High-Protein Breakfast Plate (Crispy Tofu Nuggets)
High-protein breakfast to get daily protein intake in a single plate. Crispy Tofu Nuggets Recipe, tofu nutrition facts & common queries about protein covered.
This high-protein breakfast plate would cover your daily protein intake needs in a single serving. Tofu Chicken Nuggets, as lovingly called by all dairy-free communities, this Crispy Tofu Nuggets is a vegetarian dish. It is quick and easy to make and is healthy with no trans fats, refined sugars, or common allergens like gluten and nuts. Let’s dive in quickly!
Crispy Tofu Nuggets Recipe (High-protein Breakfast Recipe)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Crispy Tofu Nuggets Ingredients
- 400 gm super firm tofu (or firm tofu, pressed to drain excess water)
Tofu Marination:
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon tamarind paste (or use molasses and lime juice in 1:1 ratio)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 4-5 garlic cloves (crushed to paste. Or 1 tablespoon garlic powder )
- Half small onion (ground to paste. Or 1 teaspoon onion powder )
- 2 sage leaves (Or ½ teaspoon dried sage powder)
- 5-6 thyme leaves (Or ½ teaspoon dried thyme powder)
- ¼ cup water
How to make Crispy Tofu Nuggets
- Preheat the oven to 425°F or 220°C.
- Take a large glass mixing bowl and combine all the “tofu marination” ingredients and stir to combine. You’ll get a thick paste. If the mixture is too thin, add a little more nutritional yeast. If the mixture is too thick, add water in teaspoons slowly.
- Unwrap tofu and break it into bite-sized chunks into the bowl. Use your thumb to create rough edges. (This way the pieces will hold the marination better and take on a more nugget-like shape. However, they will still be tasty if they’re blocky and smooth or even if you make them round).
- To coat each tofu nugget, lightly fold the chunks into the paste. Be careful not to break the tofu in the process.
- Spread the tofu nuggets onto a lined sheet pan and place in the preheated oven at 400-425 °F . Cook for 25 minutes or until the tofu is nicely done/brown on the outside. Alternatively, you may have airfryer tofu nuggets, if you prefer air frying over baking. Preheat the air-fryer to 375-400 °F and cook for 15-18 minutes.
Nutrition Facts (Crispy Tofu Nuggets)
- Calories: 332 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 mg
- Protein: 68 g
- Calcium: 2720 mg
- Manganese: 6 mg
- Copper: 4 mg
- Potassium: 520 mg
- Iron: 8 mg
- Sodium: 16 mg
- Vitamin A: 246 IU
Most Commonly Asked Questions about protein and its sources
What are the best sources of protein?
Seeds and beans are both high protein foods. If you like the seeds more, choose hemp, chia, pumpkin, and sunflower. And for the bean lovers, green gram, kidney beans, and lentils are at the top of the list. A more detailed list is given below.
What should be the Daily Protein Intake?
The Recommended Dietary Allowance or RDA for protein is 0.8 grams for every kilogram of your weight. Say, you weigh 50 kilograms, then your protein RDA should be (0.8 gm X 50 kgs= 40 grams of protein daily)
Also, if you are aiming to build muscles or are an athlete or engage in an activity that demands muscle repair, then the RDA for protein should ideally be 2 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Using the above example, it comes out to be 100 grams of protein daily (2 gms X 50 kgs). The increased amount is to help the body build new or repair worn-out muscles daily to prevent bone breakage and tissue or ligament tears. Also, try consuming that protein within 2 hours after exercise/heavy work to stimulate quick muscle growth.
How much protein to eat a day?
Ideally, protein should be 10% for normal adults & a maximum of 30% for an athlete. Try to incorporate it in your daily calories. Also, every gram of protein contains 4 calories.
So, if you are getting 2000 calories in a day, 10% of it is 200 calories. And every 1 gram of protein provides 4 calories. Hence, divide this number by 4 (200/4)= 50 grams of protein daily. This percentage of having protein daily ensures strong muscles and less fatigue. Try spreading 50 grams throughout the day to let the digestive system break it down completely in small portions.
What foods have high protein?
Here is a list of protein-rich foods in tabulated form, arranged alphabetically to segregate on the basis of food type and name:
BEANS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Beans Protein Chart | Beans Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Black Beans | 22 g | |
| Cannellini Beans | 22 g | |
| Chickpeas | 19 g | |
| Green Peas | 5 g | |
| Lentils | 26 g | |
| Kidney Beans | 24 g | |
| Lima Beans | 21 g | |
| Mung Beans (Green Gram) | 24 g | |
| Peanuts | 26 g |
FRUITS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Fruits Protein Chart | Fruits Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Avocado | 2 g | |
| Apricot | 1.4 g | |
| Banana | 1.1 g | |
| Blackberries | 1.4 g | |
| Guava | 2.6 g | |
| Corns | 3.4 g | |
| Goji Berries | 8 g | |
| Kiwi | 1.1 g |
GRAINS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Grains Protein Chart | Grains Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Amaranth | 14 g | |
| Buckwheat | 13 g | |
| Rice | 2.7 g | |
| Rolled Oats | 13 g | |
| Seitan | 75 g | |
| Spelt | 15 g | |
| Teff | 3.9 g | |
| Quinoa | 14 g |
NUTS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Nuts Protein Chart | Nuts Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Almonds | 21 g | |
| Cashews | 18 g | |
| Hazelnuts | 15 g | |
| Pecans | 9 g | |
| Walnuts | 15 g |
SEEDS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Seeds Protein Chart | Seeds Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Chia | 17 g | |
| Flax | 18 g | |
| Hemp | 31 g | |
| Pumpkin | 30 g | |
| Sesame | 18 g | |
| Sunflower | 21 g |
SOY HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Soy Protein Chart | Soy Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Edamame | 11 g | |
| Soy | 3.3 g | |
| Tempeh | 19 g | |
| Tofu | 8 g |
SUPERFOODS HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Superfoods Protein Chart | Superfoods Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Nutritional Yeast | 52 g | |
| Spirulina | 57 g |
VEGETABLES HIGH IN PROTEIN
| Vegetables Protein Chart | Vegetables Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g |
| Artichokes | 3.3 g | |
| Asparagus | 2.2 g | |
| Broccoli | 2.8 g | |
| Brussels Sprouts | 3.4 g | |
| Mushrooms | 3 g | |
| Potatoes | 2 g | |
| Spinach | 2.9 g | |
| Sweet Corn | 3.2 g | |
| Sweet Potatoes | 1.6 g |
What are good protein foods?
Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian sources have good protein foods for everyone’s palate. However, while choosing your preferred food, also take into account the digestibility of the food. For example, if you are planning to have chicken as your protein source, go for skinless chicken. The goal is to have lean proteins (and avoid heavy fat areas) as they have the highest digestible protein.
Likewise, for vegetarian protein sources, pair the complex proteins like beans with fiber-rich foods like leafy greens to help the digestive enzymes get active before the food goes bad inside the stomach and decays and flushes out in an undigested state.
Rounding up
The Vegan Chicken Nuggets recipe is an easy high protein snacks idea. All you need is a block of tofu and some kitchen staple spices. The sauce is optional and you may choose to do the recipe without it for those busy, quick breakfast ideas days.
Got bored of having the same crispy tofu nuggets? Try our anti-recipe aka the sweet version in the form of Tofu Chicken Strips, for a fresh texture and even fresher flavor!
