The Absolute Best Oils To Use In Your Tofu Marinade

Tofu is a great protein to use even if you aren't vegan. It's healthy, can take on fun textures, and absorbs whatever flavor you give it. In a recent Daily Meal interview with New York Times Best Selling Cookbook Author of "Big Vegan Flavor", Nisha Vora, we got into the nitty gritty of cooking with tofu, including what oils to use in your marinades.

Ultimately, you can use any oil you'd like in the marinade, but some are better than others. Oils with a lot of flavors tend to work best since tofu itself has a neutral taste. "Toasted sesame oil gives a nutty, rich flavor whereas extra virgin olive oil has a mild buttery and grassy flavor," Vora tells us. There's a whole world of flavorful oils you can play around with! The oil you use depends on the flavor profile you're working with and how you plan to cook the tofu.

While you can still use them, "neutral oils like canola or vegetable oil are less ideal since they don't contribute much flavor" says Vora. She isn't against a neutral oil if it serves a purpose. "While avocado oil has a neutral taste, it does have a very high smoke point, making it great if you're going to stir fry your marinated tofu over high heat," she says. It's a balancing act between flavor and smoke point.

With canola and vegetable oils not only are their flavors neutral, but their smoke points are lower than avocado oil. Low smoke points mean that in high heat these oils will start to burn, releasing unhealthy free radicals and developing a bitter taste. They're usable in a pinch only if you don't need flavor from your oil and you're not cooking at high heat to cook the tofu quickly or make it nice and crispy.

There are other good oils with high enough smoke points, like soybean, peanut, and palm. Use these different oils while testing with your tofu marinades to make your own perfect tofu!