Textured soy should not be missing in vegan cuisine. The soy product is very popular as a versatile meat alternative. We explain how you can use it.

If you like to cook vegan and want to try something new, textured soy offers you many options. It is also called soy meat, TVP or textured vegetable protein. The popular and versatile meat substitute is a purely vegetable dried product.

Actually, textured soy is a by-product of the production of soybean oil. It is made as follows: Ground soybeans are greased in several presses and then formed into the desired shape or size. This is done with the help of extruders. Extruders are devices that use pressure and heat to give viscous masses a shape. For example, steaks, medallions, cubes, shreds, or granules are common forms of textured soy. The fibrous structure of the finished product resembles the muscle fibers in meat.

Textured soy contains a lot of vegetable protein and carbohydrates but hardly any fat. It also has a high fiber content and is rich in some minerals such as potassium or magnesium.

Textured soy doesn’t have any flavor of its own, so you need to season it well when preparing it.

Textured soy: difference from tofu

Textured soy is not the same as tofu. To make your own tofu, coagulate a soy drink with nigari, a sea salt bitters extract, magnesium chloride, or calcium sulfate. Then you drain it and press it into blocks. So you can imagine the production similar to cheese production. Tofu has a slightly sour flavor and lacks the fibers that make textured soy a good meat substitute.

Here’s how to buy and use textured soy

If you want to get textured soy, you have several options. On the one hand, you can order it online as a dry product. However, it is also available in vegan supermarkets, health food stores or health food stores. As mentioned above, you have the choice between granules, sliced ​​meat, steaks or, for example, medallions.

Tip: If possible, buy European organic soy. The organic seal assures that no chemical-synthetic pesticides were used during cultivation and with European soy you avoid unnecessary transport routes. Some soy products now even come from Germany.

You can easily prepare textured soy in the kitchen:

First you boil the dried product in salted water. Alternatively, you can use vegetable broth to add some spice. Cooking time can range from eight to 20 minutes. That depends on the size of the textured soy.

Squeeze out the liquid. This works well with a spoon or fork.
You can then process the textured soy further. For example, it can be fried or grilled very well.
As already mentioned, you should season the meat substitute well, as it hardly has any taste of its own.