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My family loved these spicy tofu burgers, even the little one! I will definitely be making them again, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Perfect! Thank you.
Ow owwwwwww! She looks good!
This might be my bigger summer surprise recipe yet: the fact that tofu, crumbled and pressed together with lemongrass, sriracha, mint, cilantro, and basil, and browned up into a delicious, flavor-bomb burger served on a toasted brioche bun with spicy mayo and some delicately sliced fresh veggies can, in fact, be ONE OF MY FAVORITE BURGERS that I’ve ever made.
And that’s saying a lot because I love a lot of burgers (wild rice burgers! cauliflower burgers! salmon burgers!).
But specifically in this case, when I say burger I actually mean VEGAN burger, because remember that the base of this beast is a block of humble tofu. I know. I’m as shocked as you are.
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What’s In These Tofu Burgers
These burgers have a bit of a Vietnamese-inspired twist. They’re fresh, punchy, and a little spicy.
Here’s what we have going on in these burgers:
- Tofu (extra firm!)
- Tomato paste
- Sriracha
- Fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, mint)
- Shallot
- Lemongrass paste
Just looking at this list of ingredients is making me SO excited.
Tips For Making This Recipe
Some things to know about a tofu burger, in case this is a new concept for you like it was for me.
- I like to cook them using a stovetop and oven combo.
- They will get gorgeously browned and crispy on the outside via stovetop.
- They will firm up a bit via oven.
- The insides are softer than a regular burger – especially if your tofu still has a lot of water in it. So DRAIN THAT TOFU! And drain it well.
- If you find yourself in a position where you’re like, you know what, I don’t have time to drain my tofu and I’m just going to go with it? I feel you. You’ll still get a totally delicious burger but it will just be texturally a bit softer.
Toppings I Love
Add whatever you do or don’t like to this beautiful canvas – I added peppers (roasted ’em with the burgers in the oven) and fresh cucumbers and carrots and herbs, because the flavor profile here is Vietnamese-inspired. Heavy on the sriracha, herbs, lemongrass.
But you do you! Whatever suits your fancy will be just fine. This is a time for you to build your own tofu burger masterpiece.
This recipe is inspired by the Vietnamese-Style Tofu Burger recipe in the Plants Only Kitchen cookbook by Gaz Oakley. People often send us their cookbooks but this is one that I bought myself, and it is one of my favorite cookbooks *ever*! So fun, playful, and creative. If you like vegan food, Gaz is an excellent follow on Instagram and the cookbook is well worth the purchase. This version of the tofu burgers uses easier-for-me-to-find ingredient swaps and has a slightly shorter ingredient list.
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Seriously Good Tofu Burgers
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Spicy Tofu Burgers! YES. Crumbled tofu pressed together with lemongrass, sriracha, and fresh herbs, all browned up into a delicious flavor-bomb burger.
Ingredients
Burgers
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1–2 tablespoons sriracha (for medium or hot, add more sriracha)
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 shallot, very finely minced
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Burger Toppings:
- buns (toasted, please)
- sriracha
- mayo
- carrots
- cucumbers
- bell peppers
- more herbs
Instructions
- Press the water out of your tofu using a tofu press or just laying a heavy pan on top of it for 20-30 minutes.
- Mash the tofu using your hands or a spoon until it’s crumbly. Mix in the remaining burger ingredients. Form into 4 patties.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fry the burgers in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil first to get the outsides nice and browned. Then transfer to the oven and bake for 20-or-so minutes, until the burgers are firm to the touch on the outside. (You can throw some peppers or onions in the pan with the burgers if you want to cook them up at the same time.)
- Serve on toasted buns with sriracha, mayo, and fresh veggies and herbs (bonus points if you make quick pickled veggies because YUMMM).
Equipment
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → - Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: spicy tofu burger, tofu burger, vegan burger
Common Questions About These Tofu Burgers
In general, these burgers are softer than a regular burger, especially on the insides. Step 1 in the recipe is important so the burgers don’t get overly mushy. That being said, they will taste great even if you don’t have time for it – I have made versions where I just open the package and squeeze as much water as I can out, and honestly I’ve loved every bite. Just know that the burger texture will be slightly heavier and wetter if you skip that first step.
For a gluten free version, use a gluten free flour – Gaz actually recommends buckwheat flour in his cookbook.
I felt like with 1 tablespoon of sriracha in the whole thing, it was still pretty mild and worked okay for our toddler. Once you get into the 2 or 3 tablespoons of sriracha zone, it’s going to be more of a medium / + level spice.
You can use an actual tofu press, or just wrap it in towels with a very heavy pot or stack of books on top. Let it press the water out for about 20-30 minutes.
Just wondering how much ‘a block’ of tofu is? Where I live they range from 300g to 600g so it’s obviously going to make a difference to the consistency of the patties. Thanks!
Hi Ben! About 14 to 15 ounces.
Five years late for this post but just found this recipe. It came out great. I did not have the lemongrass paste or a shallot but I used yellow onion. The consistency was great! I had it with ginger kimchi on top. Yum!
Hi,
I am from south Asia and i like your recipes its really wonderful.
Vegan section and dinner recipes are wonderful.
Thank you
Hey! I’ve made these lots of times before and they are amazing! I’ve stupidly picked up silken tofu by accident.. can I still make them with this? Just add more flour?? Thanks 😁
I’d lean towards it not working unfortunately! I think it would just be too soft still to hold together!
I love burgers, with sauce tasty and delicious, wow, I remember my college days..
These were SO SO GOOD! I am not a fan of burgers but try out different recipes each time. Tried this one and it is definitely my favorite one ever!
Tasty, easy and very filling. I put sweet chilli and mayo with this as well as fresh tomatoes and cucumber, tasted UNREAL so definitely worth it! As a tip, if you’re struggling with the patties then just add a bit more flour into the mix and onto your hands as you form them to keep their shape easier.
instead of stove top can i put it in the airfryer ?
This looks delicious and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the vegetarian recipes on your site (please, make more – or continue to give vegetarian alternatives in your recipes like you’ve been doing lately!!)
My question – instead of baking these burgers, have you / anyone tried air-frying them?
We haven’t tried air-frying them, but we’d love to hear how it goes for you if you try it out!
I made these last night and they were amazing! Perfect for a meatless Monday. Instead of burgers I made the paddies mini and served them bowl style atop coconut rice with pickled cucumbers, thawed edamame, carrot shreds and mini bell pepper rings. Delicious on a hot night! Will definitely be in the Monday rotation. Thanks for another great tofu spin!
Looking forward to trying this – what size of tofu block did you use? (different countries may have different standard sizes 🙃)
Such a delicious burger. Fairly quick to put together. A great alternative to bean burgers. The texture is more like a meat burger. I added a bit of vegan feta to the mixture. We used naan buns. Would definitely make these again and highly recommend them.
Lovely burgers, tastes just like one I had in Frankie and Benny’s. I give it a 5!
I’ve made these no less than 50 times and my husband still gets excited when I announce it’s tofu burger night. We top with vegan sriracha mayo, cucumbers, carrots and air fryer roasted red peppers on toasted brioche buns. A million thanks for your recipe!
This was so delicious! I am always looking for a way to make veggie burgers without beans and this was perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious! Needed to substitute a couple ingredients but it still worked out perfectly
Thank you for this tofu burger.
We had these for supper tonight and were a big hit. I didn’t have lemongrass so subbed the zest of a lemon and lime, and that was ok, but I’ll make these again w lemongrass for sure. We had these as just patties (no bread) w carrot curls and cuke slices dressed in rice vinegar w salt and sugar (like a sushi thing), and the fried+mayo+pickly taste was really good. Thank you for these recipes, my family is always interested when i them it’s a pinch of yum night! (Also these were very tasty w smashed salt and vinegar toasted potatoes.)
I have heard this burger name for the first time but seriously it looks delicious. from where do you get the idea? 🙂 Lindsay
well, this spicy tofu burger looks yummy and cheesy. Although I am a vegetarian but I will surely try it once 🙂
Just made these today – the taste was great , but they were nearly impossible to flip without falling apart .
*I have a tofu press and pressed the tofu for about 20 minutes . Maybe I did something wrong here – I would definitely try again .
It happened to me too! Burgers were great, but they were falling apart. I followed the recipe (except I didn’t have all-purpose flour so I used whole wheat all-purpose flour instead ). Any tips on how to prevent them from falling apart next time?
Hi Louise! You could try adding a bit more flour, and really make sure to mash all the ingredients together well before forming into burgers.
Un piatto unico gustoso, molto invitante. Complimenti.
I’m a huge fan of these flavors and textures! This looks amazing!
Another great meal from your site…find myself coming here every single day now. I made it exactly
as written and we loved it. Thanks so much for all the yummy recipes!!!
These are So amazing – I may never buy pre made burgers again ! Thank you
I was just wondering if they freeze well ?
We haven’t tried freezing these burgers, but we think they’d do okay. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
I froze the extra cooked burgers and then when I wanted to eat them I just thawed them and heated them up in a non stick frying pan 🙂 They were delicious. Not sure I would freeze them un cooked because of how Tofu changes when you freeze it – but I may try that anyway at some point
Thanks so much for reporting back on that! So glad it worked out!