Tofu Scramble with Vegan Hollandaise
Serves 2-3Prep 10 minCook 15 minTotal 25 min
Prep and cook times are estimates — every kitchen moves at its own pace. Times are estimates — the video doesn't give exact minutes. The hollandaise makes about 1 1/2 cups.
If you miss scrambled eggs, this is the one. From our 2018 video "Better Than Eggs," built on two secret ingredients: black salt (kala namak), which gives the tofu its unmistakable eggy flavor, and a yellow tomato, which gives the hollandaise its golden color and body — no eggs, no dairy, no problem.
The video shows our original version. The page below follows it faithfully, with a few clearly-marked tweaks we've made since to take the hollandaise even further.
Watch it made
Directions
- Crumble the block of firm tofu by hand directly into a dry non-stick pan, breaking it into small pieces so they resemble scrambled eggs when finished. (No pressing, no draining, no oil — that's how it's done in the video.)
- Add all the seasonings at once over the tofu: nutritional yeast, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and turmeric, then the soy sauce.
- Pour in about 1/2 cup of water and stir everything together over medium-high heat. The video preps 2 cups but adds "a little more than half" at a time — the exact unit isn't stated, so start with 1/2 cup and add splashes as it evaporates.
- Stir in the 1/2 tsp black salt — the secret ingredient that gives it the eggy flavor — and mix it in well.
- Keep cooking over medium-high heat, adding splashes of water as it evaporates and breaking up any chunks, until the water cooks down and it looks like scrambled eggs. No exact time is given in the video — judge it by look.
- Cover the pan and set the scramble aside while you make the hollandaise.
- Cut the yellow tomato into quarters and trim off the stem end (no need to seed it). Add the quarters to a blender with the vegan half & half, garlic cloves, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and black salt. Blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the blended mixture into a pan over medium-high heat.
- Whisk in the melted vegan butter in two additions — about half first, stir until well incorporated, then the rest.
- Stir the cornstarch with about a tablespoon of water to make a slurry first (this stops it from clumping), then whisk it into the pan. This is what thickens the sauce.
- Stir in a pinch of cayenne — more to taste — and keep stirring until the sauce is thick, smooth, and glossy enough to coat a spoon. Make it thicker if you like, and that's it.
- Start with 1–2 tsp of black salt instead of the full tablespoon, then add more to taste — kala namak is potent, and a full tablespoon can overpower the sauce.
- Whisk in 1 tsp Dijon mustard along with the butter for a classic hollandaise tang and a silkier emulsion.
- For a mellower sauce, drop to 2 cloves of garlic.
- Serve immediately — the sauce thickens as it sits. If it gets too thick, whisk in a splash of warm half & half.
- Plate the scramble over a toasted vegan English muffin with a vegan breakfast sausage patty — we used Gardein in the video, and there are a lot more brands to choose from now, so use your favorite — plus home fries, asparagus, and sliced tomato. Spoon over as much hollandaise as you want.
