Smoky, saucy, and ready in about 30 minutes, these shredded tofu tacos are a weeknight winner. Box-grated smoked tofu sautés with a quick spice blend until it takes on golden edges, then gets tossed with barbecue sauce until sticky and tender. Piled into warm tortillas with a tangy yogurt ranch slaw, it has all of those satisfying contrasts: sweet, tangy, cool, and creamy.
I love a crispy, crunchy tofu situation as much as anyone, but this easy vegan dinner goes in a different direction. For these tacos, we want the tender and plush texture of lightly sautéed tofu shreds! The filling is soft, saucy, and kind of surprisingly meaty once it’s all mingled with the sauce.
Smoked tofu deepens the barbecue flavor here without any extra effort. I find myself reaching for smoked tofu more often than plain! The pliant shreds (made by running the tofu over the big holes of a box grater) soak up sauce and spices so well.
If you cook from my site often, you won’t need a grocery run to make these tacos with tofu! Cabbage, tortillas, smoked tofu, and plain vegan yogurt are things I always have on hand. Pantry assists from spices and barbecue sauce tie it all together.
For the meal prep folks: you could make the tofu filling to completion up to 3 days ahead. Simply reheat it when needed with a splash of water. Same with the yogurt dressing for the cabbage–just whisk it together and store in a sealed jar in the fridge, keeping the shredded cabbage in a separate container. Another great shortcut for this recipe is to use bagged slaw mix from the grocery store.
Free Recipe eBook!
25 of my most popular recipes (plus 2 that have never been published before), all in a beautiful eBook!
Enter your email and I’ll send it right over.
Smoky BBQ Shredded Tofu Tacos with Yogurt Ranch Slaw
Ingredients
For the yogurt ranch slaw
- ½ cup plain vegan yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups finely shredded cabbage
For the tofu
- 220 gram package smoked tofu (I like Oomé brand)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
Assembly
- 6 6-inch tortillas, warmed
- pickled red onions, optional
Notes
- If you’re not big on smoky flavor, you can definitely swap firm or extra firm tofu instead! I would bump up the seasoning if you’re doing that.
- For vegan yogurt, I love Yoggu and Simpla brands. Both are coconut based, have minimal ingredients, and also have a bit of tang.
- Use corn (or brown rice, almond, chickpea etc) tortillas to keep it GF!
- I like to char the tortillas a bit on the open flame of my gas stove. You can also just simply wrap them up in foil and heat them in the oven/air fryer.
Instructions
Make the yogurt ranch slaw
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the vegan yogurt, lemon juice, dill, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Once combined, add the shredded cabbage. Toss to coat and then set aside in the refrigerator.
Make the BBQ shredded tofu filling
- Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the smoked tofu.
- Set a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shredded smoked tofu and spread it out. Season with salt and pepper and let it sit for 2 minutes. Add the paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder and stir.
- Let it sit for another 2 full minutes. Once you start to notice some of the shreds browning, pour in the barbecue sauce and stir. Once the shredded tofu and sauce are hot and the sauce is clinging, about 1-2 minutes, turn off the stove.
Assemble the tacos
- Place the warm tortillas on a platter/plates. Evenly divide the tofu mixture amongst all tortillas. Top each taco with an even portion of the yoghurt ranch slaw. Finish the tacos with pickled red onions if you like. Enjoy!
This dinner was a hit with my whole family, thumbs up all round! Would never have thought to cook tofu this way, so yum! Thank you for sharing :)
Such an easy and flavorful recipe for busy Summer nights. We added sliced avocados as well on top for some extra protein. I used regular extra firm tofu and just added some liquid smoke. Chefs kiss.
Made this with regular tofu as I don’t really enjoy the flavour of the smoked version, and it was a total hit! Added some avocado as a little extra. It’ll be part of our regular rotation! Thanks for another great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it with regular tofu, Joanna!
-Laura
Delicious! Since smoked tofu is impossible for me to find, I added about 1/2 tsp liquid smoke to the bbq sauce. Easy, quick and tasty recipe!
Hi! I think someone mentioned this in the past, but smoked tofu is no longer available in Philadelphia and I’ve looked when traveling in the US. I used to find it everywhere, not sure why.
Hi Tracy,
You can use regular firm tofu! I would add a few drops of liquid smoke along with the barbecue sauce if you’re going that route.
-Laura
Soy Boy makes a smoked tofu. An excellent company mostly in the Northeast part of the United States.