This recipe for crispy baked tofu tacos with cilantro lime slaw gets an umami coating from a combination of nutritional yeast and soy sauce! Inspired by the best vegetarian tacos I’ve had on a trip to Sonoma!

A few years ago when I was visiting my sister-in-law and her husband in Sonoma, I had the BEST vegetarian tacos of my life.

After an early morning cross country flight, we stopped at Pappas and Pollo for lunch and a beer. It was my brother-in-laws high school hangout, because living in Sonoma your high school hangouts are infinitely cooler than the McDonalds parking lot you loitered in. Their menu is filled with everything smoked, braised pork, carne asada, and jumbo prawn, but my brother-in-law swore that his favorite thing to order was their house tofu. So when a 30-year-old dude is recommending tofu, obvs that’s what you’ve gotta get.

It’s been years since I had those tofu tacos, but I swear I remember exactly how they taste. You know that thing when a food is exactly the thing you’re craving in a moment? Paired with a cold IPA, basically every salsa from the salsa bar, and a big scoop of black beans and rice to fill my empty belly, it was textbook joyful eating. And that tofu y’all…DREAMY. Yes, I’m actually talking about tofu here.

I was unsuccessful in my attempt at getting the recipe, but I was successful in getting a single ingredient from our server - nutritional yeast. Hey, better than nothing! Thankfully that clue turned out to be kinda like getting the corner pieces of a puzzle, and experimenting with a couple of recipes I found online, I think I was able to (mostly) recreate it with this crispy baked tofu taco recipe.

Crispy baked tofu tacos with cilantro lime slaw

The Best Crispy Baked Tofu Recipe

The trick for making this crispy baked tofu was a mixture of nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and cumin for spice. It mixes up into a thick marinade that gets soaked up by the tofu, then bakes up into a crispy coating. Y’all, it’s so good I was doing that thing where I licked up the little bits leftover on the baking sheet once it cooled - my husband saw and DEFINITELY judged me.

I served these crispy baked tofu tacos with a quick cilantro-lime slaw, one of my go-to side dishes, and a creamy tomatillo sauce made from a blend of yogurt and jarred tomatillo salsa.

Crispy Baked Tofu Taco Recipe Notes

This crispy baked tofu taco recipe is pretty easy to make. While the tofu gets nice and toasty in the oven, whip up the easy slaw and creamy salsa verde sauce. However, there are a few tricks I’ve learned from making this recipe many, many times.

Don’t forget to press the tofu. This removes extra liquids and ensures the tofu will get nice and crispy in the oven.
If you like, feel free to let the tofu marinade even longer than 30 minutes. This is something you can do in the morning them bake the crispy tofu at night.
The cilantro-lime slaw is also something you can make in advance and let sit in the fridge. It’ll soften up the cabbage as it sits.
Be sure to use a full-fat yogurt for the most flavor! I prefer regular yogurt for this recipe, as Greek yogurt can be a bit thick.

If you like this crispy baked tofu tacos recipe, follow my taco recipes PInterest board for more inspiration.

This crispy baked tofu taco recipe was originally published December 2015. Recipe, images and text have been updated to give you the best content possible!

Crispy Baked Tofu Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw Recipe

Serves 3-4ish

Ingredients:

Tofu:

1 16-ounce block extra-firm tofu
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Cilantro-Lime Slaw:

4 cups shredded cabbage
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Tacos:

1/3 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
1/4 cup salsa verde
Corn tortillas

Directions:

Drain tofu, then wrap it with a clean kitchen towel and weigh down with a heavy skillet or can to remove liquid for 30 minutes.
Cut tofu into 3/4-inch cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, nutritional yeast, cumin and olive oil. Season with black pepper. Add tofu cubes, toss to coat, and marinate at least 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place tofu cubes evenly on a large, oiled baking sheet, drizzling with extra marinade. Bake 35-40 minutes until golden, flipping halfway.
While tofu is baking, make slaw. Mix cabbage, green onions and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss with lime juice and olive oil, and season with salt. Next make sauce for tacos. Whisk together yogurt and salsa verde, and season with salt.
Char tortillas lightly over low flame on a gas stove for 30ish seconds. Serve tortillas filled with a scoop of slaw and baked tofu, topped with salsa verde sauce.

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