Tofu Bacon

• clean kitchen towel
• knife
• medium bowl
• whisk
• rimmed cookie sheet
• tongs

• 1 pound tofu, fresh or frozen*
• ½ c sesame oil
• ¼ c nutritional yeast
• 2 T soy sauce
• 2 T maple syrup
• 2 t yellow or Dijon mustard
• 1 t liquid smoke
• 2 cloves garlic, minced  or  1 t garlic powder
• ½ t onion powder
• 2 T olive oil

Whisk together everything from the sesame oil to the onion powder until completely blended, then whisk in the olive oil. The marinade will be very thick.

Preheat oven to 375.

Dip a slice of tofu into the marinade to coat both sides and wipe off a bit of the excess, so that it’s coated with marinade but not dripping. Place on cookie sheet.

Repeat with the rest of the slices, placing them in a single, fairly tight layer on the cookie sheet. Drizzle any remaining marinade over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, then very carefully remove from oven (the cookie sheet will be filled with near-boiling oil). Flip each slice and return to the oven.

Bake another 10-20 minutes,* checking frequently (especially if you started with frozen tofu) until most of the marinade has been absorbed and the slices are crispy and/or chewy, as you prefer.

1) Prep

• Fresh tofu: drain, slice, and then pat dry.
• Frozen tofu: after thawing, press the whole block for 30 minutes, then slice and pat each slice dry.

2) Cooking: frozen tofu has a lot less water content so it will dry out a lot faster (and potentially burn).

** If your slices are uneven, you’ll want to remove the thinner ones as they’ll be ready sooner than the thicker ones.

Tofu bacon is perfect for BLTs.