Easy Vegan Tofu Katsu
A plant-based twist on a Japanese classic, made with simple ingredients and full of flavour. Serve it over rice for a satisfying, high-protein meal.
Ingredients
Super minimal ingredients list for this recipe! You might even already have everything on hand.
- Vegetable oil β or any cooking oil (omit this if you’re opting to bake your cutlets instead of fry!)
- Extra firm tofu β drained and pressed.
- Salt & black pepper
- Whole wheat flour β white flour works too! I just happened to have whole wheat on hand.
- Cornstarch
- Breadcrumbs β ideally Panko if you want it to be the most similar to real Japanese katsu but any will do.
How to Make
To start, you’ll want to cut your tofu into 6 thin slices along the long edge. This will form nice rectangles for the cutlets. Season each piece with salt and pepper.
Then, set up your 3-dish breading station. Dish #1 will have majority of the flour. Dish #2 will have the dredge, which you’ll make out of equal parts flour and cornstarch, along with a third cup water. Finally, dish #3 will have the breadcrumbs.
Carefully dip each piece of tofu into the flour, followed by the dredge, and then followed by the breadcrumbs. Note that not all flour, batter, or breadcrumbs will be used and this has been reflected in the nutrition info as accurately as possible.
Proceed to heat up your oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, carefully place your cutlets into the pan. You may need to do this in several rounds depending on how big your pan is. I fried each cutlet one at a time in a small pan.
Remove from the oil once golden-brown βabout 4 minutes on each side. Place on either a paper-towel lined plate or a wire rack to drain out the excess oil. Let cool and serve over rice, with Tonkatsu sauce, or just eat it by itself with chopsticks!
Customizations
I shallow oil pan-fried my katsu in order to reduce the amount of oil a little, since traditional katsu is deep-fried. It still gets crispy this way and you won’t end up with as much excess oil in the end.
However, if you aren’t concerned with the fat content in this meal, feel free to go ahead and heat up around 2 cups of cooking oil in a pot instead. On the flip side, if you’d like to reduce the fat content and overall calories of this meal, you can bake them in the oven at 400 degrees F. The cutlets won’t become quite as crispy or golden brown.
I won’t lie βthis recipe is a little more indulgent than some of the other ones I’ve created. I wouldn’t recommend having this or anything fried on a super regular basis. But it’s still high protein, plant-based, and perfectly safe to enjoy every now and then!
Storage
You can store your vegan katsu in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days. That being said, it really is best eating fresh as the breading will un-crisp after a while. If you are going to reheat, I’d do it in the oven or air-fryer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just make sure you use gluten-free flour and gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Obviously there will be some textural differences in the tofu compared to traditional katsu (which is usually pork). The flavours are definitely similar, and ensure you use Panko breadcrumbs specifically if you want the most comparable result possible. But let’s be real here βin the end, we’re just breading tofu in a shape that resembles Katsu the best.
Yes, you can absolutely bake the tofu instead of frying if you’d like. Just pop it into the oven at 400 degrees F and let bake until slight browning appears βaround 20 minutes. It won’t be quite the same but still yum!
More high-protein vegan dinner recipes you’ll love…
Join The List
Easy Vegan Tofu Katsu
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil or another cooking oil.
- 1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
- salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour or white! This is for the dredge.
- 2 tbsp whole wheat flour or white! This is for the batter.
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4-1/2 cup breadcrumbs depending on the size / depth of the dish you use.
Instructions
- Cut tofu along the long side into 6 thin slices.
- Season each piece with salt and black pepper.
- Set up your breading station with 3 dishes. In the first dish, put 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. In the second dish, mix together the 2 tbsp whole wheat flour with the corn starch and water. Then in the third dish, add your breadcrumbs. You won't need all of the flour, batter, or breadcrumbs, but having excess is good to make sure every piece is evenly coated.
- Dip each piece of tofu in the flour first, then the batter, and then the breadcrumbs. Make sure it gets even coated each time.
- In a skillet or frying pan, heat up your oil. I shallow oil fried them to reduce the amount of oil in the tofu katsu. However you can also heat 2 cups of oil in a pot instead if you wish to fully deep fry them. Or see notes if you wish to bake.
- Place breaded tofu into the oil for 4 minutes per side. It should be golden brown on both sides once ready to remove.
- Place a couple layers of paper towel on a plate. Remove tofu cutlets from oil once cooked and place on the paper towel to absorb excess oil. Alternatively, you can use a wire rack to let the oil drain.
Notes
- Nutrition information is an estimate. It’s difficult to know the exact macros and calories because there will be variation in how much batter actually gets attached to the tofu, how much breadcrumbs, and how much oil from the pan stays on the tofu.
- If you wish to bake the tofu cutlets to reduce oil, you can bake at 400 degrees F. They won’t be as golden or crispy but still a delicious lower-fat version!
