I’ve never loved consuming eggs.
Even before going plant-based, eggs as a breakfast food in any form were not something I craved.
If I would have known growing up that you can get the same breakfast-food quality without that eggy taste by scrambling tofu, I’m sure I would have enjoyed breakfast a whole lot more.
My Tofu Scramble
My tofu scramble is easy to make. Simply crumble the tofu into a frying pan and cook it for a few minutes to get rid of some of its water content. While the tofu cooks, whisk together salt, garlic powder, onion salt, and turmeric in a little bit of almond milk and olive oil. These delicious seasonings add incredible flavor to the tofu, and even color the tofu light yellow, just like scrambled eggs.
If you put that tofu scramble into a quesadilla, it’s even better.
Make Tofu Scramble Quesadillas!
My Tofu Scramble Quesadillas are full of tofu scramble, crispy potatoes, and caramelized onion and peppers. Add sliced avocado, cheddar—vegan cheddar to keep these tofu scramble quesadillas vegan—and you’ve got just about the perfect breakfast. (Substitute the flour tortillas with gluten-free corn tortillas to make these quesadillas gluten-free.)
But don’t limit yourself to breakfast. Make my Tofu Scramble Quesadillas for any meal this week. Morning, noon, or night, they’re absolutely delicious.
A Few Things!
I prefer to use Guerrero’s Riquisimas Soft Taco or Riquisimas Burrito size tortillas for this recipe. Either of these tortilla sizes work great; not too big, not too small.
It’s best to make the crispy potatoes in a nonstick skillet. Potatoes are so starchy, they tend to stick to the bottom of any pan. Do yourself a favor and cook them in a nonstick one.
It’s easiest to show the small cube size we want for the potatoes in this recipe. Basically, just cube them as small as you can. Don’t go to any special trouble, just remember that the smaller you cube, the faster the potatoes will cook.
Here’s my favorite spatula for flipping the potatoes [aff. link]. It’s technically a cookie spatula, but I like how the smaller size gives me more control over what I flip, and where it lands.
You can also find this spatula in my Amazon store here.
Tofu Scramble Quesadillas
Ingredients
For the tofu scramble:
- 16 oz block of extra firm tofu
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp onion salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp turmeric
For the potatoes:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound potatoes, unpeeled and cubed to small pieces (½ inch or smaller; see photo above)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- water, as needed
For the peppers and onion
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ onion, red or sweet onion; chopped to ½ inch pieces
- 6 -8 mini sweet peppers, red, yellow, and orange, thinly sliced (or sub with ½ yellow and ½ orange bell pepper chopped to ½ inch pieces)
¼
cup water
Everything else:
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, freshly grated (or more depending on how cheesy you like your quesadillas)
- 5-7 Guerreo's Riquisimas Soft Taco or Riquisimas Burrito size tortillas, you can use your favorite brand or size of tortilla instead, but this is the brand and the sizes I recommend
- Avocado slices, optional
Instructions
Make the tofu scramble
- Press as much water out of the tofu block as possible, then crumble the tofu (so it looks like scrambled eggs) over a medium-sized skillet, preferably nonstick.
- Cook the tofu over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it's slightly browned and there is no water in the skillet, about 10 minutes.
Make the tofu scramble seasoning
- While the tofu cooks, make the tofu scramble seasoning by simply whisking together the water, olive oil, onion salt, garlic powder, salt, and turmeric in a small bowl.
Season the tofu scramble
- Once the tofu is in the skillet is slightly browned and dry, add the seasoning mixture to the skillet. Stir until the mixture coats all the tofu.
- Continue cooking the tofu over medium heat until it has absorbed all the seasoning, and turned light yellow, about 3 minutes.
- Tofu scramble is done. Transfer to a bowl.
Cook the onion and peppers
- Get as much tofu out of the skillet as possible. Then add the olive oil to the skillet to cook the onion and pepper.
- Let the oil heat over medium-high for about 15 seconds, then add the onion and salt. Cook the onion over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, until the pan starts to get dry and the onion starts to brown.
- Now add ¼ cup water to de-glaze the pan. Use your spatula to toss the onion and water together.
Add the peppers
- Once the water has reduced by about half, add the peppers to the skillet and turn the heat down to medium.
- Cook the onion and the peppers over medium for 5-8 minutes, until the peppers are cooked through, but still have a bite to them.
- Onion and peppers are done. Set aside while the potatoes finish cooking.
Make the potatoes
- While the onion and peppers cook, start on the potatoes.
- Note: cooking the onion and peppers separate from the potatoes ensures that the onion and peppers don't dry out, and the potatoes get (and stay) crisp. The extra time is worth it.
- In a medium to large-sized non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat for 30 seconds.
- Add the potatoes, salt, garlic powder, and onion salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked through and slightly browned, about 17 minutes.
- If the pan starts to get dry, toss a bit more olive oil into the potatoes. If that's not enough, toss a little bit of water into the pan. Don't overdo the water. Use no more than ¼ cup. Too much water will keep the potatoes from getting crisp.
Combine the onion, peppers, and potatoes
- Once the potatoes finish cooking, add them to a medium-sized mixing bowl, along with the onion and peppers. Mix until the potatoes, onion, and peppers are completely incorporated.
Compile the quesadillas
- Take a tortilla. Layer about ⅓ cup of the potato/onion/pepper mixture on ½ of the tortilla. Spread the potato mixture so that it goes just about to the edge of the tortilla half.
- Now layer about ⅓ cup of the tofu scramble over the potato mixture. Next, sprinkle cheddar to preference over the scramble.
- Top the cheddar with avocado slices, if desired. Then take the half of the tortilla that has no filling on it, and fold it over the top of all the filling layers.
- Note: you can use more or less than ⅓ cup of the potato mixture and scramble on each quesadilla. Just keep in mind that it will change the total number of quesadillas made. (More filling per quesadilla = less quesadillas.)
- Repeat the steps above on more tortillas until you run out of filling.
Fry the quesadillas
- Add a few Tbsp of canola oil to a clean skillet, and turn the heat up to medium.
- Add a quesadilla (or two) to the skillet. Fry until the side of the tortilla in the skillet turns golden, about 3-5 minutes.
- Flip the quesadilla over, and fry for another 3-5 minutes, until the other side of the tortilla turns golden.
- Remove the quesadilla from the skillet, and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Repeat until you've fried all the quesadillas.
Serve and enjoy!
- Serve these Tofu Scramble Quesadillas with sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce. Enjoy them for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.
7 Responses
OMG best tofu scramble recipe! These quesadillas were so good!
Thanks so much Jennifer!
Yes they are time-intensive. But it’s worth it. I took your tip on making the scramble the night before. It held up well overnight and made things go faster when I made these for dinner tonight. Would make again for sure!
Thanks so much Janna!
Love quesadillas for breakfast! These are so filling and yummy.
The bomb quesadillas! Sometimes I make the tofu scramble and eat it like scrambled eggs.
I do that too. 😄. Thanks Tif!