Restaurant-Style Vegan Chicken Parmesan
This is the BEST vegan chicken parmesan recipe! Make your own vegan chicken cutlets with frozen and thawed tofu, marinate them in a garlic and chickeny flavor bath, then bread and bake them with a peppery crust. Melt some dairy free mozzarella on top and serve it over pasta or as a vegan chicken parm sandwich with plenty of marinara!
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When my brother and I were kids, we were super picky eaters. So much so that for a long time, whenever our parents would take us out to eat, the only two things we ever ordered were chicken nuggets or pasta with butter sauce. We were a little ridiculous.
So, when I first ventured into the unknown world of the adult menu, it should come as no surprise I chose and fell in love with the classic chicken parm. Because this is the logical next step, yes? 😋
From that point on, chicken parm was my dish. I loved everything about it: The crispy breaded chicken that was full of pepper-y parmesan flavor POW, the melty gooey mozzarella, the mountain of pasta it lied atop. My mouth legit waters when I think about it.
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Veganized Chicken Parmesan
Obviously, these days, I like to practice a more “hug it, not nugget” relationship with those sweet little chickens (and interestingly enough, my brother does too), so I knew I eventually had to create a game-changing version of my favorite childhood restaurant order.
I’ve tried a few different recipes for vegan chicken parmesan over the past 4 years. All were good, but none were truly great. None of them took me back to that table surrounded by family, digging into my favorite comfort food.
There is a chicken parm sandwich our favorite vegan pizza shop, Blackbird Pizzeria, makes that comes very close (legit – I have dreams about this sandwich), but I haven’t found a recipe that 100% hit the nail on the head…until now, that is. 😎
Friends, allow me to introduce you to our restaurant-style vegan chicken parmesan recipe, made with TOFU!
Okay, okay, I know how oh so typically “vegan” it sounds, but please believe me when I say this is not an ordinary tofu recipe. We have a few tricks up our sleeve to make the most tender, meaty, flavor-filled tofu you’ll ever taste, thanks to The Tofu Freezer Trick.
How to Make Vegan Chicken Parmesan
- Freeze, thaw, and press your tofu! If you’ve frozen tofu before, you know what a kicka$$ texture it takes on after being thawed. So meaty! We call this method the Tofu Freezer Trick.
- Slice + marinate! We used a hefty dose of our vegan chicken bouillon recipe in the marinade to really get that nostalgic flavor going.
- Bread + bake! I love this part, mostly because it means I’ll be eating vegan chicken parmesan soon. 😋 We use a mix of breadcrumbs and our cheesy garlic butter blend here, which is the secret WOW factor that makes the breading so reminiscent of that pepper-y restaurant-style chicken parm.
- And finally, top with vegan mozzarella and get it all melty under the broiler for a few minutes. You can use any vegan mozzarella – store-bought or homemade – you like. We used some of our marinated vegan mozzarella balls, which worked so beautifully.
- Lay it atop a mountain of saucy pasta (we love our veggie spaghetti sauce for this!), pour yourself a glass of sangiovese, and dig in!
And wait, there’s more: The tofu cutlets freeze so well, friends! Just bread, bake, let ’em cool, and freeze. I have so much nerdy excitement for the freeze-ablitiy of this recipe!! 🤣
And I’m not the only one who has fallen head over heels for this vegan chicken parmesan: When T first tried it the other night, he looked at me and said, “You know, I used to love chicken parm too, and this is definitely among the best I’ve ever had.”
I happen to agree. 😁
I can’t wait to make this vegan chicken parmesan for my family and basically every single person I’ve ever known! 😄
If and when you give it a try too, let us know about it! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below or tag us in your mouthwatering photos on Instagram. We’re @theplantpowercouple with the “the”.
Enjoy the hell out of this, friends!
And side note: If you dig chicken parm as much as we do, check out our Vegan Chicken Parm Pizza recipe too!
More Freezer Tofu Recipes:
- Lemon Pepper Tofu Cutlets
- Balsamic Tomato Tofu Cutlets
- Sweet Chili Tofu Cutlets
- Vegan Chicken Cutlets
Restaurant-Style Vegan Chicken Parmesan
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet small or medium
Ingredients
- 1 (16-oz) block extra firm tofu
- 4 slices dairy-free mozzarella
For the marinade:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp vegan chicken-style bouillon powder
For the breading:
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs*
- 2 Tbsp vegan cheese seasoning
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
Instructions
- PREP THE TOFU: Place the package of tofu in the freezer overnight or until frozen through. In the morning, take it out of the freezer and place it in the fridge or on the counter to thaw. When the tofu is thawed (about 8 hours), squeeze the tofu gently over the sink to expel excess liquid and press it as you normally would. It should be pretty sturdy and spongey, but still handle with care, so you don't break the tofu.
- MARINATE THE TOFU: Next, slice your tofu into 8 equal "cutlets" and mix all the ingredients for your marinade in a small bowl with a whisk. Pour the marinade over the tofu slices and cover. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- BREAD THE TOFU: When you're ready to make the cutlets, turn your oven to 350F and grab a large baking sheet. Get out two shallow bowls or pie plates. To one, add the starch. To the other, add the bread crumbs and cheesy garlic butter blend and mix with a whisk. Dip each tofu cutlet in the starch, then back in the marinade, then in the bread crumb mixture. Be sure to coat the cutlet completely during each phase.
- BAKE THE TOFU: Place your cutlets on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flip each one carefully, and bake another 20 minutes. If you're freezing the cutlets, stop here, let them cool, and freeze. Otherwise, continue.
- MELT THE CHEESE: Top each cutlet with a slice of vegan mozzarella. Turn on your broiler and broil for about 5 minutes or until the mozzarella is all melty and beautiful.
- SERVE: Serve these cutlets on top of a mountain of pasta or a long hoagie roll with marinara and chips on the side!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Watch our Tofu Parmesan web story!
This recipe is utterly delicious. Thank you so much. I am a new vegan and my husband is half-way there. This was the best dinner we’ve had so far. We are looking forward to checking out your other recipes. I LOVE the bouillon too. 😀
Hi, Susan! This comment totally made our day. We’re THRILLED to hear how much you love the recipe! It’s one of our all-time favorites. 🙂 And congratulations on going vegan; what an exciting time!!
This recipe is so wonderful I have no words. You have returned a major comfort food back into my life. I now always have a pressed block of tofu in the freezer so I am always ready to make this without having to wait until tomorrow 😀 I would rate this 10 stars if I could. Thanks so much!
LOVE THIS SO MUCH! Thanks for sharing the prep tip (which we are TOTALLY going to adopt by the way!) and your kind words. 🙂
We aren’t vegan, but we do try to eat meatless 1-2 times a week. This chicken parm was amazing! We will definitely be adding it to our rotation of meatless meals. Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
I’m so happy to hear this, Anna! 🙂
I have never commented on a recipe in my life, but THIS. The freezing of the tofu was a game changer. When my husband took his first bite…well..lets just say the very explicit words he used were a gigantic compliment! 😂 so I thought I would let people kmow..they NEED to try this 😋
Will be making this over and over again, and cannot wait to play with that tofu texture for other recipes. Thank you!!
Hi, MaKayla! YES! I’m SO happy to hear about your success with this recipe and completely honored to be the first recipe comment ever. 🙂 Thank you so much.
I made this recipe for my daughter and her boyfriend, who is vegan. They both absolutely loved it! The flavor and texture were just like actual chicken parm! Thank you, this will become a regular dish when they are home from college on semester break!
I’m thrilled to hear this, Dawn! Coolest Mom Award goes to you! 🙂
This was the best thing I ever made out of tofu! I had meat eaters so I made them regular chicken. They all tasted this recipe and could not tell the difference. Actually I like mind better flavorful and Juicy. This will be a main staple at my dinner table!
I’m so happy to hear this, Carol. What an awesome victory!! 🙂
Just like I remember at the restaurants! Thanks for all the great tofu recipes!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it, Stef. You are VERY welcome! 🙂
OMG…So good! I stumbled upon this recipe and now I look forward to trying all your other enticing dishes! Thank you.
We are so glad you liked it, JD! Please let us know what you think of the other dishes you try! Thanks for reaching out to us with the kind words!
Hi!
I didn’t see a mention of
How to reheat/continue cooking from frozen. I assume you thaw the cutlets first, but what is the best method to go from frozen to meal?
Thank you!
Could I use super-firm tofu instead of extra-firm? It is the only kind that comes in a sixteen ounce block where we shop.
Absolutely you could, Thomas! That type is actually less common where we live. Hope you love the recipe, and let us know how it turns out for you!
Thank you! Do I still drain, press, and freeze it the same way?
In all honesty, Thomas, we haven’t used it in this recipe. As I said, it’s less common where we live. I’d still freeze and press it, if it were me…for science. Sorry I can’t be more direct in an answer.
I did it the same way as directed in the recipe and it was wonderful! By far the best tofu recipe I have ever made, I could barely tell it was tofu, it tasted so much like chicken and that cheesy butter blend in the breading just perfected the flavors. Thank you guys so much, I will be making this recipe many more times!
Thank YOU, Thomas!! We really appreciate your kind words! We are SO glad you liked it so much! It’s definitely a favorite of ours as well!
I cannot believe I made this because it tastes like it’s from a restaurant. Only thing I did different, which was by accident, was putting the marinade on at the oven process as opposed to letting it sit in the tofu for a bit. Freezing tofu is a game changer! And now I have two extra spice powders also. This recipe is a top fav, thank you!!!
I’m so glad to hear you liked it, Mal! And yay for happy accidents, right?! I’m happy to hear it’s made it into your top faves; it’s definitely one of ours!
So good I threatened my husband with bodily harm if he touched my second piece of tofu. Seriously the best tofu I have ever made, and I’ve been a vegetarian for 21 years. Just wow. Thank you.
HAHAHAHA! While we here at Plant Power Couple neither condone nor promote violence, etc, etc…I have to say, that may be THE funniest review comment we’ve ever received! Thank you so, so very much, Dominica! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate you letting us know! (and so humorously!)
As I’m scrolling through all your delectable dinner recipes I see this chicken parm and suddenly remember I had wanted to make this for my guys birthday in March. Oops 😬 That being said I am putting it in writing that I will be making it the weekend of June 11-12 when he’s off of work again! I’m drooling thinking about how much I loved chicken parm growing up and can’t wait to eat this!! Forthcoming a photo and review 😁
Hi, Michelle, thank you so much for the lovely compliment! And also thank you so much for taking the time to reach out to us and let us know you enjoy the recipes. I really hope you both enjoyed the chicken parm and look forward to hearing what you thought! Take care!
Absolutely fabulous. For family of four including growing teen boys I’ll need to make half again – not sure whether that is due to their metabolism/hormones or the taste ;). Thank you.
LOL! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! It’s definitely one of our favorites too!
Is there any way to do this without oil???? My husband is pre-diabetic and we have had to give up meat, sugar AND oil!
Thank you!
Hi, Kathy. We don’t really recommend making this type of recipe without any oil. I can’t guarantee the taste or quality of texture in the tofu. If you have a lot of water in your marinade, this greatly affects the texture of your tofu as well as the cooking time. We suggest using a marinade with an oil base and only minimal water when absolutely necessary. The oil in the marinade will also help you get that crispy oven-fried effect. If you do decide to go ahead and make this oil-free, I’d love to hear the results. Maybe try increasing the cooking time, at the very least. Hope it works out for you, and hope you have a great day!
I see this comment was 1 1/2 years ago, but I wanted to reply because I have experimented using oil vs. water in the marinade for this recipe. Personally, I prefer a water base. I do use super firm tofu, which has a meatier texture and is much less spongy, even without the freezer trick or pressing (the freezer trick makes it even better though!) so that may be one of the reasons the water base works. I found the chicken seasoning didn’t really mix into the oil and sank to the bottom of the marinating tofu, and the oil didn’t really soak into the tofu either, it just kind of sat on top of it. The oil also made it difficult for the breadcrumbs to stick to the tofu (maybe because we have to use GF breadcrumbs?) A water based marinade fixed all of these issues and the flavor profile is phenomenal! I use about a 1/4 cup of water and 3-4 Tbsp of the chicken seasoning. This makes a fairly thick marinade that is still liquidy enough to coat all of the tofu. The flavor profile and texture of this recipe are absolutely insane! It’s sooo good! It’s the first time I have ever liked tofu enough to eat it as a main dish. We make it over and over in our house.
Thanks so much for all this detailed info! I’ve looked at this recipe many times, wanting to make it but then putting the recipe aside due to the high amount of olive oil. Now that I know you successfully replaced the olive oil with water, this is on my schedule for dinner this week.
This is pretty much a weekly meal. My daughter begs me to make it! It tastes amazing! Thank you
I’m so glad to hear you both enjoy it so much! Thank you for sharing that!
So Delicious!!
I have several tofu cookbooks, but your recipe is by far my absolute favorite way to prepare tofu..
This is filling, quick, cheap, and nutritious
You hit it out of the park on every count!
Wow, thank you!That is so nice of you to say, and I’m just tremendously happy you enjoyed the recipe so much! Really appreciate you letting us know.
It sounds sooo good, except for the 784calories………… AND 67g SATURATED FAT. One person commented, asking how & if oil could be omitted or replaced. I wonder if aquafaba (liquid from canned white beans or chickpeas) would possibly work. Or maybe 1/8 cup olive oil + 3/8 cup aquafaba….
Hi, Carol. We don’t really shy away from caloric content and such around here. We’re not really a health food blog, as it were. That being said, I’d love to hear how the aquafaba / oil combo works out for you though!
I think the calorie calculation is taking the marinade into account, but most of the marinade won’t make it into the final dish. I wouldn’t take the nutritional information too literally here.
I cannot even begin to describe how good this is. The texture is spot on. The flavors in the breading, all of it. So good. I feel like I have to make this every week now, it feels like such an indulgence but it’s good for you! I had been eyeing up this recipe for months but I finally made it on Friday. Needless to say, it’s already gone. This one is a homerun!
I’m so very glad you like it so much, Kristine! If you are going to have it every week, I recommend making a big old batch and freezing the extra portions for quick mealtime. Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed it. We really love to hear that!
Can’t wait to try this, looks so easy and delicious. It’s nearly impossible to find vegan mozzarella in block form where I live. Our stores do sell the vegan mozzarella shreds, though, so I assume that would work.
Shreds will definitely work!
And my frustration with ALL things tofu continues. It absorbed all the marinade so what can I use when it comes to breading? Your marinade looks much thinner than what I have, also. Should I just whip together more of it?
No worries! That just means the tofu was thirsty and sucked up all that flavor! You can make more marinade or just add a little hot water to the marinade remnants left in the container after you remove the tofu. Swish it around and it should loosen it right up!
Excited to try this! Do you think I could use cornstarch instead of tapioca starch? I ordered most of the ingredients but missed that one somehow. Thank you!
I’m excited for you to try it too! Yes, cornstarch will work in a pinch!
From the comments I read I must try this but cannot find vegan mozzarella anywhere. What can I do? God bless you both.
You can use our homemade vegan mozzarella sauce! It drizzles on and then thickens up beautifully in the oven.
This recipe is so good!
Thank you!
Never had a chance to make chicken parm…..it was consumed as soon as it exited the oven! Better luck next time I hope.
Haha, I totally understand that situation! So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
This is delicious! I didn’t have boullion so to the olive oil and garlic I added 2 tbsp soy sauce, three nutritional yeast, a half teaspoon onion and garlic powder, somewhere between 1/2-1 tsp dried thyme and a pitch turmeric for color and it worked out great. Strangely enough the leftover marinade made a weirdly nice garlic bread spread situation that I spread on some sourdough and toasted.
Wow, I love the idea of a little soy sauce situation in the marinade! Thank you so much for your review. I’m glad you were able to make it work with what you have AND make some tasty garlic bread on top of that! Wins all around!
I was very impressed with this recipe. My husband really like the flavor and texture and added it to the must make again list. It was easy to make and very tasty.
“Must make again” list is the highest honor! 😄 I’m so glad you both loved it. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
forgot the rating
Thank you again, Noxie!
Hi there, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but I can’t see any cheesy garlic butter in the breading ingredients so am wondering how it will stick on? There’s breadcrumbs, tapioca starch and the nutritional yeast mix but no butter mentioned. I really want to make it. Thanks
Hi there! The Cheesy Garlic Butter Blend it’s referring to is our vegan cheese seasoning, not actual butter. For breading, you want to remove all the tofu cutlets from the marinade and use the leftover marinade as the “wet” in between the tapioca starch and seasoned bread crumbs. Your marinade should be very thick, but if it’s too thick, just swish in a Tbsp or two of warm water to make it easier to work with.