Crispy Butter Tofu Burger
Okay, this one genuinely blew us away the first time we made it. We took everything we love about butter chicken, the rich creamy tomato sauce, all those warming spices, and built it around crispy tofu tucked inside a proper burger. It sounds a bit wild but trust us, it totally works. You get this incredible contrast of textures, crunchy golden tofu against that silky, deeply spiced butter sauce, all loaded into a bun. Make this on a Friday night and you will not be disappointed.
Before You Start
- Blender
- Microplane or grater (for garlic & ginger)
- Shallow frying pan or skillet
- Nonstick pan (for tofu & buns)
- Paper towels or tissue (for patting tofu)
Ingredients
- 2 knobs plant-based butter
- 2 knobs plant-based cream cheese
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 275g canned tomatoes (blended)
- 2 tbsp fresh garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger (minced)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garam masala or curry powder
- 2 bay leaves
- handful of cashews
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 120g plain flour or chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp garam masala or curry powder
- 120ml water
- plant-based cornflakes
- 1 block of tofu
- burger buns
- lettuce
Method
Prep your veg
- Chop the onion into small dices and grate the garlic and ginger to get a more pungent flavour!
Make the butter sauce
- On a medium heat add the cooking oil and sauté the onions first, then lower the heat adding in the minced ginger and garlic.
- Once fragrant, add in the blended canned tomatoes along with Salt, Turmeric, Chilli, Cumin, Bay Leaf and Curry Powder/Garam Masala. Mix all those ingredients together and let it simmer on a low-to-medium heat for 6-8 minutes whilst occasionally stirring.
- Add in the cashew nuts, vegan butter and the SECRET INGREDIENT… VEGAN CREAM CHEESE and let the masala cheese butter sauce simmer for 3 minutes on low heat.
- Once simmered transfer the masala cheese butter sauce to a blender and blitz until the sauce becomes a silky thick consistency.
Prep your tofu
- Set that aside and now prep the crispy tofu!
- Slice up the tofu to your desired size and pat out any excess water in tissue.
- For the batter select either Plain Flour or Chickpea Flour adding Salt and Curry Powder OR Garam Masala, gradually pouring in water until it becomes a thick batter.
Cook your tofu
- Heat a good amount of cooking oil for shallow frying on medium to high heat.
- In the meantime crush the Vegan Cornflakes in a bag and coat the tofu in the flour batter generously covering with the crushed vegan cornflakes and place in the hot oil. Shallow fry to 2-3 minutes on each side ensuring to baste the oil on top.
- Melt a little vegan butter on medium heat on a nonstick pan and place both sides of the vegan brioche buns cooking until slightly crispy brown.
Assemble your burgers
- Time for assembling: first your vegan bun, then a thick layer of the masala butter cheese sauce, then lettuce, crispy tofu, another layer of masala butter cheese sauce and top vegan bun. BOSH!
Tips & Variations
- Press your tofu well: The drier the tofu before cooking, the crispier it gets. Even 15 minutes under a heavy pan makes a real difference. We usually press ours while we prep everything else.
- Toast your spices: If you have an extra minute, add your cumin and curry powder to the dry pan for 30 seconds before adding the oil and onions. It wakes them right up and the sauce tastes so much deeper.
- Burger toppings matter: We love this with a little mango chutney and some quick pickled red onion on top. It cuts through the richness of the sauce and adds a bit of freshness. Henry always adds extra chilli too, obviously.
Why This Works
The trick is getting your tofu properly crispy before it goes anywhere near the sauce. If the tofu is soft when it hits that butter sauce it just won't hold up. The other thing that really makes this sing is grating the garlic and ginger rather than chopping them, it sounds like a small detail but the flavour is so much more intense and it melts right into the sauce.