- Prep-time: / Ready In:
- Makes 5 cups
- Serving size: 1¼ cups
- Print/save recipe
You’ll never miss the eggs in this classic salad: Potatoes and tofu are delicious stand-ins. Red leaf lettuce and crispbread crackers makes a fresh, light base for serving, but you could also roll it up in a wrap, serve on toast, or scoop it up with apple slices.
Tips
Optional oil: This is a Forks Flex Recipe, which means it includes a small amount of optional oil. If you include the oil, you'll add 20 calories, 2.5 grams total fat, and 0.3 g saturated fat per serving.
Cashews: To soak cashews, place them in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Let stand 30 minutes; drain.
Ingredients
- 6 oz. firm tofu
- 1½ cups ½-inch cubes peeled potatoes, cooked and cooled
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ of a small onion, chopped (¼ cup)
- ¼ cup sliced radishes
- 2 tablespoons soaked raw unsalted cashews (see tip in intro)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (optional, learn more)
- ⅓ to ½ cup unsweetened, unflavored plant milk, such as almond, soy, cashew, or rice
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Paprika
- Red leaf lettuce leaves
- 4 crispbread crackers
Instructions
- Place tofu between paper towels. Top with a plate weighted with an unopened can of food. Let stand 30 minutes to press out as much liquid as possible, replacing paper towels once during pressing. Cut tofu into ½-inch cubes. In a large bowl toss together tofu, potatoes, celery, onion, and radishes.
- For oil-free: In a small food processor or blender combine cashews, nutritional yeast, mustard, and salt. (If using oil: In a small food processor or blender combine cashews, nutritional yeast, mustard, salt, and oil.) Process until smooth, gradually adding plant milk until dressing is the consistency of ranch dressing. Add dressing to vegetables; gently toss to coat. Season with pepper and sprinkle with paprika.
- Serve on red leaf lettuce with crispbread crackers.
Per serving (1¼ cups): 215 calories, 29 g carbohydrates, 13 g protein, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 228 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 4 g sugar
Note: Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only.
Comments (22)
(5 from 7 votes)Hi: Looks like a tasty recipe. I have an aversion reaction to nutritional yeast. Would white miso in a smaller amount serve as a substitute?
Love this recipe. It’s a nice twist on potato salad and is good any time of the day.
What are crisp bread crackers?
Hi Cheryl, A crisp bread cracker is a flat, dry, lightweight cracker. It's more of a serving suggestion, so feel free to substitute your favorite WFPB crackers or whole grain bread.
Mori Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu is available at Kroger’s here in Central Arkansas for a mere $2.69, so it can’t be too exotic! It’s on the shelf in the Natural and Organics section in a shelf-stable tetra pak. I like it better than the refrigerated kind.
What can I use rather than cashews as I don't eat nuts.
Hi Nancy, You could just leave them out. It won't be quite as creamy, but will be close!
Try using extra firm tofu and eliminate the potatoes. Crumble to tofu, add a very small amount of black salt and a tablespoon of sweet or dill pickle relish. If you like celery and onions in your salad then keep them. If not, place onions on top of your sandwich. I think you’ll find this tastes much more like egg salad. For me the potatoes and missing black salt just didn’t do it for me. I also omitted the radishes.
I'm with you! Yes, please, Nancy Macklin, or any of the FOK recipe contributors that list extra-firm, silken tofu in their recipes, please aim us in the direction of this product. In which section of which grocery stores might we find this unicorn?
Hi Carla, Silken tofu is usually shelf-stable (meaning you don’t have to keep it chilled), so you’re most likely to find it in the general section of the supermarket—usually in the Asian or international foods aisle. A common brand is Mori-Nu. The guide (plus recipes) below goes into more detail. I've found that many grocery store staff don't know where to find it! Keep hunting - it's worth it! Once you've found it once, it gets a lot easier. https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-menus-collections/recipes-using-silken-tofu/
I wonder if Nancy (author of the recipe) would explain the ingredient, "6 oz. extra-firm silken light tofu." I have never seen extra-firm silken light tofu in any grocery store ever so I don't make the Forks Over Knives recipes that call for it. Thanks.
Hi Kay, I get it! Buying tofu can be confusing. I tend to go for the closest option I can find as my supermarket only has a couple of options and they are never exactly what is called for. Silken tofu is available in soft, firm, and extra-firm options. If you can't find "silken extra firm," I'd opt for a firm or extra firm tofu, since this recipe calls for cubes of tofu. If it's too soft it will fall apart. The FOK guide to tofu explains the ins and outs of the different types. https://www.forksoverknives.com/how-tos/tofu-types-pressing-silken-regular-recipes/
I saw a video recently re: vegan egg salad and he used 50% soft silken tofu and 50% firm/medium tofu so that it would better match the texture of egg. It's amazing! Just passing it on for this great recipe.
Your ingredient list calls for “extra firm silken tofu”. Confusing since all the tofu brands around me come in either Silken (soft), firm, or extra firm. Extra firm silken seems kinda like asking for boiling hot ice water. Clarification please?
I believe it means to get the shelf stable kind over the refrigerated, it’s softer but still comes in soft/firm/x firm.
I have noticed that same thing. I couldn't find it. I like your comparison. lol
I have the same issue with this impossible description of tofu as extra-firm and silken at the same time. So many of the FOK recipes that use tofu call for this non-existent stuff. The first FOK recipe I ever made called for this and since I knew little about all the permutations of tofu, I used extra-firm, since it's the first descriptor. Gack! What followed was an inedible waste of ingredients and turned me off home recipes that call for tofu. That was five years ago. I'm finally venturing back into the land of tofu but this time, I'm using soft (silken) tofu when a recipe calls for this oxymoron. It works much better, especially for sauces. As to shelf stable extra-firm silken tofu, I haven't seen it and didn't know it existed. Hunting for FOK-friendly ingredients continues to be rather frustrating. Here in Canada, we do not have access to everything that's available in the US. I keep looking and have learned to improvise the best I can and make the most of my visits to the US, spending too much time in grocery stores.
I have never eaten tofu before, but had recently purchased some to try it as we have recently gone vegan. I saw this recipe and it seemed at least plausible that I would like it (especially after having tried the No-Tuna Salad Sandwich, which is a fav of ours! We make this almost weekly to have on hand.). Well, I just finished making my first batch and it seems quite tasty...even a little bit warm. Guessing after I refrigerate it for a bit it will be even better! This site has truly been a lifesaver for vegan recipes. Almost everything we have tried off of here has been 4 and 5 stars!
I'm sure it's tasty, but why not just call it potato salad? That's what it is...
Because instead of just resorting the the familiarity and harms of egg salad, a far healthier stand-in that tastes similar grabs attention.
This is the Mother load of goodness. I had some sprouting lentils just breaking, so I cook I. Water about 20 minutes, they are intact but cooked. Since they been two days wet. They are soft. So the water has vegetable bullion and boil. Drain and add to the almost egg salad. I add more mustard and capers, also you can add green olives. No onions those are last moment touch. Uncooked onions are not my favorite. Like to make sandwich, eat as a side all week long. Potatoes are best food. When you’re in this life style your blood sugar is perfect. Potatoes and make them often for your health.
Excellent