Photos by Emily Caruso
Sometimes, your least favorite food turns out to be your favorite recipe ingredient. For me, that would be beer. Okay, beer isn’t a food, but you know what I’m saying. I just never managed to acquire a taste for it. I guess that’s why it took me forever to start cooking with beer. If I don’t like drinking the stuff, why on earth would I like eating it?
Surprisingly, I love cooking with beer. Once the alcohol cooks off, the bitterness transforms into a mild yeasty flavor that mingles beautifully with sweet and savory. Luckily, this beer-based recipe includes both of those elements.
While cooking with beer is relatively new to me, beer battering is brand new. Oh, I’ve eaten plenty of beer-battered fries in my life. I’m not sure why didn’t it occur to me that if beer-battered fries are delicious, other beer food must be as well. Anyhow, I’ve always avoided beer battering at home, thinking it would require deep frying, which is not an idea that appeals to me. Fat content aside, I think deep frying conjures up traumatic memories of my eight grade home ec teacher’s warnings of the dangers of grease fires. So deep frying is scary business for me. I’m happy to say I’ve successfully avoided it with this recipe. No, it’s not deep frying. Let’s call it…shallow frying.
A very generous coating of oil is what you need to take these tofu strips to crispy perfection. It’s not that much oil, even for a very special beer-battered tofu taco night, which warrants a little splurging if you ask me. The other key is slicing the tofu into thin strips, so you can get both sides nice and crispy without having to submerge them. The result is as crispy and delicious as any deep fried goodie I’ve ever tasted. Oh, and I did mention a sweet element to this recipe. That would be the mango red pepper salsa, which adds some refreshing tang from lime juice and fresh cilantro, as well as a nice red pepper crunch.
Ingredients
For the Mango Salsa:
- 1 ripe mango finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 scallions chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave nectar
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Beer-Battered Tofu:
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu drained and pressed for at least 30 minutes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup ale
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup to ⅓ cup canola oil or another neutral flavor high heat vegetable oil
For Serving:
- 4 to 6 8-inch flour tortillas
- 1 avocado sliced
Instructions
To Make the Mango Salsa:
- Toss all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
To Make the Beer-Battered Tofu:
- Slice the tofu block into 4 slabs, width-wise. Then turn each slab on its side, and slice each one into 4 thin strips. You should end up with 16 strips that are between ¼ and ½ inch thick.
- Whisk the flour, ale and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Very generously coat the inside of a large flat-bottomed skillet with oil. The oil should be at least ⅛-inch deep. Place the skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, dip the tofu strips into the batter to coat all sides, then arrange the tofu in the skillet, leaving at least 1-inch between strips. Cook until the tofu is browned and crispy on the bottom, about 2 minutes, then flip and cook until browned and crispy on the opposite side, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. Repeat until all of the tofu strips are cooked, adding oil to the skillet as needed between batches.
To Make the Tacos:
- Place 3 or 4 tofu strips in the center of each tortilla. Top with avocado slices and salsa.
[email protected] says
I am drooling over this post!! Those beer battered tofu, that mango salsa - there is nothing I don't like about this recipe!!
Alissa says
Thanks Ami! It really was a great combination!
Happy Hazel says
wow. Beer battered tofu sounds amazing!!! awesome recipe!!! 🙂
Alissa says
Thank you! I think beer batter tofu is my new favorite kind of tofu. 🙂
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
super YUM, delicious and droolicious tacos! I mean, beer, tofu, and mango salsa!!! YUM!
Alissa says
YES! I think "droolicious" has to be one of the best compliments I've ever gotten.
Jennifer @ Delicious Everyday says
Wow! Those mango bits looks so good! I can already imagine how awesome those tacos would be! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Alissa says
They were so good! Mango is one of my favorites and I absolutely loved how it paired with the beer-battered tofu. 🙂
Laura // Love & Paris says
These tacos look mighty fine! Thanks for the inspiration.
Alissa says
Thanks Laura!
Ashley says
This looks SO GOOD. If I hadn't already eaten 5 cauliflower tacos like 30 minutes ago I'd be running to the kitchen to make these. Definitely my next vegan taco adventure. Nom. Keep up the good work (:
Alissa says
Thanks Ashley! I hope you enjoy them!!
Courtney F says
Great recipe! I made these last night. I coated the tofu with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt and baked them for about 15 minutes in the oven first to dry the tofu more out more. I also used chickpea flour for the beer batter instead of regular flour. My boyfriend who swears he hates tofu ate it and enjoyed it.
Shout out to Healthy Happy Life blog that lead me here!
Alissa says
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know that chickpea flour works. I've been playing around with it a lot in the kitchen lately, so maybe I'll give it a shot next time I make these. 🙂
Rachel says
Honestly the very best recipe I've ever tried from Oh My Veggies (and that's saying a lot, I love the recipes on this site!). SO delicious, thank you!
Alissa says
Wow! That IS saying a lot. (I was a fan of this site way before I ever became a contributor, so I know first hand that it's full of good stuff too.) Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and let me know! 🙂
Carrie says
Holy smokes!!! These are super yummy!!! We loved them. Thank you 🙂
Alissa says
Excellent! Glad to hear you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know! 🙂
Lisa Taylor says
If I didn't want to use beer, you think I could substitute club soda? or other idea?
Thanks! Looks amazing!!
Alissa says
Thanks Lisa! Club soda should work just fine. The flavor will just be a bit different. Enjoy!
Amber says
Made these last night and OMG they were so good, my husband and I ate every last bite!! Thank you sooo much for the recipe and the inspiration to mess with the batter a bit for different combinations. Maybe add some dried seaweed next time and make a spin off fish taco 🙂 Can't wait! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Alissa says
Yay! I'm so glad you both enjoyed them! And yes, you could definitely play around with different flavor combinations here - I could totally see some seaweed working to give these a fish taco flavor. 🙂
MntnMn34 says
I sure enjoyed looking at, printing, & looking forward to making your recipes..
Just one little question; several years ago I ate a fresh Mango, within 10 minutes I was beginning to have breathing difficulties, after 120 mg of Benadyrl, about three hours and one trip to the emergency room, I'm now scared to eat anything with Mango. I'm not aware of a good one to try. Would Persimmons be a good one?
SO my question is, do you have a substitute for the Mango?
Wanna try, just afraid.
Alissa says
Oh wow! I'd probably be afraid too! Pineapple would be a nice substitute for mango here, or peaches if you happen to make this when they're in season.
Linda says
Where does the corn come in that's in the picture? Is it part of the mango salsa and how much?
Alissa says
That's actually all mango that you see in the salsa - no corn. 🙂
Cassandra says
These were incredible! I added sriracha mayo which I felt took them up a notch. My husband said, we have to have our friends over ASAP and serve these. Delicious, filling, and so pretty! What more could you ask for?
Katie Trant says
Yum! Sriracha mayo makes everything better, doesn't it?!