If you are new to vegan foods, then you may be wondering what the heck TVP is. Just in case you don’t care to read the wiki page, I’ll give you the run down. It’s defatted soy flour. It’s crazy cheap, and it’s incredibly easy to make. Commercially it’s used to cheaply bulk up ground beef. You can flavor it in a variety of ways depending on your needs, and for a cheap, easy source of vegan protein, TVP really can’t be beat. You can find it in the bulk bin section of nutrition stores or whole foods, or you can order bags of it on amazon.com.

The DIRECTIONS are pretty simple:

1. In a small saucepan, heat water and seasonings to a boil.

2. Remove from heat, and stir in TVP. Let sit for 5 minutes. It is now ready to use in your recipes.

Here are some different ways that I season TVP to use in recipes. You can use plain water, broth, or water + a bouillon cube and vary the flavorings based on the recipe you’re adding it to.

For a smoky, meaty crumble to pair with squash

1 c. of TVP granules
1 c. water or vegetable stock
1 tbsp. of liquid smoke
2 tbsp. of braggs/tamari/shoyu/red sodium soy sauce

For pasta sauce

1 c. TVP granules
1 c. veg broth
1.5 tsp. liquid smoke
1 c. TVP

Or you can just add it into pasta sauce like I did here:

1 1/4 c. TVP
1 1/4 c. water
2 tsp. liquid smoke
2 tsp. vegan worcestershire

For Tacos and Nachos

1 cup of TVP granules
1 cup of water or veggie broth (i used water & a 1/4 of a bouillon cube. you can use a whole one if you want more flavor)
2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp vegan worcestershire
2-3 tbsp taco seasoning (chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne powder, paprika, cumin, salt & pepper)

TVP also works in a variety of dishes like Meatballs

Meatloaf

And for picadillo!