I am obsessed with buffalo tofu sandwiches, and I finally decided everyone else should join me! Nothing is better than a vegan garlic buffalo tofu sandwich. This delicious tofu is baked not fried, but still so, so crispy. Tossed in a homemade vegan garlic butter buffalo sauce. Served with some sweet quick pickles and vegan blue cheese. You may wake up craving one of these babies. Like immediately after eating one the night before. Luckily, this recipe makes enough for 4-6 sandwiches, so you can always save leftovers!
The tofu is breaded in flour and panko, giving it the crispiest crust in town. Even after being dunked in the buffalo sauce, the tofu stays nice and crisp. The pickles are super easy to make, just slice a nice English cucumber thin, then pour a very simple sweet pickling liquid over them. Then allow them to sit while you prepare everything else. The blue cheese takes just a few minutes to throw together, or you can use your favorite store bought brand.
All together the combination that makes up this vegan garlic buffalo tofu sandwich is so freaking incredible. I can’t get enough of them and they have become a standard lunch in my house. I thought for a long time maybe this recipe was too boring to post. Then I realized, I have always had a unique spin on it. Like all of my other recipes. These sweet pickles, this buffalo sauce, the blue cheese. All so so so good.
So here I give to the world my vegan garlic buffalo tofu sandwich. May it make all of you as happy as it makes me. May it bring you many yummy meal times. My daughter doesn’t love the buffalo sauce, it is far too spicy for her. As she thinks everything is spicy. However, I just leave some of the crispy tofu plain and make her a sandwich with that and that goes over real well!
Vegan Garlic Buffalo Tofu Sandwich
Ingredients
Sweet Quick Pickles
- 1/2 an English cucumber, sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 1/2 Cup Organic cane sugar
- 1/3 Cup White vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
Garlic Buffalo Tofu
- 1 Block(15oz.) Extra firm tofu, drained and pressed*
- 1 Cup Non-dairy milk, I used oat milk
- 1 Tablespoon White vinegar
- 3/4 Cup All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups Panko bread crumbs, vegan
- 6 Tablespoons Vegan butter, divided
- 4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1 Bottle(12oz.) Hot sauce, I used Franks
- 1 Tablespoon Agave syrup
For The Sandwiches
- 6 Buns
- Romaine lettuce
- Vegan Blue cheese, HOMEMADE* or store bought
Instructions
- First, make the sweet quick pickles. Thinly slice the cucumber and put them in a heat proof bowl.
- Now in a small sauce pan, heat the water, sugar and salt on medium high. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Stir just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
- Then add the vinegar to the sauce pan stir, and then pour over the cucumbers. Let them sit in the pickling liquid while you press and bake the tofu.
- Now, press the tofu* and then slice the block into 1/2-1/4 inch thick slices and cut those slices diagonally so you have triangles.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees(F.)
- Next, take 3 medium sized mixing bowls, in the first bowl, add the non-dairy milk and vinegar. Whisk and set aside. In the second bowl add the flour and salt. Whisk and set aside. In the third bowl, add the panko.
- Taking a few pieces of tofu at a time, put them in the flour first and coat completely. Shake off any excess. Then put the tofu into the milk mixture. Making sure they are completely wet. Then place the tofu into the panko. Pressing the bread crumbs onto the tofu to coat completely.
- Place each piece of tofu onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Then repeat with all of the tofu.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 15 minutes or until brown and crunchy.
- After you flip the tofu, make the garlic buffalo sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a medium sized sauce pan on medium heat.
- Once the butter has melted, add the garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes just to cook the garlic.
- Then add the hot sauce, remaining vegan butter and agave. Stir until the butter has melted and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat, but leave on the stove.
- Once the tofu is done, place a few pieces of the tofu into the pan with the buffalo sauce at a time, and toss to coat. Remove the tofu and place back on the sheet pan and repeat until all the tofu is coated in sauce.
- Assemble the sandwiches by taking a bun and spreading extra buffalo sauce on the bottom bun, spreading vegan blue cheese on the top bun. Put a few pieces of tofu on the bottom bun and top that with sweet quick pickles and lettuce. Sandwich together and serve! This recipe makes 4-6 sandwiches!
Notes
Nutrition
I made this tonight. These sandwishes are the bomb!! Soooo good! Quite spicy, so I need to figure out how to tone it down a bit next time. But will definitely make again. I stuck to the recipe, but will definitely cut down on a few things next time, as I found there was a lot of waste/leftover. Next time, I will reduce the milk & vinegar along with the flour & salt mixtures by at least half. I will also make half of the sauce as I have so much leftover.
Oh I also used a different method for my pickled cucumbers-I mixed 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tbps sugar and 1.5 tsp kosher salt together. Add in the cucumbers and let sit for an hour or so.
We are loving your recipes!! Thank you!
I took the advice of a previous reviewer and cut the flour and milk mixtures in half, as well as reducing the sauce, but made everything else exactly as the recipe. Turned out perfectly! Boyfriend and I absolutely loved this recipe, the tofu has such a nice crunch!
So BOMB! I used coconut milk. I cut the milk mixture in half along with the flour. I needed to add a splash more of the milk to cover the last piece of tofu. I used a recipe for the sauce using 2/3 of a cup of Franks and it was the perfect amount. I make marinated cucumbers all the time. No need to heat. I use rice wine and a little sesame oil, salt and pepper and let them sit. They come out perfect every time. I will make these again! One of the best meals I have had in a long time! Yummy!
I made this tonight and loved it! My hot sauce was too warm for me, but I will find a milder one for the next time. We don’t do blu cheese so we used TJ’s corn salsa and banana peppers. Thanks for sharing this one. It’s a new favorite.
This recipe was phenomenal! I used vegan mayo instead of blue cheese, and I added some sliced onions.
We don’t eat tofu, do you think the crispy chicken patties from another recipe would work well with the buffalo sauce? This looks amazing. Also, just ordered your cookbook, EVERYTHING I have made has been a winner in my house ( I have lots of picky eaters, including a picky hubs so THANK YOU).
This was the best vegan dinner I have ever made, and I have been a vegan for 4 years now. I have been cooking your recipes for a few months and this is the GOAT! I added more vegan butter and some extra water to make it a little less hot, but oh my…..simply fabulous!!!! Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes!!!
This is delicious. I didn’t have buns, so I turned it into a taco! And I pickled radishes and onions instead of cucumbers. Great recipe!
Made these last night and followed another commenter’s suggestion of cutting the flour and sauce mixture in half, I still had a bit leftover but it worked out almost perfectly. These were delicious and easy!! Thank you!
Made these last night with your bleu cheese recipe and it was amazing!!! Used leftovers on romaine salad for lunch today! So yummy!
This is a new staple in my house. I made it as soon as you posted it, and then we loved it so much that I made it again the following week. I made absolutely zero changes to the recipe, except that I found there was a bit too much flour and a lot of waste, so I just halved the amount of flour and it was perfect. We get 4 very large sandwiches out of this recipe, enough for 2 days, and it keeps very well in the fridge – I leave the leftover tofu unsauced in the fridge, then reheat briefly in the air fryer before tossing in the reheated sauce. I have never had such crispy, crunchy tofu! My meat loving husband requests this by asking for “buffalo chicken sandwiches” because the pressed and baked tofu becomes so firm that it really is like biting into a chicken breast. Thanks again for your amazing recipes – this site is my absolute favorite!
Amazing sandwich! You’d never know you were eating tofu. I followed the recipe except for the vegan butter, and made my own non vegan blue cheese sauce. As others commented, the buffalo sauce is very spicy but you can use as much or little as you like according to your heat tolerance. The tofu got beautifully crispy and is the prefect vehicle for a healthy but also decadent sandwich.
With the post-grad living at home, I pretty much double everything I make now. Glad I did it because there were no leftovers, it was that good. Used Trappey’s red devil sauce but it definitely wasn’t hot enough for us though, so I’ll try Franks the next time.
And as vegetarians, we used roquefort cheese and it was AMAZEBALLS.
Thank you so much for this recipe; I’ve already shared it with my vegan friends.
Thank you!
I made this for lunch today on ciabatta bread, and it was excellent! The pickles were a great addition. I piled them high and then sauced with vegan ranch. These would definitely be a crowd pleaser for veg/vegans and meat eaters.
Thank you for the stellar review!
This was the best tofu recipe I have made in a while! Cooked and seasoned perfectly.
I did adjust a little by using pre-made Buffalo sauce because it is all I had, but will definitely be making this again and again. 10/10 would recommend!
These were yummy and not too difficult. Next time I”ll slice my tofu a little thicker. Tofu dried out a bit in the over. The pickled veggies (I added in sliced red onion to the brine) has become a staple in our fridge going on salads and sandwiches.
Thanks for the fun recipes!!
Love this recipe! I love your blog, and I bought your cookbook, and I love that too! You are one of my favorite vegan cooks to follow. Thank you so much for all the delicious, interesting food.
Amazingly yummy!!!! Made the tofu as directed and ate it off the sandwich. I loved it!!
Unreal. I added a slaw. Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make buffalo tofu. Thanks!
This was the best vegan recipe I’ve made yet! Really easy and fun to make. It’s definitely something that non-vegans can enjoy too! My boyfriend and I are planning on making them again tonight 🙂
Thiis was great! Super flavourful and pretty easy to make. It reminded me of hot wings, which I haven’t had in many decades.
Would you recommend a flour and panko substitute that would work well if I wanted to make this gluten free friendly? Thank you – looks delicious!
Wow this looks incredible! I want to make it tomorrow but I don’t eat oil or butter. Any suggestions about replacing the vegan butter or can I just omit? Thanks so much !
This was so good! I loved it and packed the extras for lunch the next day.
Made these tonight and they were amazing. I didn’t have bread crumbs so I used smashed pretzels (lol) and it worked perfectly. I will be making these often
AMAZING – one of our top 10 favorite dinners of all time. Was worth the multiple steps and effort. The homemade blue cheese was outstanding, The combo of the garlic buffalo sauce, sweet pickles and blue cheese is absolutely perfect.
I found the powdered version of Frank’s Red Hot, so I skipped the sauce step and mixed 3T of that with the breadcrumbs. Still fantastic!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.