Hello! Happy Saturday! I’m so glad to be sharing another recipe! The quality of the pictures are terrible, we were on our weekend getaway in Blue Cypress Lake, Florida. We were staying in an Air BNB that had one window and very poor lighting. I seriously debated sharing this post because of the quality of pictures and because I did not get many pictures that I usually get.
So lets start! TVP! What the hell is TVP? TVP is textured vegetable protein! Textured or texturized vegetable protein, also known as textured soy protein, soy meat, or soya chunks is a defatted soy flour product, a by-product of extracting soybean oil. It is often used as a meat analogue or meat extender (Wikipedia). Definitely not always the most reliable source of definitions, but this one is accurate. TVP comes in small pieces like in my picture or in larger pieces that can resemble chicken nuggets or even beef jerky. I’ll link several different options for Amazon right here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tvp&hvadid=78340207376405&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_4b2x6zdg7v_e The cool part about this link is that it offers a ton more options of TVP than I have typically been able to find.
You can always re-hydrate TVP using marinades, veggie stock, or even water with different seasonings. I typically use veggie stock.
For this recipe, I used:
- Textured vegetable protein (Bob’s Redmill Brand)
- Sloppy Joe mix in the can (it is naturally and unintentionally vegan)
- Bell pepper of any color
- mushrooms
- onion if you desire
You’ll start by chopping and dicing the veggies up, because you want it all to mix in well and it will add more texture to the recipe. I have found that with Sloppy Joe’s, using TVP it gives more of the ground beef style feel, it’s definitely not the exact same texture as ground beef, but it pretty much feels the same way when it hits your palette. I’ve spoken to a few new people lately on my Instagram chat who are having a very difficult time with textures when it comes to trying vegan items. Honestly, here’s the truth, vegan foods are not like animal meat. Some things honestly resemble the texture of some animals meat, but the truth is, it really is different. One thing that has helped me to change my mindset when trying new things is the reminder that it is totally organic what I’m eating, I’m not getting byproducts, antibiotics or any disgusting things that will eventually damage my body over time. I’m always reminding myself of that and for whatever reason, that totally works for me. It allows me to enjoy what I eat versus be like typical people who say things like, “ewwww, but it’s not real.” “It doesn’t taste the same.” My response is always like, duh! The best part of making a vegan meal is that you really get to transform it, add flavor and add texture to give a vegan meal lots of full body!
What I did for this recipe is chop my veggies up, added them to a pan. I did not add any oil or butter because mushroom naturally give off water when you put them in a pan and start to cook them. Then add your softened TVP and I then just cook it all down and once it’s rather softer I add sauce and let it simmer for about ten minutes in total. You can then toast your buns if you like them toasted, it holds more sauce that way too. Then enjoy! You can add slaw, chips, tater tots or fries.
From my kitchen to yours, happy cooking! 🤍
Katie H.
hensons 