'I Used The Ultimate Tofu Hack To Create These 3 Recipes'

Rose Lee, known online as Cheap Lazy Vegan, has built a dedicated audience by making plant-based cooking accessible, affordable, and fun. Her YouTube channel is packed with no-fuss vegan meals, beginner tips, and candid commentary. In one of her latest videos, she tackles a challenge many new vegans face: how to cook tofu so it actually tastes good.

Tofu is packed with plant-based protein, but its texture and flavor can put people off. Lee acknowledges that many people don’t know what to do with it, saying her original tofu tutorial video, which now has nearly a million views, is a go-to resource for beginners. But in this video, she takes it a step further with a trick she calls “one of my favorite tofu hacks.”

Here’s what the hack is, why it works, and the three recipes she created with it.

What is the tofu hack?

Lee’s tofu hack is simple: freeze tofu, thaw it, squeeze it, and cook it.

Freezing tofu changes its structure. “What this does is it changes the texture of the tofu so it becomes more of a meaty or fishy texture,” she explains. After thawing, it’s easier to press out the excess moisture. That, she says, creates air pockets that allow marinades and sauces to soak in more effectively.

She uses medium-firm tofu for a soft and flaky texture but recommends experimenting: “If you want more of a firm texture you can also do this with firm or extra firm tofu.”

Lemon butter tofu

In the first recipe, Lee pan-fries tofu steaks and coats them in a rich, creamy lemon butter sauce. She starts with a roux made from vegan butter and flour, then adds garlic and oat milk to create a thick sauce. “Garlic is life,” she jokes. “Do I ever use any other ingredient? I’m not sure.”

She finishes the tofu in a lemon-basil marinade, pan-sears it until golden, then pours the sauce on top and tosses in some kale to simmer.

While the dish turned out well, she reflects on small adjustments she’d make next time. “Instead of adding the veggie stock into the cream sauce to thin it out… I would add that into the marinade for the tofu.” The result? A better-flavored tofu with the sauce acting as a final topping.

BBQ tofu

The second recipe uses a smoky marinade made from vegetable broth, soy sauce, garlic powder, and barbecue sauce. Lee adds the sauce directly to the tofu and sautés it in a pan – but notes that next time, she’d wait before adding the marinade.

“In hindsight, I would probably have allowed the tofu to cook first and then added the remaining sauce on top,” she says. Still, the dish was a success: “I would definitely make that again exactly the same way.”

For this one, she suggests trying firm or extra-firm tofu to hold up better with the bold sauce.

Lime tofu ‘fish’ steaks

The final dish, inspired by tofu-based “fish” steaks, uses a tangy lime marinade with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, pepper, and kelp powder.

She initially tries to bake the tofu, but the moisture prevents it from browning. “Baking clearly just doesn’t do that because it was too wet,” she says. “Pan frying adds very little oil… it’s really not that much.”

Despite some hiccups, Lee says the recipe delivered in the flavor department. “If you’re missing some sort of grilled fish taste, then this actually, I think, replicates it pretty well.

Each of the recipes is available in full on her blog, and you can find more of her videos on her YouTube channel.