We live in the middle of hunting and fishing country but if times get rough there is going to be a lot more competition for the game. I’m wondering about TVP (textured vegetable protein). How palatable is it? Are the flavored varieties more tasty and better textured? I’ve seen beef, chicken, ham, bacon, taco, sausage, barbeque, and even pepperoni flavors. How long is the shelf life on TVP after a can has been opened? I realize once it has been rehydrated it has to be kept cool, but didn’t know how long the rest of the can would keep.
For those of you that have used various kinds of TVP, what flavor and brand would you recommend the novice start out with? I’m only a very reluctant carnivore in the first place. I would probably make a very good Ovo-Lacto vegan, but my husband and son seem to need meat. I hope someone can share their experiences using these products.
I have made hamburgers with 1/2 meat and 1/2 tvp. They were very good. I cooked them on the grill. I bought pain unflavored tvp/ Reconstituted with beef boullion. And added dried onion as well. My 14 year old son did not even notice. I am now adding tvp to spag sauce and taco meat as well. As long as you season the tvp well it has been good. I bought the tvp from honeville grain. plain unflavored.
I do not know where my signature went on the above post. pamcat
I’ve used it in chili, lagsana and dirty rice. I didn’t tell anyone and no one noticed a difference although there was a lot of seasonings in these dishes. I’ve only opened plain TVP and chicken TVP. I have big cans from honeville grain that I haven’t opened yet, but I’ve found a local source for bulk unflavored TVP and I got a small can of chicken TVP from Mountain Brook Foods. They seem to have a good variety of small can items. I’ve been using the small cans of TVP and onions to “learn” how to cook with TVP. I LOVE the diced onions and green onions, TVP smells wonderful when you cook it with onions!! Since rice is a main prep for us I figure TVP is the way to add protein.
I would suggested getting the unflavored TVP that is about the size and shape of hamburger. That way you can flavor it anyway you want too. I’ve used it in chili, spagetti, homemade “hamburger helper” type meals, meatloaf, and burgers. 1 to 1 with ground beef. The burgers were abit “crumbly” next time I might add an egg to help it stay together better. But as for the taste, my picky kids didn’t even bat an eye eating it.
I’ve used the crumbly TVP in Taco Soup and other dishes like skillet hamburger helper stuff and it was great!
I’ve also used the chunk in chicken casseroles and skillet dishes and it was delicious. I started out using the unflavored, but I’ve now purchased flavored — especially ham and sausage because those are harder to flavor when added to a meal unless you have ham bullion. I wanted the sausage to add to scrambled eggs!
You can get either ‘regular’ or caramel colored if you want it to ‘match’ when being added to hamburger, soups with beef, etc.
All in all it’s very good. They say that it will increase the gas in your system (I haven’t noticed that problem in our family), so you might want to start off just adding it in with regular meat, or have some Bean0 on hand! :-)
You can get small quantities of TVP at health food stores. You might want to try that first to see if you like it. However, as everyone else on the thread has stated, TVP is very flexible and when well seasoned, very tasty. I’ve begun incorporating into recipes without telling my family, and they have not batted an eyelash. In fact, TVP is a common “filler” in lots of mainstream food products. Not sure why it’s considered a filler when soy products are supposedly offer so many health benefits, but…
One thing I did wrong at first was way overestimate how much TVP to how much water. I ended up with far too much TVP rehydrated for the recipe I was making and ended up wasting a lot.
I use it all the time. Our Fred Meyer stores sell it in the bulk section. It is very inexpensive there. My son, the chef is a food snob and will eat it in my tacos. Of course I don’t tell him it is there.
Thanks everyone for the advice. I’ll get some the next time I’m in Missoula and try it out. It sounds like it would be better for us anyway. The more fiber in foods the better.
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