The Smoky Egg Swap That's Perfect For Your Vegan Breakfast Sandwich

Whether you're ordering one of our tested and ranked fast food breakfast sandwiches or making one from scratch, eggs are most likely a key ingredient. Consequently, vegan breakfast sandwiches need a worthy egg swap that's just as versatile and malleable. Of course, the ultimate vegan chameleon is tofu. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's the smoky egg swap that brings flavor, protein, and texture to your vegan breakfast sandwich.

We've advocated for a wire masher to transform tofu firm or extra firm tofu into the crumbly, bouncy texture of egg curds. For the purposes of a sandwich, a more cohesive texture like that of an omelet makes tofu an even better egg swap. The smoky flavor that'll bring depth to the savoriness of your tofu egg swap requires the addition of liquid smoke like this hickory liquid smoke from Colgin. The easiest way to incorporate liquid seasonings into tofu is through a marinade. Let quarter to half-inch thick square or rectangular tofu steaks marinade in a blend of tamari, liquid smoke, and black salt to approximate the flavor of eggs. Then, you can fry the steaks in oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat for around 3 minutes per side. You can also bake the steaks or air fry them before adding them to a breakfast sandwich.

If you don't have time to marinate tofu, you can preseason shredded tofu with the same marinade ingredients on a baking sheet. The shreds will absorb the flavors as they bake in a super hot 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes. You can add a bit of cornstarch to bind the liquid ingredients to the shredded tofu. If you use shredded tofu, you can blend the shreds with mashed avocado or a vegan mayonnaise like this Follow Your Heart veganaise to form a more cohesive sandwich filling.

Whether you're using shreds or steaks, draining and pressing tofu is essential to optimizing the absorption of liquid smoke and the accompanying marinade flavors. You can enhance the smokiness with complementary spices, herbs, and aromatics, whether by adding them to the marinade or to the accompanying sandwich ingredients. Granulated garlic, paprika, ground black pepper, and fennel are all great savory and smoky options to add to your tofu marinade. Spiking veganaise with ground chipotles in adobo or making our recipe for vegan chipotle mayo will bring a sweet, smoky, and spicy complement to the liquid smoke in your tofu breakfast sandwich. You can also bring more plant-based meat substitutes to the table by adding vegan cheese like these Daiya cheddar slices or this vegan breakfast sausage from Morningstar Farms.