Nashville Hot Tofu | Crispy Baked Tofu Recipe

Forget hot girl summer, it’s Nashville Hot Tofu summer. This baked tofu nuggets recipe is inspired by the famous Nashville hot chicken sold all over the south, and it is so spicy, but so. good.

These spicy tofu nuggets are crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, super hot and extra spicy. But it’s the kind of heat you want to have. This is comfort food at its finest, and a super fun recipe to make for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. This Nashville hot tofu recipe is so flavorful that it will make everyone happy, I can almost promise it.

Let’s talk about Nashville Hot Tofu + Chicken

It is so important to know and honor the origins of food, because that’s the only way we can properly respect and understand the original recipe. Nashville hot chicken is a long-standing American recipe, and although this is a vegetarian version, I still want to give a few deets about the original.

Anecdotal evidence says this version of hot fried chicken has been served by Nashville’s black communities for decades, but historians have been able to trace it back to the 1970’s, with the style being attributed to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. What I love is that the recipe apparently came out of revenge, when a mad girlfriend made her fried chicken recipe too spicy because she was upset that her boyfriend was out too late. And then he loved it. Sigh. Men.

Now my recipe is a far cry from the original, but I wanted to make a simplified recipe that can be made at home, while giving the big caveat that if you want original Nashville hot chicken, you gotta find the people who do it right.

But let’s get into the vegani-ized Nashville Hot Tofu Version.

How to prep your tofu

If you’ve seen any other of my tofu recipes, you know I’m not a huge proponent of pressing your tofu. So for this recipe, just get some extra firm or firm, drain it, and lightly pat it dry with a paper towel.

This will also help keep the tofu moist. We are baking it for an extended period of time, so by not pressing out the moisture, we are able to maintain the tofu’s moisture and create more chicken-like spicy tofu nuggets.

Once the tofu is pressed, you can either slice it or cube it. I recommend cubing to make the recipe more like Nashville hot tofu nuggets as opposed to a slice of chicken, but it’s totally up to you!

What you will need for the spicy tofu nuggets

• 15 oz. extra firm tofu – about 1 block
• 1 cup oat milk or plant milk
• 1 tbsp Louisiana style hot sauce – you can use other hot sauce, but a Louisiana style one will make all the difference as you make this Nashville hot tofu recipe.
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp salt & pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

How to prep and make the baked tofu nuggets

1. Preheat your oven to 425F.
2. Lightly press the water out of your tofu with a paper towel, but no need to fully press out all the moisture.
3. Cube the tofu into 1′ cubes.
4. Prep the breading station with three bowls. In one put the oat milk and hot sauce and mix. In another have the cornstarch, and in the last bowl add the bread crumbs, salt, pepper and paprika.
5. Using one hand for the wet ingredients and one hand for the dry, dip your tofu in cornstarch, then the oat milk, then coat fully in the breadcrumbs. Place the coated tofu cubes on a foil-lined baking sheet and make sure they are evenly spaced out.
6. Bake the cubes for 30-40 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes. Take them out when they are golden brown.

What you will need for the Nashville Hot Tofu sauce

• 1/4 cup butter or plant based butter of choice
• 1/4 cup Louisiana style hot sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

How to make the tofu hot sauce

• Put a skillet on medium heat and melt the butter. If the butter starts boiling, lower the skillet temp.
• When the butter is fully melted, add the hot sauce and brown sugar and stir until the sugar has melted into the mix.
• You want the mixture to simmer slightly, but not boil.
• Remove the sauce from the heat and put into a bowl or measuring cup.
• Whisk it again if there was any separation.
• Set aside to use when your Nashville hot tofu nuggets are out of the oven.

Tips, tricks & substitutions

tips for these spicy tofu nuggets

• For ultimate crispiness, make sure to toss your Nashville hot tofu nuggets in the sauce riiiiight before serving. This will help maintain the crunch AND the sauciness!
• When breading your tofu nuggets, make sure to use one hand for the cornstarch/bread crumb tossing, and another hand for dipping in the plant milk. This will save your fingers because tbh…cornstarch always chooses violence.
• For the best baked tofu nuggets, make sure to rotate/flip them every 15 minutes while they are baking. This will get you the best gold color, the best texture and the best crunch.
• Don’t be afraid to go heavy on the sauce! The sauce has all the flavor, so really feel free to use it all on your nuggets – you won’t regret it.
• Afraid of the heat? Serve with some white bread to cut out the spicy factor. A small slice of bread with each Nashville hot tofu nugget = a bit of vegetarian heaven.

FAQ

And that’s it for this recipe! If you make it, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below! And if you have pics, please tag me on Pinterest or IG! I basically live over there, and would love to see what you make <3 Now plz go enjoy this chicken/tofu situation ASAP.