TVP Tacos – Textured Vegetable Protein Recipe for Taco Filling

TVP Tacos - Textured Vegetable Protein Taco Filling Recipe

TVP Tacos – Textured Vegetable Protein Taco Filling Recipe

These vegan TVP tacos or Textured Vegetable Protein vegan tacos are so yummy and easy to make. This recipe uses dried red New Mexican chilies for a more authentic flavor than just using plain chili powder. TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein is the perfect medium for making these vegan tacos.

TVP® is an inexpensive and versatile soy product made from defatted soy flour and will absorb whatever flavors you decide to add to it. Low in fat and high in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, with a fair amount of calcium, TVP is also good for you! You can find it at your local health food store in the bulk section or ask if they carry a packaged brand.

TVP Textured Vegetable Protein Uncooked

It costs about $2.00 to make this recipe. Compare that to the packaged store-bought taco fillers at around $3.99 each that make half the servings and you just saved yourself some money. You can make a big batch of this TVP taco filling and freeze it for later use or double the recipe and make a medium batch and put the leftover taco filling in a plastic bag in the fridge and use it within a few days. You could top the tacos with your favorite taco additions; perhaps some vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, and lettuce, tomato, and onions. In the pictures with this recipe, we just added a little vegan Daiya cheese and fresh jalapenos to keep it simple and served it with a big beautiful bad ass salad. But the sky is the limit with whatever toppings you choose. Have fun and experiment.

Dried Red New Mexican Chili Peppers

If you don’t have the dried New Mexican chilies, you can substitute dried California chilies or dried Ancho chilies. Worst case scenario, you can’t find any of those dried chile peppers? Just triple the amount of chile powder in the recipe, but be warned, it won’t be quite as Funky Vegan as when you use the real deal chili pods. No, it is not spicy – these chilies aren’t really hot.

Textured Vegetable Protein is also good for making vegetarian chili and some people like to use it as a meat substitute in their spaghetti. But, really there are a ton of great ways to use TVP. Need more ideas for TVP? Do a search for recipes Textured Vegetable Protein. Here’s my recipe:

Textured Vegetable Protein Tacos

Prep time: 3 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Total time: 13 minutes

Serves: 8 vegan tacos

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein
2 dried red New Mexican chilies
4 cloves garlic
1/4 onion
1-1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon Cavender’s Greek seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco brand pepper sauce
1 tablespoon chile powder
Juice of 1 lime
1-3/4 cups water

3 ounces tomato paste – optional

Instructions:

1. Remove stems from the red New Mexican dried chilies. Add chilies, garlic, onion, and 1/4 cup of water to a mini-food processor or blender and process until very finely chopped.

2. Add mixture to a 2 or 3 quart sauce pot on high heat with all remaining ingredients for 2 minutes and stir thoroughly to incorporate the ingredients.

3. Reduce heat to medium for 8 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.

4. Remove from heat and serve.

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TVP Taco Filling - In the pot