Norwitz Notions

Norwitz Notions random header image

Tofu Pate

December 16th, 2007 · by Cyndi · 3 Comments

I was at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and they had a tasting and a coupon for Toby’s Tofu pate. Regular price was $4 for container that was 16 oz I believe. My daughter loved it and I thought it was decent, so I got some, thinking, ya know, I can make this better and cheaper.

The original variety has eggs in it (from the mayonnaise) but the other flavors use eggless mayonnaise and are vegan. The tofu is organic but the other ingredients are not. There are no preservatives but there are a few ingredients I’d rather not eat, like canola oil, soy protein isolate, and cornstarch. We bought the Classic Lemon Dill.

Trader Joe’s has a product called Eggless Egg Salad with similar ingredients and texture.

The basic idea is to grind up tofu then add mayo and seasoning. Other ingredients are there to bind and soak up excess moisture. I figured if I started with my usual tofu, the Wildwood high-protein style (it’s extra extra extra firm), I wouldn’t need ways of dealing with excess water because there wouldn’t be any.

The one ingredient I didn’t use but want to is nutritional yeast. It adds a nice flavor to foods, often with a cheesy under-current. But I don’t happen to have any in my pantry. I’m not fond of onion, so I left it out, and the other herbs weren’t easily available, so I didn’t use them.

Recipe:

15 oz tofu (extremely firm)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dill weed (dried)
1 tsp mustard (I used Annie’s Horseradish Mustard, but anything not yellow will do)
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 oz (6 tablespoons) mayonnaise (I used Grapeseed Veganaise) (add up to twice this amount for a creamier consistency)
3 tablespoons water (or as needed to get it to blend well)

Put the tofu into the food processor with a regular blade and run it until it is cut up fine.

Ground tofu in food processor

Add all the other ingredients and run the food processor until you mix them all together and end up with a creamy, but textured, mush.

Finished Tofu Pate

Put in container for serving or storing in the fridge. That is it! About half the price of the packaged product with full control of your ingredients. And it takes about 5 minutes to make (10 if you count washing the the food processor).

Share

Categories: Recipes · Spreads & Dips
Tags: · , , , , , ,

3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 guest // Jul 12, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    i read somewhere recently that most nutritional yeasts have gluten in them. do you know anything about this? could it be true? ugh!

  • 2 Faith Barrett // Jul 23, 2008 at 6:15 am

    I really like TJ’s eggless egg salad – this recipe sounds really great. Can’t wait to give it a try. How long does it keep? Thanks!

  • 3 admin // Jul 23, 2008 at 10:06 am

    Faith: It keeps for several days in the fridge. A week is probably okay.

    Tehya: Yes, I’ve been told this too. Brands that are gluten-free (check labels though; my info is secondhand and sometimes brands have more than one variety) include Lewis Labs and KAL. I’d like to hear about others if other readers know.

    Cyndi

Leave a Comment