Soy or other ground beef substitute?

Question

The cafeteria at work sometimes serves a vegetarian chili that I found to be really good (imagine my surprise). I know I can recreate it, but there's a ground-meat-like substance in there that lends a nice texture, and I don't recall ever having seen a ground soy or other "ground meat substitute" product at the grocery store. Have I just been missing it?
I guess I could process up some extra-firm tofu, but I know damn well they didn't do that at work, they don't make anything from scratch any more.

Answer

I'm guessing that you're looking for TVP (textured vegetable protein.) It's a soy based ground beef substitute. You can sometimes buy it dehydrated in bulk at health food stores, and you can also usually find it in the frozen section with the Morningstar Farms veggie burgers and the like - typically labelled soy crumbles or something similar.

Answer

Might be TVP? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textured_vegetable_protein

Answer

Morningstar has a nice product that mimics ground beef quite nicely. It is Veggie Crumbles and can be found in the frozen food section at many grocers. It cooks up like ground beef, absorbing the flavors of the dish it is used in (ie, spaghetti sauce, taco or enchilada sauce, etc.), and doesn't lose volume due to fat. I have served it to many an unsuspecting carnivore. :-)

Answer

Trader Joe's also sells a house brand ground beef substitute, as does Lightlife.

Answer

The cafeteria almost certainly uses TVP. It's so inexpensive that many institutional kitchens use it in place of ground meat even in non-vegetarian dishes. But for home cooking, I would recommend the Morningstar or Boca-burger frozen crumbles. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like those better than ground beef in a lot of dishes.

Answer

Probably TVP but possibly seitan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food)

Answer

I agree with others, most likely its tvp. 
The tvp will absorb the flavors of the chili very well and has a very "meaty" chew.

Answer

My favorite fake/TVP ground beef is Smart Ground by Light Life. They have it in a lot of regular supermarkets as well as at health food stores, and they sell a bulk version to restaurants and cafeterias. In a highly flavored dish, it's almost impossible to tell it's not ground beef. 

Vegetarian or not, TVP is basically a junk food though. It's full of processed corn, soy and sugar, and the "texturizing" of the proteins makes them almost impossible to break down in your digestive tract, so you can't really call it a protein source. If you want something that's less processed, crumbled marinated tempeh comes closer to the texture of ground meat than tofu.

Answer

my favorite is from Upton Naturals - http://www.uptonsnaturals.com/ a seitan based ground beef/sausage substitute

Answer

TVP as others have said, but I would try the things out there that don't use processed soy - some good options which are based on seitan and / or actual tofu. The Upton one mentioned is not bad, and there's a new European brand that Whole Foods sells that seems promising as well.

Frozen tofu, as mentioned above, also has a great texture in stews, though not as literal as some of the other options.

Answer

If you want to stay away from soy products, try using lentils. They give a great texture when mashed up a bit. I often use it to make vegan bolognese.

Answer

Upton Naturals makes an excellent ground beef substitute made out of Seitan - http://www.uptonsnaturals.com/

Answer

Several times I have made vegetarian chili using minced black olives, and it often fools meat eaters into thinking it is ground beef. Tastes pretty good, too.

Answer

Quorn makes my favorite ground beef substitute. It is a mycoprotein (mushroom-like), and a perfect meat sub in chili or other highly spiced dishes. It is in the frozen section of my hippie-granola stores :) I can't eat soy and have never seen the seitan ground product, so this is my go-to.

Answer

I normally am not a fan of "meat substitutes" for all the reasons stated . . . often they are full of crappy ingredients and sometimes they even taste like meat, which I don't like.

So I'd like to share a recent good experience with a "meat substitute" called "soy curls" made by Butler Foods in Oregon. I'd not tried them but ordered a 12 lb box anyhow. I figured that I'd be able to use them up even if they weren't *all that* . . . since the ingredients are only 1. soybeans and 2. spring water. I found the proprietors to be friendly and helpful. The owners responded to a couple of email inquiries very promptly. 

So the big box arrived the day before yesterday and I've been eating them non-stop. They have a very nondescript flavor on their own but the texture is just right. As a person who is mostly vegan, I'm always looking for texture and I've got to say, this product delivers. Just re-hydrate for 10 minutes and add whatever you like for flavoring. Can be eaten as is (I like to use for wrap filling) or saute, bake, broil, add to soup, stew, etc . . . as far as I can tell, there are no limits on what you can do with soy curls. 

I used a foodsaver to package the 12 lb bulk pack into 8 oz bags and it's nearly all in my freezer now. BTW it is not necessary to refrigerate or freeze, but I'm sure the product will store better in the freezer and since I've got 12 lbs, I figured that the freezer was the best place to keep my stash.

There aren't too many recipes on the company's website (http://www.butlerfoods.com/) but I found quite a few ideas on Pinterest, of all places.

Obviously, this is not a product for anyone looking to avoid soy, however, I'm a soy lover and this is now one of my favorite soy foods!

Answer

Just tried a new meat sub. in the grocery store over the weekend. It's called 'neat' and is made from pecans and garbanzo beans. They were using the Mexican variety with a (very) little salsa and a nacho chip. It was OMG delicious! I bought a bag and will be making nachos tonight. You mix it with 2 eggs and 1T water--so not vegan, but delicious!

Answer

Not quite as meaty in texture as crumbles but still good - bulghur wheat. It adds texture and doesn't add any off flavors.

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Soy or other ground beef substitute?

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