The Science of Freezing Tofu (And 4 Ways To Cook It)

Watch The Video

If you want to get all the cool visuals, (and frozen tofu is very cool), everything I cover in this post is covered in this video as well. Enjoy!

What Types of Tofu Can You Freeze?

You can freeze any kind of tofu; anything from silken all the way to extra firm, depending on the texture you want at the end. The soft tofu will remain soft, and the firm tofu will remain firm, but everything will be a little firmer and less fragile than it originally was.

How to Freeze Tofu

There is ZERO trick to freezing tofu and don’t believe anyone who tries to get you to do any kind of “prep work.” The easiest way is the best way – stick them in the freezer in the packaging, just like my husband did. Once frozen, it’s gonna look completely wrong; the colour will become dark yellow and translucent as per the pic above.

The tofu doesn’t need to be frozen for any particular amount of time; you can thaw it as soon as it’s completely frozen or leave it there until you want to use it. Let it thaw in its packaging either in the fridge over a few days or in a bowl of room temp water (which will take 3-4 hours) – though of course timing will depend on the size of the tofu. If thawing in water, keep changing the water once it becomes ice cold so it will thaw faster.

*Once thawed, the tofu will still last at least a week in the fridge (unless it is almost expired) so you can thaw it well in advance.

How NOT to Freeze Tofu

Some people will tell you to cut the tofu into pieces, dry them with a towel, then freeze them on a tray as individual pieces. If you just want to store the tofu long term, that’s fine, but if you want to reap the benefits of frozen tofu’s transformation, this is actually the OPPOSITE of what you want to do!

Yes, freezing tofu in small pieces make them quicker to thaw and easier to use, but for the most dramatic physical changes, you want as much water in the tofu as possible while it is freezing AND for the freezing to happen slowly (i.e. freeze the whole block of tofu). So just stick it in the freezer as is. I will explain the reason for this further in “the science” section below.

What Happens After Tofu is Frozen?

For the tube silken tofu, you can cut the tube right through, (careful of any water squirting on you), and slide it out. And behold the crazy texture, holes, and layers in the pic below! And BECAUSE of all these holes, you’ll also notice a ton of water just pouring right out of the tofu.

For tofu packed in a tub, you can just take it out as usual after it’s thawed. With firmer tofu it is not as obvious that anything has changed, but if you look closely, you can see the little, tiny holes inside that weren’t there before. And if you press down on it (gently please, it’s still tofu) you’ll see a ton of water gushing out of those tiny holes.

Both soft and firm tofu basically became a sponge. The holes are much smaller in firm tofu because it had much less water to begin with as I will explain in “the science” below. But the takeaway here is: the softer the tofu, the more dramatic the effect.

The Science Behind Frozen Tofu’s Transformation

Now let me explain why this happened with a rough analogy. Imagine that tofu is made up of millions of tiny water balloons. Each balloon is the soy protein, and each soy balloon is filled with water. This is how the water was able to stay suspended INSIDE the tofu in the first place.

But as anyone who’s ever forgotten a can of coke in the freezer knows, water expands when it freezes, and if the container is too full, it explodes. That’s what happened to our soy balloons; and the ice crystals are sharp, so they damaged the balloons as well. And once the tofu thaws, the water leaks out from the damaged balloons, leaving a bunch of saggy empty balloons behind, hence all the holes.

As evidence of this, if you freeze a whole tube of silken tofu, you’ll notice that the holes at the ends of the tofu are not nearly as big (see the difference in the pic below). This is because the faster things freeze, the smaller the ice crystals. And smaller ice crystals cause less damage to the protein structure, hence the less pronounced holes. The middle of the tofu will have the largest, most obvious holes because it was the place that took the longest to freeze. And as I mentioned above, this is why you want to freeze the whole block of tofu and not freeze them in small pieces!

Why would you want to freeze tofu anyway?

Other than triggering trypophobia, this holey texture can be a good thing because one of the most challenging parts about cooking with tofu is getting it to absorb any flavour. You can coat the outside with sauce, but the inside usually just tastes like plain tofu. But with all these holes, sauce and broth and now penetrate INSIDE the tofu, making it much more flavourful.

The other advantage is that because the tofu now has less water, it is a bit stronger and less likely to fall apart, which is why many people like to use frozen tofu in hot pot where things are constantly being agitated. And for firmer tofu, once we fry them, they’re gonna be chewier as well.

Does frozen tofu taste like chicken?

This is such a pet peeve of mine. If you go searching on the internet for frozen tofu you’re going to see people claiming that freezing is a “tofu hack” that makes tofu taste like chicken! As a chicken eater, I can tell you with 100% confidence that it does NOT. And if someone actually thinks that it does…well, maybe they haven’t had chicken for a while.

Yes, if you freeze firm or extra firm tofu and then fry it, it is gonna develop a chewier texture, but you’re definitely not going to fool anyone that this is a meat product. What I CAN say is that  depending on what you do with it, it can tastes less like tofu because now more of the sauce is able to penetrate the inside, so the tofu flavour is drowned out a little bit more.

How to Cook With Frozen Tofu

However you currently cook unfrozen tofu, you can still do the same with frozen tofu. But the difference is that now the holey tofu will be able to absorb flavour and will be firmer. So here are a few suggestions I have that will allow you to take advantage of this new feature.

For Frozen Soft Tofu

1. Cut it into pieces and let it simmer in a soup, stew, or anything saucy to let it soak up the flavour. I used it in this Thai sukiyaki soup recipe and it was delicious. Just add them at the end and let it simmer for just a few minutes so the tofu can heat through and absorb that flavour.
2. Hot pots! Frozen tofu is popular in hot pots because they are sturdier and less likely to fall apart with all the people constantly agitating the pot. Try this Thai hot pot recipe here!

For Frozen Firm or Extra Firm tofu

You can certainly just throw these into any soups, curries or stews. But if you pan-fry or air-fry them first, you’ll also get a lovely chewiness AND this will help prevent them from falling apart when you cook with them, making them much more versatile. Here’s how to fry them:

1. Press out as much excess water from the tofu as possible (don’t be too aggressive, it is still tofu). Cut it into pieces that are slightly bigger than you want them to be at the end because they will shrink.
2. Lay them on a thick kitchen towel, put another towel on top and gently press to dry them out further. The dryer they are the better they will brown.
3. Option 1: You can pan fry them in some oil over high heat. Sear them on all 4 sides for a few minutes each side. Be sure not to crowd the pan for best browning.
4. Option 2: For a less fiddly method, brush them with oil and air-fry them at 400°F (200°C) for about 12 minutes, turning them over half way through. Be sure to place them in a single layer and try not to let them touch.

*People have asked whether it is okay to deep fry frozen tofu. I have not done this, but my concern is that because of all the holes, the frozen tofu may absorb too much frying oil.

3 Recipe Ideas for Pan- or Air-Fried Frozen Tofu

Whether you pan fried the tofu or cooked them in the air fryer, here’s what you can do with your golden nuggets of chewy tofu.

1. Toss them in a sauce. Here I’m using my Hot Thai Chicken sauce recipe. Simply toss the freshly fried tofu until it is well coated, but don’t overdo it cuz the sauce is intense. In a pinch, you can also just toss them in any store-bought sweet chili sauce.

2. Stir fry them. I recommend my pad prik king recipe which is a slightly sweet red curry paste stir fry with makrut lime leaves. Just throw the tofu in towards the end and toss until they’re well coated by the sauce; giving them a minute to heat through and absorb the sauce.