Big Mountain Foods – Soyfree Tofu

I’m always excited to see more plant based protein options – especially for folks allergies – so when I had the opportunity to try Big Mountain Foods soy-free tofu recently, I was very excited. Their tofu is made from Canadian fava beans, and has a really efficient amount of protein per gram.

Since I am pretty into food science, specifically plant based innovation, and further still interested in what’s going on with beans and legumes in the Prairies (I mean, I was the prairie vegan once upon a time), I stay up to date with Protein Industries Canada. There were some announcements coming out of Winnipeg with Prairie Fava and the Prairie Research Kitchen mentioning some cool partnerships, and I’ve been eager to get my hands on it.

This isn’t the first soy-free tofu I’ve eaten, but I think this one is my favourite so far. The two non-soy tofus I’ve tried in the past are Burmese tofu, which is made from chickpeas, and Pumfu, which is a commercially available tofu made from pumpkin seeds. Both are made with a different process than traditional tofu, and I’m not sure exactly how this one is made, but Big Mountain Foods and the Prairie Research Kitchen can keep their secrets there.

They are available in regular, and smoked, and both packages are really eye catching – and I like the bright bold colours, the windows show what each of the tofu’s look like.

I was interested in using it for some of the usual tofu things I like to do, but I didn’t end up using it for a scramble – so I can’t speak to its efficacy there. But I did turn it into an “eggy” kind of thing in a sandwich (try this recipe from Tasty.) My favourite use for it were the marinated tofu steaks I made for JC’s birthday. They were absolutely delicious. I also used it diced and panfried with a ramen dish with great success.

One of the things we all like to do with smoked soybean tofu is just slicing it and eating it uncooked – but with the soy free smoked block – the smoked flavour did not quite penetrate the entire tofu, so I don’t think I would eat it plain and sliced in the future. But was great pan fried or air fried in slabs or strips.

Unfortunately, in my case it did not pass the kid test – our 6 year old likes to eat cold sliced tofu, but did not want to do that with this one. So, there are clearly some differences between this and soy tofu, but I think this is a great option, especially for people that can’t eat soy.

I am not likely to exclusively replace soy based tofu with it, but I would definitely buy it in the future for some variety. Check the Big Mountain Foods store locator for suggestions on where to find it for yourself.

Disclaimer: Some nice marketing folks reached out to me about this product, and these tofu's were gifted by Big Mountain Foods. Generally, I won't accept a product unless I'm already curious or excited about it, and free or not, my review is honest and unbiased.