Baked Tempeh Salad – Protein Rich & Vibrant

If you’re a tempeh lover, this is not only a delicious salad recipe but one that commands attention. You can serve it up at a dinner party as a vegan main dish or as a fancy side dish. 

The marinated tempeh is baked to perfection and is full of salty and umami goodness.

To counterbalance the strong taste, it is surrounded by ingredients that don’t have overpowering flavours so that they can gel together perfectly.

The cucumber offers crunch, the turnip and alfalfa offer delicate finishes, while the avocado and edamame provide natural creamy notes.

Every bite balances freshness, texture, and tang, making this one of those tempeh recipes you’ll return to again and again — bright, wholesome, and effortlessly satisfying.

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: The salad showcases meaty chunks of marinated tempeh, baked to perfection. Marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar, it is salty with umami flavours.

To balance that out, the salad is made of ingredients that are more neutral in flavour so as to showcase the baked tempeh.

The turnip slices are softened, while the alfalfa sprouts are fluffy and delicate. Continuing along the soy trajectory, edamame beans make for a lovely creamy addition right alongside the avocado.

Eat everything together in one mouthful to get the right balance.

Ease: This recipe needs a bit of planning with a few components requiring more attention than just chopping and tossing. Follow the recipe step by step and ensure you have all your kitchen tools ready to go, and you’ll have yourself a delicious salad!

Time: Quite a few things to bake and blanch which always takes up a bit of extra time. This recipe takes about 40 minutes so ensure that if you are also cooking other dishes to make sure you leave some time to create this salad.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Baked Tempeh Salad

Tempeh: A regular packet of tempeh will suffice for this recipe. It is best to purchase tempeh that is made of soy only for this recipe rather than one that is filled with other ingredients such as nut, seed and grain addons.

Soy sauce: An important ingredient that forms the base flavour for this recipe. Both as a marinade for the baked tempeh as well as the salad dressing.

Rice wine vinegar: Added into the marinade to tone down the soy sauce and give it a slight tartness.

Brown sugar: To sweeten the marinade as it seeps into the tempeh. Let the caramel-like flavours do the work in creating the perfect slice of meaty goodness.

Chilli flakes: Just to add a little kick without altering the flavour profile.

Turnip: The turnip is sliced thinly and then cooked in boiling water. The turnip is cooked to tame the slight peppery spiciness, making it a little sweeter. It also makes it softer which allows us to present it in a more sophisticated fashion.

Edamame: While on the soy train, let’s add some creaminess to the recipe. Just buy the frozen hulled beans and give them a quick blanch in boiling hot water. You can always use the extras for edamame pasta salad with asparagus or pearl oyster mushroom noodle salad recipe.

Continental cucumber: You want the long cucumber so that you can create nice long strips. This will allow you to roll them up and create those lovely ribbons.

Avocado: Adding more natural creaminess helps bind the ingredients in every mouthful. Tempeh is yet another ingredients that goes well with avocado.

Alfalfa sprouts: I wanted to add something delicate and healthy without using leaves. The sprouts absorb the dressing perfectly.

Ginger: Soy and ginger are such a great combination. Love the bit of ginger floating through the dressing as it adds to the flavours.

Lemon: Needing both the zest and the juice. Gives the salad dressing some natural tartness as well as the aromatic zest.

Variations and Substitutions

Different tempeh marinades: Swap the soy-vinegar base for miso-sesame or teriyaki glaze to explore other tempeh recipes. The key to cooking tempeh well is marinating long enough — at least 30 minutes — so the flavours infuse deeply.

Gluten free option: Substitute soy sauce with tamari and ensure the tempeh is gluten free.

Reduce sodium: Use a light soy sauce or dial down the amount used for the recipe. You can add some water to dilute it too and even add a little more brown sugar.

Chilli flake substitute: You can, of course, use any fresh chilli pepper for this recipe.  Great if you have some leftovers in the fridge.

Alfalfa sprouts replacement: If you are not a fan of alfalfa sprouts or can’t find any, you can use snow pea sprouts or some micro herbs. What you are after is some delicate leafy component to balance the overall textures.

Edamame in pods: If you can’t find hulled edamame beans, just buy them in the pods. About 185 g will yield ½ cup of beans.

Turnip substitute: If you can’t find turnips, use rutabagas, celeriac or parsnips.

Add whole grains: Serve over quinoa, farro, or brown rice for a heartier tempeh salad bowl that turns this side into a full meal.

Add greens: Toss through baby spinach, rocket, or kale ribbons for a more classic summer salad texture.

How to Make This Baked Tempeh Salad

How to Bake Tempeh

Preheat the oven to 200°C or 400°F.

Slice tempeh about 1.5 cm to 2 cm thick. Sometimes tempeh comes with natural grooves so you can cut along those grooves. Slice thinner if you don’t want them too thick.

Mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar and chilli flakes to make the marinade. In a small dish or bowl, marinate the sliced tempeh for at least 30 minutes.

If the liquid doesn’t quite cover the tempeh, just turn them around every so often so they fully soak up the mixture.

Line a sheet pan with baking paper. 

Remove the tempeh from the marinade (don’t discard the marinade) and place on the sheet pan. 

Bake for 10 minutes on one side, turn and bake for a further 10 minutes.

How to Prepare the Rest of the Salad

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil.

Peel the turnip, then using a mandoline slice at 2 cm thickness. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove and place in cold water to stop the cooking process. Place on paper towels and pat dry.

Add the edamame to the same boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and place in cold water to stop the cooking process. Place on paper towels and pat dry. 

Using a Y peeler, slice the cucumber lengthwise to create long ribbons. Stop at the core and turn the cucumber until you can’t peel anymore. Place the long strips of cucumber on paper towels and pat dry.

It is imperative that the turnip, edamame and cucumber are dry before use. Otherwise, the salad will turn into a soggy mess.

Cut the avocado in half. Discard pit and peel. Slice the avocado thinly to create 4 fans.

How to Make Soy Ginger Dressing

With a teaspoon, scrape the skin off the ginger and grate to yield 1 tsp.

I prefer to use a teaspoon to scrape the skin instead of a peeler as the ginger is always such an irregular shape and the peeler just takes off too much ginger! With the cost of ginger skyrocketing, I want to preserve as much of the ginger as possible!

With a micro plane or grater, grate the zest of a whole lemon. Then cut the lemon in half and extract the juice of ½ a lemon only.

In a small mixing bowl, add 2 tbsp of the tempeh marinade, olive oil, ginger, rice wine vinegar, lemon zest and lemon juice.

Whisk until well combined.

How to Assemble the Salad

To start, drizzle ¾ of the dressing on the base of the platter.

Put ¾ of the alfalfa sprouts on the top end.

Fold half the turnip slices into quarters and lay on the plate using the alfalfa to support them.

Add the edamame on the other side of the platter.

Place the tempeh on the top at different angles.

Place the avocado fans on the platter of which you can tuck some under the tempeh.

Roll the cucumber and place around the platter.

Using the rest of the turnip, fold them in quarters or like a flower and place them on the platter using the other ingredients to prop them up.

Drizzle the rest of the dressing and alfalfa sprouts on top.

Season with pepper only.

Serve.

How To Make This Salad Perfectly [Expert Tips]

Cut tempeh evenly: Even slices will ensure they are marinated and baked evenly. Slight variation won’t affect it too much but to ensure every bite is consistent, it pays to do it consciously.

Marinating tempeh: Ensure the tempeh slices are fully submerged in the marinade for even flavour absorption. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, but longer marination (up to a few hours) can enhance the flavour.

Turning the tempeh: When baking the tempeh it is essential that it is turned mid-way through the baking process to allow for even crisping of each side. You don’t want one side to be crisp and the other side soggy.

Turnip: Slice the turnip evenly using a mandoline for consistent thickness.

Boil for exactly 3 minutes to ensure they are tender but still slightly crisp. Shock in cold water immediately after boiling to stop the cooking process and preserve colour and texture.

Edamame: Cook the edamame for 2 minutes to keep them bright green and slightly crunchy. Shock in cold water and dry thoroughly to prevent excess moisture in the salad.

Cucumber: Pat the cucumber ribbons dry to prevent them from making the salad watery.

Avocado: Select avocado that is not overly ripe to allow for the fan effect to work well, without getting squashed.

Frequently Asked Questions