Most grocery tofu is a watery brick from an industrial line. Craft tofu and tempeh — made fresh in small batches from organic or non-GMO soybeans, the traditional way — is a genuinely better food: firmer, nuttier, with actual flavor. The makers below ship it cold or frozen to your door. Here's where to get the real thing.
Published June 2026 · Updated 29 Jun 2026
Hodo is an organic, non-GMO maker handcrafting tofu and yuba in Oakland — in fact the only US maker of fresh organic yuba (tofu skin), a genuine delicacy. They ship nationwide weekly, and the quality is restaurant-grade. The best place to start if you want to taste what tofu can actually be.
Why it's worth findingFresh, handcrafted organic tofu and yuba shipped weekly is perishable craft. The freshness and the rare yuba are exactly what a warehouse can't do.
See it at Hodo →Soya Maya makes small-batch tempeh from organic soybeans grown on their own Indiana farm, and — crucially — ships it frozen nationwide, which solves the perishability problem most makers can't. Real, traditionally-fermented tempeh from the people who grew the beans. A great pick if you want farm-to-ferment tempeh delivered anywhere.
Why it's worth findingTempeh fermented from a farm's own organic soybeans and frozen for shipping is a deliberate, integrated operation. The whole chain is theirs.
See it at Soya Maya →Rhapsody is a family-run Vermont maker doing small-batch organic tempeh the traditional way, with an honest, published cold-shipping map. It's a genuinely tiny operation with deep roots in real fermentation. A wonderful pick for organic tempeh from a small family who's been doing it a long time.
Why it's worth findingSmall-batch organic tempeh from one Vermont family is a hands-on, perishable craft. The smallness and the tradition are the value.
See it at Rhapsody →BOStempeh makes USDA-certified-organic tempeh to order from just three ingredients, shipped with ice packs — clean, fresh, and genuinely small. Made-to-order means it arrives at peak, not after sitting in a warehouse. A great pick for the cleanest, freshest tempeh you can get mailed to you.
Why it's worth findingMade-to-order, three-ingredient organic tempeh shipped on ice is the opposite of a shelf product. The made-to-order freshness is the entire point.
See it at BOStempeh →Phoenix Bean (also known as Jenny's Tofu) is a beloved Chicago maker using non-GMO Illinois-grown soybeans — the kind of small local institution that supplies the city's best restaurants. Their fried and frozen items ship further afield. A great pick for genuinely good tofu with a real local-origin story.
Why it's worth findingA small Chicago tofu maker using local soybeans is a regional institution, not a national brand. The local soy and the freshness are what make it.
See it at Phoenix Bean →Tofu is made by curdling fresh soy milk and pressing the curds into blocks, so it's smooth and mild and takes on whatever flavor you cook it with. Tempeh is made by fermenting whole cooked soybeans until a firm cake binds together, so it's nuttier, chewier, and higher in protein and fiber because the whole bean is used. Tofu absorbs; tempeh already tastes of something.
Most commodity soybeans in the US are genetically modified and grown with heavy herbicide use, so shoppers who want to avoid that look for organic or non-GMO soy. Beyond the sourcing, the small makers here use identity-preserved beans, sometimes grown on their own farm, which gives the tofu and tempeh a cleaner, fuller bean flavor. It's a distinction the industrial brick usually can't claim.
Firmness is the main variable: silken is delicate and best in soups, blended sauces, and desserts, while firm and extra-firm hold up to searing, grilling, and stir-frying. For crisp tofu, press out excess water first, then dry-fry or roast it hot; freezing and thawing tofu makes it spongier and better at soaking up marinade. Craft tofu starts firmer and nuttier than the watery grocery block, so it needs less fussing.
Keep fresh tofu refrigerated and submerged in water, changing the water daily, and use it within a few days of opening. Tempeh keeps a bit longer refrigerated and both freeze well — many of the makers here ship frozen for exactly that reason. A little harmless white bloom on tempeh is normal fermentation; discard it only if it smells off or shows black or colored mold.
Some links on this page earn us a commission. It never affects who makes a list or what order they're in — placement is not for sale, and no maker has ever been asked for money.
Some "see it at…" links are affiliate links — if you buy through one, 5best2buy may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never costs the maker anything, and it never decides who makes the list. The list is the list.
© 2026 5best2buy.com · No.030