Yet tofu, a block of beans, somehow earns just as much vitriol. The survey showed that dislike for tofu increases with age, race, and political conservatism. Middle-aged and older Americans, especially white Republicans, are leading the charge against it.
Gen Z and Millennials, meanwhile, are far more open to it. What does that tell us? That resistance to tofu isn’t really about the food itself. It’s about culture, habit, and identity.
Check politics too. I’m a younger genX (basically Xennial ) I love tofu I’m also liberal. I can definitely see maga types more against tofu. I ate it before I became vegan 11+ years ago when I was just vegetarian and eat it even more as Vegan. it’s awesome!
For many, tofu is seen as “other” – foreign, vegan, not part of the meat-and-potatoes narrative that dominates American eating. Hating tofu isn’t about taste. It’s a declaration of allegiance to a system where eating animals is normalised and expected.
Tofu’s reputation as “tasteless” is laughable. By that logic, pasta, rice, and potatoes would all be hated foods too – unless seasoned, they’re bland. The difference is cultural framing.
Potatoes are comfort food; tofu is branded “weird health food.” The truth is that tofu is a canvas: it absorbs marinades, crisps up beautifully in the pan, blends into sauces, and can replace eggs, cream, or meat depending on how you use it.
When people dismiss tofu, what they’re really revealing is their lack of imagination – or their unwillingness to learn a new way of cooking.
Consider the hypocrisy: flesh from cows, pigs, and chickens is seen as “real food” even though it only tastes like anything after seasoning, marinating, and cooking. Strip away the salt, fat, and spice, and you’re left with something nobody would eat raw.
Yet somehow tofu gets singled out as “flavourless.” The irony is that tofu is healthier, more sustainable, and doesn’t require killing someone to put it on your plate. In places like Okinawa, where tofu is eaten daily, people live some of the longest, healthiest lives on Earth.
But in the US, where animal protein is idolised, heart disease and obesity rates are through the roof. Hating tofu isn’t really about tofu. It’s about defending the mindset that animals are food, that eating their bodies is tradition, and that alternatives are a threat.
Tofu becomes a stand-in for everything the animal-exploiting industries fear: change. And that’s why tofu matters. Every time someone chooses it over flesh, they’re voting against a system built on exploitation, slaughter, and environmental collapse.
Every bite of tofu is a refusal to see animals as property and resources. Tofu doesn’t need defending on culinary grounds – it’s already a staple for billions of people worldwide.
I do struggle with it. Spuds I love.
They say if you don't like tofu you've not had it prepared well. I've come across many instances of poorly prepared tofu and a few places that were delicious.
Spuds are awesome though 😅
This is the problem: me, preparing it.
After much practice I make passable tofu, there's a handful of restaurants I love.
Lidl's have got a variety at the mo so bought a selection today.
I'll grant you that with pasta, except for pasta stuffed with various fillings. It's the sauces that make the dish. And, it's true, cooked past is a far more familiar texture than tofu to many people outside of east Asia. But potatoes and rice? Your point fails.
And potatoes absolutely are not tasteless even with little or no seasoning. Potatoes also are incredibly versatile, they're very familiar and adaptable, and they play a central role in the cuisine of many nations; far more than tofu.
Rice because it's usually either cooked with flavorings to make it tasty, or it's intended to be used as a bland counterpoint to highly flavored and often spicy food. In other words, its blandness is a welcome quality. A quencher. And its texture is familiar to almost everyone on the planet.