If you miss scrambled eggs, this Tofu Scramble Recipe is for you! An easy vegan breakfast staple made with just 7 ingredients in 10 minutes.
If you’re looking for more breakfast tofu recipes, check out my Fried Vegan Eggs, Vegan Breakfast Burritos, and Tofu Cream Cheese while you’re here.
I used to love eating scrambled eggs as a kid. That is, until I actually learned what eggs were and where they came from… My relationship with eggs was officially tainted forever.
The joy I felt eating scrambled eggs is something I still miss, which is where this Easy Tofu Scramble comes in. It’s a vegan egg recipe that really hits the spot. Slightly creamy and jammy with some seriously delicious eggy flavors, it’s as close to real scrambled eggs as it gets!
And as the best tofu scramble recipe ever, it only takes 10 minutes to cook a batch in one pan. The ingredients are simple and likely already in your kitchen, too! I highly recommend doubling the recipe so you have enough for yourself, the kids, and leftovers for a few days after.
Why this is the best breakfast tofu scramble ever
- A vegan breakfast staple – A protein-packed plate of tofu scramble is always the perfect way to start the day, whether it’s a weekday or weekend morning.
- A nostalgic “eggy” flavor – The secret’s out… Black salt (kala namak) is the secret ingredient that gives the crumbled and seasoned tofu its eggy, sulfur-like flavor. If you’re like me, each bite will have you reminiscing about the plates of scrambled eggs you loved eating as a kid.
- Really quick and easy – 7 ingredients, 10 minutes, and 1 pan. That’s all this easy breakfast recipe takes!
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Olive oil or other oil/vegan butter
- Tofu – Use firm or extra-firm tofu. The amount of water in a brick of soft or medium tofu will take too long to cook off.
- Nutritional yeast – A cheesy and salty seasoning that gives the tofu scramble a delicious umami flavor. Try not to skip it if you can help it!
- Black salt – AKA kala namak. It’s a sulfur-tasting salt that gives vegan egg recipes a similar flavor to real eggs. You can substitute it with regular table salt or sea salt if you don’t have it on hand.
- Turmeric – For a golden “egg yolk” color. Feel free to omit the turmeric if you don’t have any on hand. The nutritional yeast will still give the scramble a yellow-ish color.
- Garlic powder
- Non-dairy milk – Any unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk will work! Better yet, stir in a little cashew cream.
How to make tofu scramble
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, mash the block of tofu in the pan with a potato masher or fork, or crumble it over the pan with your hands.
Cook the tofu, stirring often, until the excess water has evaporated.
Sprinkle the nutritional yeast, black salt, turmeric, and garlic powder over the tofu. Cook and stir the seasoned tofu for 5 minutes.
Pour the milk into the pan and stir to mix.
Serve the warm tofu scramble on plates with sliced avocado, toast, berries, and your other favorite breakfast items. Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
I prefer to use firm tofu but extra-firm tofu will work just as well. No need to press the block ahead of time! The water cooks out really quickly.
You should be able to find black salt at specialty grocery stores or buy it online. It comes in handy when you need to replicate classic eggy flavors in vegan egg recipes, like this tofu scramble recipe, my Vegan Egg Salad, or a JUST Egg Omelette.
You can easily turn this basic tofu scramble into a colorful breakfast by playing around with different vegetables! There are so many you can add, like:
Vegetables you can sauté in the pan a few minutes before adding the tofu are 1/4 cup diced onion, minced garlic cloves, or a diced bell pepper.
Vegetables to add after the milk is added are fresh spinach or kale, small broccoli florets, or diced or sliced tomatoes.
Other than vegetables, you can also add crumbled vegan bacon, a sliced Italian vegan sausage, or half a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas or black beans at the end to make the scramble even heartier.
I love to serve this basic tofu scramble with sliced avocado, hot sauce, toast, and fresh fruit. It also goes well with sliced tomatoes, fruit salad, breakfast potatoes, and your other favorite vegan breakfast recipes.
The leftover tofu scramble will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. Double the recipe and store the extras in individual containers for easy grab-and-reheat meals to enjoy for meal prep!
The Best Tofu Scramble
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- (1) 14.5-ounce block firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon kala namak (black salt) or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk, unsweetened and unflavored
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat (I prefer a cast iron pan, or non-stick). Mash the block of tofu right in the pan, with a potato masher or a fork. You can also crumble it into the pan with your hands. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes until the water from the tofu is mostly gone.
- Now add the nutritional yeast, salt, turmeric and garlic powder. Cook and stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Continue to cook for longer, not stirring for a few minutes at a time, until golden spots form on some of the tofu. This is a personal preference but I prefer some golden spots and a longer cook time.
- Pour the non-dairy milk into the pan, and stir to mix. Serve immediately with sliced avocado, hot sauce, parsley, steamed kale, toast or any other breakfast item.
Video
Notes
- Tofu Scramble is also good with all sorts of vegetables mixed in. Vegetables to add before the tofu: 1/4 cup diced onion or a few cloves of minced garlic. Saute in the oil for 2-3 minutes before adding and mashing the tofu. Vegetables to add towards the end: fresh spinach, kale, thin sliced red peppers, small chopped broccoli or fresh sliced/diced tomatoes. Add these after you’ve added the milk to the tofu, and cook for just a few minutes.
- Omit oil if desired to make the tofu scramble oil free.
- You can use any kind of non-dairy milk you like, such as soy, almond, cashew, oat or coconut milk. Just make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored. Cashew cream makes it extra creamy and delicious!
Nutrition
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Made this oil-free and started mushrooms and green onions in the pan first, then the tofu. Mushrooms give off enough moisture to enable me to “steam fry”.
I had a bit of silken and extra firm on hand, not firm tofu, so I used a mix of the two and it worked fine.
When I ate eggs I preferred them a bit on the dry side so I left the almond milk out. There was enough moisture between the silken tofu and the various veggies I added that it wasn’t missed. In addition to mushrooms and green onions I used diced red bell pepper and chopped spinach.
I also added some seasonings like what I would have put into scrambled eggs. If this seems bland, think of the nutritional yeast etc. primarily as getting the tofu to the baseline of plain eggs, then taste and adjust. I’d rather have a recipe like this that doesn’t overpower me with spices and adjust up than have it be too strong and realize that too late.
Hi Barb. Thanks for sharing your ideas and feedback on how you adapted the tofu scramble recipe! It is a wonderfully versatile recipe! I’m glad you loved it! Wishing you happy cooking!
Absolutely delicious!!
I used firm silken tofu and didn’t need to add the non-dairy milk. I did everything else as per the menu and it worked out perfectly.
I will definitely be making this again and have already sent the recipe to friends and family 🙂
Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback, as well as my recipe with friends and family! I’m glad you loved the scramble! Wishing you happy cooking!
Any idea how it freezes?
It freezes quite well, though the texture will be a little different.
Delicious! My 11 month old loved it as well!
That’s so great to hear, Melissa!
I am thrilled at finding this wonderful recipe. It’s the best scrambled tofu I have ever made and it will definitely be the only one I’ll make from now on. I sautéed the diced onions and minced garlic first before smashing the tofu in the pan and adding the rest of the ingredients. I added cherry tomatoes and baby spinach at the end of cooking. I love sriracha but find it a bit hot so I mixed half with half vegan Mayo and swirled it over the top of the scramble. It tasted just heavenly. Thank you!
Hi Patricia, thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments! I’m so glad you loved the tofu scramble!
We loved this recipe! Best tofu scramble recipe I have tried so far. Look forward to eating again with different renditions of vegetables for different tastes!
Hi Aylia. I definitely love the flexibility of ingredients in this recipe as well! I’m so glad you loved the scramble! Thank you for your wonderful feedback and review!
It is the first time I have tried scrambled tofu. What a surprise! A lovely recipe. Well done Nora?
Thank you so much! What a great thing to hear about my tofu scramble recipe! Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you loved it!
So good! I added onions and red peppers – my husband and I both loved it! We’ve been looking for egg alternatives – so happy we found this and can’t wait to make it again.
Hi Faith. I’m so thrilled you guys loved the scramble! Thank you for your wonderful feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
So good! This was the first scramble recipe that worked out really well for me. Followed directions to a T and it was very tasty and provided my family with a delicious high protein breakfast option that we’ve been missing out on!
It’s so good to hear the scramble turned out delicious for you and your family, Kelly! Thank you for sharing your feedback and review!
Listen, this is the best tofu scramble, and it’s fast and simple! The taste and texture very closely mimics scrambled eggs except this is far better. Thank you for sharing this!
You are welcome, Natasha! I’m so glad you loved the scramble! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
I was excited to try this but found it lacking texture and taste. I tried with onions and garlic before adding the tofu (extra firm)
I’m known for hating tofu scrambles, but your description convinced me to try this recipe and it was 100% worth it. You’ve made me a tofu scramble fan!!!
Hi Allison. Thank you for your positive feedback! I’m so glad you loved the scramble!
I added a teaspoon of tapioca starch tot he milk and it makes the consistency cheesy, also black salt gives it an eggy flavor.
Very yummy. Thanks for the recipie.
You are very welcome! Thank you for sharing your review!
where do you find the nutritional yeast in the grocery store?
You should be able to find some in the bulk section or bagged in the health foods section.
New favorite way to make scramble! So good! I replaced the salt with kala namak (the eggy/sulfur tasty salt) and reduced it a bit.
Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Kacey. I’m so glad that you loved the scramble! The kala namak addition sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing your fantastic feedback!
yes a very well put together recipe for tofu Tofu for people who had breast cancer should eat tofu about twice a week the phyto estrogen in mong beans and tofu is a concern ,Asian people eat it every day ,healthy,, thank you for being a vegan ,lily
My first attempt at a tofu scramble. So easy and so good! Thank you ♡
Made this tonight. Added cherry tomatoes and broccoli. Delicious!
I’m surprised you do not have recipes using frozen/then thawed tofu. Besides your scrambled breakfast tofu, frozen best thing I discovered about cooking with tofu.
I’m wondering what the addition of nutritional yeast is for. Is it just for taste? I don’t want added yeast in diet. Thank you. (I see the addition of yeast a lot) just wondering.
You can leave the nutritional yeast out if you prefer. It helps provide a cheesy flavor.
Excellent. Just what I wanted to find just at right time. Great after taste also. Thank you.
My go to scrambled egg recipe.
So glad you love it, Abigail!
Love this. I replace the regular salt with black salt. Black salt has an egg flavor. Very tasty.
This is a delicious classic tofu scramble that can be enjoyed as is or serve as a base for more complex flavors. I could eat it every day. This is an easy go to vegan staple.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback, MJ!
Great recipe, thank you. I love tofu since being veggie and now vegan but this is the first time trying tofu scramble – for some reason I thought it would take a lot more effort!
Really easy and delicious recipe, defo one to keep! I made it into a breakfast burrito by first cooking some red onion, green pepper and mushrooms in the pan, took them out to make the tofu and added back in at the end. Served in a wrap with vegan cheese and sriracha, so good!
Your breakfast sounds delicious! I am glad you found the scramble easy and delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and feedback! Happy cooking!
My first attempt at Tofu Scramble and it was so good. Thank you for sharing your lovely recipe. Will definitely make again.
So happy you liked the tofu scramble! Thanks for sharing your review 🙂