree meals; these recipes showed how versatile tofu is. I hope you enjoy them!
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From my Japanese auntie: cut tofu into large chunks, wrap in a clean tea towel or paper towels, and microwave for two minutes. Easy way to drain. I cut a pound block of tofu into six pieces.
I used to make a chocolate tofu mousse that was delicious. My husband and son wouldn’t touch it, so it was ALL mine. But then one day, my son, in desperation, ate some of it. After that, I had to hide it from him.
You’d never have known there wasn’t cream in that mousse.