Craving something savory and indulgent for yourself, or to make on your next date night? Look no further! This creamy, dreamy Marry Me Tofu is sure to impress.
Tofu steaks are dredged pan-fried to perfection and simmered in a flavorful sun-dried tomato cream sauce. Serve it atop rice or pasta for a satisfying meal that is deceptively simple to make.
Table of Contents
What is Marry Me Tofu?
You can thank TikTok for this one! Over the past month I’ve been seeing a lot of people make “Marry Me Chicken,” a dish featuring seared chicken breasts in a creamy sun-dried tomato and parmesan sauce. The joke is that the dish is so good that if you make it for someone, they might just propose!
I knew right away that I’d have to make my own vegan version! The dish could easily be veganized by replacing the chicken breasts with a plant-based chicken alternative, but I have been loving tofu so much lately that I figured I’d use that instead!
Tofu is generally way easier to find and more affordable than vegan chicken cutlets, and it also is the perfect blank canvas for all the delicious flavors going on in the sun-dried tomato cream sauce.
Ingredients for Marry Me Tofu
- Super-firm tofu.
- Flour, salt & pepper. To season and dredge the tofu prior to pan-frying.
- Olive oil and vegan butter. I use olive oil to pan-fry the tofu, and butter to make the sauce. Feel free to use just one or the other, but I love the flavor of both.
- Red pepper flakes. Optional, to add some heat.
- Onion and garlic.
- Chicken-style vegetable broth. This will add an extra savory dimension to the sauce. You can purchase vegan chicken-style bouillon cubes or paste. Regular veggie broth can also be used, but you may need to add a bit of extra salt.
- Cashew cream or vegan heavy cream alternative. For a luscious, creamy sauce. Simply blend soaked raw cashews with water in a high-powered blender until velvety smooth. You can find my full recipe for Cashew Cream also on the blog!
- Vegan parmesan. My favorites are by Follow Your Heart or Violife. You can also substitute in a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
- Dried thyme & oregano. Feel free to use fresh if you keep those in stock.
- Sun-dried tomatoes. Look for the kind that come packed in oil. If you can’t find those, you can rehydrate dried sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water.
- Fresh basil. For the perfect amount of freshness and color.
How to Make Marry Me Tofu
Pan-Fry the Tofu
Step 1. Cut the tofu into 1/2″ steaks or another shape of your choice.
Step 2. Season the tofu generously with salt, plus black pepper to preference. Dredge with flour.
Step 3. Preheat olive oil in pan and fry until golden.
Step 4. Flip and repeat on other side.
Step 5. Repeat until all sides are browned.
Step 6. Set browned tofu aside.
Make the Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Step 1. In the same pan, melt vegan butter.
Step 2. Sauté diced onion with (optional) red pepper flakes, thyme, and oregano until tender.
Step 3. Add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
Step 4. Stir in cream and vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast) and simmer to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Put It All Together
Step 1. Add back in the pan-fried tofu and fresh basil.
Step 2. Toss tofu to coat, and allow to simmer another 1-2 minutes to reheat.
Marry Me Tofu FAQ
Yes, certainly! If you do, I recommend giving it a thorough press for at least 20 minutes. This will firm up the texture and remove extra moisture (which will help it brown nicely when pan-frying).
Blocks of firm/extra firm tofu tend to be a bit smaller (usually 12 or 14 ounces) compared to the super-firm tofu blocks (usually 16 ounces), so you might want to use 1 1/2 blocks of tofu if you want to keep the sauce ratio correct.
Yes. For the homemade route, substitute in soaked sunflower seeds for the cashews. Sunflower cream has a slightly less neutral flavor compared to cashew cream, but the texture is equally creamy and the flavor is relatively mild.
For a store-bought option, try one of the many plant-based heavy cream alternatives on the market. Silk Dairy-Free Heavy Whipping Cream, Country Crock Plant Cream, or Califia Farms Better Half are just a few options.
Finally, you can try using a cup of full-fat coconut milk if you don’t mind a slightly coconutty flavor.
This sauce would be amazing with any of your favorite proteins. Tempeh can be dredged and pan-fried just like tofu, for example.
If you want to make vegan Marry Me Chicken, there are quite few vegan chicken substitutes on the market, such as the ones by Daring Foods and Gardein. Gardein offers a chick’n scalloppini which would work great in this recipe, although it can sometimes be hard to find. A homemade chicken-style seitan filet would be a great option too.
My personal go-tos are the Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan Shreds or the Violife Just Like Parmesan Wedge. However, I know that Daiya and Trader Joe’s also make vegan parmesan shreds, though I haven’t tried either of them yet.
Storage & Reheating
Marry Me Tofu keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days in a sealed container. The sauce tends to thicken when chilled, so you may wish to add a splash of water when reheating it to thin it back out to your preferred consistency.
This dish can also be kept in the freezer for a month. Freezing and defrosting will alter the texture of the tofu somewhat, making it a bit spongier. Thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating, ideally, or simply microwave it. As mentioned above, the sauce will thicken, so you may wish to thin it back out with a splash of water.
More Tofu Recipes
- Spicy Gochujang Tofu (Korean Inspired)
- Better Than Chipotle Sofritas (Copycat Recipe)
- Baked Buffalo Tofu Bites
- Want to take your tofu-making to the next level? Try making homemade tofu from scratch!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve made this recipe and loved it, please leave a 5-star rating and review below! Also, if you post a picture on Instagram and tag me @sarahsvegankitchen_, I’d love to see your work.
Marry Me Tofu
Video
Equipment
- Enameled braiser or other skillet
Ingredients
Pan-Fried Tofu
- 1 (16 oz) block super-firm (high protein) tofu cut into 1/2" steaks or pieces
- salt and pepper to generously season the tofu
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Marry Me Cream Sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1/2 medium onion, or 2 shallots finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional, or use Calabrian chili paste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes diced
- 1 cup vegetable broth I recommend chicken-style bouillon; see notes
- 1 cup cashew cream recipe follows; see notes for substitutions
- 1/4 cup grated vegan parmesan or sub 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil plus extra to garnish
- salt to taste
Cashew Cream
- 1/3 cup raw cashews soaked 4+ hours or boiled ~10 minutes
- 2/3 cup hot water
Instructions
Prepare the Cashew Cream
- If you would prefer to use a store-bought nondairy cream, check out the recipe notes for recommendations.
- Make sure the cashews are thoroughly soaked or boiled so they blend as smoothly as possible. Drain the soaking liquid and add the cashews to a high powdered blender along with 2/3 cup hot water. Blend for several minutes, until the mixture is completely smooth. Set aside.
Prepare the Tofu
- Cut the tofu into your preferred shape — you can do 1/2" steaks, cubes, or triangular pieces. I tend to prefer the smaller pieces because it gives the tofu a little more surface area for the sauce to coat.
- Generously salt the tofu pieces and add pepper to preference. Add 1/3 cup flour to a plate or shallow dish and dredge the tofu.
- Heat a skillet or braiser over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil (or enough to coat the bottom of the pan) and heat until the oil shimmers.
- Add the dredged tofu pieces in one layer (work in batches if needed). The tofu should sizzle immediately when added to the pan; otherwise, the oil isn't hot enough. Pan-fry until lightly golden brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove the browned tofu to a plate.
Prepare the Sauce
- Melt the nondairy butter in the same pan. Add in finely diced onion, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional), 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme to the pan. Add a generous pinch of salt and sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until onion is tender.
- Add minced garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the 1/3 cup diced sundried tomatoes and sauté for another minute.
- Pour in 1 cup vegetable broth. If any bits are sticking to the bottom of the pan, gently scrape them loose with your wooden spoon.
- Stir in the 1 cup cashew cream (or plant-based cream substitute), along with the 1/4 cup shredded vegan parmesan (or 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast). If you are using nutritional yeast, you may need to add in an extra pinch of salt.
- Let the sauce simmer, stirring often, until it thickens to a creamy consistency. This usually only takes a minute or two. If it thickens a little more than you prefer, you can simply stir in an extra splash of water or vegetable broth.
- Give the sauce and a taste and season to preference with salt. The amount of salt needed will vary depending on the brand of broth and parmesan you used. Chicken-style bouillon tends to run on the salty side, but a regular veggie broth from a carton will likely need extra salt.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons fresh basil. Then add the pan-fried tofu back into the pan, gently tossing to coat with sauce. Allow it to simmer for another minute or two to reheat the tofu.
- Serve garnished with more fresh basil. Pair with pasta or rice for a satisfying meal.
Notes
- Chicken-style vegetable broth: This will make the sauce more savory! I recommend using double-concentrated broth for more flavor — just use 2x the bouillon required for 1 cup of broth. My favorite options are the Not-Chick’n Edward & Sons Bouillon Cubes or the Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base.
- Vegan parmesan: I like the Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan Shreds or the Violife Just Like Parmesan Wedge.
- No Cashews: You can replace the cashews with raw sunflower seeds to make homemade sunflower cream. It doesn’t have as neutral a flavor as cashews but it’s very creamy. You can also use canned coconut cream if you don’t mind the slight coconut flavor — I find the Sprouts brand works well for this. Alternatively, you can use your favorite plant-based half & half or heavy cream substitute. Silk and Country Crock offer two options. I haven’t tested this recipe with either personally.
- Can’t find super-firm tofu: You can make this with firm/extra-firm tofu. I recommend giving it a thorough press for at least 20 minutes to firm it up and remove extra moisture. Blocks of firm/extra firm tofu tend to be a bit smaller (usually 12 or 14 ounces), so the ratio of sauce-to-tofu will be a bit different. You can use 1 1/2 blocks firm/extra-firm tofu if you like.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided on Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen is an estimate and is offered for general informational purposes only. Values will vary depending on the specific brands and amounts used.
My sister turned me on to Sarah. Marry Me Tofu is utterly delicious. Love it. Followed the recipe precisely, except I halved red pepper flakes. I am so thankful there are creative people whose passion is vegan cooking. My creative side is marginal so thank you Sarah for giving us your wonderful creations!!!
This was very good. I am thankfully not a vegan so I used dairy yoghurt and butter and real parmesan cheese. ( no animal rennet).
Served on penne. Very good and simple recipe. The flavours and textures complement each other.
Thanks. JMR
I’ve made this 5 or 6 times and I love it! I usually swap the tofu for protein pasta.
I made this for my non vegan parents too and they absolutely loved it
Sarah … of all the vegan cooks out there you are the first one I go to for everything
Your recipes are so doable and simply delicious.. you have a huge talent.
This one in particular blew me away
Thank you so much x
Very simple and delicious. I didn’t have any parm and it turned out great with the nooch. I also didn’t have fresh basil (I know, blasphemy) and it was still delicious using dried!
I followed the version of this where she uses tomato paste. Also I did a cup of coconut milk instead and I didn’t have anymore veg parm so I used 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast.
This dish will now be a staple in my house. I made it twice and different people from my family ate it both times and they loooveddddd it. My brother and his wife don’t like tofu but went back for seconds. My mom is so so so picky she basically only eats like 4 different dishes but she LOVEDDD this dish which was super surprising because she’s so picky.
All in all it’s a definite crowd pleaser thank you so much Sarah for sharing this with us!
I have wanted to make this recipe for years and finally got around to it yesterday. It’s hands-down one of the best things I’ve ever cooked! I think we’ll try it with shrimp and pasta shells next time, but that sauce is so delicious that it would be good on most things. This recipe is such a winner, everyone should try it!
So so good!
This was amazing! So delicious and it will definitely be added to our regular recipe rotation. It received a 10/10 from my partner, who kept going back to the pan to sneak more tofu into his bowl 🙂
Really good. My husband is not plant based and he liked it. I used regular oil free sun dried tomatoes and it was fine. Highly recommended.
So so delicious
I used all olive oil as i dont use vegan butter or margarine and it was still bomb. Will be making again and again
Oh! My!! Gosh!!! I will definitely be making this dish again. Thank you for the clear instructions and the notes.
Truly a phenomenal dish that we made for our non-plant based families… it was a hit!
I make this at least once a fortnight now. It is delicious. I have swapped the tofu out for chickpeas on occasion and also added mushrooms.
My family love it!