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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As a vegan, I cook a lot of tofu lol. But my daughter requests this version all…the…time!! (She also loves your vanilla cake recipe more than any other cakes anywhere – made from scratch, store bought, or bakery made!) Thank you for sharing all your goodness!!
You are welcome! How awesome that your daughter loves these recipes! Thank you for your incredible feedback and review!
Can I use extra-firm tofu in this, or is there a reason for using firm instead? Also, in the video, what is the green that you sprinkled on at the end? I can’t tell if it’s green onions or parsley. This looks delicious and may satisfy my craving for scrambled eggs when we want “breakfast for dinner”.
You can absolutely use extra firm tofu if you want, it works. Those are green onions. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m not even vegan, just had some leftover tofu I wanted to use before it went bad. Pleasantly surprised! Delicious! Loved the flavor and adding this to my recipe book.
Hi Taylor. I’m glad you loved the scramble, and you’ll be adding it to your recipe collection! Thanks for your wonderful feedback!
Easy, delicious, perfect tofu scramble recipe!
Will be using this as my staple recipe going forward. Thanks!
You are welcome, Lola! Thanks for your great feedback and review! I’m thrilled that you loved the scramble!
This was my first time cooking & eating tofu. I loved this recipe! Based on some of the comments, I added less turmeric. I sautéed onions, peppers, & garlic first then added the tofu. I omitted the milk at the end as well. But this recipe was great! Served it with sliced avocado and roasted potatoes. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Marie. You are welcome! I’m glad you loved the scramble had a great first time experience with tofu! Thank you for taking time to share your terrific feedback and review!
This is amazing!! The only change I made was to use black salt in place of the salt and it was great!
I’m so glad you loved the scramble, Raven. Thanks for your terrific feedback!
I’m somewhat new to being vegan so I don’t have a lot to compare this to, but I thought it was pretty good!
A bit more rubbery (rubbery-ier?) than how I like scrambled eggs. Maybe I’ll try a medium tofu next time? Has anyone had success with that?
And I’ll definitely add a few more spices and maybe a bit less turmeric (there was just a hint of bitterness in mine). But overall definitely something to work with!
Let me start by saying that I generally really dislike tofu. But, I use it for a Mac and cheese recipe and had some left over, so I thought I’d give this recipe a try. It is EXCELLENT!! Really. Wow. You’ve really got to try this one 😋
I make this every week. It’s so delicious! Sometimes I use black salt for a little sulfur like flavor but really it’s great just as is. Thank Nora, you’re amazing for sharing your recipes with us.
Hi Margaritte. You are welcome! Your kind words and terrific feedback certainly make my day! I am thrilled you are loving the scramble! Thank you for your terrific feedback! I appreciate you using my recipes!
Yummy texture! I didn’t love the taste of nutritional yeast in these. I prefer black salt for flavouring eggs.
Hi Dora. I’m glad you like the texture of the scramble! Keep in mind that you can leave the nutritional yeast out if you prefer. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Can I freeze this?
It freezes quite well, though the texture will be a little different when thawed.
Delish, especially with a vegan sausage for the yummy sage flavor. This turned out great, and was so happy to use locally made tofu (Cinsoy.) Even more excellent mixed with sauteed onion.
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Karen, and thank you for your wonderful review!
Delicious ~ definitely a keeper thank you 🙂
Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback! Glad you loved the tofu scramble!
I appreciate this recipe so much. Very simple and delicious!
You feedback means a lot to me! Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you love the scramble!
Newbie vegan, here! This is amazing!! The only modification I made was replacing the salt with black salt at Janet’s recommendation. I officially don’t miss eggs in the morning. Thank you!!
Hi Michele. I am thrilled you loved the tofu scramble! Welcome to my site! I have lots of fun and delicious vegan recipes to eat along your journey! Please reach out with any questions. Happy cooking, and eating!
Hi Nora,
You satiate my craving for eggs.
Eating the tofu scramble right now with some avocado and hot sauce. It’s to die for!!
Followed the recipe to the “T”as the creator always knows best. After all, you’ve put in all the work testing and retesting. Why mess with perfection!!! Thank you so much Nora for sharing.
Thank you so much for the kind words, Shari! I’m so happy you loved this 🙂
Omg it came out so good I followed the whole recipe from point A to B delicious.
Thank you for Sharing
Hi Mimi. You are so welcome! I’m thrilled you love the scramble! Thank you for sharing your great feedback!
Thanks, these are delicious. Just as good as scrambled eggs (if not better). I think I will start eating this on a regular basis. I followed the recipe but also added curry powder to it.
You are welcome! I bet this was amazing with the added curry powder! Thanks for your wonderful feedback and ideas! Wishing you happy cooking!
We make this all the time; it’s so good! We mix in a small amount of violife shredded cheese for a cheesy scrambled egg texture!
Sounds delicious, Cassie! Thanks for sharing your fantastic feedback! So happy you are loving the scramble!
I love this recipe. . . but then again I love all your vegan recipes! I don’t miss eggs at all. I make it once a week and store the leftovers in an airtight container. It lasts for about 3 days for me because I can’t seem to stop eating it. Thank you so very much for offering wonderful recipes, you are truly gifted!
Hi Margaritte. I am so happy that you are loving the tofu scramble! Your kind words mean a lot to me. Thank you for using my recipes and for sharing your wonderful and encouraging feedback!
Oh my goodness! This tofu scramble is 😋😋😋 My husband loved it and he loves eggs. I sauteed chopped onion, zucchini and mushrooms just because I had some. Followed the recipe to a ‘t’. My first tofu scramble was a hit! Shared it with a friend. Now I have to try more of your recipes Nora! 😄
Hello Eunice. I am thrilled that you loved the tofu scramble, and that your husband did as well! Your ingredients sound delicious. It sounds like you are new to my site, so welcome! I hope you enjoy your journey through my recipes! Thank you for your fabulous feedback! Please reach out with any questions. Happy cooking!
I despise scrambled eggs but I really like tofu scramble and I like this
Hi Sasha. It’s great that you love the scramble! Thanks for your great feedback!
Delicious.
Thank you! So glad you love the scramble!
I am not sure if it has been mentioned, but adding black salt instead of regular salt increases the flavor and “egginess” taste
Hi Nora, This recipe is an example of one of the things that I love about your recipes – simple and quick and delicious. (for those of us who are very busy)…you let us know how to make additions, which is awesome as well…
Any ideas why mine turned out tasting bitter?
Too much Tumeric will add an unwanted bitterness.
This came out wonderfully!