I am going to confess something really shameful to you right now. When I decided to make this recipe, I realized that the dried rosemary in my pantry was 12 years old. Escandalo! If my rosemary were a person, she would have Justin Bieber posters in her room and be sass-mouthing me when I ask her to do her chores. Herbs! They grow up so fast! I think you're supposed to keep dried herbs for a year, so this is pretty embarrassing. In my defense, I hardly ever use dried rosemary in my cooking. Which is good because when I opened it up, it smelled like dust and nothing instead of smelling like rosemary.
Whenever I post a tofu recipe, people ask me how to press it. There are some cooking techniques that I never know if I should take the time to explain because I'm not sure if people know about them already. I don't want you guys to be like, "Duh, thanks, I knew that." But I don't want you to be confused either! So I thought I'd post another baked tofu recipe and explain how to press tofu. Then when I post a tofu recipe in the future, I can link back here.
In my opinion, the best way to press tofu is with a tofu press (which you can read about here). But pressing tofu with a tofu press is self-explanatory and if you have a tofu press, odds are, you know how to use it. So if you don't have a tofu press, all you need to do is:
1. Take two paper towels and fold them in half and in half again.
2. Place one of the folded towels on a cutting board. Make sure the cutting board is on a surface that can get wet, like your countertop.
3. Take the tofu out of the package, drain off the water, and put it on top of the first paper towel.
4. Put the second paper towel on top of the tofu.
5. Place something heavy on top--either a plate, another cutting board, or a skillet. I usually put additional weights on top of that too. Make sure the weight is evenly distributed or the plate/skillet/cutting board will fall off, usually smashing one side of your tofu in the process.
6. Let this sit for 30 minutes. You can change out the paper towels once or twice if needed.
Is this worth it? HECK YES IT IS WORTH IT. When you press out all that tofu water, the tofu can better absorb the flavors you add to it. Even if a recipe doesn't call for me to press my tofu, I still press it. I can't stress enough how important this is.
So this gave me a good excuse to make Baked Italian Herb Tofu, which had been on my to-make list for a while. I used to buy it, but they stopped selling it locally, which was a bummer. This tofu is simple to make and it's a delicious addition to pasta, sandwiches, and salads. You can bake the slices for 30 minutes, which results in tofu that's soft and golden brown in color, or you can bake them for a full 40 minutes, which makes the tofu browned and chewy.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons liquid aminos, I used coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- A dash of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 15-ounce package extra-firm tofu, pressed for 30 minutes and cut into 8 slabs
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Whisk together the liquid aminos, oil, water, vinegar, garlic powder, herbs, and pepper in a small baking dish. Place the tofu slices in the baking dish and marinate for 30 minutes, turning the slices over after 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Transfer the tofu slices to a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray. Rub any remaining marinade onto the tofu and season with a few sprinkles of salt. For softer baked tofu, bake for 30 minutes; for chewier tofu, bake for 40 minutes. Flip the tofu over halfway through cooking time.
AB says
I have been making this recipe since you originally posted it back in 2013, and thought it was time to leave you a note! It's one of the few tofu recipes I make (and I make a lot of them) that can stand on its own the way chicken or beef used to in a meal, before I turned to a plant-based diet. I can serve it with a baked potato and a green veg, with farro and a side salad, with pasta--anything, really! And while I normally use fresh herbs and fresh garlic when I cook, I LOVE that this recipe allows for the times when I don't have those things; as long as I have tofu on hand, this is a pantry recipe for me. I buy extra firm tofu that is shrink-wrapped and doesn't need pressing, and start marinating the tofu around lunchtime. By dinner it's ready to bake, and it's SO easy! So thank you for a recipe I've been using for ten years now! Much appreciated!
Che says
The tofu was so simple and delicious! I ate this with sun dried tomato couscous and it made a great meal. Will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you for much for this!!