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Pan-fried tofu with mushrooms is a quick and delicious recipe that is perfect as an everyday, last-minute dinner.
This recipe is inspired by scaloppini with mushrooms, a popular Italian recipe, but our version is 100% plant-based.
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What is pan-fried tofu with mushrooms?
Tofu is usually associated with Asian cooking. However, tofu is perfectly suitable for other cooking styles, and especially Italian cooking.
So, my pan-fried tofu with mushrooms is the veganization of a popular Italian recipe called "scaloppine ai funghi" or mushroom scaloppini.
As Wikipedia perfectly puts it, "scaloppini is a type of Italian dish that comes in many forms.
It consists of thinly sliced meat, most often beef, veal, or chicken, that is dredged in wheat flour and sautéed in one of a variety of reduction sauces."
In this dish, I replace the meat with slices of tofu, but I then pretty much follow the original Italian recipe for mushrooms scaloppini.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Mushrooms: you can use any type of mushroom. White, brown, portobello, chanterelle, etc.
- Dried porcini mushrooms: this ingredient is optional, but since it has become very easy to find it in most supermarkets, I decided to add it to this recipe.
Dried porcini mushooms add a ton of flavour to this dish. They just need to be soaked for 10 minutes in ⅓ of a cup of warm water to release their intense flavour, which will be absorbed by the other mushrooms. - Garlic: to cook with the mushrooms.
- Olive oil: to pan fry both the mushrooms and the tofu.
- Tofu: use firm tofu for this recipe.
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour to coat the tofu slices.
- White wine or vegetable broth: in the original Italian recipe white wine is used to add acidity and flavour to the dish. Here I do the same, however, you can replace white wine with vegetable broth.
- Parsley: freshly chopped, to add freshness. Parsley and mushrooms always go together in Italian cooking.
- Salt and pepper.
How to make pan-fried tofu with mushrooms
Soak the dried porcini mushroom with warm water for 10 minutes.
Note: adding dried porcini mushrooms is optional. Dried mushrooms help boost the mushroom flavor of the dish.
To a non-stick pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, crushed garlic, and sliced mushrooms.
Add the soaked dried mushrooms and their soaking water. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
While the mushrooms cook, slice the tofu into ⅙ of an inch (0.4 cm) thick slices. I usually get 8 slices from 21 ounces (250 grams) of firm tofu.
Add some all-purpose flour to a plate, then coat each slice of tofu in the flour.
When the mushrooms are cooked, transfer them to a plate or to a bowl.
On the same pan, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the tofu slices. Cook the tofu slices on medium heat for about 4 minutes, turning them around once.
Season the tofu on both sides with salt and pepper.
When the tofu is almost done, add the white wine (or the vegetable broth) to the pan and let evaporate.
Add the mushrooms on top of the tofu, add the vegetable broth, some chopped parsley, and finish cooking for another 2 minutes.
Serve on a plate, 2 to 3 slices of tofu per person, and some mushrooms on the side.
Storage
Store the pan-fried tofu with mushrooms for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator, best if in an air-tight container.
Reheat on a pan with a drizzle of olive oil or with a dash of water.
Variations
An easy-to-make variation of this recipe would be pan-fried tofu with lemon sauce.
If you'd like to try a variation made with seitan (vital wheat gluten), then have a look at our recipe for vegan steaks. We make one version with mushrooms and one with lemon sauce.
Compared to tofu, vegan steaks made with vital wheat gluten are chewier and have a more meat-like texture.
Dinner ideas
Did you know that we develop our recipes to go together for a complete dinner meal plan? Serve this pan-fried tofu with mushrooms as a main dish with:
Roasted Brussels sprouts with maple syrup as a side dish
Shaved Brussels sprouts salad with maple syrup dressing as another side option
Hasselback baked apples with cinnamon as a dessert
YouTube
Double-tap to watch this video recipe on youtube.
Recipe
Pan fried tofu with mushrooms
Equipment
- Non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 21 ounces (600 grams) mushrooms white, brown, champignon, portobello, etc
- ½ ounce (15 grams) dried porcini mushrooms (optional) + ⅓ cup of warm water to soak them
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) olive oil
- 9 ounces (250 grams) tofu firm
- ⅓ cup (50 grams) flour
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) white wine or vegetable broth
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) vegetable broth or water
- 1 handful parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cook the mushrooms
- Soak the dried porcini mushroom with warm water for 10 minutes.Note: adding dried porcini mushrooms is optional. Dried mushrooms help boost the mushroom flavour of the dish.
- To a non-stick pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, crushed garlic, and sliced mushrooms. Add the soaked dried mushrooms and their soaking water. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
- While the mushrooms cook, slice the tofu into ⅙ of an inch (0.4 cm) thick slices. I usually get 8 slices from 21 ounces (250 grams) of firm tofu.
- Add some all-purpose flour to a plate, then coat each slice of tofu in the flour.
- When the mushrooms are cooked, transfer them to a plate or to a bowl.
- On the same pan, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the tofu slices. Cook the tofu slices on medium heat for about 4 minutes, turning them around once.Season the tofu on both sides with salt and pepper.
- When the tofu is almost done, add the white wine (or the vegetable broth) to the pan and let evaporate.
- Add the mushrooms on top of the tofu, add the vegetable broth, some chopped parsley, and finish cooking for another 2 minutes.
- Serve on a plate, 2 to 3 slices of tofu per person, and some mushrooms on the side.
Full video on youtube @theplantbasedschool
Nutritional Values
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Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below 🙂
Buon appetito!
Nico
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