Vegan BBQ Tofu Ribs Recipe

A banging recipe for BBQ season. These sticky vegan BBQ ribs are seriously moreish and oh so delicious. 

When the LADs and LASSes at Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauces got in touch asking if I wanted to collaborate on a recipe, I knew there was only one thing for it: ribs! The ultimate BBQ food and, seemingly, so difficult to find a vegan alternative. Not any more! Firm tofu makes an excellent substitute and with the sticky, sweet, boozy addition of Jack Daniels smokey BBQ sauce, this recipe is a winner. The Jack Daniel’s range of sauces is available nationwide in supermarkets and are all vegan apart from the honey one. I served these vegan BBQ bad boys up with some crunchy rosemary polenta chips: perfect BBQ fodder!

Ultimate Vegan BBQ Tofu Ribs Recipe

Serves 2 |  40 minutes

Ingredients

1 block firm tofu

2 tbsps Jack Daniel’s BBQ Full Flavor Smokey sauce

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 teaspoon chipotle

1 pack pre-cooked polenta

Dried rosemary

Sea salt

Black pepper

Spring onions

Rapeseed oil

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C. Pour a glug of rapeseed oil onto a baking tray and place it in the oven to heat up.
2. Take the pack of polenta, unwrap it and cut it into chips (using the pre-cooked stuff is a great little hack to speedy chips).
3. Once the oil in your baking tray is nice and hot, remove it from the oven and place the chips in, giving them a good season with sea salt, black pepper and dried rosemary. Place them in the oven and cook for 30 minutes until golden brown and crunchy.
4. While your chips are cooking, prepare your tofu by draining it and carefully pressing it to remove as much moisture as possible without breaking it. I usually just give it a squeeze in its own box and then wrap it in kitchen paper for a couple of minutes.
5. Chop the tofu lengthways into ‘rib-sized’ pieces about 1 cm thick.
6. Prepare the BBQ marinade in a bowl by combining 2 tbsps Jack Daniel’s BBQ Full Flavor Smokey with 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsbsp rapeseed oil and 1tsp chipotle paste. Give it all a good stir so it’s combined.
7. In a flat dish or tray, lay the tofu strips out and smother them with the sticky marinade. Add a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Leave them to soak up all that flavour for a minimum of 15 minutes.
8. Time to BBQ! Cook the tofu strips on the barbie for about 3-4 minutes, turning every 45 secs-1 minute depending on how hot your BBQ is. They’re ready when you’ve got those gorgeous char marks on the outside with crispy edges. If you’re not BBQing, you can always cook them in a griddle pan.
9. When they’re ready, lay the ribs on a board or tray and drizzle over some more of that sweet, sweet BBQ sauce and garnish with some chopped spring onions. Serve alongside your polenta chips for the ultimate vegan BBQ feast!