BBQ. Crispy tofu. Pickled veggies. Yum.
Vegan BBQ tofu sandwiches are now on repeat. Crispy baked tofu that is sliced thin enough that is gets oh-so-crunchy. Quick pickled cucumbers, carrots, red onion and radishes. Sandwiched between buns or bread spread with BBQ sauce. This is the summer sandwich of my dreams.
These vegan BBQ tofu sandwiches are so fast it’s crazy. Which in the current state of things in my household, fast dinners are all I can handle. Working on a cookbook with my kid home during the summer has proven to be more challenging that I had considered. So all meals have been few ingredients and quick as lightning.
The Quick Pickles:
These little buggers are the easiest, tastiest thing in the world. Simmer some vinegar and spices, pour over sliced veggies. Let sit while the tofu bakes. Done. Yup that simple.
The Crispy Tofu Slices:
A block of tofu, sliced super thin, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Baked until brown and crunchy. These tofu slices are total magic. Magic, I say.
As for the BBQ sauce, I have several suggestions, any store bought BBQ sauce that is your favorite will work. I love all the BBQ sauces from Trader Joe’s. Then I have some really great homemade BBQ recipes I can share with you. Like the BBQ sauce from my Sweet and Spicy BBQ Tofu .
The combination of pickled vegetables, tofu slices and BBQ sauce make these vegan BBQ tofu sandwiches out-of-control delicious, I highly recommend giving them a try! You shan’t regret it.

Vegan BBQ Tofu Sandwiches
Ingredients
Quick Pickled Veggies
- 1/2 Cup White vinegar
- 1/2 Cup Apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Clove Garlic, smashed
- 1/2 Cup Cucumber, sliced
- 1/4 Cup Red onion, sliced
- 1/2 Cup Carrots, sliced
- 1/4 Cup Radishes, sliced
For The Tofu
For the Sandwiches
- 4 Buns, vegan
Instructions
- Make the quick pickles first. In a small sauce pan, heat the white vinegar, the apple cider vinegar, the sugar, the salt and the garlic on medium low. Bring to a simmer and whisk to make sure the sugar and salt has dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Add all the sliced veggies to a heat proof bowl and pour the pickling liquid over them. Make sure they are submerged, and the let sit while you make the tofu.
- If you need more information on pressing tofu, check out my TOFU COOKING GUIDE.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Slice the block of tofu into really thin slices. Then lay them on a sheet pan.
- Brush each side of the tofu slices with the olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then flip the slices and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until they slices of tofu are super crunchy.
- Spread each side of a bun with BBQ sauce, then pile on the tofu and pickled veggies. Eat!
Nutrition
Hi Lauren. This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it, but the sodium content has me worried. Does the tofu need to be salted? I’m wondering where I can cut it back and not compromise the recipe. Thanks!
I’m assuming that is just coming from the nutrition calculator adding extra sodium for what might be in the average bbq sauce. So, I would just pick a low sodium bbq sauce.
This was really good! My tofu took a really long time to bake, but I’m wondering if that was because I laid it on parchment paper. I sliced the tofu with my mandolin so it was very thin. I prepared 6 thin slices and should have prepared 12 or more. I will do more next time, and probably ditch the parchment paper, yes? Also, instead of cutting the carrot into slices, I sliced them lengthwise on the mandolin, again very thin, and they curled up nicely on the sandwich. I didn’t have radishes this time, but I will definitely be making it again! I can put the leftover pickled veggies in the fridge and eat tomorrow. Definitely a winner! Thank you!
This was really delicious. As another person mentioned, my tofu took way way longer. I ended up turning up the oven temp to 450f to hurry it along. All together took about 45 minutes in the oven. Also the vinegar on the veggies was really strong for me. I will add water to dilute next time. Thanks for the recipe!!!!