Best Vegan Tofu Egg Salad
This vegan tofu egg salad made from tofu is so good because it mimics the creamy texture and savory flavor of traditional egg salad while being entirely plant-based and protein-rich. It’s a delicious, cholesterol-free alternative that’s perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or salads.
This tofu egg salad is super simple to make without even needing to boil or peel eggs. Great for lunch, dinner, and picnics! It is one recipe that I get asked about a lot. I have taken it to some of my Food for Life cooking & nutrition classes to sample, and students rave. They even take it to potlucks themselves.
We have other delicious plant-based salad spreads like my chickpea avocado salad and this amazing vegan tuna salad that is terrific on sandwiches and in wraps.
Reasons you will love this recipe
- Creamy and Flavorful: This vegan tofu egg salad delivers a rich, creamy texture and savory taste that closely resembles the classic egg salad, making it a satisfying plant-based alternative.
- High in Protein: Made with tofu, this egg salad is packed with protein, offering a nutritious and filling option that’s perfect for lunch or a light dinner.
- Cholesterol-Free: Enjoy all the flavors of traditional egg salad without the cholesterol, making this tofu version a heart-healthy choice.
- Easy to Make: With simple ingredients and a quick prep time, this vegan tofu egg salad is easy to whip up, perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or a quick snack.
Ingredients you will need
- Tofu- This provides a similar creamy texture to eggs and absorbs flavors well, creating a satisfying, plant-based alternative. Its mild taste and versatility make it an excellent base for mimicking the consistency and richness of traditional egg salad without the use of animal products.
- Chickpeas- These beans add a hearty, slightly chunky texture that mimics the feel of traditional egg salad.
- Vegan mayonnaise- I have a delicious vegan tofu mayo that pairs well with this spread or you can use store-bought.
- Veggies- Celery, onions, and green peas are the veggies we use in this vegan salad spread.
- Spices- Season with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, turmeric, and black salt for an eggy flavor.
Tips & Suggestions
- Tofu Options- My preference is the refrigerator-type of tofu because it is firmer than silken tofu. We have plenty of tips for cooking with tofu and recipes to use it in that should help those less familiar with the different types of tofu.
- Chopping Veggies- If needed, all of the veggies can be diced by hand and not put into the blender. For me, the blender or food processor just makes for one less step.
- Eggy Flavor- Adding black salt to this recipe adds an eggy flavor. It is optional but recommended.
How to make vegan egg salad
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
STEP #1: Drain the tofu and press all the water from it. This can be done with a tofu press or by using a dish towel or paper towels to place on top of the block and top with a heavy plate or cast iron pan. Continue to drain under pressure for approximately 30 minutes.
I like to freeze my tofu and once it has thawed, the water can be pressed out simply by squeezing just like a sponge. This way, there is no need for a press of any kind.
STEP #2: Dice up the green onions and celery, and defrost the green peas by placing them in a colander and running warm water over them.
STEP #3: In a blender, briefly pulse tofu, chickpeas, ½ of the celery, and ½ of the onions. Barely pulse this and leave it very chunky.
STEP #3.5: Another option is to mash the chickpeas and tofu in a bowl with a potato masher.
STEP #4: Transfer blender contents to a large bowl. Add the other ½ of celery, onions, green peas, and all other ingredients.
STEP #5: Stir thoroughly and serve on your choice of whole-grain bread with fresh leaves of spinach or lettuce. For those who are gluten intolerant, serve alone or on your favorite gluten-free bread or crackers.
Check out the video below of me showing how easy it is to make this tofu egg salad.
*Original publish date November 24, 2014.
Frequently Asked Questions
For this recipe, the refrigerator section tofu is probably best because it is not as creamy as silken tofu. The thicker texture mimics the consistency of boiled or scrambled eggs. Firm or extra-firm silken tofu can still be used.
This salad is great served at room temperature or chilled. Serve it on your favorite bread toasted or scoop it into lettuce wraps.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It doesn’t freeze well.
More Vegan Sandwiches & Spreads
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Vegan Tofu Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz block firm tofu squeezed dry
- ¾ cup chickpeas rinsed and drained
- ¼ - ½ cup Low-Fat Eggless Mayo recipe link above
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- ½ cup celery diced
- ½ green onions with scallions
- ¾ cup frozen green peas thawed in drainer under warm water
- 3 tablespoons Nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder for spice
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon black salt
Instructions
- Open tofu package and drain any water. If using shelf-stable tofu, there won't be much water. For the refrigerated tofu, you'll need todrain and then press all water out.
- This can be done with a tofu press or by using dish towel or paper towels to place on top of the block and top with a heavy plate or cast iron pan. Continue to drain under pressure for approximately 30 minutes.
- I like to freeze my tofu first and once it has thawed, the water can be pressed out simply by squeezing it just like a sponge. This way, there is no need for a press of any kind. It also creates a crumbly texture.
- Dice up the green onions and celery, and defrost the green peas by placing them in a colander and running warm water over them.
- In a blender, briefly pulse tofu, chickpeas, ½ of the celery, and ½ of the onions. Barely pulse this and leave it very chunky. Another option is to mash the chickpeas and tofu in a bowl with a potato masher.
- Transfer blender contents to a large bowl. Add the other ½ of celery, onions, green peas and all other ingredients.
- Stir thoroughly and serve on your choice of whole-grain bread with fresh leaves of spinach or lettuces. For those that are gluten intolerant, serve alone or on your favorite gluten-free bread or crackers.
- Check out the video below of me showing how easy it is to make this tofu egg salad.
Video
Notes
- Tofu- For this recipe, the refrigerator section tofu is probably best because it is not as creamy as silken tofu. The thicker texture mimics the consistency of boiled or scrambled eggs. Firm or extra-firm silken tofu can still be used. Make sure to drain and press as much of the water from the tofu as possible.
- Serve- This salad is great served at room temperature or chilled. Serve it on your favorite bread toasted or scoop it into lettuce wraps.
- Storage- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It doesn't freeze well.
- Eggy Flavor- Adding black salt to this recipe adds an eggy flavor. It is optional but recommended.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
In my ‘previous life’ I had Laying Hens in the Backyard (against City Ordinance) and had eggs in abundance. After a Heart Attack, and Triple By Pass, I stopped eating eggs. When I saw this recipe, I thought NO WAY! But to my surprise, WAY!!!! Very easy to make, and so enjoyable! Thank you Terri!
I love this recipe and have made it at least 6 times now. I’ll admit the first time I went a little beyond “barley pulse”, so mine wasn’t as chunky. It was still excellent. I am not a pea fan, so I leave them out. I do love a little more heat, so I increased the cayenne to a teaspoon or so.
Doug, we love this one too and eat it regularly on sandwiches. I’m with you on the heat, I like to spice it up a bit too. So glad you’re enjoying this recipe!
Your first recipe calls for silken tofu, the second in the Comments says form tofu. Big difference. I don’t think I could drain/squeeze silken tofu…..it’s almost soupy. Which do you really use? Thanks!
Hi Janet,
The firm tofu should be used in the No-Egg Salad recipe. The recipe for Eggless Mayo (below the first recipe) that is needed for the no-egg salad uses silken tofu. Hope this helps!
Once again, Terri, a good recipe! I amde the tofu mayo and used some of it on a waldof salad to great pleasure. yum Thanks you so much for the help in this change of lifestyle
Hi,i’m gonna make this tomorrow but i have two questions;do you also use the leaves of the celery?and can i use canned green peas ?,i can’t wait to make this, waaw,thanks for the recipe!
Anita, I don’t use the leaves of the celery, just the stalks minced up. Canned green peas will work, just drain them first. We love this stuff; hope you do too!
Wow, really great and so tasty! Perfect for July 4th sandwiches. Thank you so much for your recipes!!
Betty, so glad you liked it! 😀
Thank you so much for your quick and helpful reply!
So much appreciate your site!
Happy 4th of July!
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!
In making this one, please advise:
No Egg Salad
1 package tofu – 12, 14 or 16 oz?
1/2 green onions, with scallions? 1/2 cup? Green part only?
1 t sea salt (or 1/2 t Indian black salt) – I love using this ingredient but would the alternative you gave be: 1/2 t sea salt AND 1/2 t Indian black salt or just 1/2 tsp Indian black salt?
Mayonaise:
1 package silken tofu – 12, 14, or 16 oz?
Thank you so much – I’m awful at improvising……… 😉
Great questions!
No Egg Salad:
I use the 16 oz packages of tofu
Definitely use the whole green onion/ white and green parts to make 1/2 cup
Try 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus 1/2 tsp black salt. Sometimes I add a little more sea salt. Start with half and half, then adjust for your preference.
Mayo:
For the tofu, I have used both the 12 oz and 14 oz without adjusting anything else, and they both work great.
Hope this clarifies and that you enjoy!
Is a lb of tofu 2 cups? How do I measure it? I don’t find 2 lb tubs of silken tofu.
Diane, I just use one package of tofu for the mayo and it works well. Enjoy!
Sounds so good!! I’m looking forward to making these!!! Thank you!! ?
You’re very welcome, Amanda! We LOVE these sandwiches at my house! 🙂
The eggless salad was seriously ahhhhhhmazing, thank you!!!!! Love Indian black salt….
So glad to hear you loved it! Thanks for letting me know! 😀
I am going to try and make this recipe this weekend. I love the sound of the combination of tofu and chickpeas. Most of the Eggless Egg Salad recipes I have use one or the other, but not both. One trick I have found to “make” this dish is to use 1/2 indian black salt (kala namak) and 1/2 sea salt. The sulphur in this salt adds a wonderful “eggy” taste to this dish. Also wanted to check with you on printing your recipes. This recipe has a green background, so it just sucks up all my ink on the printer. I just can’t seem to get your more recent recipes to print. I didn’t see a print recipe button that formats the recipe for the printer. Any ideas?
The black salt is an excellent addition, and I use it sometimes as well. This is actually an older recipe, done before I installed a recipe plug-in, so it’s format is just like a regular post. Here it is for you to cut and paste for printing. Hope this helps, and thanks for following!
Ingredients:
•1 block firm tofu, squeezed dry
•¾ cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
•¼ – ½ cup Low-Fat Eggless Mayo (recipe below)
•1/3 cup Dijon mustard
•½ cup celery, diced
•½ green onions, with scallions
•¾ cup frozen green peas, thawed in drainer under warm water
•3 Tbsps. Nutritional yeast
•½ tsp. garlic powder
•1/8 tsp. cayenne powder for spice
•1 tsp. turmeric
•½ tsp. black pepper
•1 tsp. sea salt
In blender, briefly pulse tofu, chickpeas, ½ of the celery, and ½ of the onions. Barely pulse this and leave it very chunky. Transfer blender contents to large bowl. Add the other ½ of celery, onions, green peas and all other ingredients. Stir thoroughly and serve on your choice of whole grain bread with fresh leaves of spinach or lettuces.
For those gluten intolerant, serve alone or on your favorite gluten-free bread or crackers.
Eggless Low-Fat Mayo:
This tasty, eggless mayo has only 11 calories and 4/10ths (.4) grams of fat per Tablespoon. And it’s loaded with protein!
•1 pound silken tofu
•1 tablespoon healthy sweetener (I use sucanat unrefined sugar or agave nectar)
•1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
•1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
•¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Remove water and drain tofu. I do this by setting it on a pile of paper towel, then squeezing out extra water.
Place the tofu into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth and creamy. Keeps in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.
I love your blog and use several of your recipes I personally do not use aluminum ( you have advertised them on Amazon ) due to the information linked to Alzheimer’s disease !
Hi Bev! Recently, I put up a recipe, Caramelized Grilled Leeks, where I mention using grill-proof aluminum disposable pans and lining them with parchment paper before cooking so food doesn’t touch the aluminum. I’m with you, in that I try to make sure aluminum doesn’t touch food while cooking. Dr. Barnard suggest it, and I like to follow his leading. Thanks for stopping by!
I made this for lunch today. Skipped the mayo and used spinach instead of peas, dried onions instead of green, and no celery. It would have been better with the celery, but it was still great! Thanks!
I love this one too. It’s one of our family’s favorites. So glad you enjoyed it too!
That looks fantastic! And, I have all the right ingredients. I would love to try this out. 🙂
My family really does enjoy it, and I hope you do too! I’d love to hear what you think, and about any tweaks you make for your own taste. Thanks!