Tofu that tastes like chicken: how long to freeze it, and 8 products checked

Freeze firm tofu for days, not overnight, then thaw it in the fridge, squeeze it, tear it and simmer it in a vegan chicken-style broth. Mori-Nu says several days in the freezer gives its tofu a chicken-like texture. For the broth, our pick is Better Than Bouillon’s No Chicken Base, which the company lists as Certified Vegan.

How long the block sits in the freezer decides which animal it ends up imitating. Mori-Nu’s tips page says at least 48 hours gives its firm or extra firm silken tofu a texture like a light fish fillet, and several days gives it one like chicken. Asahimatsu, a Japanese maker of koya tofu (tofu that is frozen, aged, thawed and then dried), takes longer still. Its process page says the frozen tofu is stacked in a cold store and aged below freezing for about 3 weeks, and that in that time the bonds between the proteins strengthen and the texture forms. A 2025 study of frozen tofu kept its blocks at -10 or -20°C (14 or -4°F) for 8 days, then at -4°C (about 25°F) for 2 more (our conversions). None of them stops after one night. If you are still choosing the block, our guide to whether tofu is plant-based reads seven packs label by label.

What the freezer is doing to the block

Nasoya lists freezing among its tofu tips, for a meatier texture and better sauce absorption. Hodo says freezing gives its organic extra firm tofu a coarser texture, good for crumbling or as a ground protein substitute, and calls freezing a traditional method in East Asian hot pots. The 2025 study opens by describing frozen tofu as porous and elastic, made by steaming, soaking and freezing fresh tofu.

Asahimatsu starts with a block built for it. Before freezing, the company presses its curd to about twice the concentration of ordinary tofu. After three weeks spent setting the texture, it soaks the thawed tofu in potassium carbonate so that it cooks up soft, a step that for many years used baking soda, until the company developed a sodium-free method in 2014. Three weeks to build the chew, then a bath to take the edge off it.

Mori-Nu’s directions start with slices or cubes at least 1/4 inch thick, each wrapped in plastic, frozen for at least 48 hours, and the page adds that the longer you freeze the tofu, the better the results are likely to be. Mori-Nu’s “several days” is as specific as it gets for chicken. We’d give it most of a week. That is our reading of the sources above, all of which, where they give a time, run long; nothing we read timed a home freezer day by day.

Thaw it cold, then tear it

USDA says perishable food should never be thawed on the counter, and names the refrigerator, cold water and the microwave as the three safe ways to thaw. Mori-Nu’s page also offers an hour at room temperature, which is the one option on it we’d skip. Overnight in the fridge asks nothing of you.

Then squeeze the thawed tofu over the sink until it stops dripping, and tear it into bite-size pieces instead of cutting it smaller. Torn edges come out ragged, the way pulled chicken does, and a knife gives you neat cubes that look like what they are.

Eight products for tofu that tastes like chicken, compared

Sodium is per the serving each maker’s own panel uses, and the serving sizes differ, so read each cell with its serving size before comparing down the column. Prices quoted below are the makers’ own, as of November 2026, and change.

Product	What it does	Vegan?	Sodium per serving
Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm	The block, for freezing	Yes, the maker’s page says vegan	Not a seasoning
Nasoya High Protein Super Firm	The block, no pressing	Nothing animal listed	Not a seasoning
Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base	Paste for the simmer	Yes, Certified Vegan	660 mg per tsp, a cup of broth
Orrington Farms Vegan Chicken Flavored Broth Base	Powder for the simmer	Yes, maker says vegan	Not on the maker’s page
Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes	Cube for the simmer	Yes, the maker’s page says vegan	800 mg per half cube
Imagine Vegetarian No-Chicken Broth	Ready-made broth	Yes, the maker’s page says vegan	520 mg per cup
McCormick Poultry Seasoning	Herbs for the broth or the pan	Nothing animal listed	No salt in the ingredients
Knorr Granulated Chicken Bouillon	Leave it	No, chicken fat	540 mg per 3/4 tsp, a cup of broth

Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm

Mori-Nu is the one maker here that names chicken as the goal, filing its freezing directions under cutlets and un-chicken chunks. The list is water, soybeans, soy protein isolate, glucono-delta-lactone and calcium chloride, the maker’s page marks it vegan, and the box needs no refrigeration until opened, so you can keep a few in the cupboard and freeze one when the week allows. A 3 oz serving has 7 g of protein. The catch is the plastic wrap. Mori-Nu wants every slice wrapped on its own before it goes in. If your plan was to drop a sealed pack in the freezer and forget it, the directions for this box start with a knife.

Nasoya High Protein Super Firm

Nasoya says to take this vacuum pack out and pat it dry, no pressing, and calls its super-firm block all-purpose, with a meaty texture. Water, organic soybeans, calcium sulfate and magnesium chloride, soy declared. Nasoya’s tips page says super-firm tofu comes pre-pressed, and nothing we read says how much a week in the freezer changes a block that starts with so little water. Buy it if you would rather skip the freezer and go straight to tearing and simmering. If the long freeze is the point, start with the Mori-Nu.

Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base

Our pick for the pot. Carrots, celery and onion lead, then salt, hydrolyzed corn protein and sugar, and the company’s FAQ lists No Chicken among its Certified Vegan flavors. One teaspoon in 8 oz of hot water makes the equivalent of an 8 oz can of broth, an 8 oz jar holds about 38 teaspoons, and an open jar goes in the fridge. That teaspoon carries 660 mg of sodium. If salt is the thing you count, the Imagine broth below has less per cup. Our read of nine bouillon cubes and bases picked this jar too, and lists the Better Than Bouillon flavors that aren’t vegan.

Orrington Farms Vegan Chicken Flavored Broth Base

A powder the maker calls artificially flavored, with a 100% vegan ingredient list: salt, maltodextrin, sugar, soybean oil, onion powder and yeast extract lead, and Orrington says it makes 28 cups. It declares soy. If you avoid soy, the No Chicken jar above uses hydrolyzed corn protein where this one uses hydrolyzed soy protein, and the Imagine broth below is marked no soy. Read the front twice. Orrington also makes a Chicken Flavored Broth Base, and that one lists chicken fat fifth, with wheat gluten in the new formula. Same maker, and the names on the front are one word apart.

Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

Sea salt first, then organic shea butter, yeast extract, organic maltodextrin, organic cane sugar, garlic and mace, marked vegan, gluten free and palm oil free on the maker’s page, $3.39. Half a cube has 800 mg of sodium, 35% of the daily value, and the pack holds about 16 of those servings, about 8 cubes (our arithmetic). Crumble half a cube into the pot with the torn tofu. Salt leads the list, so skip it if you are watching sodium.

Imagine Vegetarian No-Chicken Broth

Ready to pour. Filtered water, organic onions, celery and carrots, sea salt, organic spices, organic oil and organic garlic, marked vegan and organic on the maker’s page, with 520 mg of sodium per cup, against 660 mg in a cup made from the No Chicken jar. There is no yeast extract on the list, where each of the three seasonings above it has some. The spices are named only as spices. A container holds 4 one-cup servings, enough for a block and then some. Buy it if you want to simmer without measuring.

McCormick Poultry Seasoning

Thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg. The poultry is in the name and nowhere in the jar. McCormick’s own description suggests it for veggie burgers and roasted vegetables as well as chicken, and its store listed the 0.65 oz jar at $5.49, out of stock when we checked. There is no salt on that list, so it seasons the broth rather than replacing it. If you already own thyme and sage, you own the first two names on the label.

Knorr Granulated Chicken Bouillon

The jar to leave. Knorr’s product page sends you to the packaging for ingredient details, and the packaging, pictured in the page’s own image gallery, lists chicken fat seventh, after salt, corn starch, monosodium glutamate, potassium salt, sugar and palm oil. The nutrition panel beside it shows 0 g of fat per 3/4 teaspoon serving. There is chicken fat in it, just not enough per 3/4 teaspoon to register on the panel.

Season it like stock

Make the broth at the strength Better Than Bouillon recommends, a teaspoon per cup, add a pinch of poultry seasoning, and simmer the torn tofu in it for a few minutes. Then let the pieces cool in the broth in the fridge. USDA’s thawing guide says perishable food must not be left at room temperature for more than two hours, so the soak happens in the refrigerator.

Before the tofu goes in, taste the broth. Whatever is in it is about to be in the tofu, salt included. Lift the pieces out, squeeze them gently, and brown them in an oiled pan until the ragged edges catch.

How to check a jar yourself

Read the word in front of chicken. “No Chicken” and “Vegan Chicken Flavored” are the jars you want; “Chicken Flavored” on its own was the Orrington jar with chicken fat in it. Then look for the Certified Vegan logo. Better Than Bouillon says all its vegan bases carry it on the label, which matters because the product page still calls the No Chicken Base vegetarian.

For the block, freeze Mori-Nu Extra Firm, sliced and wrapped, for most of a week and simmer it in a cup of No Chicken broth. If you are in a hurry to thaw it, our guide to microwaving tofu covers the defrost setting and the dish to use.