Classic Curried Tempeh Salad

If you grew up on chicken salad and went vegan later in life, tempeh might be the ingredient that brings back those flavors and textures you remember. If you’re not familiar, tempeh is a fermented soybean cake with a firm, chewy texture, and it’s been a staple of Indonesian cuisine for centuries. Lightlife is one of the more popular brands available commercially, but you might find local brands where you live. It shreds and mashes into that same craggy, bite-sized texture, holds onto dressing beautifully, and takes on flavor without fighting it. Add mild curry powder, chopped apples, some walnuts, and raisins or dried cranberries, and you’ve got a salad that tastes like something you might pay a lot for at a store.

My curried tempeh salad has been a favorite of mine for years and while it does give old school health food store vibes, it’s a classic for a reason. It’s the kind of recipe that gets better the longer it sits in the fridge, which makes it perfect for meal prep. Here’s how I make mine, plus a few notes on why the tempeh prep step might matter more than some might think.

Boil (or Steam) the Tempeh First

Raw tempeh can have a slightly bitter, beany edge to it, so a short simmer or steam softens that edge and leaves you with a milder, nuttier tasting base that I personally prefer.

I boil my tempeh in salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Salting the water (about a teaspoon for every four cups of water) while it simmers seasons the tempeh from the inside instead of just on the surface, which makes a real difference once everything is mixed together. Steaming works too if you’d rather not deal with a pot of boiling water, and either method yields similar results.

Once the tempeh is cooked and cooled, don’t just cube it and toss it in. Add it to the bowl with the rest of your ingredients, then use a fork or the back of a spoon to mash it a bit right there in the mix. You want some texture left, not a paste, but breaking it down after it’s already surrounded by the mayo, celery and apple gives you a salad that clings together rather than falling apart and makes it easier to eat in a sandwich or wrap.

About the Curry Powder

Most curried tempeh salad recipes lean heavier on curry powder than I do. I prefer to use a mild curry powder and keep it to a half teaspoon, plus a quarter teaspoon of turmeric for color and a little extra earthiness. That’s the amount that hit the right notes for me, enough to know it’s curried without being overpowering.

If you’re someone who wants that curry flavor front and center, there’s nothing stopping you from doubling it or reaching for a hot or spicy blend instead of mild. This recipe is a good base either way. Start with my recommendation, taste it, and adjust from there if need be.

What Makes My Version a Bit Different

A lot of curried tempeh salad recipes stick to celery, mayo and raisins. Mine adds a few extra ingredients that amp up the flavor and texture. The result is a salad that’s creamy but not heavy, a little sweet, a little savory and just curried enough in my opinion.

• Green onion for a sharper bite than regular onion.
• Red pepper for crunch and a little sweetness.
• Toasted walnuts for richness (toasting them first makes a noticeable difference).
• A touch of lemon juice to brighten everything up.

This salad is flexible. Pile it onto sandwich bread with lettuce and tomato, roll it into a wrap like I did, spoon it over a bed of greens, or eat it straight out of the bowl with crackers. It also holds up well for meal prep since the flavors only get better after a day in the fridge.

Tempeh doesn’t get nearly enough credit as a base for salads, in my opinion. It’s easy to season, simple to prep ahead, and has a satisfying texture that holds up beautifully in the fridge. Just boil it, mash it up a bit, mix in the right amount of curry and a few other good things, and you’ve got lunch sorted for the week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Classic Curried Tempeh Salad

Recipe by Kreg Sterns

5.0 from 2 votes

Cuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

A creamy, curry-spiced tempeh salad loaded with crisp apple, red peppers, celery, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, perfect for sandwiches, wraps or scooping with crackers.

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• 1 8 oz package tempeh, cut into small cubes and boiled for 8-10 minutes in simmering salted water

• 1 rib celery, chopped

• 1/2 medium apple, chopped

• 1 green onion, sliced

• 1/2 red pepper, diced small

• 1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries

• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder

• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

• Prepare the tempeh if boiling or steaming. I used a small saucepan with about 4 cups of water and one teaspoon of kosher salt and gently boiled my cubed tempeh for about 10 minutes then drained and cooled completely. Toast your walnuts now as well so they have time to cool. I either use a dry pan or my toaster oven watching carefully so they don’t burn.
• Add your cooled tempeh and the rest of the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix. Then using a fork or spoon, mash some of the tempeh pieces but not all of them. You could also do this step first before adding to the bowl but I like mashing once everything has been mixed together.
• If you mixture looks dry, you can add a bit more mayo but I’ve tested this many times and found these measurements to work well.
• Chill the salad before serving and this actually tastes better to me the next day although it might be hard to resist.

Notes

• I prefer a mild curry powder but you can use a spicy variety and add more if desired.
• Use your favorite variety of apple. I like McIntosh or honeycrisp but any crisp variety will work.
• I prefer Follow Your Heart original veganaise but use your favorite kind of vegan mayo.
• I prefer dried cranberries for this but raisins are the classic choice.
• Walnuts are again classic for this recipe, but you could use almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds or another nut if preferred or leave them out entirely.

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