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Your new go-to recipe for any lunch, party, or picnic is this eggless salad made with tofu! With just a handful of simple ingredients, you can create a crowd-pleaser that might become your favorite. Bonus: even your children will enjoy it!
Saturday's in the 90's meant cartoons, video games, and egg salad sandwiches! It was a cheap meal that usually consisted of hard-boiled eggs, miracle whip, mustard and some sugar.
When I decided that I didn't want to eat animals or anything they produce anymore, egg replacements weren't a huge thing. Baking wise you still had flax egg or applesauce, but for egg salad? That would have been a dream! But that's okay because 9 years ago after learning Kala Namak exist, I thought... if tofu can be an amazing scramble, it can totally be a tofu salad sandwich!
If you're looking for more sandwich or brunch/lunch recipes, check out my incredible vegan chicken salad, this amazing list of vegan sandwiches, and this awesome brunch list which features this very recipe!
I also love adding my delicious guacamole recipe into this tofu salad!
There are many tofu-free recipes out there, like chickpeas, that are supposed to mimic egg salad, but in my personal opinion, they just do not do a good job of really replicating a true egg salad. My recipe does exactly that! If you know, you know, Let's go back to the 90's!
🍲Ingredients
You will need a Medium Firm/Firm Tofu. You could also use a firm silken tofu. I haven't tried it but I don't see how it would be an issue!
Use yellow or dijon mustard.
Dill relish is optional.
Swap lemon juice for vinegar.
*Kala Namak is something you will find in your local Asian/Indian market, or online.
🔪Instructions
Start off by pressing your tofu for 10 minutes. You can either use a *tofu press, which is really convenient, or just do it the old fashioned way and press between several plates. Once pressed, pat with a towel to get excess liquid off. You really want this tofu free of any water.
Then, either dice into small bits or crumble with your hands into a medium sized bowl and sprinkle in the black salt (kala namak). Using a spoon or your hands, mix and try to coat all tofu in the black salt. Once everything is well mixed, set the tofu in the fridge to "marinate" a bit. This is going to make the tofu super eggy.
If you're short on time, of course you can skip this part and just add the tofu and black salt directly to the dressing.
For the dressing - add mayo, mustard, dill relish, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a bowl and mix well until all the sugar has dissolved. Then add in your tofu and fold everything together!
👩🏻🍳Cook's Tip
Leaving this to sit overnight before consuming will yield in an even tastier egg free salad!
💭Expert Tips
- A tofu press will cut the pressing time down by 10 minutes. Be sure to pat dry with a paper towel (or tea towels if you're conscious about waste), you really want to get as much of the water out as possible so that your dressing stays nice and thick.
- Cut out the sugar and use sweet relish in place of dill relish. Or, if you just want to cut back only a little on the sugar, half what is called for in the recipe and use sweet relish in place of the dill relish.
- Other optional ingredients - Smoked paprika - nostalgic deviled egg anyone? - fresh or dried dill, banana peppers, celery, onions, bell peppers, I love a crunchy factor to my meals.
📖Variations
Want to take this tofu eggless salad to another level? Add the following ingredients for extra flare!
Smoked Paprika reminiscent of deviled eggs anyone?
Fresh or dried dill
Banana peppers
Celery and onions
Bell peppers can you tell I really love adding extra crunch?
Check out some of my other tofu and salad recipes!
❓Frequently Asked Questions
While there are tons of mayo products on the market that use dairy or eggs, there are also quite a few brands of vegan mayo and most of them taste just like typical egg-based mayo.
No. When tofu is frozen, it takes on a completely different texture that would not be good for this particular recipe.
Absolutely! Tofu is the product of the curdling cooked soy milk and packing it together so that it holds shape. Because it is already cooked, it is safe to consume raw tofu and is often eaten just like that in Japan.
If you've tried this recipe and enjoyed it, I would love it if you could rate it 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a comment! It's a great, and free way to support me!
📖 Recipe
Eggless Salad Sandwich
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Tofu Press or a few plates
Ingredients
- 1 package medium-firm or firm tofu
- 1 cup vegan mayo
- 2 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- ¼ cup dill relish
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kala namak
- pinch of salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain your tofu, either in a tofu press or between plates.1 package medium-firm or firm tofu
- In a medium bowl whip together the dressing ingredients until well incorporated. Set aside in the refrigerator if still waiting on your tofu to drain.1 cup vegan mayo, 2 Tablespoon yellow mustard, ¼ cup dill relish, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon kala namak, pinch of salt and pepper
- If you'd like to marinate your tofu, add it to a bowl and add the black salt (kaka namak), toss the tofu around with a spoon until all is coated and place, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour.1 package medium-firm or firm tofu
- If you'd rather skip the marinating, just dice or crumble your tofu to your desire and add it straight to the dressing.
- Once everything is mixed well, you may serve right away or chill overnight. (it tastes even BETTER the next day!)
Notes
- For Soy-Free - There are some tofu substitutes out there called pumfu and hempeh that you could try with this recipe, however I have not tried these.
- Tofu substitute - If for some reason you just don't like tofu, you can totally use Chickpeas, however it will not be like a traditional egg salad. But still delicious!
- Add-ons - Jalapenos, dried or fresh dill, onions, smoked paprika, banana peppers and/or celery.
- Hate egg flavors? - you are welcome to skip the kala namak! It will still be a delicious salad!
- Sugar Substitutes - Things like Stevia may change the flavor, I have not tried. You can half the sugar and use sweet relish in place of dill relish. Or just use sweet relish and skip the sugar who knows, you may like it? Or try some xylitol type sugars
This recipe belongs to Planty Of Eats
Nutrition
This recipe was first developed in 2016, published in 2019, updated in April 2023.
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