Air Fryer Tofu with Honey Garlic Sauce
Crispy air fryer tofu is made to perfection every time, with less fat than the traditional method of deep-frying. In less than 20 minutes, you are tossing your air fryer tofu in a homemade honey garlic sauce that is balanced in flavor and totally satisfying.
I’m sure like most tofu eaters you have tried it about every way imaginable and sometimes the crisp just isn’t there!
Air frying is your answer!
I recently got an air fryer and I have to say I am in love!
It is user friendly, minimal cleanup and the fact that you can make anything you want to in it is amazing (anything that can be cooked in the oven can be made in the air fryer, ex. cookies, muffins, breads, chicken, etc!)
The first thing I air-fried was air fryer cauliflower gnocchi which was so good!
I was actually impressed with the crispiness!
When using the air fryer, it cooks by convection, therefore leaving foods more crispy without having to be deep-fried.
Convection simply means that there’s really hot air blowing all around the food as the cooking method.
Air frying tofu allows you to decrease the cooking time without comprising that crunch you are wanting.
Not to mention you don’t have to worry about all the unhealthy stuff like you do when deep-frying!
How to Make Air Fryer Tofu
Here are some of the ingredients you will need to get started!
Don’t forget the honey garlic sauce, it adds so much flavor!
Extra Firm Tofu – By using extra firm, most of the excess water is already squeezed out, but you will need to press it a little more before air frying.
If you have a tofu press that’s perfect!
If not, simply lay the tofu in the center of a clean thin dishtowel and gently press to remove excess moisture.
Removing the excess moisture plays a huge part in the tofu being crispy.
Cooking spray – By spraying the bottom of your air fryer and the tops of the tofu, this reduces the fat content, because we won’t be using added oils.
Other Ingredients: corn starch, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, salt, soy sauce, honey, and minced garlic.
Tips for Making Air Fryer Tofu
- Did you know you can purchase parchment paper liners to make cleanup super easy? These liners already have precut holes in the bottom, so there it doesn’t affect the quality of cooking, nor does it increase the time.
- Don’t overload your basket. This is really the only downside to cooking with an air fryer. If you overload the basket, it will increase the cooking time and your tofu will not get as crispy. The best way to avoid this is to cook in batches. Keep your previous batch in the oven at a higher temperature so it stays ways and doesn’t lose its crunch.
- If you have leftovers and want to reheat the tofu, simply use the air fryer for just a few minutes on the reheat setting.
How Should I Serve Honey Garlic Air Fryer Tofu?
If you are using the honey garlic sauce, which I highly recommend you do, it gives the tofu more of an Asian style meal.
Here are some side dishes and ways you can serve it:
- With steamed veggies like broccoli and carrots, or Roasted Brussel Sprouts
- Instant Pot Healthy 20 Minute Risotto
- Cauliflower Rice, Brown or White Rice
- With or on a dinner salad. This Broccoli Crunch Salad makes a great side dish!
I am so excited to make more recipes in the air fryer!
If you have some suggestions for me, let me know on Instagram!
Don’t forget to tag me so I can see how they turn out!
PIN ME FOR LATER
MORE AIR FRYER RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE
- Air Fryer Egg Bites
- Air Fryer Cauliflower Gnocchi
- The BEST Air Fryer Apples
- Healthy Air Fryer Meatballs | Gluten Free
- Healthy Cinnamon French Toast Sticks – Air Fryer!
More Air Fryer Tofu Recipes
Air Fryer Tofu with Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra firm tofu
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Cooking Spray
Honey Garlic Sauce
- 3/4 Cup Chicken Broth
- 1/3 cup Honey Can add more if you like it sweeter!
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tsp Garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp Water
Instructions
- Lay the tofu in the center of a clean thin dishtowel and gentle press to remove excess moisture. Cut the tofu into ~1 x1 inch pieces.
- Place the squares in a large bowl or a large ziploc bag. Add the cornstarch, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, and salt. Toss or close and shake the bag until the tofu is completely coated.
- Spray the basket of the air fryer and place the cubes in a single layer. (Optional to use air fryer parchment paper for easy clean up!) Spray the tops of the tofu with cooking spray. Set the air fryer at 360F for 18 minutes. After the 10 minutes, give the basket a shake. Arrange tofu back in a single layer across the basket and cook for another 8 minutes at 360F.
- While the tofu is frying, combine chicken broth, honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer sauce, stirring often, until flavors combine, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk water and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Pour into the saucepan; simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
- When the tofu is done frying. Place in the bowl with 1/2 cup honey garlic sauce and toss.
- Plate the tofu, drizzle with extra sauce as desired. Enjoy!
Love this easy to make recipe! I too have discovered air fryer cooking!!! I made this recipe vegan by using maple syrup instead of honey and used my homemade vegan chicken broth instead of storebought. Turned out so good and delicious!!!
This is a great recipe. I wanted a way to entice my 10 year old to eat tofu. This seems to have opened her mind to it. My husband found the sauce a little too sweet using the 1/3 cup honey. Would use less next time and taste to see as it cooks (maybe add a touch more honey to my daughter’s). Thanks!
We’ve just started venturing into cooking with tofu, so I’ll definitely have to give this recipe a try!
I love this recipe so much!! It is such a good vegetarian recipe!! Definitely something worth trying!
Tried this for dinner tonight and was very happy with the recipe. Loved it. We will definitely be making this again!
My husband made this for the family, we loved it so much! Can’t wait to have it again. Thank you!
I just got an air fryer and was very happy to see this recipe, which I tweaked just slightly. I made fried rice with kale in a wok, then transferred those items to a warm bowl. After cutting and coating the tofu I added sesame oil to the wok then the coated tofu for about 5 minutes to coat with oil then spread on a pan to air fry. At the end, I added half the heated sauce to the wok then mixed in the tofu. It was tasty! Kale fried rice and garlic honey Tofu…Yum! Thank you
That combo sounds amazing!! I need to try it for myself as I love fried rice 🙂 Thanks for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! P.S. – the air fryer is awesome!! You will love it!
Mmm eating this as I write…….easy had all the ingredients in my cupboard, mmmm
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Mmm made it again!!
Yay!! So glad you enjoy the recipe!
Great…..nutritional info please
Hi Penny! I don’t include the nutritional information on my recipes, but if you search for a calorie calculator online you can add all the ingredients and it will calculate it for you 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Best meatballs I’ve ever made! Why did I wait so long to bake them? I was short on breadcrumbs so I put French Fried Onions in the food processor and added to the breadcrumbs! Turned out marvelous! Going to start another batch to freeze tomorrow
https://www.beckandbulow.com
Hi Chris! I’m not sure which meatball recipe you tried since this comment was left on my tofu recipe, but I’m glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks so much!
My husband and I have never had tofu. It always seemed off-putting to us. After beginning a healthier lifestyle I decided to finally try it. This recipe was my first attempt and it was delicious! My husband thought it was chicken and kept commenting on how crispy the outside was and how soft the inside was. It tasted just like Chinese food and satisfied my craving for it while still being healthy! So excited to try more tofu recipes!! Thank you for this awesome recipe, it’s going in the book!!
So happy to hear you all enjoyed it! It’s definitely one of my favorites as well! Have a wonderful day!
This is honestly the best tofu recipe I’ve ever used. The tofu comes out great and is consistent every time. The sauce is also delicious and is great with stir fries too. The last time we made this we used Hot Honey instead of regular honey and it made it even better!
AIR FRYER TOFU WITH HONEY GARLIC SAUCE does anyone have the nutritional info for this recipe? Please post.
Thanks
Nutritional information please!
Wonderful flavors and would be great for meal prep!!! We ate with broccoli and rice. The only issues were that the sauce is quite thin, and the tofu softens a lot with the sauce – any recommendations to thicken the sauce and maintain the crisp?
I tried the tofu recipe without the sauce since I was low/did not have all of the ingredients. I ended up making the same-ish sauce. Anyway, the tofu came out incredibly crispy. It’s one of the best dinners I’ve made for myself and passes the nutrition test! I ate it with two servings of broccoli (hadn’t eaten lunch and wanted to make up for it in dinner). Let me just say, this recipe is wonderfully easy and fun to do! From coating the tofu by shaking the bag to the short cooking time, what is not to like???!!! If I could, I’d post the photo I took.
A bit sweeter than I typically like as written. I added a healthy dose of red pepper flakes to balance out the sweetness with some spice and that tasted great. Next time I will keep the crispy tofu outside of the sauce and drizzle that on top when serving so they stay crispy…mixing with the sauce, mine became soft again. I ate this with rice and steamed broccoli. Will definitely keep this in the rotation with my minor tweaks.
Love the addition of red pepper flakes to give it a kick! Glad you enjoyed it enough to make it again 🙂
My kids love this! I just had to make a second batch of tofu because they ate it all while I was making the sauce!
This is so good!! I will never East you any other way now.
I had given up liking air fryer tofu until I tried this recipe. I think the 1” cubes are the perfect size, along with coating them in seasonings. I don’t find it makes any significant difference whether I flip foods in my air fryer or not. I think the only critique I have is that this makes a lot of sauce. You can either try to reduce the sauce by cooking it longer, or use it for your rice and veggies.
Do you have the nutrition facts for this?
I don’t – I’m sorry! But feel free to add the ingredients to an online calorie calculator and divide by your portion size 🙂
This looks really good! I’ll have to try this.
Thank you! Let me know if you do!
My boyfriend I really love this recipe. The tofu was perfectly crispy and Seasonings were awesome. The sauce was over the top amazing ,next time I’m going to make one and a half times the sauce because we enjoyed it on the broccoli and short grain brown rice too!!
kudos to you and thank you for sharing!
omww this looks so good!! Definitely trying this amazing recipe
Thank you so much, Nikki! Hope you enjoy!
Delicious! Good amount of sauce for the tofu.
Two of my greatest loves
1. Tofu
2. Air fryer
I love how all the items are pantry items no need to run out and get a random ingredient I may never use. A big plus!
Yay!! I totally feel you on not having to make any extra grocery trips haha. Enjoy!