Scrambled Tofu (Soft Vegan Scrambled Eggs Recipe)

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🍳Tofu Scramble Ingredients 

Two Kinds of Tofu

This scramble uses two types of tofu for max texture and flavor. Extra-firm tofu gets shaved thin and browned in vegan butter until just lightly golden and chewy, which gives the scramble that signature egg-like folds. Silken tofu (medium, firm, or extra-firm all work) gets blended into a creamy, pourable sauce that cooks down into a soft-set, custardy finish.

If you want to dive deep into tofu wizardry, my free tofu cooking class breaks down the science of what tofu to use when, and how to get wild textures you didn’t think were possible from a block of soy.

Vegan Butter

Vegan butter browns the tofu and boosts that “breakfast” flavor. My go-to is Earth Balance buttery sticks, they come in marked wrappers, which makes measuring super easy. Trader Joe’s vegan butter is a solid budget-friendly option that tastes pretty good, too. Or if you wanna go fully homemade, I'll walk you through how to make killer vegan butter from scratch in my vegan dairy crash course.

Unsweetened Plant-Based Milk

Unsweetened plant-based milk thins the sauce just enough to coat the tofu. Soy and oat milk work best—they blend smoothly and hold up to heat without splitting. Almond milk is fine too, as long as it’s unsweetened and unflavored. (Vanilla scrambled eggs? 🤢 Big nope.)

Sweet Rice Flour

Sweet rice flour thickens the sauce into soft, scrambled-like curds with that signature custardy finish. It's the same flour I use in vegan pad see ew and karioka (Filipino mochi donuts) for its unbeatable texture. 

Regular white rice flour can sub in as long as it's finely milled. Skip brown rice flour, which is too gritty, or all-purpose here, which will make your eggs weirdly gloopy, and that’s not what we came here for.

Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional yeast adds that subtle, funky depth that gives the scramble its egg-adjacent soul. It’s nutty, savory, and rounds out the flavor in a way that plain salt can’t touch. 

Got some nooch left after this? Use it to whip up a batch of vegan parmesan, vegan cotija, or vegan nacho cheese, especially good slathered on a tofu scramble breakfast sandwich.

Kashmiri Chili Powder

Kashmiri chili powder is the same stuff I use in my vegan shakshuka, and it really rounds things out without making the dish spicy. If you don’t have any on hand, paprika works just fine as a backup.

Asafetida (optional)

Asafetida packs some oniony, eggy pungency. Use the powdered stuff, not the stiff, dark resin kind, as it’s easier to measure and dissolves more evenly into the sauce. 

It’s famously used in vegan Indian recipes like vegan tikka masala and aloo gobi. If you don’t have any, just replace it with some onion powder.

Black Salt (Kala Namak)

Kala namak is your egg-flavor-duplicator (sorry, I am a dad). Sulfur-rich and deeply savory, this gives the scramble that unmistakable eggy aroma, which is essential if you want the real deal taste. It’s also what I rely on to bring eggy depth to vegan matzo brei. If you’ve never seen it before, don’t expect it to look like printer toner or something. It’s not actually black, but more of a pinkish gray. 

Miso Paste

Miso paste gives body and fermented umami to the eggs. I like to use white miso, but you can absolutely use doenjang, taucu, or fermented bean paste if that’s what you’ve got. Just be sure to taste and adjust the final scramble before serving, as each of these pastes brings its own saltiness and funk level.

📖 How to make vegan scrambled eggs

You’re hungry. You don’t wanna scroll. But you also don’t want sad scrambled tofu. So here’s your guide. Don’t worry, there’s a printable recipe card at the bottom if you’re in turbo mode.

Step One

Meet The Press:

Drain the extra-firm tofu and press it for 15 minutes using a tofu press or a weighted towel setup to remove excess water.

Step Two

Shaving Private Ryan:

Use a mandoline or the slicer side of a box grater to shave the tofu into thin, irregular strips. Some breakage is fine, that is going to happen a bit anyway when you cook it.

Step Three

Tofu Legit to Quit: 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the vegan butter and half the shaved tofu. Cook until very lightly browned but not stiff, hard, or dark. on most sides. Remove, then repeat with the rest of the butter and tofu. Combine all the tofu back into the pan.

Step Four

The Blend Justifies the Means:

In a blender, combine the silken tofu, garlic, onion, plant milk, rice flour, nutritional yeast, Dijon, chili powder or paprika, asafetida (if using), turmeric, black salt, and miso. Blend for 30 seconds on high until smooth.

Step Five

Pour Whom the Bell Tolls:

Pour the blended sauce into the pan with the tofu. Stir to coat everything evenly.

Step Six

In Total Scrambles:

Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir gently and cook for 5–6 minutes until the sauce thickens and resembles soft scrambled eggs.

✅ Let the tofu cook on one side for a couple of minutes, then flip it about and let it cook for a minute or two on the other side to encourage slight browning in some spots.

Step Seven

Veg for Mercy: 

If using optional vegetables, sauté them in a separate pan until tender. Fold them into the scramble during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Step Eight

Herb Your Enthusiasm: 

Taste and adjust seasoning with more black salt. Serve hot, garnished with herbs like chives, parsley, or dill.