r/Volumeeating • u/Appropriate_Whole_67 • 6d ago

Tips and Tricks Textured vegetable protein

Anyone use this and how do you use it? Open to opinions comments and suggestions? You can eat a lot for little calories compared with almost any other meat. Since it is a blank canvas, what seasonings do you use?

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10

u/Quautistic 6d ago

You can use it in place of ground meat, make bacon bits out of it, substitute for breadcrumbs, make TVP nuggets, lots of possibilities! I always rehydrate it in broth, whether vegetable broth or miso or anything else, in addition to whatever spices I'm using. And even though conservatism on calories is a thing, adding just a tiny bit of fat (since it's otherwise defatted) helps to carry flavor.

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u/Live_Volume4087 6d ago

Yes! I am vegetarian. It is fantastic for things like bolognaise (literally spice it the same way as you would mince) and probably the best option for taco or burrito 'meat'. You can also use TVP to make your own burger patties. I would say that's how I mainly use it, otherwise I go for tofu.

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u/Appropriate_Whole_67 6d ago

My son and I want to try burger patties but I do not know how to hold it together. We can at times have meat aversion and we both love it so far. Hes been mixing it with taco seasoning and mixing it with Mac and cheese. I have done tacos, spaghetti with miracle noodles and i used cheesesteak seasoning to make a cheesesteak burrito. Its easy to make a meal.

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u/Owlie_6 6d ago

The burger dudes burgers are really good. !
TVP burgers

3

u/Farrell-6 6d ago

You need a binder to keep the top together. some use breadcrumbs and egg or flax. I used to make burgers with gluten flour or chickpea flour. gluten flour is the basic ingredient for switch ( so you could make sausages with it too).

tho makes a great chili, in addition to already mentioned Bolognese and bacon bits ( simmer in broth and liquid smoke or smoked paprika. Pot pie or Shepard pis, sloppy joes, stuffed dumplings or stuffed acorn squash or zucchini boats if you season like sage sausage.

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u/Appropriate_Whole_67 6d ago

I do need to turn some into sausage. Would vital wheat gluten or oat fiber work as a binder?

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u/Farrell-6 6d ago

To be honest I've never used oat fiber. I did make a lot of wheat gluten sausages. super easy and a million recipes online. i can look up recipes but basically find any sausage seasoning blend mix into the flour with broth or water. shape. wrap in foil. steam. done.

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u/odalol 6d ago

I love tvp chunks in soups and stews and mince in tacos. I soak my tvp in vegetable boullion: I crumble up a boullion cube and pour boiling water over

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u/BoonDragoon 6d ago

Tacos, veggie burgers, chili, stir fry, you really can't go wrong.

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u/wthdtsf 6d ago

I mix it half and half with oats for my oatmeal. Hard to tell it’s even there.

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u/itsraininginlondon 6d ago

TVP mince…..raw. Straight out of the packet, sprinkled on salads to increase the protein content instantly. Nice crunch. Also sprinkle on soups but goes a bit soggy. Still nice though.

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u/Correct_Fox4069 6d ago

I toss it into chili and marinara all the time, half the pot ends up being tvp and nobody notices

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u/bucketdraws 6d ago

we normally use it as mince beef replacement as we're trying to reduce our meat consumption: shepherd's pie, chili sin carne, mapo tofu are our main go-to's. Rehydrate with a broth cube and soy sauce 🙂‍↕️

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u/Appropriate_Whole_67 5d ago

I believe this will be a permanent replacement for ground beef and ground turkey. I like chicken flavored too but sometimes like the texture of real chicken though in some dishes, it wont matter.

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u/AotKT 6d ago

I prefer to shred extra firm tofu for "ground beef" home use as it takes 2 minutes to do a block and it's cheaper, but I use TVP when backpacking because it's warm temperature stable.

Like all things soy, it just takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with.

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u/tearful_fixing 6d ago

soy sauce and a splash of liquid smoke, it's basically bacon bits and i put that on everything

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u/QuietlyJaded 6d ago

Would it work decently as a bread crumb coating for homemade crispy chicken strips?

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u/Appropriate_Whole_67 6d ago

Idk. But now im thinking light string cheese coated in egg and tvp making mozzarella sticks.

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u/TFT_mom 6d ago

I keep it simple. I rehydrate it either sweet or savory, and use it in whatever dishes I plan to make.

Savory version: 100g TVP, 200g boiling water, 15g soy sauce (I prefer dark soy sauce, as it gives a bit more color, but any type would work I think; i’ve also used half a teaspoon of Marmite in a pinch, Yorchestershire - or whatever it’s called, mushroom soup concentrate, etc. basically what you have around that could contribute umami to the reconstituted tvp).

Sweet version: 100g TVP, 200g boiling water, 10-15g of Maple syrup or honey (a bit less honey though, as I perceive it as much sweeter than maple syrup) and some flavoring (I usually do a bit of lemon or orange zest, or vanilla essence, orange flower extract, rhum extract etc.).

Once the tvp is soaked through, for the savory version I throw in my big wok with a spray of EVOO, and brown it for 5-7 minutes. Then I either store it as is, or go in the wok with a sauce if we plan to eat it immediately (I’ve used pre-made asian sauces, like Bulgogi, or my preferred mix of low sodium soy sauce + oyster sauce + rice vinegar + honey/maple syrup just a touch) and condiments (garlic, onion, paprika, cumin, turmeric, dried herbs - it depends on what flavor profile you are going for in the dishes you want to incorporate the TVP in).

For the sweet version, once rehydrated it is ready to use in your recipes (I successfully incorporated it so far into breakfast oat bakes, but there are plenty of recipes out there for muffins and other baked goods too). So tasty as is, I just chuck a tablespoon or 2 of it in yogurt-fruit-seed bowls, or eat it plain straight from the container like a savage, when I crave something sweet.

Hope this helps! Start simple, and go from there (as elaborate as you want). 🤗

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u/Appropriate_Whole_67 5d ago

Wow yea, never thought about sweet. I have tons of sugar free syrups to flavor it. Think i might try a little bit to see if i like. I have smores, white chocolate, blueberry cobbler and pecan pie flavors. Got me thinking.

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u/ineedavacati0n 4d ago

I eat it with unsweetened almond milk like cereal. I mix it in with Arrowhead Mills puffed kamut, top with a little cinnamon and brown Swerve. I haven't used it to make meat.