Vegan Souvlaki
This Vegan Souvlaki has all the zippy and herby flavors of the original, but we are using TOFU instead of chicken!
Next to Gyros, Souvlaki was one of my favorite things to get whenever I went to one of those old school Greek diners. Recently I’ve been thinking about them, and so of course I had to make some Vegan Souvlaki!
This one is super easy to whip up and insanely good, especially with some Tzatziki!
What’s the best tofu for Vegan Souvlaki?
I highly recommend Super Firm Tofu as it’s vacuum packed and doesn’t require pressing. I haven’t tested this recipe out with Extra Firm but if you can only find that, you’ll wanna press it for at least 30 minutes.
ingredients for Vegan Souvlaki
Besides the tofu, Souvlaki relies on fairly common ingredients! This recipe is really a jazzed up version of my Grilled Tofu Chicken too!
- Vegan Yogurt – I recommend using unsweetened, and Greek style if possible. Vegan Yogurt is common in the US, but if you can’t find it, you can try using some Vegan Mayo or blended Silken Tofu instead.
- Dijon Mustard – I don’t think this is authentic, but it helps with flavor and emulsification.
- Lemon Zest & Juice – We’re gonna use the zest and juice of a whole lemon for a lot of zippiness!
- Garlic – Every recipe needs garlic!
- Agave – Can also use sugar or syrup, a little sweetness to cut through the zip of the lemons.
- Olive Oil – Or use any neutral flavored oil too!
- Soy Sauce – Again, not traditional but adds a lot of umami and salt!
- Seasonings – We’ll be using some Nutritional Yeast, Smoked Paprika, Onion Powder, Dried Oregano, Dried Thyme and Salt and Pepper.
how to make Vegan Souvlaki
To prep the marinade, simply combine and whisk everything in a bowl! Reserve about 2 Tbsp of the marinade. We’ll toss the cooked tofu in this at the end.
Pat the tofu dry, and then break it into bite sized chunks. This will give us more nooks and crannies for the marinade to stick to.
Add the tofu pieces to the marinade and gently toss to coat. Taste one chunk and adjust seasoning as needed.
If using skewers, go ahead and skewer the tofu chunks. Otherwise, heat up a 12″ skillet over medium heat.
Add the skewers / tofu chunks and cook on each side for about 3 minutes each. If you aren’t using skewers, I recommend reserving any excess marinade. So remove the tofu piece by piece instead of dumping the whole bowl in the pan.
Then, once tofu is nicely browned, brush with any excess marinade. You may need to cook the tofu in 2 batches in order to avoid crowding the pan.
Once done to your liking, toss in the 2 Tbsp reserved marinade and any excess marinade, this will really amp up the flavor! Serve on a pita with some Vegan Tzatziki!
storage
These are best eaten fresh, but I found that eating cold leftovers was good too. Or just reheat in the microwave or stovetop.
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If you made and enjoyed this recipe, please leave a rating & review! It really helps out the blog and it makes my day, thank you!
Vegan Souvlaki
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Super Firm Tofu (Vacuum Sealed)
Marinade
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Yogurt (Unsweetened)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 tsp Agave (or Sugar, Syrup)
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil (or any Neutral Flavored Oil)
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 4 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- To prep the marinade, simply combine and whisk everything in a bowl! Reserve about 2 Tbsp of the marinade. We'll toss the cooked tofu in this at the end.
- I recommend using Super Firm Tofu, the kind that’s vacuum sealed with no water. You can try pressing some Extra Firm for 30 minutes, but I haven’t tested it out, so not sure how it will work on this recipe!
- Pat the tofu dry, and then break it into bite sized chunks. This will give us more nooks and crannies for the marinade to stick to.
- Add the tofu pieces to the marinade and gently toss to coat. Taste one chunk and adjust seasoning as needed.
- If using skewers, go ahead and skewer the tofu chunks. Otherwise, heat up a 12″ skillet over medium heat.
- Add the skewers / tofu chunks and cook on each side for about 3 minutes each. If you aren't using skewers, I recommend reserving any excess marinade. So remove the tofu piece by piece instead of dumping the whole bowl in the pan. Then, once tofu is nicely browned, brush with any excess marinade. You may need to cook the tofu in 2 batches in order to avoid crowding the pan.
- Once done to your liking, toss in the 2 Tbsp reserved marinade and any excess marinade, this will really amp up the flavor! Serve on a pita with some Vegan Tzatziki!
This was a major hit in our family. I literally quadruple the recipe and it’s still super easy to put together. I don’t normally like tzatziki sauce from before being vegan but I’m seriously impressed with the flavor of this. He nails it every time and I cannot get over how great the flavor profiles are. 💝
Thank you for the feedback, so glad you dug it and that tzatziki tooo!!!
Obsessed with this recipe! It makes the tofu get nice and crispy!
Nice, crispy tofu is the best, so glad you dig it!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was far superior to anything I had in Greece. This is going in the roster.
Haha wow, that’s amazing!! Best compliment ever, thank you!! So glad you liked it!
Unbelievably good. One of the best tofu recipes I’ve made. Couldn’t find the vacuum sealed super firm tofu so made with “normal” extra firm that comes in water and still had a great texture. My non-vegan husband also loved it.
Excellent, glad it worked with the normal tofu too and that your husband liked it! Thank you so much!
This recipe is amazing. I doubled the marinade and used the other half on about half a bag of soy curls. Then I skewered the tofu and curls, and cooked them both on the BBQ (tofu directly on the grill, soy curls on the higher rack). Both turned out perfectly! Multiple people at the BBQ asked me for the recipe link! A must try dish.
Oh that sounds so good! I want to try this marinade with soy curls and mushrooms too, thank you!!
This recipe is perfection! So delicious so easy to put together! OMG, thank you!
Thank you!! Glad to hear it!
I’ve been vegan for almost 10 years and made tons of recipes. This is the best tofu recipe I’ve ever made – so good!
Oh wow, that’s amazing, thank you so much, so glad you dug it!!
Seriously, one of the best vegan Souvlaki good recipes I’ve ever tried. Used my little griller machine to give it that look of grilled foods. Wow- I made some harissa seasoned sweet potatoes and hummus and it was heaven! My fam is not big on yogurt dips , hummus is more popular.
Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
oh that all sounds delicious! So glad you liked it, thank you!!
This tofu was so delicious!! I can’t wait to make this again on the pita with Taziki sauce! We just had back to back ice/snow storms here in the south so the stores have been empty lol I wasn’t able to get yogurt so subbed mayo as suggested for marinade! Served with yellow rice, veggies and hummus with naan!! Only mistake was should have doubled cause I could have ate the whole batch! My 4 year old also loved! Also, side note, I have been vegan for 8/9 years and it took me years to like tofu, (I never cooked it before going vegan) and I came across your chickn quesadilla recipe and tried, along with many others of yours and now I’m a full on tofu promoter! So thank you so much for the delicious and beautifully crafted recipes! Saying you changed my life sounds dramatic but literally changed my tofu life and now I cook so many different and exciting meals!! Thank you!
Oh wow, I love this! So glad we got you on the Tofu Train!! You have made my day with this comment, thank you!
Life changingly good and so simple! I wish I could give 6/5 stars!!
ah dang I love this, thank you so glad you enjoyed it!
How are your tofu recipes always so amazing?! This was SO good. We cooked them as skewers on the BBQ. I kept drizzling the extra marinade on them as I flipped them (the marinade was so good I could have drank it like soup). I will definitely be making this again soon. So perfect for summer.
hahah love this, thank you!! I appreciate it!