On of my pet peeves about many vegetarian dishes is that they lack a protein source. While you can fill up on veggie pasta (there are many I love), sometimes it is not enough to sustain and you end up hungry again. Shredded tofu folds in perfectly in this mushroom and tofu paprikash recipe, and it keeps you full!
There are a few things about this paprikash recipe that a purist will scoff at, besides my use of mushrooms and tofu. First of all is that I make it with a little less paprika, the namesake of the dish.
A traditional chicken paprikash recipe uses 1 tablespoon paprika per pound of chicken. I used 1 teaspoon with one pound meat substitute (½ lb tofu and ½ lb mushrooms). You can always increase the paprika to taste if you prefer more. As always, you should cook to your taste preferences not mine; use the recipe as a guide.
Second, sour cream would be more traditional but Greek yogurt is a healthier alternative because it is lower in saturated fats but still high in body with a creamy tang.
Once I was making this paprikash recipe and it turned out I was out of tomato paste. I tried it with ketchup instead and I loved it. Ketchup is far from traditional; you can use either tomato paste to make it traditionally or ketchup to make it unconventional, both are delicious.
Tips and Tricks for the Mushroom and Tofu Paprikash recipe:
- Tofu lacks umami, so I mixed in a little soy sauce to add just a touch without changing the flavor profile of the dish too much.
- How to prevent the yogurt from breaking in the sauce: temper it by gradually heating it up with the warm pasta cooking liquid, turn off the heat when you whisk it into the sauce in the pan, always use whole milk yogurt, and never let it come to a boil. It is possible to boil yogurt sauces, but only if you have added a stabilizer, such as egg yolk or cornstarch, which we have not in this recipe.
- How to serve: While egg noodles are a common replacement for the more traditional spaetzle (an egg noodle dumpling), you can serve paprikash over other starches. I have tried whole wheat linguine, for example. You can also serve it over mashed or boiled potatoes or even rice.
- Make it Vegan: Try using cashew cream in place of the Greek yogurt like I do in this vegan mushroom stroganoff recipe.
- 6 oz egg noodles (or another wide noodle)
- 8 oz block tofu
- 2 TBS avocado oil, or another neutral flavored high heat oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 TBS butter or olive oil
- 8 oz sliced portabella mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1-3 tsp paprika (to taste)
- ¼ tsp each: salt, black pepper, ground cumin and dried thyme
- ½ TBS reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 TBS tomato paste or ketchup
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve ⅓ cup pasta cooking liquid before draining.
- Shred the tofu on the large holes of a box grated. Heat the avocado oil over medium high heat in a skillet until shimmering. Add the tofu and cook undisturbed until golden brown. Flip, breaking up the tofu and cook until golden brown on the other side. Remove from skillet and reduce heat to medium.
- Add onion and butter to the skillet and saute covered until the onion turns translucent, 5-8 minutes.
- Add mushrooms to the onions in the skillet and cook uncovered until the mushrooms liquid is mostly evaporated.
- Stir in garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper, thyme, cumin, soy sauce or tamari, and tomato paste or ketchup. Cook for 1 minute.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine. Let it simmer until reduced to half or less, 1-3 minutes.
- Mix half of the warm pasta cooking liquid into the yogurt to temper it. Once smooth, mix in the second half of the pasta cooking liquid. Remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and mix in the warmed yogurt. Stir in the hot cooked pasta and serve immediately.
