Silken Tofu is one of my favorite ingredients to use to hit my protein goals! There are two types of silken tofu that you can buy – shelf-stable and refrigerated! I really like the shelf-stable variety, because it doesn’t take up fridge space and you can get it in a couple different firmness levels. My go-to brand is Mori-Nu and I really like their Extra Firm Silken Tofu! It’s over 60% protein on a calorie basis. Silken Tofu is the perfect high protein ingredient to substitute into creamy recipes – like sauces, dressings, puddings, etc.! You can even use it to make high protein mayo and sour cream, which of course, you can use in an abundance of other things!
Check out the recipes below for some inspiration on how you can start incorporating silken tofu into your food rotation to hit that protein goal!
These High Protein Vegan Bacon Ranch Loaded Fries are one of the most addictive things I've ever made! We use Silken Tofu in the Ranch Dressing that is used on these Loaded Fries. This High Protein Ranch Dressing can be used on all kinds of other things too – salads, loaded potatoes, pizzas, or just to dip fresh-cut veggies in!
Most Chickpea Salads are made with store-bought mayo, which makes them pretty high in fat (I have no issue with fat btw!), and not very friendly for hitting your protein target! For this Chickpea Salad recipe, we use homemade mayo that is made with Silken Tofu. This reduces calories, fat and increases the protein content, making it a perfect lunch to meal prep when you have protein targets you're trying to hit!
These Fudgy Vegan Protein Brownies are made with Extra Firm Silken Tofu, which results in a decent amount of protein for a brownie! I wouldn't call them high protein, but they are a good little protein snack if you have some extra calories. I think they taste just as good as normal brownies do; you can't even tell that they're made with tofu!
If you have ever felt like you needed to give up pizza because you're counting calories and tracking your macros, you definitely don't! This High Protein Pizza Crust is made with Extra Firm Silken Tofu and soy flour, and tastes amazing! It pretty easy to make, and since we're not using yeast for the crust, we don't have to wait for the dough to rise or anything!
This High Protein Coconut Dragonfruit Smoothie uses Silken Tofu for extra protein and extra creaminess! As with most smoothies, this is more of a smoothie inspiration – you can use your favorite fruits and veggies instead. But I highly recommend trying Silken Tofu in your next smoothie – it is awesome!
I think these High Protein Deviled Eggs are the coolest thing I've ever made! The "eggwhites" are made from silken tofu, soy milk and agar agar, and the "yolk" is made with firm tofu. They were actually really freaky to look at and eat because they looked and tasted so realistic!
This is the perfect high protein meal to meal prep with! We like to make a big batch of this, portion it out and take it to work for lunch! It's a really versatile meal because you can change up what veggies you put in it!
I have made this High Protein Triple Chocolate Cheesecake for TWO family get togethers and one work potluck! Everyone was very happy and nobody could've guessed that it had tofu in it! For these events, I made this with a cookie crust instead of the TVP crust that's in the recipe. When it's just me and my partner, I make it with the chocolate TVP crust because we actually really like it and the macros are fantastic!
This High Protein Caesar Salad uses a high protein Caesar dressing that's made with silken tofu! I think it tastes really really close to normal Caesar dressing, and if you disagree, I'm blaming that on me not having eaten Caesar dressing in several years.
This is one of the yummiest vegan sandwiches I've ever had! We use shaved super firm tofu that is marinated in maple syrup and soy sauce! And we cover it in a tasty, creamy high protein cheese sauce that is – you guessed it! – made from Silken Tofu!
This High Protein 7-Layer Taco Dip is a high protein spin on the classic 7-layer dip! We use Silken Tofu to make a high protein sour cream and high protein creamy nacho cheese sauce. Perfect to eat with tortilla chips or roll-up into a tortilla for a quick 7-layer taco!
This is my most favorite Mac & Cheese evveerrr! The cheese sauce is made with Silken Tofu and we add high protein bacon bits to the top. These are made with TVP – I've seen people sub these homemade bacon bits with pre-made ones – please don't; it's so much better with homemade!
High Protein Garlicky Mushroom Alfredo is one of my favorite easy dinners to make during the week. You can use your favorite mushrooms – you could also add in other veggies like spinach! This is also a great high protein option to meal prep!
This High Protein Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake is one of my most favorite things I have ever made with Silken Tofu! The cheesecake filling is super creamy and delicious; maybe a little less firm than a typical cheesecake but cheesecake seems like the right name for it? I used TVP for the crust, but if you're not worried about macros, you swap this out with a cookie crust instead!
Have you ever have Loaded Sweet Potato Fries? If not, you should try these! They are full of a bunch of flavors that really blend together well, and the protein is pretty great too!
I love these High Protein "Bacon" Scalloped Potatoes. Lucky for us, a lot of scalloped potato recipes use Condensed Mushroom Soup as the creamy sauce – and we can make our own High Protein Condensed Mushroom Soup with the magic of Silken Tofu! I love all scalloped potatoes, but I might love these the most!
My cousin used to make this Chocolate & Vanilla Pudding Pie to bring to family gatherings when I was a kid. It was my favorite thing ever! I have re-created it using Silken Tofu for the pudding! If that hasn't sold you on this Pudding Pie, it also has peanut butter crumbles on top!!
When I was growing up, there was always this Hashbrown Casserole at family get togethers and potlucks – it was literally just sour cream, condensed mushroom soup, frozen hashbrowns and cheese. Lucky for us – we can make sour cream and condensed mushroom soup with Silken Tofu, which means we can make a calorie-friendly, creamy and delicious vegan version of this dish!
My partner's family makes sausage gravy and biscuits every year for Christmas morning. He went vegan when we moved in together, so the least I could do was come up with a High Protein Vegan Sausage Gravy and Biscuits for him! He loves this dish, so if you make it and don't like it, take it up with him! 🙂
This High Protein Vegan Broccoli Salad tastes EXACTLY like the original broccoli salad that you've definitely had at work potlucks and family get togethers. But instead of being super high in calories and fat, this one is full of protein, because we used Silken Tofu in this "dressing". I've fed this to many non-vegans and no one had a mean word to say about it!
Why would you eat normal sour cream when you could use this High Protein Sour Cream? Since we use Silken Tofu for this Sour Cream, it's fairly low-calorie, low-fat and high protein! It's great for tacos, potatoes, and literally anything else you would use sour cream for!
These High Protein Twice Baked Potatoes use Silken Tofu in the twice baked potato part! Which makes them extra creamy and adds a nice sour cream tangy-ness! We also use TVP fro the "bacon" bits – if you haven't used TVP yet, congratulations, you've got a new rabbit hole to fall down!
This Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole is not what I would call "high protein", but it does have a lot more protein than a normal sweet potato casserole, and it is way creamier!
This creamy, dreamy pumpkin pie masterpiece also uses Silken Tofu in the filling! You could literally eat nothing but this High Protein Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving and completely nail your protein macros!
I'm sure by now it is unsurprising to you that you can make a creamy and delicious Spinach & Artichoke Dip with Silken Tofu! But I hope you're still a little excited! This is my most favorite warm dip ever! It's perfect to eat with tortilla chips or crackers!
Did you know that you could make Vegan Condensed Mushroom Soup high protein by using Silken Tofu? And then you could use that High Protein Condensed Mushroom Soup for delicious things like this High Protein Green Bean Casserole! Like I needed another reason to eat those crunchy little onions!
This High Protein Dirt Pudding is the coolest thing I made last Fall! If you don't like gummy worms and crushed up Oreos in your pudding (I feel sorry for you :(), you can just make the pudding plain. Either way silken tofu works amazingly well in pudding!
High Protein Alfredo is thing I use Silken Tofu for most often. This is the EASIEST meal I make – it takes under 20 minutes. It's amazing for when you've had a long day and don't want to be in the kitchen for very long but still want to eat something healthy and filling. You can add whatever veggies or meat substitutes (vegan chick'n, etc.) you like to make it a variety of ways!
I really like the texture that using Silken Tofu adds when making Seitan. This Seasoned Seitan "Steak" is great to eat on tortillas or really any other way you would normally eat a seasoned steak. It's not as chewy as real steak and that's ok with me personally because actual steak has always grossed me out!
High Protein Mayo might be one of my favorite things to make with Silken Tofu! It's not just because mayo is delicious, it's because of all the recipes that use mayo and realizing that you can now make those with a high protein, low fat mayo substitute. The possibilities are endless!
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan
