This Vegan Tofu Karaage recipe offers a deliciously crispy and savory take on the classic Japanese favorite. With marinated tofu coated in a light, crunchy batter, it delivers an irresistible umami flavor that will satisfy both vegans and non-vegans alike. Perfect for appetizers or as a main dish, this easy recipe is a must-try for any plant-based meal!
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Japanese Fried Chicken Made with Tofu
Karaage is a popular Japanese dish featuring marinated chicken, typically coated in starch and deep-fried to golden perfection. It’s known for its crispy exterior and juicy, flavorful interior. Today, we’re making a plant based version by using tofu as the star ingredient. After marinating the tofu in a savory sauce, it’s coated and fried to create that same satisfying crunch. This vegan tofu karaage (豆腐唐揚げ) is a perfect, flavorful alternative for those looking to enjoy a Japanese classic without meat!
Vegan Karaage Ingredients
Here is everything you will need to make tofu karaage:
- Traditional Tofu: Traditional tofu is soft tofu but not silken tofu. It’s smooth like silken but firm like medium firm tofu. If unable to find traditional or soft (firm) tofu, medium firm tofu also works well! Tofu provides a hearty base that absorbs flavors beautifully and achieves a delightful texture when fried.
- Soy Chunks: These protein-packed morsels add a chewy texture and enhance the dish’s heartiness, complementing the tofu perfectly.
- Garlic Clove: Adds a robust, aromatic flavor that elevates the overall taste of the marinade.
- Minced Ginger: Offers a warm, zesty kick that pairs well with the savory elements of the dish.
- Nutmeg: A secret ingredient the queen of fried chicken (my grandma 😂) used in her fried foods, specifically karaage. This warm spice serves as a “kakushi aji,” adding a subtle depth to the dish that truly enhances its flavor.
- MSG: Enhances umami flavor, making the dish more savory and satisfying.
- Soy Sauce: Provides a rich, salty flavor that permeates the tofu and adds depth to the marinade.
- Sake: A touch of this Japanese rice wine brings complexity and enhances the dish’s authenticity.
- Sugar: Balances the savory flavors and helps create a crispy caramelization on the tofu.
- Potato Starch: This key ingredient ensures a light and crispy coating, perfect for frying and achieving that signature crunch.
How to Make Vegan Tofu Karaage
Making tofu karaage is very similar to using chicken, except it requires a bit of prep to get the tofu to resemble the texture of chicken. You can skip this step entirely and it will still taste delicious but will have more of the traditional tofu texture.
Tofu Preparation:
- Day 1: Drain and dry the tofu, then press to remove excess water. Freeze overnight.
- Day 2: Thaw the tofu in the fridge, press again to remove liquid, and refreeze.
- Day 3: Microwave the frozen tofu covered with a damp paper towel until thawed. Squeeze out excess liquid.
For the Karaage:
- Mix garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, sugar, nutmeg, and MSG to create the marinade.
- Tear tofu into chunks and toss with the marinade along with soy curls. Marinate for 10 minutes.
- Add potato starch, shake to coat, and let it sit for a few minutes. Apply a thin layer of potato starch before frying.
- Fry in small batches over medium heat until crispy and golden (2-3 minutes). Drain on a wire rack.
- Serve with vegan Japanese mayonnaise and lemon juice. Enjoy!
Tips for Perfect Tofu Karaage
- Freeze or press the Tofu – I recommend freezing or pressing the tofu well to remove excess moisture. This helps the tofu absorb the marinade better and ensures a crispier texture when fried.
- Marinate for Flavor – Allow the tofu to marinate for at least 30 minutes or longer to soak up all the savory, umami-rich flavors. A mixture of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a touch of sesame oil works great.
- Coat Evenly for Crispiness – Use potato starch or cornstarch for a light, crispy coating. Make sure each piece of tofu is evenly coated before frying for that perfect crunchy texture.
Serving Suggestions
Karaage is often served in various ways that enhance its flavor and presentation. Typically, it’s enjoyed as a main dish alongside steamed rice and accompanied by a side of shredded cabbage or a fresh salad to balance the richness of the fried tofu or chicken. It is also a popular component in bento boxes, where it pairs well with rice, pickled vegetables, and other small side dishes like kinpira renkon, jabara ponzu cucumbers or spicy cold tofu for a balanced meal.
Many serve karaage with dipping sauces like soy sauce, ponzu, or a tangy mayonnaise to add extra flavor. Additionally, it’s commonly enjoyed as a finger food or appetizer in izakayas (Japanese pubs) or at parties, often presented on a platter with toothpicks for easy eating. Some people even like to include karaage in miso ramen, karaage fried rice, sandwiches or wraps, adding fresh vegetables and sauces for a hearty meal on the go.
How to Store Fried Tofu
Tofu karaage is best eaten fresh but also tastes great at room temperature, making it perfect for lunches or bento boxes. To store:
- Refrigeration: Place cooled tofu karaage in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. For best results, keep it separate from any dipping sauces or garnishes.
- Freezing: Freeze tofu karaage by laying the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet to flash-freeze, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. It will last for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: For the crispiest texture, reheat in an oven or air fryer at 350°F (175°C) for about 5-10 minutes. You can also microwave it but it will be soggy (but still flavourful).
FAQ
Yes, the soy chunks add more texture but you can omit it. Substitute with more tofu or reduce the amount of seasonings as needed.
To make tofu karaage gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari for marinating and ensure that the starch used for coating (like cornstarch) is also gluten-free.
Yes. To bake it, preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) and prepare the tofu after marinating and coating it. Place the tofu pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, flipping them halfway through until they are golden brown and crispy. If you prefer air frying, preheat your air fryer to 350°F (175°C) and arrange the coated tofu pieces in a single layer in the basket, ensuring they aren’t overcrowded. Air fry for about 10-15 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through, until the tofu is crispy and golden. Both methods provide a delicious and healthier alternative to deep-frying
Enjoy!! If you make this Vegan Tofu Karaage recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rating and if you decide to share it on socials, tag me on instagram @Okonomikitchen. I’d love to hear from you!
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Vegan Tofu Karaage
Description
The best vegan karaage! This Japanese fried chicken is perfectly crispy on the outside while still juicy and flavourful on the inside– just like the real thing.
Ingredients
- 1 lbs (450 g) traditional or medium firm tofu
- 1/2 cup (30 g) soy chunks
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/3 tsp msg
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) soy sauce, to taste
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) sake, to taste
- 2 tbsp (24 g) sugar
- 6–8 tbsp (60-80g) potato starch
Instructions
Tofu Preparation
- Day 1: Drain the tofu and then dry with a kitchen cloth. Gently press to remove any excess water. Cover and store in the freezer.
- Day 2: Remove the tofu from the freezer and place into the fridge to let it thaw completely. Then press the tofu, removing as much liquid as you can without breaking it apart. Place into container and freeze again.
- Day 3: Remove the tofu from the freezer. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave for 3 minutes. Flip and microwave for another 1-2 minutes or until thawed. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess liquid. Now it’s ready to be used!
For the karaage:
- Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, sugar, nutmeg and msg together. This is the marinade.
- Tear off chunks of tofu and place into the marinade. Add soy curls and toss with the marinade. Let it marinate for 10 minutes.
- Add potato starch to the container and then shake it up. Let it sit for a few minutes– the potato starch should start firming up while sticking the soy chunks to the pieces of tofu. Before frying, add another thin coat of potato starch.
- Over medium heat, fry the karaage or until crispy golden brown (2-3 minutes). Place on a wire rack to allow excess oil to drip off. Fry in small batches until complete.
- Serve with vegan Japanese mayonnaise and lemon juice, and enjoy!
Notes
- *Cotton / traditional tofu has the texture between soft fresh tofu and medium firm tofu. This kind of tofu yields the best meat-y texture while still keeping it juicy– however, if you can not find traditional tofu soft fresh or medium firm (or really, any firmness of tofu) can be used.
- Leftovers can be stores in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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tried and true recipe from lisa! easily one of our household staples now. such great depth of flavor, umami, and texture. easy to follow instructions and appreciate the tips. i wonder if boiling the tofu and could yield a similar result as double freeze/thaw would??
Yes, I think so! It actually might be more moist too 🙂
It’s really good and tastes very chicken-karaage-like to me! I didn’t have soy chunks, sake and potato starch, and used what I had on hand, which is a hint of white wine vinegar and tapioca flour, and even so, it tastes great. I expect it’ll be even better with sake, which I’ll try to get in my next shop
This was AMAZING! So crunchy on the outside but tender and chewy on the inside. It definitely had a meat-like texture but the taste was phenomenal and the marinade really came out in each bite. Oishi!
One of my favourite tofu recipes! So easy and full of flavour. I air-fried mine and it came out great 🙂
Wow! My daughter who doesn’t like tofu went for seconds and thirds. This is a great recipe- and although it requires some prep work, it’s just mostly waiting for it to freeze and thaw. This is a keeper!
I used this marinade to make soy meat karaage and it tasted so delicious! My non-vegan family also loved it, I’ll definitely make it again with this recipe! Thank you!! 🧡
I love your recipes but I am allergic to Soy/Tofu. I have a challenge for you. Can you make this fried chicken without Soy/Tofu?
You can use oyster mushrooms 🙂
Absolutely delicious recipe!
For starters, I am the kind of person who is DELIGHTED to eat tofu straight from the box. However, I always love to try to fun and exciting new ways to dress up tofu… they just, usually don’t live up to the expectation… but this one DOES!
The first time I made this recipe, I neglected to drain my tofu inbetween each move to and from the freezer. While still delicious, I recommend you be diligent and do drain it each and every time you move it! It really does make such a huge difference!
I’ve never had “true” chicken kaarage, but this is so dang delicious! Plus, no crazy expensive ingredients!
I was surprised that the marinade tasted so much afterwards, but it really did and it was super tasty! Great texture too ♡
The BEST vg karrage recipe! I even tried this without frozen n thawed tofu and it was still insanely delicious!! Tastes amazing with Lisa’s vegan kewpie mayonnaise recipe too 😋
Wonderful! A great and easy recipe that provides plenty of protein for a balanced meal. I did not have potato starch, so I used harina de maíz instead. It was not as dark as the picture, but still delicious. Nice to have a new vegan protein source I can add to my diet!
this karaage is addicting… I made it for lunch with a friend and we just demolished the whole plate between us. It’s super crunchy & textured!
i have this recipe memorized because i make it THAT MUCH, has revolutionized and made eating less meat so easy! i can make sooo much out of a single block of tofu….so the hard part is just not eating all of it instantly lol. thank you lisa for this recipe! its a household staple!!!
Even my partner who regularly eats fresh, real kaarage (in Japan, mind you) was raving about the texture and flavor of these. I’ve tried a couple other recipes I’ve found in Japanese before but nothing comes close to this one. Next time, I’ll try adding the potato starch in gradually for a more even coating as I ended up with some white bits leftover after frying. This is purely cosmetic though – the taste is out of this world!
We make this recipe all the time now, so you can usually find tofu in our freezer in preparation for it. Love the ginger, so I usually add in a bit more to highlight it. We weren’t sure what temp to fry it at, but 350 F worked well, and we let it get back to temp before the next batch. It tastes best when you finish with a little salt right out of the oil. There’s a high likelihood that we finish eating one batch before the next one is done frying. 🙂 Love this recipe, thanks so much!
this was so delicious! i made this for my birthday, and while it definitely requires some planning ahead, it’s well worth the effort. i used firm tofu because it was what i had, and the texture still turned out wonderful. so tasty!!!
Lovely recipe! Swapped the Sake with some Vodka and Potato Starch with Rice Flour as that was all I had on hand. The crispiest shell and super delicious and spongey and flavorful Tofu. Cannot wait to make it again, following the recipe as is.
This recipe is awesome!! The crispness is perfect !! Make sure you follow the tofu prep instructions to get the best chicken like tofu texture 🙂
Hey Lisa! I’ve made this recipe by frying it in oil and it came out great. I was wondering if you’ve tried to make this in the air fryer? And if so what times/temps did you cook it at?
I would like to make this recipes for some friends that have oil sensitivities. Thanks!
This recipe is perfect, the crunch is spectacular and I will definitely make it again!
Hi there! I love your recipes. Thank you so much! Can you tell me which cooking sakes to use? I’m new to Japanese cooking. Xox
Hi! I use Gekkikan mostly for cooking 🙂
Thank you :*
This recipe is amazing! So crunchy and flavourful. These are one of the recipes that seriously mimic the real dish, but cruelty free.
Wow ! Try these as it sounded so good but prepared to whatever it could finally taste (as trying new stuff comes with good but also not so good suprises) and … it’s absolutely delicious ! We gonna have these so often. They’re the easiest and so crispy and indulging !
So yummy & crispy! I skipped the soy chunks but it was really good with just the tofu!
I’ve been looking for a really good plant-based karaage recipe forever, and this is the one!! Very clever use of the frozen tofu method, and it really gets all the flavor and texture of karaage in each bite. I made a big batch to have some leftover lunch for my partner and I the next day (and a whole lot of snacking here and there lolol), and a big plus was they never got soggy, and the texture and flavor somehow get better each day?!
I made sure to save all the little chunks of tofu that fell off while coating (fried after all the bigger chunks since they don’t take as long to cook), so that I could use them for the Karaage Yakimeshi later in the week, which turned out great as well (more in depth review on that recipe)! I also like mine with a bit of spice, so I tossed mine with some togarashi once it had a chance to rest and drip off the excess oil. Definitely going to make this again and again! Thank you!!
A new favourite! The only difficult part is planning three days ahead. BUT, it is worth the wait. If you want to make it part of your staple meals, you could keep twice frozen tofu in the freezer. Everything else is super easy. So far I have made it without the soy chunks, but I will try with them someday.
I’m so grateful for this recipe! I loved chicken karaage and now I can enjoy it again after eight years of being vegan. I tried it out with both silken and firm tofu. The mix of textures was nice. It’s very important to get as much liquid out as possible before marinating! I mixed the potato starch with black pepper, powdered ginger and garlic for extra flavor. So good with some veganaise, Japanese chili pepper and lemon.
I was SO afraid of cooking tofu but as a 6 month old vegan, I knew I had to start so that I could get enough protein to support my weight training. This was my first tofu attempt and holy smokes, I’m SO glad I stumbled across this recipe. I didn’t have soy curls, I don’t even know where to get them, so I just used tofu and it was so good. Not only did it satisfy my “meat” craving but the crunch was super satisfying. One of the best parts is that you get the crunch without needing gluten so my whole family can enjoy it! This will definitely be on rotation in my kitchen and I’m excited to experiment with different marinades and also maybe air frying!
I’m so glad I found this recipe! It was delicious and made me really popular in my household. Will definitely become a staple around here. For sure the double freezing steps make it seem way more involved than it is, but it was super easy and I definitely recommend it to any ex-Karaage lover who still gets those cravings from time to time. Really hit the spot! Thank you, Lisa! I’m obsessed with ALL your recipes.
So easy to make and so delicious! I didn’t have potato starch so I crushed up some potato flakes and added some corn starch. think I didn’t squeeze my tofu enough but it was still really good. Thank you!
i made this today for my partner and i and we both agree that this is the best vegan chicken karaage we’ve had! the recipe is so easy to follow (i watched the tik tok version) and the flavor is amazing. the crunchy/crispy exterior is so so good! i was on facetime with my mom when i was making it and she even said it looked really yummy! thank you so much for creating this amazing recipe!! <3
It was so easy and fun to make! I had all the ingredients at home so I decided to give it a try in my studybreak. The crunch is surreal and the texture is so tasty, Thank you for this recipe Lisa 🥰
Thank you so much for this recipe! Growing up in a Japanese household, karaage was my favorite thing to eat. Thought I would never be able to eat it after going vegan, but Lisa changed my mind! It’s just like I remember it 💕
Also, what brand of soy curls do you use? I just made it with tofu and it was delicious, but definitely wanna try it with soy curls next time.
Delicious recipe, it took me a while to try because I’m not very patient but it was really not so much work for the tofu and the result was so good !!
In Tokyo I was going to a Izakaya where they had a great vegan karaage but could never find the same here in France, now I’m glad to say I can cook something similar.
I served it with fresh lemon slices and a spicy vegan mayonnaise, needless to say it did not last long.
I will definitely do it again.
Thank you for another great recipe 🙂
This recipe bears its name really well : this truly is the best vegan karaage I ever had. And it’s SO easy to make ! It is so tasty, crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside, and even my bf who is a meat eater though it was amazing!
So this recipe blew my mind and was amazing. So so easy & tastes so good!
Made this recipe today and it was so good. The tofu was so flavourful and crunchy. So happy that I’m still able to enjoy Japanese food as a vegan. Thanks Lisa!
Absolutely loved this recipe! The texture of the tofu was so light and fluffy because of the freezing process. The marinade was the perfect combination of savory and sweet too. Personally, I would recommend eating this recipe the same day you make it for maximum crunchiness. I reheated mine the next day and it wasn’t as crunchy, but still tasty! (Perhaps it’s because I used corn starch instead of potato starch?) Regardless, I would definitely make this recipe again 🙂
I have never tried Karaage chicken before but this vegan version was amazing! I took a shortcut and only pressed the tofu for one day, so next time I try this I want to follow the full steps because I am sure the texture will be even better then. So good!!
Following this recipe was super easy! The hardest part was waiting for the tofu to freeze. I was so surprised by the texture and the flavor was spot on ! The outside and edges are crispy, the insides have a nice chewy bite. Our brains are amazing at connecting scents, so the grated ginger really brought out a “chicken” flavor!
This is one of my favorite savory treats, and I can see myself making it again! I sprinkled some white pepper powder, furikake, and umami (mostly mushroom) powder right before digging in!
1/26/2021. Tried this recipe tonight and loved it. Very tasty and crunchy. The texture was unbelievable. My husband and I really enjoyed it. I definitely will be making this more often!! Mahalo Nui Loa!!!
So happy to hear it was a hit, thanks for sharing! 🙂