I have such a love affair with buffalo sauce, it’s not even funny. I know I have told this story before, but but I’ll tell it again, just for funsies. Before I was a vegetarian, the only meat I really ate was chicken, and pretty much the only way I ate chicken was smothered in spicy delicious buffalo sauce. If we went out to eat and a restaurant was offering buffalo chicken, I was ordering it…whether it be in a wrap, a bun, or a salad, I didn’t care. I love buffalo sauce. So, my only hesitation when deciding to become a vegetarian was if I could really live without buffalo chicken. The answer is yes. Why? Because when it comes down to it, you can put buffalo sauce on ANYTHING. Yes, anything. I always used to order this buffalo chicken salad from a local pub, and I was obsessed with it. So naturally, over the last 6 or so years, I have missed it. Once I started experimenting more with tofu, a light bulb went off and I realized that I could make the same salad at home with crispy tofu!!! I am proud to announce the buffalo tofu salad!
Crispy tofu over a delicious green salad; then adding celery, tomatoes, tortilla chip crumbles,bleu cheese, and creamy ranch is the perfect combination. I could eat this salad every day. Seriously. This is also one of those occasions where you can’t say, “Oh, I don’t like tofu,” because you would never even know there is tofu in this salad unless I told you. After frying it and drenching it in buffalo sauce, there is no way you can’t like tofu. No way.
- 1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2/3 cups buffalo sauce, divided (I like franks buffalo sauce)
- 1 cup cooking oil, such as vegetable
- 3 romaine hearts (or 8 cups of chopped romaine), chopped and divided in half
- 3 celery stalks, diced and divided in half
- 2 plum tomatoes, diced and divided in half
- 2 handfuls white corn tortilla chips, crumbled (use your hands!) and divided in half
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing (I like to make my own using the hidden valley packets)
- 1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbles
- 1. In a heavy bottom stock pot with high sides, heat 1/2 cup of oil over medium high heat. Taking cubes of tofu, dunk into corn starch, evenly coating, and then drop into oil. This may need to be done in 2 or 3 batches, do not over crowd the tofu. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until crispy (if your oil doesn't cover the tofu, you will need to flip it to crisp the opposite side). Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and set on paper towels. Continue until all tofu is fried.
- 2. Place tofu into a small bowl and toss with 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce until evenly coated. Set aside.
- 3. Using 2 large salad bowls, add lettuce to each bowl. Top with celery, tomatoes, tortilla chips, 1/4 cup of bleu cheese crumbles (on each salad). Add 1/2 of the tofu to each salad. Pour 1/4 cup ranch dressing over each salad. Toss to combine.
- Enjoy!
- *Makes 2 large salads.
- *Add the tortilla chips when you are ready to eat the salad or else they will get soggy!
Like Buffalo Sauce as much as I do? Check out these other buffalo recipes!
Thanks for visiting!
– Allyson
Jessica says
Yum! I just saw your comment on my site and start perusing yours. So much goodness here! We are vegetarian too, so of course, seeing “buffalo” and “tofu” and “salad” in one recipe definitely caught my healthy-yet-naughty-food loving eye! 😉