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CHOW: Recipes: Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing

Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing Recipe

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Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: 8 to 10 servings

Premade faux-turkey roasts are typically laden with impossible-to-pronounce ingredients and chemicals that we prefer not to ingest. Our vegan tofurkey contains fresh ingredients and a toothsome, nutty brown-rice stuffing.

Special equipment: You will need a large piece of ultrafine woven cheesecloth. It can be purchased at cooking supply stores or online.

Game plan: Don’t forget to press and drain the tofu the night before. The glaze and stuffing can also be made the day before and refrigerated until ready to bake. The gravy can be made ahead and reheated or made while the tofurkey is baking.

INGREDIENTS

For the tofurkey:

  • 5 (14-ounce) packages extra-firm tofu, drained
  • 2 tablespoons white miso
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves

For the glaze:

  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1/2 medium orange)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon white miso
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

For the stuffing:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 medium shallots, small dice
  • 2 medium celery stalks, small dice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, halved if large, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 3/4 cup long-grain brown rice
  • 1 cup mushroom broth
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

To assemble and serve:

INSTRUCTIONS
For the tofurkey:

  1. Place a colander inside a large bowl and line it with two layers of ultrafine cheesecloth; set aside.
  2. Using your hands, break the tofu into roughly 2-inch pieces. Place about half of the tofu in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the miso, salt, thyme, pepper, soy sauce, and sage and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the mixture is very smooth, about 2 minutes total. Transfer to a large bowl. Process the remaining tofu until smooth. Transfer to the bowl with the tofu-miso mixture and stir until evenly combined.
  3. Transfer to the colander, smooth the top, and fold the cheesecloth over to completely cover the tofu mixture. Set a plate about the size of the inside of the colander on top of the cheesecloth and place a few heavy cans or jars on top of the plate to weigh down the tofu (the weight helps expel any excess water). Refrigerate overnight, or at least 12 hours.

For the glaze:

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the stuffing:

  1. Place oil in a medium saucepan with a tightfitting lid and set over medium heat. When it shimmers, add shallots, celery, thyme, and sage, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes more.
  2. Add brown rice and stir to evenly combine. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender, about 50 minutes. (If the rice has not absorbed all of the liquid, continue to cook, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed, then replace the lid.) Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork. Stir in parsley and vinegar. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed; set aside to cool slightly.

To assemble and serve:

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with oil and place on a baking sheet.
  2. Remove the colander from the refrigerator. Remove the weights and plate and peel away the cheesecloth from the top of the tofu. Using a 1-cup measure, transfer 4 cups of the tofu mixture from the colander to the springform pan and, using a rubber spatula, spread into an even layer. Arrange the stuffing in an even layer over the tofu, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spread the remaining tofu in an even layer over the stuffing, completely covering it, and smooth it to the edge of the pan. Using a pastry brush, coat the top with a thin layer of the glaze.
  3. Bake in the oven until the top is dark golden brown, about 75 minutes, brushing the top with glaze every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet, about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside of the pan before removing the outer ring. Cut into wedges and serve, if you choose, with mushroom gravy.
    Write a review | 16 Reviews
  • Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing Recipe
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POST A COMMENT |15 Comments

COMMENT

  • I made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was VERY tasty. Not sure what happened with sanlynn36's version - I definitely upped the salt and spices in mine, which could explain it. I blended the first batch of tofu with the recipe's spices and then blended the second batch with spices as well before combining the two. I then tasted the mixture and added more salt. Since I couldn't find miso...+READ

    I made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was VERY tasty. Not sure what happened with sanlynn36's version - I definitely upped the salt and spices in mine, which could explain it. I blended the first batch of tofu with the recipe's spices and then blended the second batch with spices as well before combining the two. I then tasted the mixture and added more salt. Since I couldn't find miso where my folk's lived, I just subbed some Teriyaki and kept tasting until the mixture tasted good to me.

    I made everything the day before and assembled it Thanksgiving morning and baked it, using my own glaze mixture (threw some OJ, garlic, maple syrup, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and grated lemon peel in a food processor). We also served it with vegetarian nut gravy which was a rich counterpoint to the tofu.

    Right out of the oven, it was good and the texture was OK, but it was even better the next day. I would say you could make this and bake most of it for an hour, put it in the refrigerator and then cook through the next day for another 15-20 minutes, adding more glaze. The tofu is moist enough that I think it could withstand this process.-COLLAPSE

  • Made this for Thanksgiving 2010 and was terribly disappointed in this bland, tasteless version that required so many steps and was fairly expensive. Even the mushroom gravy (also bland) didn't save this. Both my vegetarian daughter and I decided we'd never eat this again and threw out most of it. My daughter (almost 22-years-old) said she had the boxed version that was much, much better (guess...+READ

    Made this for Thanksgiving 2010 and was terribly disappointed in this bland, tasteless version that required so many steps and was fairly expensive. Even the mushroom gravy (also bland) didn't save this. Both my vegetarian daughter and I decided we'd never eat this again and threw out most of it. My daughter (almost 22-years-old) said she had the boxed version that was much, much better (guess all those "chemicals" helped.) I'm going to try the easier, less expensive boxed version at our next holiday meal.-COLLAPSE

  • Tofurkey with an "e" avoids trademark issues. i think you are thinking of "tofurky", which is a turtle island brand. also, ratgirlagogo is saying she is excited to try this tofurkey because it doesn't have vital wheat gluten, as opposed to "tofurky". this looks awesome and i can't wait to make it.

  • I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but I'm eager to try this - because it doesn't contain seitan! Not that I don't love seitan, but my best friend is allergic to wheat, so even though we've been having Thanksgiving together for the past 25 years, and we were both vegetarians (she still is), we NEVER had Tofurky. This will be so much fun for us to make together - thanks so much!

  • Your recipe title should contain quotations marks as for registered trademark issues for "Tofurkey".

  • "Tofurkey's" second main ingredient is Vital Wheat Gluten.

  • How do I get rid of the Intel advertisement. It won't close. If I go anywhere near it, it opens the ad in another tab. I can't move it, and it's covering information that I want. Why do something like that? It's really annoying. I thought if I came all the way down here, it would be gone when I went up again, but it's still there. Please remove it. The tweet, email, facebook, thingy is also...+READ

    How do I get rid of the Intel advertisement. It won't close. If I go anywhere near it, it opens the ad in another tab. I can't move it, and it's covering information that I want. Why do something like that? It's really annoying. I thought if I came all the way down here, it would be gone when I went up again, but it's still there. Please remove it. The tweet, email, facebook, thingy is also annoying. Just put it somewhere on the page and let it stay still. We're all intelligent enough to find it. I don't want it following me, and, also not closing when it's in the way. PLEASE Chow, you're such a wonderful site, get rid of these annoying extras. I don't mind the occasional add, but these are too intrusive, and make me want to have nothing to do with either of them. Thank you, if you respond.-COLLAPSE

  • This looks nice and I'm always in favor of veg recipes on Chow, but I am not sure this will stack up against my stand-by recipe. I loooove Bryanna's "tofurkey" roast, especially laced with some extra garlic and herbs. Because that recipe uses vital wheat gluten (the key ingredient in seitan), it is incredibly chewy and makes the best leftover "turkey" sammiches.

    So Chow, I ask you: what's the...+READ

    This looks nice and I'm always in favor of veg recipes on Chow, but I am not sure this will stack up against my stand-by recipe. I loooove Bryanna's "tofurkey" roast, especially laced with some extra garlic and herbs. Because that recipe uses vital wheat gluten (the key ingredient in seitan), it is incredibly chewy and makes the best leftover "turkey" sammiches.

    So Chow, I ask you: what's the texture like on this thing? Is it soft or chewy?-COLLAPSE

  • Whoops, didn't see your comment Christine. Thanks for the heads up. I'll give it a go.

  • Very excited to try making this for Thanksgiving this year. One question, can you make any of it ahead of time? Precook it the day before and finish it up the day of?

  • teafairy is right---I'm all in favor of home cooking, but Tofurky isn't made from chemicals or particularly unusual ingredients. (Unless you consider garbanzo bean/chickpea flour unusual.) Here's a list of the ingredients in the "roast" part of "Tofurky Feast" (and the stuffing and gravy are similar) from http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/nutri/nutri_feast_feast.html
    "ROAST: Water, vital...+READ

    teafairy is right---I'm all in favor of home cooking, but Tofurky isn't made from chemicals or particularly unusual ingredients. (Unless you consider garbanzo bean/chickpea flour unusual.) Here's a list of the ingredients in the "roast" part of "Tofurky Feast" (and the stuffing and gravy are similar) from http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/nutri/nutri_feast_feast.html
    "ROAST: Water, vital wheat gluten, organic tofu (filtered water, organic whole soybeans, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride), expeller pressed non-genetically engineered canola oil, natural vegetarian flavors, shoyu soy sauce (water, non-genetically engineered soybeans, wheat, salt, culture), non-genetically engineered corn starch, white bean flour, garbanzo bean flour, lemon juice from concentrate, onion, carrots, celery, salt, calcium lactate from beets."-COLLAPSE

  • MMM! Thank you! I never tried homemade tofurky before.

  • This looks awesome and I will try it!Very exciting to see a homemade recipe for something like this. However, I feel the need to point out: TOFURKY is a brand trademark so i don't think you can/should name it this, even if you add an E. Also Tofurky brand products don't seem to be "laden with impossible-to-pronounce ingredients and chemicals" compared to almost all other brands of faux meat, so I...+READ

    This looks awesome and I will try it!Very exciting to see a homemade recipe for something like this. However, I feel the need to point out: TOFURKY is a brand trademark so i don't think you can/should name it this, even if you add an E. Also Tofurky brand products don't seem to be "laden with impossible-to-pronounce ingredients and chemicals" compared to almost all other brands of faux meat, so I don't think it's fair or accurate to target them like this. I think you're thinking of products like Morningstar Farms or Boca. I always feel relieved when I read a Tofurky label, by comparison.-COLLAPSE

  • rockchick-

    We never tried fully cooking it and then heating up, but to save some time, you can press the tofu, make the glaze, and make the stuffing the day before.

    The day of serving, it should only take a few minutes to form the tofurkey before you bake. Let us know what you think if you make it!

    Christine Gallary, CHOW Test Kitchen

  • Can you make ahead of time and then heat up? Or just cook it for 60 minutes and finish the last 15 on Tofurkey Day?