Grilled Barbecue Tofu Recipe

This recipe for Grilled Barbecue Tofu has great texture and flavor! Watch as this becomes your go-to summer barbecue protein of choice–healthy plant-based eating never tasted so good. 

I hope I’m challenging and inspiring you to bring more plant-based options to your summer barbecue menu. Last week I brought you a delicious Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steak recipe and this week it’s a recipe for Grilled Barbecue Tofu.

Are you afraid of tofu? Have you had a bad experience with it? I’ve been there and I invite you to give it another chance.

It’s taken me a lot of years and experimenting to find the best ways to prepare tofu to make sure it has the right texture and flavor.

This Sweet Chili Lime Tofu was the first recipe I finally fell in love with tofu. Unfortunately I don’t make it often because it’s too spicy for my kids who can’t handle even a little heat, but it’s still one of my favorite tofu recipes.

I’ve also discovered that silken tofu can make a great base for vegan desserts, like this Vegan Chocolate Pie.

Today I’m bringing you a whole new way to cook tofu and this time it’s a summertime favorite: the grill!

The first step is the most important: pressing the tofu.

How to Press Tofu

Tofu is packed with water when it’s prepared and when it’s packaged. That means that pressing tofu is an important step to remove that water! I don’t recommend skipping this step. Pressing the tofu is what will remove the moisture so it can have the best texture and can absorb more flavor.

You don’t have to have a tofu press to press tofu. In fact, I don’t have one and I’ve never used one. Here’s how to press tofu without any special equipment. I also don’t use paper towel because I try to maintain a paperless kitchen.

All you need to do to press tofu is wrap it in a clean towel and top it with something heavy. I like to use my big, fat cookbooks.

In this picture I have a cutting board with a drying mat on top, and then two blocks of tofu and each individually wrapped in kitchen towels. On top of those I’ve placed two heavy cookbooks.

It takes about 30 minutes to press tofu. If you have a little more time, that’s great, but make sure you set aside at least 30 minutes to press as much of the moisture from the tofu as possible.

Once you’ve got that step done, you’re golden. Time to get our tofu ready to grill!

Tofu Marinade

Having a marinade for tofu can help it be as flavorful as possible. For this Grilled Barbecue Tofu I bet you can guess what we’re using. Yep, barbecue sauce!

EASY is the name of the game here, so feel free to use your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce.

If you want to bring this to the next level, try this Homemade Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. YUM!

How to Make Grilled Barbecue Tofu

1. Press your tofu for 30 minutes. (see instructions above)
2. Slice the tofu into 6 blocks, about 1-inch thick each. 
3. Place the tofu slices into a shallow baking dish.
4. Add the barbecue sauce to the shallow baking dish.
5. Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the tofu pieces on all sides.
6. Allow the tofu to marinate in the barbecue sauce for a minimum of 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Oil the grates.
8. Place the tofu on the oiled grates and cook for 6-7 minutes per side, brushing the tofu pieces with the reserved barbecue sauce periodically during the cooking time.
9. Brush the grilled tofu with a final coat of the barbecue sauce and serve hot .

Tofu Grilling Tips

For best results when making grilled tofu, follow these tips.

1. Always use extra-firm tofu. Tofu is delicate so you want the firmest variety so it can stand up to the grill.
2. Don’t forget to press your tofu first. Pressed tofu will have better texture and will be easier to flip on the grill as well.
3. Oil the grates of your grill. Tofu doesn’t have as much fat as many meats and therefore will easily stick to the grates if you don’t oil them.
4. If you’d like a different flavor profile, you can use this same recipe and method, just change out the marinade.
5. Preheat the grill before you begin.

If you’re looking for more tofu recipes, you may also like this Vegan Chicken Nuggets recipe!

I hope you love this recipe! If you try it, please leave me a star rating below. It’s SO helpful for other readers to see which recipes are tried and true and it also helps my recipes get found more easily. I appreciate you!

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Grilled Barbecue Tofu

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5 from 1 review

• Author: Maryea Flaherty of Happy Healthy Mama
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

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Description

This Grilled Barbecue Tofu is super simple to make and has terrific texture and flavor!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 (14 ounce) packages extra-firm tofu
• 1 1/4 cups barbecue sauce, homemade or store-bought

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Instructions

1. Press your tofu for 30 minutes: wrap your tofu blocks in clean kitchen towels. Place them on a cutting board and place something heavy on top. Wait 30 minutes and then remove the towels.
2. Slice the tofu into 6 blocks, about 1-inch thick each.
3. Place the tofu pieces to a shallow baking dish and add 3/4 cup of the  barbecue sauce. Reserve the rest for brushing on the tofu during and after the grilling time.
4. Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the tofu pieces on all sides.
5. Allow the tofu to marinate in the barbecue sauce for a minimum of 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Oil the grates.
7. Place the tofu on the oiled grates and cook for 6-7 minutes per side, brushing the tofu pieces with the reserved barbecue sauce periodically during the cooking time.
8. Brush the grilled tofu with a final coat of the barbecue sauce and serve hot .

Notes

1. Always use extra-firm tofu. Tofu is delicate so you want the firmest variety so it can stand up to the grill.
2. Don’t forget to press your tofu first. Pressed tofu will have better texture and will be easier to flip on the grill as well.
3. Oil the grates of your grill. Tofu doesn’t have as much fat as many meats and therefore will easily stick to the grates if you don’t oil them.
4. If you’d like a different flavor profile, you can use this same recipe and method, just change out the marinade.
5. Preheat the grill before you begin.

*Nutritonal values are approximate and will vary depending on which barbecue sauce you use.

• Prep Time: 65 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: dinner recipes
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 3 pieces
• Calories: 366
• Sugar: 30 grams
• Fat: 10.7 grams
• Saturated Fat: 1.4 grams
• Carbohydrates: 46 grams
• Fiber: 3.7 grams