Vegan Mashed Potato Bowls (2024)

October 7, 2018 by Lauren Hartmann 35 Comments

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These mashed potatoes and gravy will treat you right.

These Vegan Mashed Potato Bowls are all the things you crave in the fall and winter in one bowl! The creamiest, dreamiest vegan mashed potatoes, crispy, crunchy tofu and veggies, roasted veggies and corn. All topped with the easiest and somehow most delicious vegan gravy ever! You need these, I need these, the world needs these. These vegan mashed potato bowls are comforting as heck!

One of the things I love the most about these vegan mashed potato bowls is that you can totally make them the way you want. I like to make the mashed potatoes as the base, then I do crispy baked tofu and Brussels sprouts. However, you can do any veggies and protein you want. The batter for them is perfect and can be used for almost anything. Then I do corn and roasted veggies, but you can skip those, or make them however you want!

The crispy tofu is baked-not-fried and it is incredibly crunchy! You can also roast plain and crispy veggies at the same time, to make this much faster and easier! You know what the easiest part of this recipe is? The incredible vegan gravy. It is so simple, you will wonder why it tastes so good. Only 5 ingredients, including spices!

This fall and winter, I implore you to make these vegan mashed potato bowls! Your life will never be the same. Get a bite of mashed potatoes, crispy tofu, corn and gravy and you will be able to die happy.

Vegan Mashed Potato Bowls

Print Recipe

The creamiest vegan mashed potatoes, crispy baked tofu nuggets, roasted veggies, corn and the best dang vegan gravy!

Course Main Course

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings 4

Author Lauren Hartmann

Ingredients

Crispy Tofu Nuggets

15 oz (1 block) Extra firm tofu, pressed
1 Cup Non dairy milk, I used almond milk
1 Teaspoon Apple cider vinegar
3/4 Cup All purpose flour
1/2 Cup Corn starch
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Panko bread crumbs

Vegan Mashed Potatoes

2 Pounds (about 4 large or 6 small) Yukon gold potatoes
1/4 Cup Vegan butter( I used Earth Balance)
1/4 Cup Non dairy milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Simple Vegan Gravy

2 Tablespoons Vegan butter
2 Tablespoons All purpose flour
1 Cup Vegetable broth
1/2 Teaspoon Poultry Seasoning (sage, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg)
Salt and Pepper to taste

For The Bowls

Corn
Roasted veggies

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Start the crispy tofu first.
Take your pressed tofu and cut the block into cubes. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and set aside.
Now, in a small bowl, combine the non dairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Whisk and set aside.
Then, in a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, and salt. Then, whisk the milk and vinegar mixture into the dry ingredients. Whisk until fully combined. In a separate bowl, add the panko.
Next, dip each tofu cube into the wet batter, then roll in the panko to fully coat. Then place the coated tofu on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. Repeat with all the tofu.
Spray the tops of the tofu with more non stick spray and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping after about 10 minutes. Bake until crispy and light brown.
While the tofu is baking, make the mashed potatoes. Peel the potatoes if you want(I like to leave the skins on), chop into small cubes. Add the potato cubes to a pot of water. Then turn the heat on high and bring to a boil. Boil, reducing heat as needed until the potatoes are tender and smash easily. About 15-20 minutes.
Once the potatoes are done, drain them. Return to the pot, smash them with a potato smasher, a ricer or in a mixer. Then add the vegan butter, non dairy milk and a few pinches of salt and pepper, then whip it all together to make them nice and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning( you can always add a splash more milk or butter if needed). Set aside.
Next make the gravy. In a medium sized skillet, melt the vegan butter, then whisk the flour in to form a paste, also called a roux. Then add the veggie broth, whisk to fully dissolve the roux into the veggie broth. Make sure there are no lumps.
Bring to a simmer, whisking for a few minutes until it thickens. Then whisk in the poultry seasoning and a pinch of salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.
Once everything is done, scoop some mashed potatoes into a bowl, top with crispy tofu, corn, veggies and drizzle gravy over the top. Serve immediately!

Notes

If you don't want to use tofu, any veggies will work. Or you can do half and half which is what I like to do.

You can roast some veggies on the same pan as the crispy tofu if you want to have roasted veggies.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Tracy
November 14, 2018 at 1:39 pm

I made this last night for dinner- what a treat! I halved the tofu recipe and roasted the veggies on the same pan, upping the temp to 400F. Next time I would season the batter/breadcrumbs a bit, as they were a bit plain. Otherwise, everything was delicious!
Reply
- Danielle Reavis
  May 19, 2020 at 1:20 am
  I loved the idea of the crispy tofu and the batter worked great, but I also will add some additional spices next time. Everything else was super yummy.
  Reply
James
November 15, 2018 at 7:13 pm

I thought this was delicious, nicest thing I’ve had in a long time. I ended up using about double the gravy per portion, and baked the tofu a bit longer, apart from that I blindly followed the instructions.
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Elizabeth
December 3, 2018 at 9:02 pm

Made this for my meal prep this week. Absolutely yummy! Total comfort food. Thank you for sharing.
Reply
Zach
January 6, 2019 at 1:57 am

This was fun to make, gravy and potatoes were great. Tofu had a nice texture but definitely could use some more flavor. I added some garlic and red pepper to the breadcrumb mixture but it still wasn’t enough, maybe something more to the batter would help since it was quite thick.
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Vanessa
January 25, 2019 at 7:58 pm
Thanks for sharing! Do you use these tofu nuggets in any other recipes or meals?
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Jen
March 27, 2019 at 12:11 am

I made this for dinner tonight and loved it! My boyfriend even loved it and he’s been slow to hop on the vegan train with me. I never knew there were so many ways to make tofu taste good. We really enjoyed this recipe!
Reply
Michele Tannenbaum
April 13, 2019 at 11:16 pm
I made this tonight, sooo good! I would increase temperature for tofu and maybe longer? Mine didn’t brown. I would also double the gravy. Thanks~
Reply
Megan | Ginger Mom and Company
June 8, 2019 at 10:31 pm
I never knew mashed potato bowls were actually a thing. I have been tossing things on top of my mashed potatoes and calling it a meal forever and my family/friends look at me like I’m crazy LOL. This looks fantastic! I’ve never tried working with tofu before.
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Erica
June 13, 2019 at 1:32 am
I didn’t have any poultry seasoning for the gravy so I used old bay seasoning and it was delicious!!
Reply
Lourdes Findley
August 5, 2019 at 12:01 am

This was awesome!! I cooked half of the tofu in the oven and the other half in the air fryer, the ones in the air fryer came out crispier and took less time! We invited a vegan friend for dinner and she loved it. We dipped the left over tofu bites in pepper jelly, yum!! Also added nutritional yeast to the potatoes for a cheesy flavor!!
Reply
See Also
911 Vegan Gravy - Easy, Oil-Free, Gluten-Free
- Susan
  April 2, 2021 at 6:23 pm
  
  Genius additions. I love all things rabbits and wolves and this adaptation sounds yummy!
  Reply
Vicki Toro
September 22, 2019 at 10:19 pm

Made this tonight it is amazing. Nice dish when you’re looking for a comfort food. Next time I think I would follow someone’s advice from above and half tofu and veggies. Also I think I would add a little of the poultry seasoning to the Panko bread crumbs. And probably double the gravy as we loved it! Best crispy tofu as well I have tried other “extra crispy” baked tofu recipes and they were not nearly as crispy! I even sent the recipe to a family member! Thanks😊
Reply
Chamron
October 8, 2019 at 12:55 am

I made these tonight. I fed four hungry men (my boys) and everyone loved it. I would agree with a few others, the tofu was plain but the very savory gravy was perfect. I did double the gravy! I roasted brussel sprouts and broccoli and had corn as well. This tool me about an hour maybe more to make but it was worth it! Thank you for another great recipe!
Reply
Brenda
November 1, 2019 at 5:28 pm

This is so delicious! It is my husbands favorite dinner. I made it for him for dinner last night. I have made this often and it is always so good! Happy you came up with recipe😍
Reply
LM
December 30, 2019 at 5:27 pm

I’ve made this twice and both times it is fantastic. We add Lowrey’s seasonsing to the tofu batter for more flavor and I had to fry the tofu nuggets because my oven was full of roasting veggies. The second time I doubled the recipe so we could have left overs.
Reply
Stephanie Lai
January 27, 2020 at 2:46 am
This is an amazing recipe!!! Vegan Sunday roast so tasty and comforting. We used mushroom broth and it was delicious! We didn’t have spray cooking oil so we used parchment paper. Tofu came out perfectly crispy.
My meat loving father said it tasted like turkey dinner not realizing it was meatless!
This recipe is getting saved – thanks for sharing!
Reply
Hot chocolatey milk
August 13, 2020 at 12:39 am

So good. I followed the reviews and did the tofu at 400 for 20 minutes, and roasted my broccoli during that time. I meant to double the gravy too, but I forgot, and I definitely recommend you do so! It’s so good. I used instant potatoes because I honestly have no preference, may as well go the easier route. My favorite thing about this recipe is I can’t even tell I’m eating tofu. The only time I’ve ever enjoyed tofu was deep frying it like chicken nuggets, so I’m super glad I’ve found a way to enjoy it otherwise. There’s a ton of tofu left over compared to everything else, so I’d either halve the tofu or double everything else next time. But I will definitely make extra potatoes, broccoli, and gravy tomorrow to enjoy this again!
Reply
Lillian M.
October 3, 2020 at 11:24 pm

This was so good!! I added old bay seasoning to the panko, which was the only change I made. It was our first time making tofu and we were both very pleasantly surprised. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes!! 🙂
Reply
Pearl OBrien
January 22, 2021 at 3:48 pm

My husband said it was excellent and I loved it too. Like many other reviewers, I’ll cut the tofu recipe in half and add seasoning to it AND double the delicious gravy recipe the next time I make it. I had leftovers for breakfast the next day. Very yummy.
Reply
Christoph
March 7, 2021 at 7:49 pm

Very tasty!!! Added some Franks to the batter for flavour and was delicious.
Reply
Veggieeatsbyxena
April 4, 2021 at 11:45 am

I make this on the regular now, as my mom loves it! She’s not vegan at all but absolutely loves the crispy tofu! Because she likes it so much and then use the recipe to make tofu nuggets, but add spices to the batter. She prefers them over any nuggets she’s had (including the Quorn ones I normally buy). Would deffo recommend this recipe!
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Maddie
April 23, 2021 at 6:57 pm

I made some modifications (because I like to make it my own) and it was really yummy! 1) I fried up some garlicky collard greens and mixed those in with the mashed potatoes. 2) For the tofu, I halved the amount of batter, and also added poultry seasoning, paprika, pepper, and garlic powder into the batter. 3) I threw a little nutritional yeast in the panko. 4) For the gravy, I used Better than Bouillon No Chicken broth and skipped the poultry seasoning. Canned corn was a nice, easy compliment to the meal too! I think the tofu may have been a little too bland for my taste without the extra spices. Thanks for an awesome base recipe!
Reply
Miranda Lee
November 2, 2021 at 10:17 pm

Just had this tonight, me and husband were looking for a vegan meal to make us full and this did just that, very delicious!!!! I will be making again!!!
Reply
Linda
October 6, 2022 at 2:59 pm
I’m looking forward to making this for my family of five. What vegetables would you suggest to roast along with the tofu. I read broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Do you have other suggestions? Thanks so much😊
Reply
Ruth
November 7, 2022 at 8:27 pm

Made this for dinner tonight. Great comfort meal on a chilly day. I rated it 4 stars because, as others mentioned, it could use some seasoning. I’ll definitely add some to the panko next time and maybe put some garlic in the potatoes too.. Also, the batter for the tofu was probably twice what I needed…think I’ll do up another package of tofu to use it up. Also, I doubled the gravy….we are pretty ‘saucy’ people, so could even do triple probably! The tofu cooked beautifully at 400.. I’m sure I’ll be making this often through the winter.
Reply
Diana Medina
December 8, 2022 at 10:24 pm
This was fantastic. I did season the batter a bit and fried the tofu in a little oil. Will double the gravy next time as my 8 y/o liked dipping the tofu. She asked that I make this “every day” 🤣
Reply
Kim
August 5, 2023 at 5:45 pm

Ultimate comfort food! So satisfying. I love that it can be easily adapted. I used peas as my veggie and it was delicious. Thanks for the great recipe.
Reply
Beth
September 24, 2020 at 9:53 pm

First time cooking tofu as a new plant based eater and this was delicious! Such a satisfying supper, I know I will be making this regularly!
Thanks for an amazing recipe!!!
Reply
KG
November 24, 2020 at 2:08 am

This was really good! I agree with other comments about needing to add some seasoning to the tofu batter as it was pretty plain. The tofu crisped up surprisingly well! I also seasoned my potatoes and added extra liquid to the gravy based on our preference. Excited to make this again with a few small changes.
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