If anyone has told me that I would end up on a Channel 5 documentary telling the nation that my own family dog Ruff adored tofu, I would NEVER have believed you!!
To be quite honest, before I transitioned to a vegan diet (to find the very best food for Ruff in 2019); I had never tasted tofu before, and I had heard of it, but it never crossed my mind that it would become such an integral part of my life (and my health and Ruff's health in his golden years)
Watch the short video clip below where we were lucky enough to be contacted by Channel 5 and have the lovely Alexis Conran visit our home in 2022 to film for a documentary called Dog Poo Wars - how I enjoyed that day, and speaking about everything to do with vegan dog food.
That's where I let slip just how much I LOVE tofu to the whole nation!
Did you know that Tofu ranks as the world's top protein!?
Tofu is made from soya bean curd and originated over 2000 years ago (the Ancient Chinese could not be wrong).
In our scorching summer of 2026 that has frightened ALL of us, scientists ranked 20 popular protein sources – and tofu came out on top for people and the planet (hooray and read the science here)
In this scientific study, the new Better Protein Institute (BPI) Score, developed by behavioural scientist Dr Chris Macdonald, compared 20 popular protein-rich foods across measures including nutritional quality, affordability, greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use, and plant-based foods dominated the leader board.
Tofu took the number one spot overall, followed by chia seeds, beans and quinoa. In fact, every food in the top 20% of the ranking was plant-based.
What about the taste and why do dogs LOVE it?
It took me quite a few months (maybe even a year) when I transitioned myself in my 50's to a vegan diet, to fall in love with tofu. I had no idea how to introduce it into my new diet, but what made me persevere in those early days, was Ruff's response every time I took this little white block of what appeared to be a tasteless square out of the fridge.
I noticed very quickly that Ruff's pupils dilated even at the sound of the plastic when I removed uncooked white organic tofu from the fridge - he absolutely LOVED it!!
A dog's sense of smell is thousands of times stronger than our sense of smell, and they are able to sniff out each amino acid and recognise that the food is high in protein. We even have one of our recipes called Terrific Tofu Traybake for all of you very dedicated dog chefs out there who diligently cook wholefoods for all of your family each day, so why not batch cook once a week for your dog?
We have the correct supplements shown below in our Home Cooking Bundle Special to add to the Terrific Tofu Traybake recipe which ensures that nothing is lacking when home cooking plant-based wholeoods for your dog.
What about adding tofu to our Cold-Pressed Superfood BioBuddy?
For those of you who are keen to give a highly nutritious, wholefood and minimally processed diet without all that cooking, watch the video below full of tips to adding tofu easily to the diet of your dog alongside our BioBuddy cold-pressed Superfood.
Mix tofu with highly nutritious and high in Vitamin B nutritional yeast, as well as cooked quinoa and kale, and you have a protein powerhouse!
What else makes tofu so nutritious for us and our dogs?
Always choose the organic version of whichever tofu you are buying to prevent the danger of pesticide use in soya crops (that are mainly grown to feed our intensively farmed highly exploited farm animals seen purely as financial gain).
We don't use soya in any of our dog foods for the reason that genetically modified soya has pesticide risk which can cause inflammatory issues in your dogs, and expose them to unnecessary chemicals which may shorten their lifespan.
ALWAYS choose pet food companies that declare their soya to be non GMO (ONLY Benevo declare this with their puppy food, and Yarrah with their soya based dry food). Other companies that use just HiPro soya or hydrolysed soya with no declaration of non GMO, will have that possible pesticide risk.
Organic tofu contains not only the necessary full array of amino acids that we need and our dogs need, but also choose the organic tofu blocks made using Calcium (check on the back of the tofu that you buy).
This then provides our bodies and the body of your dog with that necessary extra Calcium that we all need!
You can also go one step further and instead of feeding tofu, feed the fermented organic soyabeans TEMPEH that are naturally fermented using a fungus, Rhizopus (I learnt this fact from the BOSH boys doing a cookery demonstration).
Fermentation results in greater gut benefit and a richer flavour that is very acquired for us, but dogs absolutely LOVE the taste of tempeh! It is more expensive though, so maybe keep it as a Sunday 'roast' treat for your lucky healthy plant-based dogs!
“If nobody changes then nothing changes, if somebody changes, then everything changes”
“We’re very clever and extremely resourceful – and we will find ways of preserving ourselves, of that I’m sure. ”
– Sir David Attenborough
