My son has a few meals that he asks for just about every day: Pasketti, mac and cheese, vegetarian nuggets, pizza. I’m not a fan of buying the freezer nuggets, because I’m me, and I like to be complicated. So, I make them instead. My latest adventure in cooking is gluten free. I have had many requests for GF recipes, and I’ve been trying to stay away from wheat all day, everyday. Combine the two and you get this gluten free, vegan nugget recipe. The process is simple and easy, but there are a bunch of ingredients. You could swap the “flours” for a 1:1 gluten free mix, but I haven’t tried that so I can’t vouch for it.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1/2 tsp xanthum gum (cannot substitute or omit this)
- 1/2 cup panko (GF or regular depending on your needs)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
- 2 packs of 12 oz firm or extra firm Chinese style tofu (The kind in a tub of water, House Foods is common)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut tofu into desired sized pieces (I usually cut a 12 oz block into 20 pieces). Place on parchment and bake for 20 minutes, which will remove much moisture. Take out of oven and let cool to the touch.
Add all ingredients into a blender starting with the milk. Puree until smooth. Want your nuggets a little more crunchy? Omit the panko and hand mix it in after pureeing the ingredients. Pour into a shallow bowl to make the next step easier.
Using a fork or your fingers dip the tofu into the batter and place back on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Toss in just enough oil to lightly cover. Bake again for 10 minutes.
Soooo…this seems like a lot of work. It’s not so bad though. I didn’t say it was quick. But, the end results were very similar to those nugs from the Golden Arches. Plus, they are vegan and gluten free and homemade. You can skip the oil, but it really does make it better. I’ve even just used spray on oil.
