Tofu isn’t the enemy, your family is. This jiggly soybean beauty has gotten more popular and enjoyed more acceptance in the last decade, but there are still some misguided family members out there who think it’s wimpy, gross, or bland. (OK, it is bland, but in a good way.) Help your family get over their tofu prejudice by tricking them into eating more of this lovely ingredient. Here are a few ways to sneak lots of tofu into meals and get away with it. (Obviously, do not trick eaters with actual soy allergies, you monster.)
Oh that? That’s cheese.
Table of Contents
Tofu comes in an array of consistencies: soft or silken, medium, firm, extra firm, somewhat pressed and marinated, or fried. These varied textures give tofu the opportunity to masquerade as something else—like cheese.
Everyone likes cheese. That means your picky eaters at home will love the meatballs you made that are loaded with crumbly “cheese.” When you’re preparing your meat mixture, grab a half a block of extra firm tofu and drain it. Squeeze out any leftover water by pressing the tofu between a couple layers of paper towel. Using your hands or a fork, crumble the tofu into small pieces; as small as you can get them. You can season the crumbles with soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce if you’d like, or just drop them into the meat mixture unseasoned. Not only will the tofu aid in keeping the meatballs from becoming tough, it’ll stretch your mixture so you have more meatballs.
Cook the meatballs as you normally do, in red gravy or brown gravy, and with pasta or rice. Your family will love this new take on your famous meatballs. Don’t stop there, though; add it to any dish that works with cheese. Crumble firm tofu into lasagna, eggs, or casseroles. If you’re asked about the white crumbles in the dish, breezily respond with, “Oh that? That’s cheese.” Be ready with some crumbly cheese examples, like feta, queso fresco, cottage cheese, ricotta, cotija, or say something obtuse like “frying cheese.” Quickly move on to talk about the house chores they didn’t do yet.
Dessert, anyone?
Tofu desserts are scrumptious. I like tofu in most cases, but even with a critical lens, I can say that tofu desserts slap. What’s more, they’re usually no-bake and easy to assemble. Silken or soft tofu is the hero here. This type of tofu is so delicate, it almost has a pudding-like consistency straight out of the package. There are irresistible recipes where you don’t do much more than dress it up with sauce (like this spicy cold tofu).
However, if you’re disguising tofu, you’ll have to do more than dump it out of the package. To make a dessert that’ll knock the socks off of any supposed tofu-hater, make this dark chocolate peanut butter pie. Blend room temperature silken tofu with melted chocolate, peanut butter powder, honey, and a couple seasonings before pouring it into a pie crust. The chocolate in the mixture sets up firm in the fridge, so the pie cuts clean and stands up in perfect slices.
For a quicker, more informal dessert, try pudding. You can blend silken tofu with almost any flavorings and ingredients to make a creamy, comforting yet elegant pudding. Try adding honey and cocoa powder for chocolate pudding, or bananas, cinnamon, and maple syrup for “banana cake” pudding. Make a colorful fruity pudding with a few spoonfuls of jam.
Wondering when to come clean? Well, you could keep this evil secret forever, of course, but I think the moment will present itself naturally. Eventually, weeks or years from now, your family will begin requesting their “favorite meatballs” on any given night. Your kids might go away to college and start asking you for that pudding recipe because they need some comfort food. When this happens, they’re ready to know they love tofu. They always have.