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Bowl of Tofu Salad with a fork.
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5 from 2 votes

Soy-Ginger Marinated Tofu Salad

This tofu salad will be your new favorite salad! Made with gingery marinated tofu, crisp veggies, and creamy tahini dressing, it's totally meal-worthy and absolutely delicious.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Tofu Pressing and Marinating Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: Entree, Salad
Cuisine: American, Asian-Inspired
Servings: 4
Calories: 399kcal
Author: Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Marinated Tofu

  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) package extra-firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into ½-inch pieces

For the Dressing

  • ¼ cup tahini
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ cup water, or as needed

For the Salad

  • 6 cups salad greens (I like a mix of romaine lettuce and spring mix)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • ½ medium cucumber, sliced
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 small red bell pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1 orange (or 2 to 3 mandarins), divided and optionally chopped
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • Toasted sesame seeds
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Baked Tofu

  • Stir the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and ginger together in a small container.
  • Place the tofu in a shallow dish and pour the soy sauce mixture over it.
  • Allow the tofu to marinate, preferably for about 30 minutes, but no less than 5 minutes, gently stirring occasionally do distribute the marinade. (Note 1)
  • Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Arrange the tofu cubes on the baking sheet and bake them for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through and spooning any excess marinade over them. The tofu pieces should have darkened and shrunk slightly by the time they're done.

Make the Dressing

  • While the tofu bakes, whisk the tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, and sesame oil together in a small bowl or container.
  • Thin the mixture with water, adding enough to make the dressing creamy but pourable.
  • Taste-test the dressing and adjust any seasonings to taste.

Assemble the Salad

  • Divide the greens among bowls and top with cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, cucumber slices, peppers, oranges or mandarins, scallions and baked tofu.
  • Drizzle the salads with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

  1. Cover and chill the tofu if you're going to marinate it for more than 2 hours. The tofu can marinate for up to 24 hours this way.
  2. This recipe makes 4 large, meal-sized salads. You could add some extra greens and get 6 servings, or split it up into smaller, starter-sized salads.

Nutrition

Serving: 1salad (¼ of total recipe) | Calories: 399kcal | Carbohydrates: 35.6g | Protein: 15.3g | Fat: 24.6g | Saturated Fat: 4.4g | Sodium: 1396mg | Potassium: 986mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 18.9g | Calcium: 331mg | Iron: 7mg