Firm tofu is brushed with miso and pan-fried for the perfect quick and easy addition to any salad or bowl. Mix ginger, soy, and a few more flavors in with the miso for the finishing dressing to this grilled tofu salad recipe!
It’s nearly mid-January and I’ve been working hard testing recipes, writing, and photographing my next Steamy Kitchen book. Writing a cookbook is possibly one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done – even skydiving holds no candle to obsessing over creating perfect recipes and enticing photos for 12 months.
I’ve enlisted one of my best friends, Kelly, to help me once a week in the kitchen. Kelly was the very first friend I made when we moved to Florida and I don’t think I would have made it without her love and support – Scott and I had sold a house, bought a house, moved cross-country, started a business, got married, went on a honeymoon and got pregnant in 2 months flat. (Whew!)
Nathan, Andrew and Kelly’s son are best friends as well, all of them around the same age. The 3 Muskateers are often spotted dashing across the lawn with Nerf guns, hiding in a corner playing their Nintendo or out in the back pond luring a fish.
Kelly is a grad from Le Cordon Bleu, works as a personal chef and at the Viking Cooking School — so she knows her way around the kitchen. I couldn’t have found a better match!
How to make Grilled Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing
The Ingredients:
The steps are simple – the tofu slices are brushed with miso on both sides as you grill or pan-fry them. Make sure you get firm or extra firm tofu – the softer tofu will fall apart on the grill.
The miso dressing is so simple, just whisk it together in a small bowl with a fork.
Grilled Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra firm tofu
- 2 teaspoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons Miso & Easy (3 teaspoons miso paste + 3 teaspoons hot water), divided
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon oil for salad (olive, canola, vegetable, grapeseed)
- 4 handfuls of salad greens + any other salad vegetables of your choice
Instructions
- Cut the tofu block into 1/2" thick slices and with towel, pat each slice tofu dry on both sides.
- In a small bowl, add just 1/2 of the miso (we'll use the other half in the dressing). Brush the tofu on one side with some of the miso.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, drizzle in the cooking oil and add the tofu, miso side down. Cook for 2-3 minutes until browned. Brush the top of the tofu with more miso. Carefully flip the tofu and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk together the remaining miso, soy sauce, ginger, water, sesame oil and sugar. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking to finish the dressing.
- Assemble the salad greens and vegetables, serve with grilled tofu slice and miso salad dressing.
To turn this Grilled Tofu Salad into a Buddha bowl:
Just add a base of grains, rice, or noodles!
Rice & Noodles Route:
- How to Microwave White Rice
- How to Microwave Brown Rice
- Dried noodles like Japanese soba, Chinese egg noodles or dried rice noodles
- Korean “japchae” noodles made from sweet potato
- Fresh Asian noodles – flat rice noodles, fresh egg noodles (these cook in less than 5 minutes)
Or, some quick-cooking grains to consider:
- Quinoa – 10-15 minutes typically; can’t go wrong with directions from the box!
- Barley – We like cooking barley in vegetable broth instead of water. This grain also takes about 40 minutes to cook.
- Bulgur – Fast and tasty. I like Bob’s Red Mill brand.
- Farro – Bon Appetit has the perfect recipe for cooking farro.
- Freekeh – This one is my favorite! See if you can find cracked freekah at a health food store. Here’s how to cook it.
Whatever base you choose, season with salt as desired before topping with your tofu. Alternate adding your greens and that lip-smacking dressing you were already working on! Top it off with something crunchy – nuts, seeds, fried noodles, tempura scraps – right before eating.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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Thank you
Thanks for inspiring me to try tofu in a salad. This is a nice way to start.
wow, look so yummy, I will try it soon.
wow that looks soo pretty..
I have all those recipes on hand and will try! 🙂
Anything with tofu in it is delicious!!!
So happy to learn about this new, easy miso product! Grilled tofu salad is a go-to of mine for a week day meal. Thanks for introducing me to it!
looks great! never thought to grill tofu, but it makes total sense.
I love, love tofu but can you believe I have never had it in a salad? This looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it.
this makes a great side dish! Especially good for the festive season coming up.
I am loving the fact that if you don’t see the &, it looks like “Miso Easy.” Clever punning.
Beautiful tofu salad! Happy New Year, Jaden!
I am ALWAYS looking for more tofu recipes (since I can no longer stomach chicken now that we have chickens named ‘Cookie’ and ‘HeartKiss’ 🙂 Thanks! This looks so delicious.
This salad is lovely! It sounds so yummy 🙂
Juuuuuust gorgeous. I want to lick that tofu.