Super delicious gochujang tacos with creamy, crunchy yum sauce slaw are incredibly easy to make without a ton of ingredients. They have an amazing flavor from the gochujang and such an incredible blend of textures!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: dinner, Main, Main Course
  • Cuisine: Asian fusion

Ingredients

For the Crispy Gochujang Tofu

  • 15 ounces extra-firm tofu (pressed for at least 15 minutes)
  • 1½ tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
  • 1 to 1½ tablespoons gochujang (based on your heat preference)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or 3 cloves garlic, minced + ½” ginger, peeled and minced)
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the Slaw Dressing

  • 1/3 cup non-dairy yogurt (or non-dairy mayo)
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice (or use combination of lime juice and apple cider vinegar)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

For the Slaw

  • 3 cups chopped slaw mix (green/red cabbage, carrots, apples, or any combination of crunchy veggies)

For the Gochujang Maple Drizzle (optional)

  • 1 tablespoon gochujang
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon hot water

For the Tacos

  • 6 small flour tortillas (use gluten-free, if needed)

Other Toppings (optional):

  • pickled jalapeños, cilantro, green onion

Method

Make the tofu.

  1. Preheat the oven to at 400°F (205° C).
  2. Press your tofu, if you haven’t already, then set it aside. In a bowl, make the marinade by combining all the ingredients listed for the tofu except the cornstarch. Mix well. Crumble the tofu into the bowl, and toss well to coat. You want to crumble the tofu into pieces that are no larger than ½”, so they crisp up properly.
  3. Sprinkle the tofu mixture with the cornstarch and toss well to coat. Spread the tofu on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread it out well so there are no large clumps, as they won’t separate once they start baking.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes or longer. At the 20-minute mark, move the tofu pieces around. Bring the center pieces to the edges and vice versa, since the outer pieces crisp up faster. Continue baking for another 5 minutes, or until the tofu reaches your preferred consistency. I like to keep the tofu chewy-crisp, because if you cook them too long they will scorch on the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the slaw.

  1. To make the slaw dressing, mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Taste and adjust the flavor as needed. Add more yogurt for extra creaminess or more gochujang for more heat. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the dressing for drizzling on the tacos later. Mix the rest into your slaw mix, and set that aside. (You can omit the gochujang from the slaw and make regular slaw)!

Assemble the tacos.

  1. Next, make the gochujang maple drizzle by combining the gochujang, maple syrup, and hot water. Mix well and set aside.
  2. Heat your tortillas directly over a gas flame until slightly crisp around the edges. Add a generous amount of slaw to each tortilla, then top with the gochujang tofu. Drizzle with the reserved slaw dressing and the gochujang maple drizzle, if using. Top with pickled jalapeños, cilantro, or chopped green onions if desired, a pinch of salt sprinkle and serve.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.