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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I’m not really vegan but I wanted to try using tofu for once. It was delicious! But to mine I added Parmesan cheese, spinach, cayenne pepper, and butter. It was such a perfect scrambled egg substitute since I don’t really like eggs. Thank you for showing us how to make it! God bless you😁🙌🏽🙌🏽
You are welcome, Shayla! You scramble sounds delicious! Thank you for your fabulous feedback and review!
This is a fantastic and easy recipe! I loved every bit of it and it was incredibly easy to put together! Thank you, this will be on my rotation for tofu recipes👍.
I added a bunch of fresh mizuna greens at the end and it was fabulous! Thank you for this delicious recipe😀.
You are welcome, Janet! I’m thrilled you loved the scramble. Thank YOU for your wonderful review!
Is this really one serving and only 288 cal? One 14oz box of tofu is 405 calories. Help!
Approximately, yes. This recipe as written serves 2 people. The entire recipe would be double that. Does that make sense?
I love this recipe so much. I’ve made it several times within the last few months — so simple and delicious! I usually add a bit of onion powder too simply because I have it on hand. My tofu blocks are generally 14oz but the seasoning as is in the recipe works perfectly. I love that you use garlic powder for this. Makes it a breeze to whip up fast. I’m not a confident cook but I’ve gotten to the point where I think I have this one memorized. Thank you!!
Very nice and simple recipe. I used black salt (and added it at the end after cooking for the eggiest flavor), added some onion powder, extra minced garlic and black pepper. This was also good cooled and added a little cashew mayo (or hellmans vegan mayo if you like), chopped red onion and celery for a egg salad sandwich.
Hi Sherry. I loved reading your recipe additions and ideas! Thanks for sharing your great review and comments! Happy cooking!
Simple and flavourful! My go to from now on. Thank you!
Kia ora Nora
my search for the best tofu scramble recipe came to an end by finding yours. So tasty, and great with and without add ons. Thank you so much!
Arohanui from Aotearoa New Zealand
Hello Sigi, from New Zealand! Welcome to Nora Cooks! I’m thrilled you love the tofu scramble recipe! Thank YOU for sharing your fabulous review and feedback!
This came out absolutely delicious. I chopped up green bell peppers, onions and mushrooms sautéed it in oil before I added the tofu. I omitted the nutritional yeast but used low sodium soy sauce for added flavor and omitted the milk bc I didn’t have it.
Thank you for sharing your recipe experience and wonderful review! I’m thrilled you loved the scramble! Happy cooking!
Thank you for this simple yet delicious recipe! I am about to make it for the second time this week. Greetings from Italy.
I tried tofu scramble at a vegetarian retreat last year and was looking for a recipe that I can make at home. This recipe was the first one that came up as the top recipe in a search and after trying it today I can see why! It was so simple to follow and came out delicious.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and feedback, Rissa! I’m thrilled you loved the scramble! Happy cooking to you!
OH MY GOSH this recipe is so good!! I have made it a zilllionnnn times and it never disappoints! thank you Nora 🙂
I was reluctant to try this recipe because I thought maybe it was “too simple.” I was so wrong! It is so delicious, and it has become our go-to scramble recipe. We love it so much that we make several batches of the dry ingredients at one time and put them into little reusable containers. It makes it so very easy to throw together a delicious and healthy breakfast in very little time! Thank you for this!
That’s wonderful! And what a great idea to prep the dry ingredients! I’m thrilled you gave it a try and thank you for your awesome review and feedback!
Nora, you never disappoint! I’m normally not a tofu scramble person, but I was craving something savory for breakfast and decided to give it one last try. I thoroughly enjoyed this so much! I subbed the turmeric for curry powder (not a fan of turmeric) and added onion powder and black pepper. I’m so excited about this and can’t wait for this to be a staple in my life 🙌🏻
I’m so glad you gave it another try 🙂 Thank you for your wonderful review and feedback!
Does this keep well? I love to meal prep breakfast and trying to find a way to break up with hard boiled eggs. Thanks!
It keeps well for about 3 days in the fridge. It also freezes quite well (you can stuff it into these freezer-friendly breakfast sandwiches for meal prep!), though the texture will be a little different when thawed.
First time trying tofu scramble and it was delicious! Only been vegan 2 months, I missed having eggs for breakfast. This is my new favorite. THANKS
Great recipe. I used the silken. Next time firm. I used 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast. Next time 1/2 tablespoon. I will use leftover in an attempt at fried rice. Thanks for sharing.
Joel
You are welcome, Joel. I appreciate you using my recipes! Thanks for your wonderful feedback!
I love all your recipes. This one is now a keeper, too! I always enjoyed veggies in my scrambles prior to my vegan life. So I sautéed onion, green bell pepper and asparagus before adding the tofu and spices. I can’t wait to make a breakfast burrito with this at work, this week. Thank you again for another keeper.
You are welcome, Kim! I’m so glad the recipe speaks to your palate! You scramble sounds delicious! Thanks for your fabulous review! Happy cooking!
Ohhh im a big veggie for breakfast person so was coming here to see if anyone had done this!
How’d it go?!
This tofu scramble was delicious and simple! Made breakfast burritos with it adding potatoes & veggies and served to all my non-vegan daughters who were home for the holidays. They loved it and didn’t know it was vegan.
Thank you Nora for another amazing recipe!
You are welcome, Lisa! I’m so glad the scramble was loved by all! Thanks for your fabulous review!
This vegan loves this tofu scramble. It is so tasty and easy to make. It keeps me full for hours. Thank you!
You didn’t give the amounts of each ingredient
The amounts and ingredients are listed in full in the recipe card near the bottom of the post. There is a “Jump to Recipe’ button at the top of each post that will take you to the complete, printable recipe.
This recipe was so easy with simple ingredients. It really had the texture of eggs and did not taste at all like tofu. I think the non-dairy milk at the end was the perfect addition. You do such a great job of making recipes that are doable for people who want to eat healthy and vegan but don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen or hunt down ingredients that are hard to find, cost a lot, and used only once! Thanks!!
Thanks, Amy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, and I appreciate the encouragement. 🙂
Fantastic. I added a little bit of butternut squash, red pepper, shredded carrots, and fresh onion and garlic. For the sides, a few baby potatoes and avocado
This is so easy and sooo yummy! Whenever I look for a recipe, if I see a NoraCooks recipe, that’s the one I’m going to try first because it’s usually the ONLY one I have to try. Thanks for so many delicious recipes!
I eat mostly vegan, but have kept eggs for the morning. I like this recipe more than scrambled eggs! Thanks!
It was my first time trying tofu scramble at home and it turned out great. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe <3
Fantastic recipe! I love to order a good tofu scramble at a restaurant, but was too intimidated to try it at home. This recipe was so easy and delicious. I added diced tomatoes and spinach. This will be my new go to recipe for a lazy weekend morning.
Hi Dianne. How awesome you loved the recipe and found it easy AND delicious! I’m glad you can now make your own scrumptious scramble at home! Thank you for your awesome review and feedback!