Make your own ground beef with TVP

Textured Vegetable Protein, or TVP, is something of a wonder food.

The perfect combination of incredibly versatile, inexpensive, and an A+ nutritional profile. Made from dried, de-fatted soy flour, TVP is a complete protein and provides a hefty amount of your daily nutrients.

TVP is exciting – it is an entirely blank slate, full of potential and ready to take on whatever you’re feeling at that moment.

Want to go spicy? TVP can do that.

Want a warm, sweet, filling breakfast? TVP can do that too.

What sounds a little like plastic piping is actually a high-protein vehicle for any flavor you’re craving.

Like any ingredient, TVP requires some, though minimal, preparation before you can begin using it in recipes. First, let’s look at how to prepare your TVP.

How to Rehydrate Textured Vegetable Protein

TVP is a dried product and comes in various sizes of granules that need to be soaked in some liquid before use.

Just like preparing tofu, TVP doesn’t have much flavor on its own, so incorporating flavor at every step of the process will result in a tastier final product.

The instructions on the back of your bag of TVP will tell you to rehydrate 1 cup of TVP in about a cup of hot water, and I’m here to tell you to toss those instructions aside – you can do better!

If we imagine our TVP granules like tiny sponges, why would we fill those pockets with water when we can fill them with flavor?

Rehydrating the TVP granules in something tasty will allow flavor to permeate the actual granules themselves, which will result in a tastier end product. Think of it as a marinade, but for little granules instead of one big slab of tofu or tempeh.

The rehydrating liquid you should use depends on what type of recipe you’ll be using.

• For a savory recipe with TVP - soak 1 cup of dry TVP granules in 7/8 cup of hot vegetable broth for about 5 minutes, or until all the broth has been absorbed.
• For a sweet application - use the same ratio of TVP to liquid, but use your favorite plant-based milk instead of broth.

Hypothetically, you could use any liquid here – fruit juice, water with soy sauce, any flavoring you have on hand – but I’ve found that vegetable broth or plant-based milk yields the best results for the applications I use.

Once your TVP granules are soft and have expanded, you’re ready to use them in your favorite recipe! Remember that rehydrated TVP doesn’t keep well, so only soak the granules right before you’re ready to use them.

Rehydrating – Step by Step

Step 1. Measure out 1 cup dry TVP.

Step 2. Heat 7/8 cup vegetable broth until boiling.

Step 3. Add vegetable broth to dry TVP.

Step 4. Allow to soak for about 5 minutes, until TVP has expanded and looks “fluffy”.  You’re ready to use it in your recipe!

Cooking With TVP - Beef Crumbles

I most often use TVP as a replacement for ground beef in a variety of recipes. My standard base recipe for beef crumbles is to combine 2 cups of dry TVP granules with a scant 2 cups very hot vegetable broth in a small bowl.

Once the granules are rehydrated, and all the liquid has been absorbed, put a tablespoon or so of oil in a skillet and add the rehydrated TVP, along with 6-7 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a drop or two of liquid smoke (optional, but recommended).

Fry the TVP over low-medium heat until the granules have browned slightly and it resembles ground beef.

Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pan. This makes an amount of TVP that is equivalent to one pound of ground beef.

Use immediately, or cool the crumbles completely and store them in the fridge or freezer as-is so you’ll always have a batch on hand.

The beefy crumbles are delicious as they are, but you can also dress them up in lots of ways to resemble any dish where you’d traditionally use ground beef.

Not to mention, it’s a healthy way to reach your daily recommended amount of protein without the cholesterol and fat of meat.

With all these options, and essentially a blank canvas for flavor, TVP is truly one of the most hard-working foods in your repertoire.