Our friends at Fresh Off the Grid developed this tofu scramble for themselves as sort of a behind-the-scenes working meal. They needed something quick and easy to eat for breakfast BEFORE starting their day working on more time-intensive projects.
Since it’s nutritionally diverse and packs a lot of protein, it has a lot of staying power. Whenever we make this for breakfast, we know we’ll be full until lunch.
The other great thing about this tofu scramble is once you master the basic technique, you can sub in different veggies or add different spices to keep it interesting. Eating the same thing every morning can be boring, so it’s nice when you’re able to adapt a basic recipe to include whatever ingredients you have on hand!
Tofu Scramble Ingredients
Firm Tofu: While tofu might not seem like a common camping food at first glance, we actually think it’s a lot easier to deal with than eggs (no shells, less delicate, no salmonella). Tofu travels great in a cooler if you repackage it into your own resealable container. This way you only bring what you need for your trip (probably not the entire block) and can drain the water off ahead of time.
Potatoes: Any potato you have on hand will work, but we prefer waxy yellow potatoes for this dish. As with all potato hashes, the smaller you cube the potatoes, the faster it will cook.
Mushrooms: You can dial up the fancy or tone it down with your mushroom selection. We opted for relatively basic white mushrooms, but if you want to make something special, consider picking up morels, oyster mushrooms, or even shiitakes.
Shallot: When we want to combine the flavor of garlic and texture of an onion, we use a shallot. It’s a versatile ingredient we use a lot when camping. While it can’t ever fully replace garlic or onion respectively, when we are trying to cut down on ingredients, it’s a great compromise.
Spinach: We used spinach for this recipe because we had it on hand, but any leafy green will work. Also consider the robustness of kale, the spiciness of arugula, or the color of swiss chard.
Nutritional Yeast: We love using nutritional yeast in our breakfast scrambles. It gives a nutty-almost-cheesy flavor that really compliments the savory aspects of the dish.
Turmeric Powder: It doesn’t take much turmeric powder to get the flavor and color you want. Too much and everything will start to taste bitter. So add in a little, scramble, and taste.
How to Make Scrambled Tofu
As with all one pot or one skillet meals, the key to success lies in the sequencing.
Of all the ingredients, the potatoes take the longest to cook, so we will start there. Start by heating up some cooking oil in your skillet. Cube the potato into your preferred size – remembering the smaller the cubes the faster they will cook.
Add the potatoes to skillet with a bit of salt. While they’re cooking, de-stem and quarter the white mushrooms and add them in. Slice your shallot into thin rings and add them in as well.
When the potatoes, mushrooms, and shallots are nearly done, push them to the side, add a little more oil and crumble in your tofu into the open space. Add the turmeric, scramble. Add the nutritional yeast, scramble. Add salt and pepper, scramble.
The last step is to place a few heaping handfuls of spinach on top and stir into the combine. The steam from the hash with cook the spinach down to a fraction of the size, so don’t be afraid to put a whole bunch on to start.
And that’s it! Hearty potatoes, savory mushrooms, leafy greens, and wonderfully seasoned tofu. It’s a stellar breakfast skillet that just might give eggs & bacon a run for its money.
Since 1992, we at Escape Adventures have been blessed to shape and lead adventure travel vacations through some of the most awe-inspiring natural destinations in the world. Each successive season, our passion for adventure grows through memorable moments with our guests. Fresh air, faith, fitness and friends are the building blocks for our ventures, the treasured experiences that keep us moving forward. For those of you who have trekked and traveled with us over the past quarter century, Heather and I express our sincerest gratitude. The memories are priceless.
