Vegan TVP Meatballs (2024)

What is Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)?

Textured vegetable protein (TVP) is soybean flour that has been defatted, cooked and dehydrated. It comes in a variety of shapes (crumbles, flakes, chunks and strips) and is often used as a meat substitute. It has almost no flavor on its own and is therefore super versatile in recipes.

It’s fairly inexpensive, especially compared to other mock meats on the market these days, so it’s a great option for anyone on a budget. TVP is also very high in protein and fiber and free of fat and cholesterol. As such, I’ve seen many health-conscious omnivores use it to replace all or part of the meat in some dishes to make them lower in fat and overall calories.

You’ll find it most commonly as TVP crumbles, which are a good replacement for ground beef in recipes like chili, sloppy joes, bolognese, etc. The larger TVP chunks are great in stews or stir fries (think: vegan kung pao chicken). And if you’ve ever heard of soy curls, these are also TVP in strip form! Use these in stir fries, chick’n salad, chick’n noodle soup, or vegan jerky (to name just a few ideas). Truly, the options are endless!

TVP crumbles are a great substitute for ground meat. You can use them as a 1:1 substitute by volume for ground beef in recipes like sloppy joes or chili. However, in recipes that must hold their shape (e.g. meatballs, sausages, nuggets and burgers), you will need to add an ingredient to bind the crumbles together. This recipe utilizes flour, but you can also use breadcrumbs.

How to Make TVP Meatballs

Rehydrate: Since TVP comes dehydrated, the first step will always be to rehydrate it in hot water or vegetable broth. For this recipe, regular veggie broth works fine, but if you have beef-style vegan bouillon cubes, they will boost the umami factor a lot! Better than Bouillon and Edward & Sons both make tasty beef-style vegan bouillon.

Season and bind together: Once the TVP is rehydrated, stir in a few additional seasonings and then add flour or breadcrumbs. Almost any kind of flour can be used in this recipe. Brown rice flour, chickpea flour, and potato flour are all good gluten-free options. Depending on your particular mixture, you may need to add a little extra flour. You’ll know it’s ready when you can squeeze some of the mixture in your palm and it holds together like wet sand.

Shape and cook the meatballs: Divide the mixture into about 10 meatballs. These can be either baked or pan-fried. I personally prefer them cooked on the stovetop in a small amount of oil, because they stay a bit more moist that way. But if you want to keep the recipe as low fat as possible, baking (or even air-frying) may be the way to go.

If you want more information about this recipe, check out the video on YouTube:

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