Bob's Red Mill TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), 12oz

Have been looking for something to enhance the texture and flavor of my ground beef. I don't know if the flavor has been bred out of the beef itself or removing the pink slime hurt the flavor - probably both. One thing is for sure - ground beef doesn't taste good anymore. My wife calls it "Bland Beef"... But I love my burgers... have tried mixing with everything I can think of and nothing helped. Thought this stuff was worth a try - I love restaurant burgers and I guarantee they are cut with filler of some kind sooo..... I mixed this 1:1 with liquid instead of 1 cup TVP to 3/4 cup broth like the package instructions said. In measuring cup add 3 Tbs of Worcestershire Sauce, 1Tbs of Soy Sauce then beef broth up to 1 cup level. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add 1 cup of this TVP. Mix well and let cool. Add 1 pound ground beef (we still use 73/27 for more flavor), 1/2 tsp each of MSG and onion powder and squish it all together well. Ended up with just shy of 2 pounds of mixed burger. I let it set for about 15 minutes then formed into patties. The consistency was excellent - held together very well - not crumbly. Fried on Ninja fryer about 3 minutes per side at 300. Wow. Just like an Applebees slider. Great flavor, juicy, and the texture is something you only experience in a good restaurant burger. My wife stopped eating burgers at home years ago because the beef just didn't taste good and she ate one of these today and raved about it. We are very happy with the results. Will experiment with different flavoring and spices but this first batch as described above was an excellent start. When perfected will make a large batch, form into patties and flash freeze for convenience. This stuff has no flavor - it takes on the flavor of whatever you mix in with it. But the texture is mainly what has sold me. Next batch? Bourbon Bacon Burgers...

Depending on how I am working with it, I dont soak it ahead of time. In fact, I rarely do. I often use it in taco filling or meat sauce. I sometimes only use TVP, but more often I use it to CUT back on meat. It really helps STRETCH a meal, bulk it out, by adding in the TVP. It blends seamlessly in with ground meat. So instead of using 2 lbs of meat, I use 1 lb plus the equivalent volume of this, or any ratio. No tight rules to follow. In the above applications usually I just add extra water or broth to rehydrate it. I love adding beef bouillon or broth to give it that beefy flavor. So I will cook the meat, then add in the TVP. Add in some water or broth. It will retain same shape, but get soft and expand to typical size of ground cooked beef. From there I then add in whatever seasons and other liquids. Just want to reiterate: Keep in mind this expands! It doesnt look like much directly from the pouch, but once it rehydrates is grows quite a bit. Get a lot of bang for the buck. Really lovely way to get extra nutrition, fiber, cut costs on meat, or way to cut back on meat if not fully vegetarian (ie meatless mondays), and helps bulk up a meal for cheap. If you happen to use a lot of ground meat, and want to shave some money of grocery bill, I highly recommend adding this in. I really havent worked with it much beyond what I mentioned. I do enjoy non meat meals most of all, so I will look up some recipes using this style of TVP. But usually use other "forms" (strips, curls, chunks) for other dishes. I once bought their 25 lb behemoth of a bag (great savings) but I find working from the pouches from this box easier. But nice option if you want to save even more and are willing to repackage into smaller containers. Love Bob's Red Mill products. Been using for a couple of decades, all sorts of stuff. Trusted brand for me. I also like Anthony's texturized vegetable protein crumbles .

Very good to replacement of meat. Jeeps you full for the most part. Taste great and the texture is good as well.

I'm not a vegetarian. However, the shelf-life (indefinite), nutrition (complete protein), macros (0 fat, 9 carb, 4 fiber, and 13 protein), ease of preparation (add boiling water for 5 mins and fry, or toss it in a stew), neutral flavor (it just soaks up whatever you toss it with), and extremely reasonable price (it's a pack of 4 for ~5k calories for <20 dollars) all combine to make TVP the most optimized singular food product I've ever seen in my life. Add in the fact it's sustainable and vegetarian as just a bonus. This might not be the only brand out there, but it delivered exactly what I hoped it would, and frankly, I didn't read the description carefully and got *more* than I expected. Which was great, it's what caused me to come to write this review. 5 stars.

I heard about TVP and wanted to try it. I’m a fan of Bob’s brand for other things so I tried this. First recipe I made was vegan meatballs. Turned out great! Seems like a great way to avoid premade vegan meat replacements with your own homemade versions. I’ve got a meatloaf in the oven now. 🤞 The texture seems ok, it’s like a taco meat size of bits, maybe a little larger. I’m surprised at the protein content and the low calories.

These are pretty awesome for what they are, since you probably won't find them locally for anywhere near this price. It's an easy way to add more vegan protein to your diet. I put it in soup to make it thicker, I've made it into "gravy" for potatoes, and I've mixed it with oatmeal. It doesn't really have a flavor, as such, but kind of just picks up whatever's near it. I wish the texture was a bit more meat-like so I could use it as a meat subsitute but it doesn't really hold up to that kind of use. That being said, it's great for what it is.

Bought the 4 pack. I experimented with using it for a few days and settled on the easiest solution. I sprinkle 2 tbls on my morning porridge and another 2 tbls (4 tbls = 1/4 cup) on my dinner gumbo. Works great. Tried rehydrating it first but I didn't care for that. This is a great way to add non-animal protein to a diet. It also seems to suppress my appetite somewhat. Likely the extra protein is satiating. I like this enough that when I need more I might buy the 25-pound bag.

This a regular purchase for me. Use it often!

I use for making all kind of dishes

Extends ground beef considerably and tastes pretty good. Also is lower in fat and calories than ground beef. Decent product in soup and chilis.

Love this product. Use it in a lot of my recipes as a meat substitute or combined wit meat as a stretcher to a meat meal

If made with beef broth and spiced for your recipie you can not tell it isn’t ground beef. Excellent in tacos, spaghetti

as described arrived quickly