Cambia lingua / Switch language: ITA
Pan-fried tofu with lemon sauce is an easy, everyday recipe made by frying the tofu on a pan with little olive oil and then coating it in a quick and creamy lemon sauce. This is a delicious way of enjoying tofu.
This recipe is inspired by an Italian recipe of lemon chicken. I replaced the chicken fillet with tofu slices and the result is a delicious meal that can be prepared in about 10 minutes.
Jump to:
What is pan fried tofu?
If you search on the internet, you'll probably find a million different types of pan-fried tofu. Tofu is so versatile and can really be cooked in so many ways.
Here at Italia Plant Based we have started experimenting more with this incredible food, trying to use it as our main meat replacement, and adapting it to Italian cuisine.
You can consider this recipe a replacement for chicken. We first fry the tofu with olive oil, then we make a quick sauce with lemon juice that coats the tofu cutlets perfectly, making them super flavourful. Watch a 1-min video story of this recipe here.
Along the way, we'll show you some easy but important techniques that are popular in Italian cooking to cook this dish perfectly. Let's get started!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Tofu: we use firm tofu that you can find in most supermarkets. Extra firm tofu will also work. Silken tofu doesn't work in this recipe.
- Flour: all purpose flour works best. We use it to coat the tofu cutlets.
- Olive oil, rosemary and garlic: we fry the tofu with those, to infuse it with flavour and give it an Italian twist.
- White wine: it adds acidity to the dish, and it's really a flavour booster. You can replace it with vegetable stock, but it won't add the same acidity and flavour.
- Lemon juice: to flavour the sauce. We recommend juice from a fresh lemon.
- Cornstarch: to make the sauce creamy. If you don't have that, you can replace it with all-purpose flour.
- Salt and pepper: to season.
How to make pan fried tofu (with lemon sauce)
For this recipe, I usually consider 3 slices of tofu per person. That is about 1 block of tofu of 4.5 oz or 125g.
Cut six tofu slices, each ⅕ inch or ½ cm thick. I usually cut about 3 slices per tofu block.
Add flour to a plate, then coat the tofu slices on both sides by pressing them onto the flour. The tofu should be slightly wet for the flour to stick, so do NOT pat it dry.
Add oil, garlic, and rosemary to a non-stick pan, then when the oil is warm, add the tofu slices.
On medium heat, fry the tofu on both sides till golden. It should take about 2 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
Remove the garlic and the rosemary after a couple of minutes, before they start burning.
Add the white wine (or the vegetable broth) to the hot pan with the tofu, then let the wine cook for 1 minute, lower the heat, and squeeze in about ½ lemon.
While the tofu cooks, in a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of water, then add it liquid to the pan with the tofu. Move the tofu around, until the liquid becomes thicker, like a sauce.
Finish cooking till the tofu is coated in the lemon sauce. It should take about another minute or two.
Serve with the sauce and some freshly ground pepper on top. If you like, you can sprinkle with some grated lemon zest and chopped parsley.
Tips
Don't burn the garlic: garlic and rosemary burn easily, so keep an eye on them and discard them as soon as you notice that they might burn.
Grate some lemon zest on top: if you really like lemon, then you can grate some zest on top of the tofu before eating it. I love it this way, but some people might not like it, so it's better to ask before adding more lemon.
Deglaze with white wine: deglazing simply means adding a cold liquid to a hot pan. In Italian cooking, it's common to deglaze with wine, either white or red. Wine adds acidity and umami to the dish, creating an irresistible bouquet of flavors and aromas.
Frequently asked questions
Not in this recipe. Pressing tofu to remove water from it it's very beneficial in recipes that marinate the tofu. In this recipe, that step is not necessary.
Also, this is an everyday dinner recipe, and we made it so that you don't have to spend 30 minutes of your evening pressing tofu.
Storage
Pan-fried tofu with lemon sauce is best eaten right after cooking it. If you have some leftover, store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. The sauce will clump up, but that's normal.
To reheat it, add a little water or olive oil to a pan, add the tofu and its clumpy sauce and gently warm it up. Serve with some freshly chopped parsley.
We do not recommend freezing for this recipe.
Variations
Cherry tomatoes: you can add cherry or plum tomatoes to the pan just after you turned the tofu one. Cut them in half and season them with a pinch of salt.
Pan-fried seitan steaks with lemon sauce: seitan steaks are a wonderful alternative to tofu. You can make them at home by following our recipe for seitan steaks. They go super well with lemon sauce or mushroom sauce.
Dinner suggestions
Did you know that we develop our recipes to go together for a complete dinner meal plan? Serve this pan-fried lemon tofu with:
Creamy lemon pasta with spinach
Tomato cucumber and onion salad
Lemon blueberry pound cake with lemon icing
Recipe
Pan fried tofu | With lemon sauce
Ingredients
- 250 grams (9 oz) tofu
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ cup white wine or vegetable broth
- ½ lemon the juice
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch + ⅓ cup water
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- For this recipe I usually consider 3 slices of tofu per person. That is about 1 block of tofu of 4.5 oz or 125g.Cut six tofu slices, each ⅕ inch or ½ cm thick. I usually cut about 3 slices per tofu block.Add flour to a plate, then coat the tofu slices on both sides by pressing them onto the flour. The tofu should be slightly wet for the flour to stick, so do NOT pat it dry.
- Add oil, garlic and rosemary to a non-stick pan, then when the oil is warm, add the tofu slices.On medium heat, fry the tofu on both sides till golden. It should take about 2 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.Remove the garlic and the rosemary after a couple of minutes, before they start burning.
- Add the white wine (or the vegetable broth) to the hot pan with the tofu, then let the wine cook for 1 minute, lower the heat and squeeze in about ½ lemon.
- While the tofu cooks, in a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of water, then add it liquid to the pan with the tofu. Move the tofu around, until the liquid becomes thicker, like a sauce.
- Finish cooking till the tofu is coated in the lemon sauce. It should take about another minute or two. Serve with the sauce and some freshly ground pepper on top.If you like, you can sprinkle with some grated lemon zest and chopped parsley.
Full video on youtube @theplantbasedschool
Nutritional Values
If you liked this recipe, you might also like:
Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below, or take a picture and tag us on Instagram @italiaplantbased.
Buon appetito!
Nico
Ani
I’ve made this twice. It’s fab as is and so simple. Serve with a nice vegan risotto for a really “wow!” meal. The second time I made it though, I added a bit more garlic and found I liked it that way better. It’s all about personal taste though. Like I said, follow the directions and you’ll love it.
Nico
Thank you so much Ani. We are very happy you liked it. And yes, you cannot go wrong with some extra garlic 🧄