With the hot air fryer you can prepare tofu particularly crispy and low in fat. We’ll show you a simple, delicious basic recipe for crispy tofu from the Airfryer.

Tofu tastes best when fried crispy or fried in plenty of oil. But even without oil, your tofu will be crispy if you prepare it in the air fryer.

It is important that you use tofu that is as firm as possible and that you press it out before baking. You can do this with a tofu press or a heavy pan. Soft tofu with a high water content does not become crisp in the Airfryer either. Whether you use firm natural or smoked tofu is up to you. The result is spicier and tastier with smoked tofu.

Tofu from the air fryer: the basic recipe

Buy the tofu and the other ingredients in organic quality if possible. This is how you support organic farming that doesn’t use chemical-synthetic pesticides that could end up in your food and the environment. Recommended organic seals are, for example, Demeter, Naturland and Bioland. With tofu, you should also pay attention to the country of origin, because soybeans for tofu are also available from German or Austrian cultivation and are therefore more climate-friendly than soybeans, which have been transported a long time.

Note: You can also prepare the recipe without fat, but you will get the best result with a small amount of oil.

Ingredients:

400 g firm tofu
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp onion powder (optional)
0.5 tsp chilli powder (optional)
Salt
pepper
1 tablespoon starch

Directions:

First, you need to squeeze the tofu for at least 15 to 30 minutes. This can be done using a tofu press or a heavy cast iron skillet that you place on top of the tofu. Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel beforehand to absorb the excess liquid.
Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes and add soy sauce or tamari (a gluten-free soy sauce) as well as the vegetable oil (optional).

Mix in the spices. We use garlic, paprika, onion and chili powder, as well as salt and pepper. Mix well with the tofu. Then add the starch and mix thoroughly. Optionally, you can add more spices.
Preheat the Airfryer to 190 degrees Celsius and distribute the tofu evenly in one layer in the cooking basket. Make sure that no pieces of tofu are on top of each other. You may need to bake the tofu in two batches.
Bake the tofu for about 10 to 15 minutes until crispy. Shake the tofu once during the baking time so that all the pieces are evenly browned.

Crispy tofu from the Airfryer: tips for cooking

You can serve the tofu as a meat substitute with side dishes such as rice, vegetables or potato wedges (e.g. also from the hot air fryer) or as a soup ingredient or in flatbread. The crispy tofu also tastes very good with fresh salad and vegan dips.

Cooking tips:

Freeze the tofu beforehand: For an extra crispy result, you can freeze the tofu beforehand and let it thaw and pat dry before further processing. When thawing, the tofu loses water and becomes particularly crispy.
Use fresh garlic: You can also replace the garlic powder with freshly pressed garlic. This makes the aroma even more intense.
Add more spices: You can modify the basic recipe as you like and add more spices. Variants with cumin, dried Italian herbs or curry powder, and turmeric are particularly tasty. Sesame oil also gives a very fine taste.
Marinating the tofu: Marinating the tofu makes it particularly flavorful. Let it soak in the marinade for 30 minutes before frying. However, since most marinades are very runny, the tofu will be a little less crispy.

Optionally, you can serve the tofu with a sauce after baking. However, you should then adjust the salt content and the spices, because the sauce is already seasoned.