We love taco night and when we don’t use lentils or black beans in tacos, we love TVP, Textured Vegetable Proteins. It tastes like ground meat, looks like ground beef, but it’s so much healthier for you and only made from one ingredient. Soy.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make flavorsome vegan taco meat from soy textured proteins are:
TVP – Also sold as Soy Textured Protein. Olive Oil or avocado oil Yellow Onion, finely chopped Garlic – fresh crushed garlic or powdered garlic. Vegetable Broth – Either a carton of broth or a cube in warm water. Cauliflower Rice or broccoli rice. This is optional, but it adds vegetables to the recipe and an extra firm ground texture. You can make your own by pulsing florets in a food processor or use frozen ready-made veggie rice. Chili Powder, Cumin, Paprika, Oregano – to flavor the dish. Low-Sodium Soy Sauce or Tamari sauce – this adds an umami flavor making the ground taste meaty. Tomato Paste – You can also use tomato passata, but you’d need to reduce it to remove the water. Salt – Add only at the end if not salty enough. I found that vegetable broth and tamari are often enough.
How To Make TVP Taco Meat
It’s so easy and quick to make delicious juicy, meaty taco meat with soy proteins that you will make this recipe over and over again.
Add-Ons
This recipe has endless possibilities and you can add so many vegetables or ground nuts to it for a boost of nutrients. For example, try stirring 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the below ingredients after frying the onions:
Cauliflower Rice Chopped Red Bell Pepper Corn Kernel Broccoli Rice Ground Walnuts
Spices
You can adjust the flavor of the taco meat by adding some of the below ingredients.
For a cheesy flavor, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Spicy – stir in 1-2 teaspoons of hot sauce. Jalapeno slices
Serving
This recipe makes the most tasty TVP vegan tacos and they are perfect to fill any of your favorite taco base like:
Taco Shells Paleo Tortillas Quinoa Tortillas Vegan Gluten-Free Tortillas 2-Ingredient Flatbreads Chickpea Flour Tortillas Red Lentil Tortillas
Or make loaded nachos by adding this ground on top of corn tortillas chips. Use my air fryer tortilla chips recipe to make your own.
Vegan TVP Taco Topping Ideas
The best toppings for these tacos are vegetables, dairy-free cheese, and sauce. Some of the best fillings to add with a TVP taco are:
Corn Vegan Sour Cream or coconut yogurt Fresh Cilantro Fresh Slices of Red Onion Guacamole Fresh Avocado Slices Jalapenos Slices Vegan Cheese like vegan cheddar
Storage Instructions
Store TVP taco meat leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. If you like to meal prep, place the cooked TVP meat in a sealed glass box with some coconut jasmine rice on the side, for example. Then, freeze the portions for up to one month. Rewarm the TVP meat in a saucepan or microwave before serving.
Allergy Swaps
Here are some options if you need to swap the ingredients in this recipe.
Gluten-Free – The recipe is naturally gluten-free, using tamari sauce or coconut aminos. Low-FODMAP – skip the onions. Oil-Free – You can simply dry-fry the TVP and cauliflower rice in dry spices then cook it with the remaining liquid ingredients.
Below I answered your most common questions about this recipe.
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