Ok…the title intrigued me and I am the biggest fan of popcorn, I just had to try it. It does NOT resemble popcorn in any way but it is a wonderful NEW appetizer worth having at your next get together. It’s delicious! It reminds me of a deep fried mozzarella stick but my sister-in-law says there is no long stringy cheese with each bite and reminded her a little more of a crouton. The tofu doesn’t have much taste so it’s really all about the crunchy nugget that you get to dip in a sauce. The tofu is adding that wonderful protein we all want more of in our diets. This is a low calorie, gluten free, and vegan friendly appetizer. If you don’t fall into those categories, you can use regular flour and mayo and bread crumbs. I am giving it a 4 spoon rating due to the prep time. I did find that I could do the whole thing in the air fryer instead of transferring it to the oven half way through and that saved time and dishes.
TOFU…. 14 oz. extra firm
Drain excess water and then cut into bite size pieces.
In a bowl: Mix together…
1/2 c. Gluten free flour
1’2 c. corn meal
3 Tbl. nutritional yeast
2 Tbl. better than Bouillon Vegetarian No chicken Base
1 Tbl. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 c. dairy free milk ( I had to add 3 more Tbl to get it to a pancake batter consistency)
PANKO OR BREAD CRUMBS
1.5 c.
DIP tofu pieces into the batter, then the breadcrumbs
Put as many of the nuggets into your air fryer without crowding. Set fryer to 350 and bake for 12 minutes.. Shake the basket half way thru…. Here is where I added 5 more minutes in the air fryer instead of transferring the nuggets to the oven.
Dipping sauce:
1/2 c. vegan mayo
2 Tbl. sriracha
