Vegan chicken and waffles, all in one bite!
Hear me out, these vegan “chicken” and waffles wings will probably be one of the best things you’ll ever eat. Marinated tofu sticks. Dipped in waffle batter and oven fried! The way the tofu is marinated and then dipped in the waffle batter makes these tofu wings taste just like “chicken” and waffles all in one bite. It’s spectacular! Then give them a very important drizzle of spicy maple syrup. I know this sounds crazy, but, trust me, it’s not.
These vegan chicken and waffles wings are great to prep ahead of time. I like to put the tofu in the marinade in the morning and then whip up this super easy waffle batter when you are ready to make the wings. Then once you dip the wings in the waffle batter, they get coated in panko and crushed corn flakes and baked.
This process makes them so frigging crispy. You seriously can’t tell they weren’t fried. The combination of panko and corn flakes is so perfectly sweet and salty. It really makes these vegan chicken and waffles wings totally perfect!
Spring and summer are the perfect time to bust out some amazing vegan tofu wings for all kinds of parties. Or for yourself. You will literally not be able to stop eating these. I like to give my wings a drizzle AND a dip in the spicy maple syrup and then I just can’t help going back for another and another.
These Wings Are:
- Kid-approved
- Baked not fried
- Full of protein
- Crispier than most things
- Totally amazing!
Marinated tofu sticks, dipped in waffle batter and oven fried!
- 1 Block Extra firm tofu, pressed
- 1 Cup Vegetable broth
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 Teaspoon Liquid smoke
- 1 Teaspoon Poultry seasoning (usually contains sage,rosemary,thyme,nutmeg,black pepper)
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Flax meal
- 3 Tablespoons Water
- 1 Cup All purpose flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Cup Non-dairy milk, I used soy milk
- 1 1/2 Cups Panko bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 Cups Corn flakes, finely crushed
- 1/3 Cup Maple syrup
- 1 Teaspoon Hot sauce
You want to press the tofu first. If you need more info on pressing tofu, check out my TOFU COOKING GUIDE!
Once you have pressed the tofu, cut the block of tofu into strips or "wings".
Now either in a large bowl or ziploc bag combine the vegetable broth, olive oil, liquid smoke, poultry seasoning and salt.
Add the tofu to the marinade, and make sure the tofu is covered by the marinade as much as possible. Marinate the tofu for at least an hour, but the longer the better.
When you are ready to make the wings, preheat the oven to 375 degrees(F).
Now, make the waffle batter. In a small bowl, whisk together the flax and water. Set aside to thicken and make a flax "egg".
Then in a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour and the baking powder. Then whisk in the salt. Set aside.
In a large sized mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla. Then whisk in the flax egg.
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, a little at a time. Begin to whisk together, then start adding the non-dairy milk a little at a time until everything is combined. Set aside.
Next, add the panko and finely crushed corn flakes to a separate medium sized bowl.
Then, taking a strip of tofu out of the marinade, pat it dry, then dip the tofu into the waffle batter. Then put it in the panko and corn flakes and coat completely.
Then place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.
Repeat with all of the tofu, then bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Flip after 15 minutes. Bake until brown and crispy.
While the tofu is baking, whisk together the maple syrup and hot sauce. Set aside.
When the tofu is done, drizzle them with spicy maple syrup and serve immediately.
The ingredients list says “Baking Powder” but directions read “…sift together the flour and baking soda…” going with Baking Powder??? Fingers crossed!
Well dang, it is supposed to be baking powder! Thank you for pointing that out! I fixed it!
Thank you! They turned out perfectly and sooo good! Thanks for sharing!
Would this work with seitan pieces instead of tofu?
Absolutely! I think that would be great!
Five Stars (with notes)
This is definitely a 5-star concept. I like tofu an awful lot and have some really good recipes, but rarely come across new recipes that are both unique and good. This is one of them! I never would’ve thought of coating tofu in waffle batter with a crispy coating, but it totally works.
Now, the notes. I’m a cook who is known for eyeballing ingredients rather than measuring and making a few substitutions, so I did alter the recipe slightly to work with what I had. I used firm tofu rather than extra firm [I have a local source for getting it rather fresh and quite inexpensively]. Of note, my block of tofu was 16oz with a 12oz drained weight. For non dairy milk, I used unsweetened plain almond milk because that’s what I usually have on hand. For the coating, I used some smashed corn chips [Aldi-brand Fritos] in place of corn flakes because I had them and didn’t want to buy a box of cereal just for the recipe. I do not think that any of these modifications materially impacted the end result.
My only criticism of the recipe is the amount of marinade and batter. I often find that recipes call for way too much marinade/coating, so I cut both the marinade and the batter in half and still had quite a bit more than I needed. I think 1/4 would have been workable but skimping, but 1/3 would have been about right to coat the tofu and have only a small amount left over. I didn’t measure my coating, but I would guess I used a total of 1-1.5 cups of coating, so 1/3 to 1/2 of what the recipe indicates. I did marinate my tofu for about 2 hours, but I don’t know if that step was strictly necessary as I’m not sure that the tofu absorbed all that much flavor. Next time I might just press the tofu then throw a bit of poultry seasoning and some liquid smoke into the waffle batter.