The other day my mom called me sounding a little defeated. She wanted to substitute tofu for paneer in a particular dish but had no idea how to cook the tofu to achieve the texture she wanted.

Can we just take a moment here…my mom, one of the greatest cooks on the planet (no bias here!), asked ME for help in the kitchen.

Ok, I’m done.

There are probably a bunch of delicious ways to prepare tofu, but my favorite method involves a grill pan (or any large frying pan), cooking spray, tofu, and the stovetop.

I used to be a baked tofu person but became a stovetop convert rather quickly when I tasted the difference between the two cooking methods.

Baked = slightly more chewy and tough.
Stovetop = crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

So here’s what I shared with my mom…stovetop tofu in 10 easy steps!

1. Remove extra-firm* tofu block from packaging.

Stovetop Tofu 011

2. Wrap tofu in paper towels to create a wrapped package of sorts.

Stovetop Tofu 013

3. Press down on block with body weight.

Stovetop Tofu 015

4. Place a heavy object (I always use a text book) on the wrapped block and let sit for 15 minutes.

Stovetop Tofu 016

5. Unwrap tofu and cut into whatever size you desire.

Stovetop Tofu 022

6. Spray grill pan (or large frying pan) with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat.

Stovetop Tofu 030

7. Arrange cut tofu pieces on pan and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes until brown.

Stovetop Tofu 039

8. Flip over and cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes until brown.

Stovetop Tofu 048

9. Remove from pan and let cool.

*No pic for this step because the tofu basically went from pan to mouth. 🙂

10. EAT UP!

Tofu pieces can be used in curry, on a salad…whatever you want really! This method create delicious tofu that comes out perfectly every time.

And I must thank my talented in-house photographer for these pictures!  He did an amazing job!  Thanks, Vishnu!

*I have only used this method with extra-firm tofu.

What’s your preferred way of preparing tofu?

By Parita

16 thoughts on “Stovetop Tofu in 10 Easy Steps”
  1. We are all about stovetop tofu in our house! I tried baked tofu for the first time a few weeks ago, and that was delicious too! It just takes more time than I usually have, so we usually opt out of that. I thought about buying a tofu press from Amazon, but I think cutting board, paper towel, kitchen scale and canned goods work as a press for now 😉 This looks great, though! Glad the new camera is working out!
    Aparna B. recently posted…Book Reviews Part 3My Profile

  2. Ohhh P You’ve sparked a tofu craving….and soy is one of the things I had to eliminate from my diet because it gave me terrible stomach pains! Although I think you know my favourite way of eating it (after yonks ago commenting on my insta picture where I put my tray, blender and random pots on it to get the liquid out) by baking it- Although I never tried it stove top. One day I’ll test it out again.

    Extra Firm or nothing- the others turn out like jelly!
    Arman @ thebigmansworld recently posted…Blogging Politics #2= Competitive bloggingMy Profile

    1. I hope you get to try this out at some point. It’s so easy and tastes great the next day as well.

  3. pumkin I am one of the greatest cook because of you all have an extraordinarius taste!! BTW pictures are looking crisp too:)!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.