In this tofu tikka masala recipe, pressed tofu cubes are marinated in a creamy blend of coconut milk and fragrant spices. They are then baked, smashed and simmered in a lush tomato gravy. This dish offers a heavenly aroma and a comforting bowl to dig into at the end of the day.
This recipe was originally published in October 2012 and reposted in January 2023 with updated ingredients, copy, instructions and images.
Making this Tofu Tikka Masala
Time to visit your spice collection! This recipe uses quite a bit of them. Warm and fragrant garam masala, peppery coriander, earthy cumin and neon orange turmeric are all used to create an amazing marinade and luscious tomato gravy. This masala has two parts that are made separately, then unite together in a pot to simmer.
The Tofu Tikka: To make the tofu, you want to first press it well. Follow this tutorial on how to press tofu for this recipe (and any other recipe that uses a marinade for a deeply flavorful tofu!) Once pressed, the tofu will marinate overnight in coconut milk and spices, then baked.
The Masala: This gravy’s base is made with onions, tomatoes and coconut milk. Some warm spices and ginger help to pull everything together, making a deeply aromatic sauce.
Planning this recipe
This recipe takes time to marinate, bake and simmer. Making it a day or two before not only gives you the option to make it at your own pace, but also allows the flavors to mingle and deepen. This Cauliflower and Mushroom Curry is another recipe that tastes so much better a day or two after it’s made! So this can be a “quick reheat-and-eat” weeknight meal with the right planning.
Substitutes for Tofu in this Recipe
If tofu isn’t your thing, you can easily sub other ingredients in its place, like:
Cauliflower: Just chop it into bite-sized florets and give them a quick blanch to soften them up and pat dry before marinating.
Soy Curls: These would be amazing here! To prep soy curls, add them to a pot of boiling water, cover, and allow to rehydrate for about 10 minutes. Pat them dry before placing them into the marinade.
Gardein vegan chicken: Put the frozen pieces into the marinade and place into the refrigerator overnight.
These can be baked until slightly golden on the outside, then added to the masala sauce.
You can also skip the marinating step and just add chickpeas, sautéed and quartered mushrooms, mixed vegetables (sliced carrots and peas are good choices) or a combination of them.
Tofu: To Smash or not to Smash?
In this recipe, I like to bake tofu cubes on one side, flip, then smash with a fork to create irregular pieces. It makes the texture in the dish more interesting. But you can also keep the tofu cubed if you like it that way!
How to serve this recipe
This recipe should of course be served with rice. I used basmati, but any rice you like will do.
Rice hack: how to prevent rice grains from sticking together
If you don’t have time to soak and rinse your rice (and even if you do), add a drizzle of neutral oil to your rice and water before cooking it in your rice cooker. This will prevent the rice from getting clumpy or mushy.
More Tofu Dishes to Try!
Tofu Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Crispy Tofu with Spicy Ginger Sauce
Print
Tofu Tikka Masala
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 big servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This tofu tikka masala offers the perfect balance of tangy tomato, warm fragrant spices and creamy coconut. In this recipe, pressed, marinated, baked then smashed tofu cubes are simmered in a lush tomato gravy. This dish offers heavenly aromas and a big bowl of delicious comfort food!
Ingredients
for the tofu tikka
- ¼ cup canned coconut milk*
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 TB canola or grapeseed oil
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander seeds
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp red chili powder (increase up to 1 tsp if you like spice)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 14-oz. block of tofu, pressed, then cut into 1X1-inch cubes
for the masala
- 2 TB canola or coconut oil
- 2 TB vegan butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ to 1 tsp red chili powder (depending on your heat preference)
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 TB tomato paste
- 14 oz. can of chopped fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups full-fat canned coconut milk, plus more if a creamer end result is desired*
- 1/4 tsp salt, plus more to taste
to serve
- cooked basmati rice, for serving
- chopped cilantro, for serving
- vegan naan
- flaky sea salt if desired
- a few extra pinches of garam masala
- sambal (to add more heat if you’d like)
Instructions
for the tofu tikka
- Place all of the tofu tikka ingredients except for the tofu into a nutribullet or other small blender. Blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt or spice if you’d like.
- Place the tofu into a plastic container or bag and scrape the marinade over it. Stir or massage the bag to coat the tofu, taking care not to break it. Place it into the refrigerator overnight to marinate.
- To bake the tofu, preheat your oven to 425.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the tofu cubes onto it in an even layer, spaced apart.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Flip the tofu over and slightly mash it with a fork to create irregular shapes. You can alternatively leave it whole. Bake 10 minutes more or until the edges are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.
for the masala
- Heat the oil and vegan butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, stir and sauté until they develop some color, about 10 minutes. Add the ginger, stir and sauté a bit more, until the ginger is soft.
- In a small bowl, add the coriander powder, paprika, garam masala, red chili powder and turmeric. Stir to combine. Add to the pot and stir until well combined.
- Add in the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add in the canned tomatoes and stir. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
- Add in 1 cup of the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
- Add in the baked tofu and stir to combine. Allow to simmer for a few minutes more. Add more coconut milk (½ cup to a full cup), depending on how creamy you like it. Just taste as you go, and add even more coconut milk if you’d like.
- Add the salt. Taste, and add more salt if desired. Allow it to simmer for a few minutes more.
- Transfer to serving bowls and sprinkle with a little garam masala and salt if desired. Add some sambal on the side if you want some heat. Sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro.
Serve with basmati rice and vegan naan.
Notes
* You’ll use a little less than 2 cans of coconut milk in this recipe. Before using it, whisk it in a big bowl so the texture is even.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Keywords: tikka masala, tofu tikka masala, vegan tikka masala, vegetarian tikka masala
Some fantastic finds and gratitude for this week!
We just finished watching Kleo on Netflix. It’s a super stylish revenge thriller and Jella Haase is fantastic as Kleo!
The weather in Boston.
The weather this January has been amazing in Boston! I’ve been so grateful to take Harper out for long walks in just a heavy sweatshirt and yoga pants and not freeze. I’m loving it!
Hanifia says
Spot on phenomenal! I will definitely prepare this recipe again! Hanifia
★★★★★
Jill says
So may I should have read the whole recipe so I could cut down on posts 🙂 Will one can of coconut milk equal 2 cups? Still super excited to make this!!!
erinwyso says
2 cups is best, but most cans come in 13.66 oz, so you can probably get away with using just that, good luck!
Jill says
As far as the habanero goes, do I buy dried peppers and grind them up? We are super excited to make this!!!
erinwyso says
Hi Jill, you can use prepared habanero powder here, you can find it in most grocery spice sections — I hope you enjoy!
Anonymous says
I am based in the UK and have never heard of and can not find Earth Balance, could I ask what this is and is there anything else I could use instead please?
erinwyso says
You could leave it out altogether or make your own Earth Balance.
Elle says
This looks amazing! One questions; do you think it would affect the dish too much if I used regular diced tomatoes in place of fire-roasted? Unfortunately I haven't been able to find fire-roasted tomatoes here in Australia. Thanks!
erinwyso says
Thank you! I think regular diced tomatoes would be fine here. I hope you enjoy!
Elle says
Opps, that should have been one question, not questions!
Thanks, I look forward to trying the recipe this week!
Leila A. Fortier says
Another award worthy recipe, Erin! The only change I made was adding a Tb. of Tumaric powder to the marinade. Absolutely delicious as much as it was an authentic tasting Indian meal- full of exotic flavor~ Served with naan. Vegan heaven!
erinwyso says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Leila! I adore the combo of coconut and habanero here, and tumeric sounds like a nice addition to compliment the other spices. Thanks for your feedback! : )
christine says
I adore Indian foods and make many different curries. I'd just like to point out that coriander seeds have a very different flavour to the ground coriander leaf! the seeds have a sort of orangey flavour, quite sweet, totally unlike the leaves, which are savoury. Both are invaluable and delicious:) this is a great recipe, thank you:)
vegantester says
oh, and i used about 0.5 tbsp of ground coriander in place of the dried cilantro – i remembered that for richa's tikka masala i couldn't find the dried fenugreek leaves she used, only had ground seeds, and she pointed out that the seeds are stronger in flavour so to use half. i figure the same probably applied to dried cilantro leaves vs. ground coriander seeds.
vegantester says
made this last night – totally, completely AMAZING! really complex and deep flavours, and it tasted like restaurant-quality tikka masala. i only had time to marinate my tofu for about 1.5 hours but it was still so buttery and delicious. i also left out the habanero because i didn't have any, and just added some chili powder instead.
this is definitely on my favourites list for winter!
erinwyso says
That's awesome, thanks for try it out and letting me know you liked it! : )
Jessie says
Looks great! Can't wait to try this dish. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Mandee says
This looks delciously spicy! I've never made tikka either but now I want to!
Maggie Muggins says
I've had that one bookmarked for while too! Thanks for veganizing it for me, lol.
Yours looks irresistible, much better then anything Guy Fieri could come up with 🙂
erinwyso says
Aw, thanks Maggie! *blush*
erinwyso says
Richa always makes fabulous recipes, I am sure this one was great! I think that dried coriander is made from cilantro seeds, while dried cilantro is the leaf itself. I think either would work fine in the recipe.
vegantester says
i tried this vegan tikka masala last week: http://www.veganricha.com/2012/05/tempeh-tikka-masala-with-kale-vegan.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/Kbje+(Hobby+And+More)
except i added a whole bunch of swiss chard instead of just half a cup of kale, it was pretty delish, but i'm interested in trying yours, which seems a lot richer!
one question: does dried cilantro = ground coriander??
LittleMonsterx14 says
this looks so good!!
whiterosepath says
This looks (reads!) amazing. I'm definitely going to be making this. Thanks for experimenting with recipes and helping us make them vegan.
erinwyso says
Thank you! And thanks for visiting the blog!
Caitlin says
i've never had tikka masala either, but it looks freakin amazing! i love all of the components and the idea of layering them. and i've never heard of garam masala cinnamon stick! i will have to keep a lookout for them.
erinwyso says
Thanks Caitlin! Blogger has been mangling my hard returns lately, and pulling ingredients onto one line, so this was actually two separate ingredients, which I have fixed above.
But I would LOVE a garama masala cinnamon stick — now that would be a fragrant item!
Angry Asian says
personally, i adore tikka masala and it has never occurred to me to vegetarian-ize or vegan-ize it. i haven't had it in a very long time, as i always thought it was laden with dairy doom. i love me some indian food, dw's parents were peace corps hippies in India back in the 60s and that's what he grew up with, so it would be wonderful to bring back some beloved dishes that are friendly to both our palates…