I hit upon a vegan conundrum the other day. I was craving good ol’ tacos. But what to do about the taco meat part? 
Previously, I was buying veggie crumbles, but I’m on a strict budget this month & needed to use what I had on hand. And lucky for me – I had a bag of TVP granules waiting patiently for me in the freezer!!
Off to the Internet I went & hit upon the No Meat Athlete site! This recipe sounded pretty promising, but I was not yet sold on TVP granules. (My original experiment results were iffy. Not totally bad but not awesome!) But, I needed to use that bag of TVP granules, so it was worth the risk!
Verdict? Double yum!! This time, the TVP experiment was an unqualified success!! The Crumby Hubby was thrilled with the results too. (The Crumby Son? Still in his picky stage & basically not eating anything. I’m sure he’ll love it soon enough!) This mimics the taco meat filling that I used to love as a carnivore & is soooo quick to make! Thanks to Matt at No Meat Athlete for this great recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 c. water, divided
- 2 c. dry TVP
- 1 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 packet taco seasoning
Directions
- Boil 2 c. water. Pour (carefully!!) boiling water into a large dish & add TVP to reconstitute. Let TVP sit for about 5-10 minutes so that the water absorbs.
- In a large skillet, add reconstituted TVP, 1/4 c. water, soy sauce, canola oil & taco seasoning & mix well. Heat over medium heat until the mixture warms & the water absorbs.
- Serve immediately with corn chips (see below for other serving suggestions).
Makes 4 servings.
Total Cost: $2.14 for entire recipes or $0.54 per serving!
- Water: Free
- TVP: $2.39 per 10 oz. bag, which is $1.74 for 2 c.
- Organic, reduced sodium tamari (soy sauce): $6.83 per 20 oz. bottle, which is $0.17 for 1 tbsp.
- Canola oil: $8.89 per 1 1/4 gallon container, which is $0.02 for 2 tbsp.
- Taco seasoning: $0.21 for 1 packet (equivalent)
Serving Suggestions
- Homemade yogurt or sour cream
- Chopped black olives
- Chopped cilantro
- Organic blue corn chips (Archer Farm brand – from Target – yum!!)
- Jalapeno peppers
- Lettuce leaves or spinach
- Lime, cut into sections
- Salsa
- Scallions
- Shredded cheese (dairy or nondairy)
Why not just use refried beans instead of meat? And you know cats aren’t supposed to eat a lot of soy
You know, I could always use lentils…. You remember, right, that lentils are the best meat?? Glad to see you stopping by!!
Now now, everybody knows that lentils aren’t meat but they can be used instead of meat. Of course a good cheap meal is tuna, cats like tuna