Easy baked tofu with lemon & rosemary

This easy baked tofu with lemon & rosemary has been one of my favorites for YEARS! It’s so convenient to prepare, thanks to some handy shortcuts.

Once upon a time, making tofu often involved pressing, marinating, and then baking it. However, this simple tofu recipe uses vacuum-packed tofu, which doesn’t require pressing.

Then instead of soaking tofu slices in a marinade, the seasonings are baked right into it. That means you can go from a block of tofu to the oven in no time flat.

Plus, homemade baked tofu is a less expensive alternative to the flavored tofu you can buy at the store.

Use this delicious tofu as a main course, slip it into sandwiches and wraps, pile it on top of avocado toast, or enjoy it as a protein-packed snack right out of the fridge!

In this post:

Tofu: For this recipe, I recommend super firm vacuum-packed tofu. Since it’s not packaged in water, no pressing is required.

You can find vacuum-packed tofu at most grocery stores in the refrigerated section and at Trader Joe’s.

Oil: For this dish, I usually use extra virgin olive oil, but avocado oil also works here.

Tamari: This Japanese-style soy sauce adds salt and umami. It can be replaced with the soy sauce or liquid aminos of your choice.

Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice offers the best flavor. (I like to use this citrus squeezer to make quick work of it.)

Rosemary: Either fresh or dried rosemary works beautifully in this recipe. Because the flavor of dried rosemary is more condensed, you’ll need either 1 Tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon of dried.

Pepper: I recommend freshly ground black pepper for the best flavor.

Salt: A pinch of salt makes the flavors pop.

1. Pour oil and tamari into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Then add slices of super firm tofu, making sure each side of the tofu slices gets fully coated with the oil and tamari.

2. Bake the slices for twenty minutes to cook out any of the remaining water inside.

3. Once the sliced tofu has baked for 20 minutes, cover it with the following:

• Lemon juice
• Rosemary
• Pepper
• Salt

Tip: When working with fresh rosemary, I recommend using your fingers to pull the needles away from the stems. (Just graze them down the stem against the grain for easy removal.) Then use kitchen scissors to cut them into small pieces.

4. Return to the baking dish to the oven, and bake for another 20 minutes.

You can make this dish your own by varying the ingredients and amounts.

Adjust the lemon juice

If you like a less prominent lemon flavor, reduce the amount to 3 Tablespoons. Or you can replace lemon juice with lime juice instead.

Use water-packed tofu

Don’t have access to vacuum-packed tofu? No problem.

Just press 1 ½ (14-ounce) packages of water-packed tofu first. (Here’s a handy guide on how to press tofu.) Once you press the water out of the tofu, each block will be 10-ounces.

Then continue the recipe as written.

Replace tamari

I like the flavor of tamari. However, it can be replaced with the soy sauce of your choice or liquid aminos.

Use fresh or dried rosemary

Either fresh or dried rosemary will work for this recipe. Just remember that the amounts vary, because dried has a more condensed flavor.

You can also replace rosemary with thyme or oregano, if you’d prefer.

Omit the salt

If you’re watching your salt content, use reduced sodium tamari and omit the added salt. The recipe is still great without it.

Add garlic

If you like, add granulated or fresh garlic at the same time as the lemon juice and rosemary.

I recommend about ½ teaspoon of granulated garlic or several pressed cloves of garlic, depending on your tastes.

This easy baked tofu recipe can be used as a main dish, snack right out of the fridge, or as a sandwich or wrap filling.

It’s great with any of these side dishes:

• Sauteed broccolini
• Air fryer radishes
• Pesto rice
• Spinach salad
• Creamed kale
• Roasted fennel
• Oven roasted potatoes with peppers & onions
• Air fryer asparagus
• Baked farro with tomatoes & herbs
• Sauteed kale

Add lemon rosemary tofu to any of these wraps or sandwiches:

• Bagel sandwich with hummus
• Vegetable sandwich with cashew cheese
• Double hummus wrap
• Avocado toast

Store leftover lemon rosemary tofu in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for about 4 days. It gets firmer in the fridge.

Enjoy it cold, or quickly warm it in the microwave or in a skillet.

📖 Recipe

Easy baked tofu with lemon & rosemary

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 3 votes

This baked tofu with lemon and rosemary is a cinch to make. It works as a main course with roasted vegetables and rice. It's also delicious cold, straight out of the refrigerator. You'll wonder why you ever bought prepared slices! 

Makes 10 slices of baked tofu

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Entree

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: dinner, gluten free

Ingredients

• ▢ 16 ounces super firm tofu vacuum-packed, evenly cut into 10 slices, ¼ to ½ inch thick
• ▢ 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 teaspoons tamari
• ▢ ¼ cup lemon juice
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary removed from stems & cut into small pieces, or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• ▢ Generous dashes of black pepper
• ▢ Pinch of salt

Instructions

• ▢
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• ▢
  Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and tamari into an 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Tilt the dish, so that the bottom is evenly coated. Put the tofu slices into the dish, making sure each side gets coated.
• ▢
  Bake for 20 minutes.
• ▢
  Remove from oven, and flip the slices. Pour lemon juice onto the tofu, and then sprinkle it with rosemary. (If using dried rosemary, use your fingers to break it up as you evenly sprinkle it across the tofu.) Grind black pepper & salt evenly over the slices.
• ▢
  Bake for 20 more minutes.
• ▢
  Remove from oven and serve.

Watch how to make it

Notes

*If you don’t have access to vacuum-packed tofu, use the water-packed variety instead. Drain and press 1 ½ (14-ounce) blocks, and it will get you to the right amount. (Because of the water in water-packed tofu, once you press it, each block will be about 10-ounces of tofu.)

Storage instructions

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about 4 days.

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Nutrition

Calories: 86kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 239mg | Potassium: 200mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 16IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

Recipe, photos, and content updated June 18, 2024 from an earlier post on June 26, 2017.