Is Textured Vegetable Protein Healthy For You? (2024)

By: Bob's Red Mill | September 2 2021

The plant-based lifestyle is becoming more and more popular. Whether you're indulging in more plant-based foods for personal or health reasons, many of the foods you'll eat are outstanding for your wellness. With many new plant-based products hitting the market daily, transitioning to an animal-free diet is easy—especially when you can recreate all of your favorite recipes in a snap.

When shifting to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle, many people are under the impression that you'll be required to give up all your favorite foods and rely on vegetables to make up most of your meals. While fruits and veggies are widely enjoyed on a plant-based diet, other foods like whole grains, nuts, seeds and flours are also a large part of this meal plan. One of the many foods that can be enjoyed is textured vegetable protein. While textured vegetable protein (TVP) isn't necessarily new, its popularity has grown remarkably over the past few years. Vegetarian and vegan, it's both a nutritional and functional ingredient in plant-based recipes. Curious to learn more about this super ingredient? Keep reading as we dive into the nutritional benefits of textured vegetable protein and how you can use it as a substitute for meat.

The Benefits of Textured Vegetable Protein

When discussing the benefits of textured vegetable protein, the one that stands out the most is that it is a relatively concentrated source of complete protein. When it comes to how TVP is made, it can be quite an intensive process. Made from defatted soy flour, TVP undergoes a laborious process in which it is cut into the desired shape and dehydrated to create a shelf-stable product. When rehydrated, textured vegetable protein cooks similar to ground beef, making it a favorite vegetarian meat substitute. Aside from being used in home-cooked recipes, TVP is worked into several vegan products like veggie bacon, soy burgers, chicken nuggets and vegetarian deli slices. In addition, because TVP is an excellent way to add heartiness to a meal, it's a popular addition to chili recipes and pasta sauce.

What Does TVP Taste Like?

When prepared as is, textured vegetable protein is a pretty bland health food. While this might seem off-putting to some, it's one of the many benefits of this ingredient. Dehydrated TVP is highly absorbent and will quickly take on the flavors of the liquid it's cooked in. This makes it easy to customize the taste of your TVP to match any cuisine you're adding it to. Most commonly used as fake meat, spices and seasonings are often used to resemble foods like chicken, sausage, bacon and more. Additionally, if you're not interested in seasoning TVP yourself, you can find pre-seasoned versions of it in most health food stores.

Is There a Thing as Too Much Soy?

Soy is a popular product—especially when cooking healthy food recipes. Because it's used to produce various vegan and vegetarian alternatives like soy milk, cheese and yogurt, it's natural for individuals following a plant-based diet to consume a lot of it. Because of this, many people wonder if there is such a thing as too much soy. When it comes to any food, our motto is everything in moderation. A healthy diet includes a variety of vitamins and minerals from several different food groups. It's important that you incorporate a vast array of whole foods into your diet to ensure that you're meeting your body's nutritional needs.

Is TVP Included in a Healthy Diet?

Now that we've covered the benefits of adding textured vegetable protein to your meals, you might be wondering if the ingredient fits into a healthy diet and lifestyle. In short, the answer is yes. While TVP is a processed food, it's derived from a healthy ingredient and provides a complete source of plant-based protein essential to one's health. That being said, like anything, TVP should be enjoyed in moderation. Additionally, it should not be your only source of protein. Whole foods like chickpeas, nutritional yeast, spelt flour and hemp seed are all excellent protein sources and can be worked into healthy recipes alongside textured vegetable protein to ensure that you're meeting your nutritional needs.

Now that you know more about TVP and the many benefits of cooking with it, it's time to begin adding it to your recipes. Use textured vegetable protein to create a delicious feast like this Vegan Xiao Long Bao, or enjoy a delicious weeknight meal and make these Textured Vegetable Protein Burgers. No matter how you choose to cook with TVP, we're confident you'll enjoy it. From everyone at Bob's Red Mill, have a fun and flavorful day!

Love cooking with TVP? Let us know how you use this plant-based superfood in the comments below. We can't wait to hear from you!