High Protein Vegan Philly Cheesesteak

Nutrition

Calories: 588kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 40.5g | Fat: 9.4g | Fiber: 5.5g

This recipes has all the complex flavors you would get from a normal Philly Cheesesteak except it's vegan, high protein and healthy! You can meal prep all of these components ahead of time so you can have a fresh sandwich everyday of the week; this one is quick and easy to make.

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Servings 2

Ingredients

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• ▢ High Protein Cheese Sauce
• ▢ High Protein Vegan Mayo
• ▢ 1/2 block high protein extra firm tofu (I use Wildwood)
• ▢ 2 tbsp soy sauce reduced sodium
• ▢ 2 tbsp maple syrup
• ▢ 2 cup Baby Bella Mushrooms sliced
• ▢ 1/2 onion diced
• ▢ 2 Hoagie buns (make sure they're vegan)

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Instructions

 

• With a wide vegetable peeler, shave the tofu block in very fine slices
• In a container, mix the maple syrup and soy sauce. Add in your finely shaved tofu and toss it by hand delicately to cover all of them in the marinade. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
• Make the High Protein Cheese Sauce per the recipe link above.
• Make the High Protein Vegan Mayo per the recipe link above. You could also use store bought vegan mayo but your macros and calories will vary.
• In a medium heat skillet, dump out the tofu slices and remaining marinade and cook, stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes.
• In a separate medium heat skillet, cook the mushrooms and onions for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning.
• Slice the hoagie buns in half and broil in the oven (cut-side facing up) until lightly browned and crispy.
• Spread mayo on one half the bun. Then add the cooked tofu on top, followed by the cooked mushrooms and onions, and the cheese sauce.

Equipment

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Blender

Vegetable Peeler (wide)

Notes

You can definitely sub out the high protein mayo for a store-bought mayo for convenience; however, it will change the calories and macros.

To make this gluten-free, you can sub out the soy sauce with coconut aminos and a gluten free bun option

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This is probably my favorite vegan sandwich I’ve made! It is take a little work, but the effort is definitely worth it. For this high-protein vegan Philly Cheesesteak, we will be using thinly sliced extra firm tofu that sits in a soy sauce and maple syrup marinade. This will be sautéed and topped with some cooked mushrooms and onions, a high-protein vegan cheese sauce, and some vegan mayo. The vegan cheese sauce and vegan mayo are homemade with silken tofu. This is actually a WFPB (Whole Food Plant Based) recipe since we’re not using any processed foods. When I posted this one online, I got so many trolls, which just tells me that the sandwich looks pretty damn convincing, so you should definitely try it!

This recipe could easily be made gluten-free by substituting out the soy sauce for coconut amino’s, and using a gluten-free sandwich bun. I do link to a couple of other recipes inside of the recipe card. I do this to keep the recipes really clean and easy to follow, so that you’re not scrolling forever trying to figure out how to make the recipe. I am always looking for feedback on how to make the website easier to use, so if you have any, let me know!

Ingredients

• High Protein Vegan Cheese Sauce – I used a homemade cheese sauce for this recipe, but if you have a favorite vegan cheese sauce that is store-bought that you prefer, you could use that instead. Just note that the calories in macros may change lightly. This cheese sauce is made with silken tofu and nutritional yeast, which is how it gets its protein. I really like to use this high-protein cheese sauce on things like sandwiches, nachos, loaded fries, tacos – you could literally just drink it as a savory smoothie – am I joking? Who can say for sure? 🙂
• High Protein Vegan Mayo – I used a homemade vegan mayo for this recipe, but you could sub out a store-bought mayo instead. Just know that it will change calories in macros slightly. The high protein vegan mayo is actually made with silken tofu is where it gets its protein. I really love this vegan mayo recipe because you can use it as a base for any dressing or sauce that would normally use mayonnaise and make it high-protein instead of high-fat! It is definitely a macro/protein hack.
• Super Firm or Extra Firm Tofu – I really like to use Wildwood High Protein Super Firm Tofu. There are other brands that make super firm and extra firm tofu as well that are also great. I really like super firm tofu because it comes in a water packed, meaning that it is has already been pressed. This is a time-saver because you don’t have to press it ahead of time. You can use extra firm tofu as well, if you don’t have super firm tofu – they’re actually pretty similar on a calorie/macro level. Just make sure you press it before hand. If you haven’t pressed tofu before, they make tofu presses that you can purchase online. Or you can go the old-school method of stacking a bunch of books on top of it for 20 – 30 minutes. I recommend using your old college books that you refused to sell back to the used bookstore (because it’s a rip-off) that you haven’t opened again since you graduated. 🙂
• Soy Sauce – I used a reduced sodium soy sauce for this recipe. If you are gluten-free and trying to make this recipe, you could definitely sub this for coconut amino’s, and it will taste pretty much the same. This is going to be used in the marinade for the tofu.
• Maple Syrup – I used maple syrup to get a little bit of a sweetness in the marinade. If you have a different syrup you would rather use, that would probably work OK too.
• Mushrooms – I used Baby Bella Mushrooms for this recipe, mostly because they’re cute and I like them. Any mushrooms will work just fine, and if you’re not a big mushroom fan, you can omit them entirely.
• Onion – I used a sweet onion for this recipe, but you can use whatever your favorite kind of onion is!
• Buns – I used store-bought hoagie buns, but really, you can use any kind of buns or bread you like. Just verify that they’re vegan because sometimes they like to sneak some dairy ingredients for no reason.

Instructions

• Depending on if you’re using super firm tofu or extra firm tofu, you’re going to do different things in this step. If you’re using extra firm tofu, now is the time to press this with a tofu press or a makeshift home method using books or a pan – something heavy enough to press the liquid out of the tofu, but with the weight balanced enough to do it evenly. Once the tofu has been pressed, or if you’re using super firm tofu (you can use it as is), we are going to thinly slice it. I used a wide vegetable peeler to shave the tofu block into very thin slices. However, if you don’t have wide vegetable peeler, you can definitely just thinly slice it with a knife. We’re trying to make this as thin as possible so that it becomes like shaved tofu.
• In a bowl or a Tupperware dish, mix the maple syrup in the soy sauce together. This is what we are going to be marinating the tofu in, so make sure it’s large enough to fit your tofu slices. Add in your finely shaved tofu, and toss it by hand, delicately, to cover all of the tofu with marinade. Allow this to sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
• Make the high-protein cheese sauce per the recipe link above. If you were going to use a pre-made cheese sauce, you can skip this step.
• Make the high-protein vegan mayo per the link above. Y ou could also swap in store-bought vegan mayo – just remember your calories will change.
• In a medium-heat skillet, dump out the tofu slices and the remaining marinade and cook – stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes. The tofu should start getting browned and a little bit tougher and that’s how you know it’s cooked. You do want to make sure you’re stirring pretty often so that you don’t have it sticking to the pan. If you don’t have a nonstick skillet, you might want to spray some oil on the pan before adding the tofu.
• In a separate medium heat skillet, cook the mushrooms and onions for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. Sometimes I like to cook the onions first and let them caramelize before adding the mushrooms, but I think you can also just cook them together and it won’t make much of a difference. If you are using a nonstick pan, you shouldn’t need oil, but if you’re concerned about sticking or if you’re using a nonstick pan, you should probably spray some oil.
• Cut the hoagie buns or whatever bread/bun you’re using in half (skip this if they’re already pre-cut or you’re using bread) and broil them in the oven (cut side, facing up) until lightly browned and crispy. You can skip this step if you want to but I really like having a toasted bun – I think it makes the sandwich better!
• Spread Mayo on 1/2 of the bun. Then add the cooked tofu on top, followed by the cooked mushrooms and onions, and finally the cheese sauce.

Silly Little Haiku

Tofu press method

Old textbooks or tofu press

Which do you prefer?