Mexican food is hands down my favorite type of food, so it should not be a surprise that we eat tacos all the time. Luckily, there are so many delicious taco fillings (like these grilled tofu and summer vegetable tacos) that tacos never get old.
Summer is the perfect time to be outside enjoying time around the grill. I hear a lot of vegetarians and vegans struggle to come up with ideas for meals to put on the grill. Don’t worry I am hear to help!
For a long time I was afraid to grill tofu. I thought it would stick to the grill or fall apart and become a disaster. I’m so glad that I learned that is not the case at all. Read below for my best tofu grilling tips.
Tips for how to make grilled tofu:
- Use extra firm tofu that is packaged in water. Silken tofu will not work at all. Press the tofu to remove the water.
- Oil both the tofu and the grill. I pour oil onto a papertowel and smear the oil on the grill grates using a pair of tongs.
- Preheat the grill grates before adding the tofu. If the grates are hot, the tofu will start cooking immediately and will have the tendency to stick.
- Flip the tofu with a spatula. The spatula allows you to get underneath the tofu and seperate it from the grill grates. A pair of tongs will tend to rip the tofu and break it.
Variations to the Grilled Tofu and Summer Vegetable Tacos recipe:
- Make it a taco bar for picky eaters: Place all the indivdual toppings in bowls and allow people to choose what veggies they want on their tacos.
- Make it Vegan: Try avocado and hot sauce in place of making the chipotle sour cream, or use your favorite vegan sour cream substitute.
- Use fewer ingredients: make these tacos with one 2 of the vegetables. Try combos like peppers and onions, zucchini and mushrooms, or corn and bell pepper.
Grilled Tofu and Summer Vegetable Tacos
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 3-5 servings
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 3 TBS canola oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp each: salt and pepper
- 2 small zucchini and/or summer squash, thickly sliced
- 4 large or 6 small baby bella mushrooms
- ½ a red bell pepper, seeded
- 1 ear corn, shucked
- 1 thick slice red onion
- 8 oz extra firm tofu, pressed and cut in half the long way
- 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 large or 2 small chipotle peppers, minced (from a can in adobo)
- 2 TBS lemon or lime juice
- 10 corn tortillas
- Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. For the strongest garlic flavor, let this rest while you prep the vegetables.
- Preheat a grill to medium high heat.
- Brush the seasoned oil over the bell pepper, corn, onion slice and tofu slices (on both sides) and grill 2-3 minutes per side or until char marks appear and the tofu is heated through.
- Toss the mushrooms and sliced zucchini in the remaining seasoned oil and grill until char marks appear, or until softened to your liking.
- Cut the corn off the cob, quarter the mushrooms, dice the onion and tofu slices, slice the red bell pepper, and cut the zucchini slices in half (if they are very large; optional).
- Mix together the sour cream or yogurt, minced chipotle and lemon or lime juice.
- Heat the corn tortillas according the package directions. Add tofu and vegetables to each tortilla and drizzle with plenty of the chipotle sour cream or yogurt. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
Recipe adapted from EatingWell.
