Tofu Jerky

Every camping trip starts with me packing road trip snacks - beef jerky for me, and some manner of alternate protein snack for my husband. You know, plus some fun junky stuff.

His inability to eat red meat makes things a bit more complicated - I tend to order vegan jerkies from health food stores. Not the most convenient, and OOF the price.

So, I’ve been playing around with designing vegan jerky recipes.

Maybe you’ve seen my Mushroom Jerky lately - a great recipe, I honestly prefer it to beef jerkies!

Well, they’re the same 2 different marinades I use with the mushroom jerky, but hey - why mess with perfection?

It really is the perfect snack for him, too.

He likes that it’s a high-protein snack, and says “the flavour is addicting and the texture is awesome!”

He keeps it in the fridge and grabs a handful here and there - says he doesn’t dare keep it on the counter in plain sight, or he’d eat the whole thing in one sitting.

So yeah, we have to make a double batch of each flavour, LOL.

Anyway, let’s get to it!

Note: The nutritional information reads higher than it is in reality - the recipe software takes into account ALL of the ingredients used. You discard a lot of it, when you drain the marinade off the tofu!

Ingredients

This delicious snack recipe uses really simple ingredients - anything you don’t already have on hand should be easy to find in almost any grocery store.

A few notes for you:

Tofu

We use extra firm tofu for this - 1 block of tofu per batch of marinade.

Firm tofu would probably work, but I wouldn’t go any softer than that. You want a tofu that’s sturdy enough to be sliced and will hold up to marinating.

Use the best quality tofu you have access to, for the best results!

How you slice your tofu will impact the final texture of the tofu. Thin slices tend to dry to a more brittle texture, while thicker tofu strips retain a certain degree of chewy texture.

Smoky Tofu Jerky

This is my husband’s favourite of the two tofu jerky marinades - it’s smoky and a bit spicy. It uses:

Coconut Aminos, Tamari, or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil
Brown Sugar
Garlic Powder
Mustard Powder
Onion Powder
Smoked Paprika
Ground Black Pepper
Smoked Serrano Powder

(Ingredient amounts are listed in the recipe card at the end of this post)

Teriyaki Tofu Jerky

This is my favorite flavor of the two tofu jerky recipes, and it uses:

Liquid Aminos, Tamari, or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Sesame Oil
Brown Sugar
Honey (Maple syrup or agave if you want it vegan)
Ginger Paste
Garlic Paste
Sesame Seeds
Ground Black Pepper
Onion Powder
Red Pepper Flakes

Substitutions and Variations

As I mentioned, this recipe is HIGHLY customizable. Here are a few options to consider:

If you don’t need to be gluten free, you can use regular soy sauce instead of the gluten free options mentioned above.

The olive oil in the smoky recipe can be swapped out for avocado oil or vegetable oil

You can use rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even white vinegar in either recipe.

The brown sugar can be swapped out for an equal amount of maple syrup, agave, or organic coconut sugar.

I make mine low carb by using Brown Allulose (50% more than called for in the recipe, as it’s not quite as sweet as sugar).

If you like your vegan jerky extra salty, add a little Smoked Sea Salt - SO good!

If you want your smoky jerky extra smoky tasting, you can add a little Liquid Smoke to the marinade, if you like. (I’m not a fan of the stuff, personally!).

Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, Crushed Chilies, Hatch Chile Powder, and Jalapeno Powder are all good spice options for bringing a bit of kick to the smoky recipe.

You can even add a few good dashes of your favorite hot sauces to the marinade, if you like.

For the teriyaki recipe, I’ll usually just use a bit more of the pepper flakes, as I don’t find these other options work as well with the teriyaki flavor profile, IMHO..

Note: I can’t have the red pepper flakes anymore, so I’ve taken to adding a bit of Ground Ginger to give it a bit more heat.

SO good, I don’t miss the chilis!

Equipment

This recipe uses 2 pieces of more specialized equipment:

Tofu Press

Sometime in the last year or so, we invested in a tofu press, and it’s made preparing tofu a lot easier.

(Usually our Gluten Free Ramen and Sesame Crusted Tofu Salad!)

Ours is the Noya Adjustable Tofu Press. I don’t have any experience with other types, but we definitely have no complaints about this one.

No tofu press? No problem - use the method we used to use!

Take your tofu out of the package and drain it well.

Wrap in a couple layers of paper towel and place it on a flat plate - ideally one with a lip around the edge.

Invert another plate on top of it, then weigh it down with something heavy - large soup cans, a brick, whatever.

Let that sit for 30 minutes or so, swap out the paper towels, and let it press for another 15 minutes or so.

Easy!

Food Dehydrator

This tofu jerky and our Mushroom Jerky Recipe were the first two projects we made in our new Cosori 6 Tray Food Dehydrator.

LOVE IT!

It’s much more space efficient than our now-retired food dehydrator, easier to clean, and the temperature and timer controls come in really handy.

Before that, we were using a 20 year old plastic food dehydrator. Not sure of the brand (the label wore off many years ago!), but there were stacked round trays, and no temperature control.

This recipe would work just fine without temperature control, you’d just want to keep an eye on it the first time you make the recipe, and take note of the time it takes to get to your desired level of dryness.

How to Make Vegan Tofu Jerky

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through:

Prepare and Marinate the Tofu

Drain excess liquid from the tofu, wrap with paper towels and press. You don’t want the tofu to retain too much water, or it won’t soak up as much flavour from the marinade.

Slice tofu into ⅛" thick slices (or a little thicker). Place tofu slices in a large ziplock baggie. (Or in a shallow baking pan)

Squeeze out any excess air, seal, and chill for at least 1 hour.

Once You’re Ready to Dehydrate

Strain the tofu slices well, but don’t blot them. You want excess moisture gone, as much as possible - but you don’t want to wipe away any flavour!

Don’t worry about there being too much liquid - it’ll dehydrate off.

Place your marinated tofu slices in a single layer on your dehydrator trays, leaving plenty of space between each for air to flow.

We did 4 hours at 160 degrees F, but your time may vary based on the thickness of your tofu, and your particular dehydrator.

You’re looking for the tofu be dry, but still kind of flexible. They will dry/toughen up a bit more as they cool.

Drying longer - or using thin strips- will result in brittle jerky. It’ll all depend on your personal tastes, play around with it to see what you like, and what works for you.

Once completely cool, transfer to an airtight container. We like to keep ours in a large Ziplock baggie in the fridge.

It will be good for at least two weeks, but we’ve never had a leftovers beyond that point, to test longevity!

More Homemade Jerky Recipes

Are you a fan of jerky, whether for road tripping, camping, or just as a high protein snack? I have SO much fun making it - here are some of my go-to recipes for homemade jerkies!

Basic Ground Beef Jerky
Blueberry Bison Jerky
Buffalo Wing Chicken Jerky
Chipotle Chicken Jerky
Ginger Beef Jerky
Ground Venison Jerky
Homemade Salmon Jerky
Honey Garlic Chicken Jerky
Jalapeno Chicken Jerky
Jerk Chicken Jerky
Lingonberry Elk Jerky
Mango Habanero Chicken Jerky
Mushroom Jerky, 2 Ways
Pumpkin Spice Chicken Jerky
Rosemary & Blueberry Beef Jerky
Shawarma Chicken Jerky
Spicy Garlic Chicken Jerky
Spicy Orange Chicken Jerky
Sriracha Chicken Jerky
Pepperoni Jerky

... But wait, there's more! We've been having so much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!

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