This Trader Joe's Product Jumpstarts My Lazy Dinners

When a recipe asks you to press tofu, it’s not trying to annoy you. It’s trying to lead you toward concentrated flavor, a custardy middle, and crusty edges.

It’s annoying, nonetheless.

Because if you’re like me, you start cooking dinner as soon as you get hungry (which is to say, too late). And it isn’t that pressing tofu is hard—you use a tofu press, or put a plate and can of chickpeas on top of it and wait. It’s the waiting that’s hard.

Luckily, a few months ago, I found a supermarket shortcut to avoid all of this: Trader Joe’s Super Firm Tofu. While other tofu varieties, like firm and extra-firm, swim in a kiddie pool of water, this kind comes tightly wrapped in plastic, like cheese.

Its texture is as creamy as cheese, too. It is dense and concentrated, but not dried out—the sort of squidgy firmness that I’m going for every time I press tofu in a hurry (and end up squashing the block into a million little pieces by mistake).

After cubing it, I like to blot the super-firm tofu with a towel, to get it even drier. But from there on, it’s full speed ahead with whatever is for dinner that night. Here are four likely contenders:

Grilled Peanut Tofu

Peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, and chile sauce are the base for this grilled tofu. You can turn the planks into a sandwich (pickled vegetables on top would be great), or make cubes instead and toss onto rice.

Japanese-Style Fried Tofu

The bulk of this marinade is easy to remember: ¼ cup each of white miso, ponzu sauce, brown sugar, and honey. The rest is bits and bobs of big-personality ingredients, like ginger, wasabi, and garlic.

Crispy Sesame Baked Tofu & Shiitake Mushrooms

Cornstarch, panko, and sesame seeds give this tofu a delightfully crispy crust. Mushrooms, soy sauce, and fish sauce add lots of umami. Serve with hot rice.

Vegan Palak Paneer

Tofu pretends to be paneer in this vegan recipe. Lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and a big pinch of salt bring out its inherent cheesiness.

This post contains products that are independently selected by our editors and writers, and Food52 may earn an affiliate commission. What are your tofu-pressing tricks? Tell us in the comments below!