Short answer
Yes. Tofu is made from soybeans, water and a mineral coagulant, so plain tofu is halal in all four schools. Check flavoured, marinated or restaurant tofu, which can be cooked with pork, oyster sauce or rice wine.
Plain tofu is halal (mubah). Its usual coagulants, such as nigari (magnesium chloride), calcium sulfate and glucono delta-lactone, are minerals or plant-derived. Its ruling changes only if a haram ingredient is added.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Tofu is soy milk set into a curd, much like cheese is made from milk. The setting agent is not an animal enzyme but a salt or acid: nigari (magnesium chloride, from seawater), gypsum (calcium sulfate) or glucono delta-lactone, which is made from glucose. Nothing in plain tofu comes from an animal, so it is halal, and the four schools agree.
Where you need care is in what is done with it:
- Restaurant dishes: mapo tofu is classically made with minced pork, and many stir-fries use pork, shrimp paste or oyster sauce. Ask.
- Marinated or smoked tofu: marinades can contain mirin, rice wine or fish sauce. Check the label.
- Fried tofu puffs and tofu skins: usually just tofu and oil, but some are fried in lard in certain kitchens.
- Silken tofu desserts: occasionally set with gelatin rather than a mineral.
Soy products in general, such as soy milk, tempeh and edamame, are halal. Soy sauce is a separate question because of the alcohol in its brewing (see soy sauce and gochujang). For other ingredients, use the halal food checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:168
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَٰلًۭا طَيِّبًۭا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٦٨﴾
O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.
Plant foods are lawful and good by default.
Sahih al-Bukhari 52
Sahih... الحلال بين والحرام بين وبينهما مشبهات ...
"The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters."
Plain tofu is clearly lawful; doubtful dishes are best checked.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha. The principle that permissibility is the default in foods.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.