Air fryer tofu is a light and crispy way to bring texture and flavor to your meals. Try this recipe with any Thistle salad, but especially these four!
If you’re looking for an easy way to incorporate more tofu into your meals, it doesn’t get better than a serving of air fryer tofu. You will never look at tofu the same after sticking in the air fryer and adding it to a delicious Thistle salad. The crisp and crunch that a batch of this crispy air fryer tofu adds to any meal will have you wondering why you didn’t try it sooner 😍
Making air fryer tofu is one thing (and we will cover that), but knowing a variety of salads that they will go well with is a whole challenge on its own. Thistle makes this challenge a whole lot easier with our delicious pre-made Salads and Salad recipes.
Today, we’ve gathered a couple of our favorite Thistle-inspired salads to inspire you in your air fryer tofu adventures.
Why You Should Love Tofu (Especially From the Air Fryer)
If you’re not familiar with tofu, you might be somewhat mystified by it.
Tofu is a soy-based product that is made by pressing curdling soy milk into a solid block that can either be soft or firm. It doesn’t have a powerful taste on its own, but when prepared with sauces and spices, it takes them on very well and produces a rich flavor profile. It’s one of our favorite ways to add protein to plant-based dishes.
For plant-based folks, tofu is a useful alternative to meat because of its high levels of protein. It also contains all nine essential amino acids, unlike many other plant-based proteins. It’s also a source of complex carbohydrates and has a relatively quick cook time and prep time.
In addition, cooking tofu and adding it to your stir-fries and salads keeps you feeling full without dragging you down, and it has vitamins and minerals that your body needs to feel awesome. Tofu is low in saturated fat and high in calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and other key nutrients.
Tofu can be prepared in so many ways, so it makes for an easy and yummy addition to any dish. Once you find the ways you like to prepare your tofu, you can usually make it work with any of your favorite meals.
If you haven’t tried air fryer tofu, this should be next on your to-do list. It’s simple to make and will leave you absolutely obsessed.
The Best Air Fryer Tofu Recipe: Ingredients
In order to make a delicious (and easy) air fryer tofu dish, you need to have a few basic ingredients. Of course, as you continue to use this recipe (which we know you will 😉) you might end up trying new ingredients that suit your flavor preferences. There’s no harm in changing it up!
The ingredients that you will need for this recipe are:
One block of extra-firm tofu: This one was probably obvious. A block of tofu can range from soft to very firm, and for the purpose of this recipe, you will want to stick with very firm tofu. It will stay intact when you season it and fry it, which is exactly what you need.
Oil: Think olive, avocado, sunflower, or whatever oil you prefer. It will give your tofu a light flavoring as well as help your tofu crisp up as it fries.
Cornstarch: This gluten-free ingredient also adds to the crispiness of your tofu, and it’s as simple as tossing your tofu in it.
Seasonings: These can range from garlic powder to the iconic Asian hot sauce Sriracha, and they’re meant to add the flavors you like to what you eat. Everyone has different preferences, but some common spices and sauces you could use to season your tofu include:
- Cayenne pepper
- Paprika
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Tamari
- Sriracha
- Soy sauce or Low-sodium soy sauce
- Onion powder
- Cumin
- Thai marinade
There are so many combinations you could include to make a differently-flavored tofu snack each time. It’s hard to get sick of something when you can be changing it up and creating something new with each dish.
How Do You Air Fry Tofu?
So, now that you have all of your ingredients ready to go, it’s time to actually make the air fryer tofu. Luckily it’s not all that difficult to make.
Step 1: Press Your Tofu
Before you do anything, you are going to want to make sure that your extra-firm tofu is pressed and cubed. This will ensure that you are getting the crispiest tofu possible without any excess water.
To press your tofu, you will need to put your tofu in between a few layers of paper towels on a plate. Then you will place something heavy—like a frying pan—on top of your tofu for around 30 minutes to press out the moisture.
The paper towels will soak up the moisture and leave you with tofu that is thinner and even firmer. You can then slice them into tofu cubes for frying. You can also freeze whatever you won’t use and save it for later!
Maybe this step isn’t right for you because you don’t have the time. No worries at all—just find “super-firm” or “high-protein” tofu because this can crisp up without needing to press it.
Step 2: Season Your Tofu
Once your tofu is cubed, you will want to add all of your seasonings. Start with the oil of your choice, and add in any spice that you think will fit in with your meal. This might change depending on what dish you're making.
Basic seasonings to try include black pepper, salt, and garlic powder, as well as a coating of cornstarch to help it crisp up.
Just toss your tofu around in everything a few times and you’re good to go 🙌
Step 3: Fry Your Tofu
Turn your air fryer on to 400 degrees F. You will want to place tofu in a single layer in your air fryer basket so that the pieces have enough space. You don’t want them on top of each other, because they might not cook the way you want (or they might cook unevenly).
Fry them for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the level of crispness that you want. You will know the tofu is ready when the edges begin to brown a bit and they have a crunchy feel to them.
Thistle Salads to Eat With Air-Fried Tofu
Once you have your delicious air fryer tofu, you will probably want to add it to something. While dipping your tofu in a homemade sauce isn’t a bad idea, you can never go wrong adding it to one of our Thistle Salads.
Ramen Salad
Salads don’t all have to look the same to be labeled a salad—and spicing things up with interesting and unique recipes is something that Thistle takes pride in. With our Ramen Salad, you get all the delicious elements of a ramen noodle without the broth, and with a surplus of crunchy vegetables and brown rice.
This Salad includes:
- Millet ramen noodles
- Brown rice
- Edamame
- Cucumber
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Red radish
- Carrots
- Sunflower, sesame, and hemp seeds
- Maple Syrup
- Togarashi (white sesame, black sesame, poppy seeds, chile flakes, orange zest, citric acid, Szechuan pepper, and nori)
- Lemon miso dipping sauce (sesame oil, lemon juice, chickpea miso, avocado oil, ginger, garlic, and sea salt)
If you sign-up with Thistle, you can get this meal delivered right to your door, but putting one together yourself is fairly simple, too. With chilled cooked ramen noodles and pre-made brown rice, you just have to chop up all the vegetables and combine them with the lemon miso dressing.
Just add your air fryer tofu to the mix, and you’ll be talking about this Salad for days.
Thistle Nicoise Salad
Thistle’s twist on the Nicoise Salad is one you won’t want to miss. It’s filled with vibrant veggies and a blast of flavor. For this recipe, you will create both a Salad and a salsa verde dressing. Both are packed with ingredients that will boost your energy for the day and make you feel incredible.
You can add or update the ingredients based on your own preferences, even adding in avocado or hard-boiled eggs. If you aren’t a fan of one of the ingredients, then there is no need to include it. Instead, find something that you know you’ll enjoy, and get to chopping 🌱
Air fryer tofu is a perfect addition to this dish because it gives the Salad a boost of protein and an additional crunch. You can toss your air fryer tofu in the salsa verde dressing, or bring a little heat with some hot sauce seasoning.
Chili Pineapple & Marie Rose Salad
One of our favorite things to do at Thistle is come up with unique and interesting meals. We want to introduce you to new dishes and hope you fall in love on first bite. Our Chili Pineapple & Marie Rose Salad will be your Salad soulmate.
Marie Rose is a classic cocktail sauce that helps soften the heat that comes from the chilis in this Salad. This dressing is made using:
- Rice bran oil
- Lemon juice
- Aquafaba
- Garlic
- Water
- Nutritional yeast
- Dijon mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Garbanzo beans
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Sea salt
- Paprika
- Black pepper
The Salad will need to be chopped up and tossed together, but it’s relatively easy and includes:
- Baby kale
- Baby spinach
- Pineapple
- Water
- Quinoa
- Red radish
- Cabbage
- Hemp seeds
- Lemon zest
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Ancho chile powder
- Black beans
- Granulated garlic
- Cumin
- Black pepper
You can coat the air fryer tofu with a bit of the ancho chile powder to give it the same kick that the pineapple will have. Mixed with the pineapple, the air fryer tofu will bring an additional crunch to this delicious Salad.
Citrus and Fennel Salad
For a colorful and vitamin C-packed Salad to lay as the base for your air fryer tofu, Thistle’s Citrus and Fennel Salad will check all your boxes. Not only is this Salad packed with flavors and nutrients, but fennel also aids with your digestion process and can bring some balance to your digestive system.
If you know you are making this Salad and you can give yourself an extra day to prep, this will just save you some time when you go to put it all together—but it’s not necessary if that’s not your style. You can cook your quinoa, toast your nuts, and make your vinaigrette, and keep them stored properly for the next day.
The best part of this Salad is seeing all the colors combine when you begin to plate it. It’s packed full of a variety of vegetables and fruits, making it a Salad that all can find joy in. By adding some air fryer tofu to this Salad, you give yourself a feel-good boost of protein 🎉
Enjoy a Thistle-Inspired Meal
Thistle can help by bringing pre-made Meals to your doorsteps, but it doesn’t have to stop there. You can use these recipes and old recipes to inspire you to create more!
Try these four different Salads, and see if you have a favorite. Then, don’t be afraid to change them up a bit. You’ll be surprised at just how delicious food can taste.
Sources:
Air fryer tofu is a light and crispy way to bring texture and flavor to your meals. Try this recipe with any Thistle salad, but especially these four!
If you’re looking for an easy way to incorporate more tofu into your meals, it doesn’t get better than a serving of air fryer tofu. You will never look at tofu the same after sticking in the air fryer and adding it to a delicious Thistle salad. The crisp and crunch that a batch of this crispy air fryer tofu adds to any meal will have you wondering why you didn’t try it sooner 😍
Making air fryer tofu is one thing (and we will cover that), but knowing a variety of salads that they will go well with is a whole challenge on its own. Thistle makes this challenge a whole lot easier with our delicious pre-made Salads and Salad recipes.
Today, we’ve gathered a couple of our favorite Thistle-inspired salads to inspire you in your air fryer tofu adventures.
Why You Should Love Tofu (Especially From the Air Fryer)
If you’re not familiar with tofu, you might be somewhat mystified by it.
Tofu is a soy-based product that is made by pressing curdling soy milk into a solid block that can either be soft or firm. It doesn’t have a powerful taste on its own, but when prepared with sauces and spices, it takes them on very well and produces a rich flavor profile. It’s one of our favorite ways to add protein to plant-based dishes.
For plant-based folks, tofu is a useful alternative to meat because of its high levels of protein. It also contains all nine essential amino acids, unlike many other plant-based proteins. It’s also a source of complex carbohydrates and has a relatively quick cook time and prep time.
In addition, cooking tofu and adding it to your stir-fries and salads keeps you feeling full without dragging you down, and it has vitamins and minerals that your body needs to feel awesome. Tofu is low in saturated fat and high in calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and other key nutrients.
Tofu can be prepared in so many ways, so it makes for an easy and yummy addition to any dish. Once you find the ways you like to prepare your tofu, you can usually make it work with any of your favorite meals.
If you haven’t tried air fryer tofu, this should be next on your to-do list. It’s simple to make and will leave you absolutely obsessed.
The Best Air Fryer Tofu Recipe: Ingredients
In order to make a delicious (and easy) air fryer tofu dish, you need to have a few basic ingredients. Of course, as you continue to use this recipe (which we know you will 😉) you might end up trying new ingredients that suit your flavor preferences. There’s no harm in changing it up!
The ingredients that you will need for this recipe are:
One block of extra-firm tofu: This one was probably obvious. A block of tofu can range from soft to very firm, and for the purpose of this recipe, you will want to stick with very firm tofu. It will stay intact when you season it and fry it, which is exactly what you need.
Oil: Think olive, avocado, sunflower, or whatever oil you prefer. It will give your tofu a light flavoring as well as help your tofu crisp up as it fries.
Cornstarch: This gluten-free ingredient also adds to the crispiness of your tofu, and it’s as simple as tossing your tofu in it.
Seasonings: These can range from garlic powder to the iconic Asian hot sauce Sriracha, and they’re meant to add the flavors you like to what you eat. Everyone has different preferences, but some common spices and sauces you could use to season your tofu include:
- Cayenne pepper
- Paprika
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Tamari
- Sriracha
- Soy sauce or Low-sodium soy sauce
- Onion powder
- Cumin
- Thai marinade
There are so many combinations you could include to make a differently-flavored tofu snack each time. It’s hard to get sick of something when you can be changing it up and creating something new with each dish.
How Do You Air Fry Tofu?
So, now that you have all of your ingredients ready to go, it’s time to actually make the air fryer tofu. Luckily it’s not all that difficult to make.
Step 1: Press Your Tofu
Before you do anything, you are going to want to make sure that your extra-firm tofu is pressed and cubed. This will ensure that you are getting the crispiest tofu possible without any excess water.
To press your tofu, you will need to put your tofu in between a few layers of paper towels on a plate. Then you will place something heavy—like a frying pan—on top of your tofu for around 30 minutes to press out the moisture.
The paper towels will soak up the moisture and leave you with tofu that is thinner and even firmer. You can then slice them into tofu cubes for frying. You can also freeze whatever you won’t use and save it for later!
Maybe this step isn’t right for you because you don’t have the time. No worries at all—just find “super-firm” or “high-protein” tofu because this can crisp up without needing to press it.
Step 2: Season Your Tofu
Once your tofu is cubed, you will want to add all of your seasonings. Start with the oil of your choice, and add in any spice that you think will fit in with your meal. This might change depending on what dish you're making.
Basic seasonings to try include black pepper, salt, and garlic powder, as well as a coating of cornstarch to help it crisp up.
Just toss your tofu around in everything a few times and you’re good to go 🙌
Step 3: Fry Your Tofu
Turn your air fryer on to 400 degrees F. You will want to place tofu in a single layer in your air fryer basket so that the pieces have enough space. You don’t want them on top of each other, because they might not cook the way you want (or they might cook unevenly).
Fry them for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the level of crispness that you want. You will know the tofu is ready when the edges begin to brown a bit and they have a crunchy feel to them.
Thistle Salads to Eat With Air-Fried Tofu
Once you have your delicious air fryer tofu, you will probably want to add it to something. While dipping your tofu in a homemade sauce isn’t a bad idea, you can never go wrong adding it to one of our Thistle Salads.
Ramen Salad
Salads don’t all have to look the same to be labeled a salad—and spicing things up with interesting and unique recipes is something that Thistle takes pride in. With our Ramen Salad, you get all the delicious elements of a ramen noodle without the broth, and with a surplus of crunchy vegetables and brown rice.
This Salad includes:
- Millet ramen noodles
- Brown rice
- Edamame
- Cucumber
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Red radish
- Carrots
- Sunflower, sesame, and hemp seeds
- Maple Syrup
- Togarashi (white sesame, black sesame, poppy seeds, chile flakes, orange zest, citric acid, Szechuan pepper, and nori)
- Lemon miso dipping sauce (sesame oil, lemon juice, chickpea miso, avocado oil, ginger, garlic, and sea salt)
If you sign-up with Thistle, you can get this meal delivered right to your door, but putting one together yourself is fairly simple, too. With chilled cooked ramen noodles and pre-made brown rice, you just have to chop up all the vegetables and combine them with the lemon miso dressing.
Just add your air fryer tofu to the mix, and you’ll be talking about this Salad for days.
Thistle Nicoise Salad
Thistle’s twist on the Nicoise Salad is one you won’t want to miss. It’s filled with vibrant veggies and a blast of flavor. For this recipe, you will create both a Salad and a salsa verde dressing. Both are packed with ingredients that will boost your energy for the day and make you feel incredible.
You can add or update the ingredients based on your own preferences, even adding in avocado or hard-boiled eggs. If you aren’t a fan of one of the ingredients, then there is no need to include it. Instead, find something that you know you’ll enjoy, and get to chopping 🌱
Air fryer tofu is a perfect addition to this dish because it gives the Salad a boost of protein and an additional crunch. You can toss your air fryer tofu in the salsa verde dressing, or bring a little heat with some hot sauce seasoning.
Chili Pineapple & Marie Rose Salad
One of our favorite things to do at Thistle is come up with unique and interesting meals. We want to introduce you to new dishes and hope you fall in love on first bite. Our Chili Pineapple & Marie Rose Salad will be your Salad soulmate.
Marie Rose is a classic cocktail sauce that helps soften the heat that comes from the chilis in this Salad. This dressing is made using:
- Rice bran oil
- Lemon juice
- Aquafaba
- Garlic
- Water
- Nutritional yeast
- Dijon mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Garbanzo beans
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Sea salt
- Paprika
- Black pepper
The Salad will need to be chopped up and tossed together, but it’s relatively easy and includes:
- Baby kale
- Baby spinach
- Pineapple
- Water
- Quinoa
- Red radish
- Cabbage
- Hemp seeds
- Lemon zest
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Ancho chile powder
- Black beans
- Granulated garlic
- Cumin
- Black pepper
You can coat the air fryer tofu with a bit of the ancho chile powder to give it the same kick that the pineapple will have. Mixed with the pineapple, the air fryer tofu will bring an additional crunch to this delicious Salad.
Citrus and Fennel Salad
For a colorful and vitamin C-packed Salad to lay as the base for your air fryer tofu, Thistle’s Citrus and Fennel Salad will check all your boxes. Not only is this Salad packed with flavors and nutrients, but fennel also aids with your digestion process and can bring some balance to your digestive system.
If you know you are making this Salad and you can give yourself an extra day to prep, this will just save you some time when you go to put it all together—but it’s not necessary if that’s not your style. You can cook your quinoa, toast your nuts, and make your vinaigrette, and keep them stored properly for the next day.
The best part of this Salad is seeing all the colors combine when you begin to plate it. It’s packed full of a variety of vegetables and fruits, making it a Salad that all can find joy in. By adding some air fryer tofu to this Salad, you give yourself a feel-good boost of protein 🎉
Enjoy a Thistle-Inspired Meal
Thistle can help by bringing pre-made Meals to your doorsteps, but it doesn’t have to stop there. You can use these recipes and old recipes to inspire you to create more!
Try these four different Salads, and see if you have a favorite. Then, don’t be afraid to change them up a bit. You’ll be surprised at just how delicious food can taste.
Sources:
