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Spicy, crispy Cajun Tofu baked until crispy with creamy red potatoes, tender bell peppers and onion to make the ultimate sheet pan dinner. Gluten-free, Oil-free option.
This Cajun Tofu Sheet Pan Dinner is crispy, hearty, perfectly seasoned, and best served hot and crispy. It comes together in just minutes and is equally delicious for lunch leftovers or weekly meal prep. Enjoy this plant-based dinner as is or with your favorite Southern sides.
Table of Contents
Bold Cajun Flavor Meets Protein-Packed Tofu
Transport your taste buds to New Orleans tonight with this quick and easy Cajun Tofu Sheet Pan Dinner! I first fell in love with Cajun-inspired “chicken” when I tried Daring’s Cajun Plant Chicken Pieces. They’re well spiced, crispy, and most importantly extremely convenient to be able to purchase pre-made. And after using them in my Vegan Buffalo Ranch Pasta, I knew I wanted to make my own homemade version I could make without a trip to the grocery store.
In addition to creating the best, crispy cajun tofu recipe, I also turned into an ultra easy sheet pan dinner that’s perfect for weeknights when you need something that takes 15 minutes or less to get in the oven. So without further ado, get out your favorite baking sheet and let’s get cooking!
Ingredients for this Cajun Tofu Sheet Pan Dinner
Making this sheet pan dinner requires just 4 components:
- Tofu: For the best, crispy tofu use pressed, extra firm tofu or super firm tofu (no pressing required!). I like to rip the tofu into bite-sized chunks to mimic the look of chicken – try the technique with my 30-Minute Teriyaki Tofu and Vegan Cashew “Chicken” recipes!
- Potatoes: Thin-skinned potatoes are best because they don’t require any peeling and are both tender and creamy. I used red skinned potatoes, but fingerling potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes would be great alternatives.
- Veggies: I kept it simple and roasted up some bell peppers and onion. Feel free to use whatever color peppers you have on hand and even swap the yellow onion for a red onion for a sharper flavor!
- Cajun seasoning: Using a homemade cajun seasoning is strongly recommended because you’ll have great control over the spice and sodium level but your favorite store-bought blend works, too.
How to Make a Cajun Tofu Sheet Pan Dinner
- Tear the tofu into bite-sized pieces and toss in a drizzle of oil, cornstarch, Cajun seasoning, nutritional yeast, and salt until well coated. Transfer the tofu to one-half of a prepared sheet pan.
- Add the potatoes to the same mixing bowl and toss with oil, Cajun seasoning, and a generous pinch of salt. Mix well, then transfer to the remaining side of the sheet pan.
- Bake on the top oven rack for 20 minutes.
- Mix the seasoned veggies in with the potatoes and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the bell peppers are tender.
- Remove from the oven and mix everything together until well combined.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve warm as desired.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Opt for a silicone baking mat over parchment paper. I’ve used both extensively in recipe testing and a silicone mat has significantly better results. It crisps the tofu up in a way that parchment paper just can’t achieve. Trust me!
- Use salt-free Cajun seasoning. The added salt in this recipe is based off of a salt-free Cajun seasoning. If you go with a store-bought cajun seasoning blend, look for a salt-free variety. Or, if your seasoning blend contains salt, omit the salt to start and season with salt to taste.
Serving Suggestions
This Cajun Tofu dinner can be served on it’s own or served over cooked rice, such as brown rice, cilantro lime rice, creamy grits, or this Garlicky Instant Pot Rice. It also pairs well with simple side dishes such as these Easy Garlic Green Beans, this Easy Vegan Cornbread, or a simple side salad.
If you’re looking for more tofu sheet pan recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas dinner, this Sheet Pan Garlic Ranch Tofu meal and these Vegan Breakfast Burritos for a morning option!
How to Store Cajun Tofu
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If you’ve read my tofu guide, you’ll know that freezing tofu changes its texture to become more sponge-like and can cause it to release excess water upon defrosting but is still delicious!
Reheat leftovers using the microwave, oven, or a large pan until warmed through.
Substitutions and Variations
- Oil-free option: Replace the oil with vegetable broth or water. This will make the tofu and potatoes less crispy and flavorful, but will work if you enjoy an oil-free diet.
- Potato variations: Swap the red potatoes for a similar thin-skinned potato such as Yukon gold potatoes or fingerling potatoes.
- Tofu variations: If you can’t find extra firm tofu, opt for super firm tofu or in a pinch, firm tofu. This is also a great recipe to use for frozen, then thawed tofu blocks.
Recipe FAQs
The short answer is, it depends! Black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili peppers, and paprika are prominent ingredients in most cajun seasonings. If the cajun spice blend you use contains high proportions of black pepper and cayenne pepper, it is going to be fairly spicy. By making your own cajun seasoning from scratch, you’ll have full control over how spicy it is and can adjust to taste.
For crunchy tofu pieces, it’s important to first remove the excess water in the tofu, then bake at a high oven temperature until golden brown and crispy. For beginners, I always recommend starting with my EASY Crispy Tofu Recipe and if possible, invest in a tofu press. It’s the best way to press tofu consistently and evenly without any work!
When baking crispy tofu, use a neutral tasting oil with a high smoke point. I typically use avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil. These oils are versatile and can be used to bake tofu, make high quality dressings from scratch, and sautéing aromatics for flavorful soups & stews.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Cajun Tofu Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients
For the Tofu:
- 14-16 ounces extra firm tofu pressed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon salt-free Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast or sub more cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Veggies:
- 1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes diced into 1” pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt-free Cajun seasoning
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon avocado oil for drizzling
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1” pieces
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 1” pieces
- 1/2 yellow onion cut into 1” wedges
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- Cooked rice for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425F and grease or line a large baking sheet. Set aside.
- Coat the Tofu: Tear the tofu into bite-sized pieces (or cut into cubes) and place in a large bowl. Drizzle the oil over the tofu and stir well, then sprinkle the cornstarch, cajun seasoning, nutritional yeast, and salt on top. Toss well, until all of the tofu is coated; transfer the tofu cubes to the baking sheet individually. If there is any leftover spice blend in the bowl, leave it and use it on the potatoes.
- Potatoes: Add the potatoes to the same mixing bowl and top with 1 tablespoon of oil, 1/2 tablespoon cajun seasoning, and a generous pinch of salt. Mix well, then transfer to the other half of the baking sheet.
- Bake: Place on the top rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Veggies: Add the peppers and onion to the same bowl and toss with a pinch of salt and the remaining teaspoon of oil, adding more if necessary. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip the tofu and potatoes. Pour the veggies over the potato half and mix them in a bit.
- Final Bake: Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake on the top rack for a final 20 to 25 minutes, until the bell peppers are tender. Remove from the oven and mix everything together well. Sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve & Store: Serve warm, as-is or over brown rice. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- Cajun seasoning: I used this recipe to make some homemade cajun seasoning. If you go with store-bought look for salt-free, otherwise the recipe will be too salty. If your seasoning blend has salt in it I would omit the salt and start with ½ tablespoon and adjust from there
Easy, delicious, and I loved that there was very little cleanup needed. This was my first time making crispy tofu and it was a 10/10 crispy. Yum!!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it, Claire.
Paired with quinoa cooked in vegetable broth. Was absolutely scrumptious!
Glad you loved it, Claire!
DELICIOUS! Love the flavor, love the texture of the tofu. Very easy recipe to follow. Will definitely be making again.
Thank you, Tanja!
Super tasty! First time commenting and I’ve been a fan of your recipes since I went fully vegan two years ago. This recipe was so good I had to say something!
Whipped up a cajun aioli (veganized from a conventional recipe) to top the veggies and rice — highly recommend for extra sauciness. I had to use two baking sheets since I over-did it with the veggies a bit, but I just switched their positions in the oven halfway through, and everything came out great. And the silicone baking mat was the way to go. Definitely crispier than parchment paper.
Would you say baking the tofu on the silicone baking mat or directly onto the sheet pan gets it the crispiest? Or are they about the same?
Thank you for leaving a review! The silicone baking mat definitely gets it the crispiest.
This is delicious! I didn’t have cajun seasoning so instead used. thai green curry seasoning blend and it turned out beautifully!
So happy to hear that, Marcy! Thank you for the review!
Do you have a recipe for your salt-free Cajun seasoning? I don’t see a link…tried a search but it just brought me back to this same recipe…sounds so good
Hi Debbie, I do not have a recipe, I used store bought! Though there are several online if you’d like to make your own 🙂
link for homemade cajun seasoning?
I used store-bought!
I can’t find a link to your cajun seasoning blend. Thank you!
I do not have a recipe for cajun seasoning on the blog, I used store bought this time 🙂