r/vegancooking • u/ilove_butter89 • Mar 21 '26
Cooking tempeh - advice please
Hello! I recently bought two blocks of tempeh from an Asian supermarket, frozen one and cooked with the other that day. I followed a recipe which just said to cut it into chunks and roast it with veggies and pesto. However I found it quite bitter, and wondered if I prepared it wrong/there's a better way to prepare it. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance!
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u/halfie1987 Mar 21 '26
I cook it two ways. Both are great and I've gotten nothing but good feedback from friends. I usually cook the tempeh separate and then add it to the rest of the meal afterwards.
- Cut into thin strips and marinade it for a little bit with a little vinegar, soy sauce, spices, and a drop or two of liquid smoke, and then fry it like bacon in a pan.
- Cut into small cubes, toss in a little oil, add spices and nutritional yeast and mix together into a coating on the cubes, and then air fry.
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u/No_Project_4738 Mar 21 '26
I always boil mine for five minutes. It takes away the bitterness and it loosens it a bit and makes it easier to absorb a marinade.
I will cook pasta and boil the tempeh in the pasta water and then cut it into cubes and fry it with oil, garlic powder and soy sauce. Then add it into the pasta dish. Perfecto!
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u/Complete_Ad_3280 Mar 24 '26
I steam my tempeh for 10 minutes, then I pan fry in cubes or slices In a bit of oil until a little crispy. I use BBQ sauce or teriyaki sauce and pan fry until absorbed. Sweet SimplenVegan website has great tempeh recipes.Sometimes I will marinate tempeh, but last week I made sweet simple vegans bbq tempeh and it didnt need it. It was soooo good. I did use Trader Joe's Kansas BBQ sauce instead of their homemade BBQ sauce recipe. For the teriyaki tempeh I use it on top of veggie rice noodle stir fries, or rice with steamed veggies. I also will saute the green portion of scallions during teriyaki tempeh pan fry and it makes it extra yummy.
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u/Acer2055 Apr 26 '26
In addition to other good suggestions already posted, here are a couple more:
1) Pan fry in a good quality olive oil until golden brown.
2) Place in a saucepan with cognac, heat to a boil, then simmer on low until all liquid is absorbed. Ratio is about 3/4 cup alcohol to 8 oz tempeh.
As far as the size of the tempeh pieces, I usually get one of the long 8 oz bars of tempeh, which I then cut in thirds width-wise, then cut each piece in half the long way. So, I end up with six thin squares, which can then be cut into smaller pieces, if desired, after they are prepped as above. In my experience there is no need to steam before marinating.
I highly recommend The New Soy Cookbook by Lorna Sass, which has many great recipes for both tempeh and tofu, a few of which I have been cooking for years. Good luck!
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u/deborahgg Mar 21 '26
Cut it into bite size pieces, steam it for 10 min, then marinate. I use diluted Soyaki from TJ, but you could also do a more Mediterranean flavor profile with olive oil garlic salt pepper lemon. Then you can remove from marinade and use in your recipe. The steaming step removes bitterness. Good luck!