Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) is a dehydrated soy product which can be used in the place of meat mince (ground meat).
This is such an amazing product and if I hadn’t only heard about it 12 months ago, I would have been using it for years! There are so many benefits:
- Very quick and easy to cook
- Takes on the flavour of whatever you are cooking
- Very inexpensive
- Low fat
- High protein
- Lasts in your pantry for about 1 year (in its dried form)
Any dish that usually requires mince can be replaced with TVP – spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne, lasagne etc…
My sister Petah and her husband Tim go overseas every year for a few weeks and they choose which countries and cities they go to based on the restaurants they want to eat at – they are serious foodies!! I gave them some of my chilli con carne (made with TVP) and they really liked it! My sister thought it was like chicken mince because it didn’t have the strong flavour of beef mince.
About 5-10 minutes before you are ready to add it to your cooking, place the TVP into a bowl and cover with warm water. The TVP will soak up most of the water and become softer (it will also about double in volume). I actually prefer to soak it in stock to add to the flavour. I keep tins of vegan powdered stock in my pantry – vegetable, chicken, beef flavoured and use that mixed into warm water.
When soaked, drain off any excess liquid (there won’t be much) and add the softened TVP to your dish and cook just like you would mince (ground meat) except it cooks much faster.
TVP is a fantastic staple for any vegan pantry. You can buy it from most large grocery stores but it is usually much cheaper in health food stores.
Leave a Reply