Once you learn how easy it is to make your own homemade vegan ground beef, you will never need to buy premade meatless crumbles again! With just a few simple ingredients and about 10 minutes of your time, you can have an inexpensive, high-protein, beef-like meat substitute to use in any of your favorite recipes.
This vegan ground "beef" is made from TVP (textured vegetable protein), mushrooms, and soy sauce to give it a beefy texture and flavor. Use in place of ground beef in most recipes. Toss it into pasta sauce, casseroles, soups, stroganoff, tacos, or anywhere you would use beef crumbles.
Jump to:
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- 🔪 Helpful tools
- 🥄 How to make vegan ground beef
- 👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- 🍲 Ways to use vegan ground beef
- 🍞 How to make gluten-free vegan beef crumbles
- 🥡 Storage and reheating
- 🍔 Can I use it just like ground beef?
- 🌟 More meaty vegan recipes
- 📋 Vegan ground beef recipe
No need to buy expensive premade vegan ground beef substitutes like Beyond meat crumbles when you can make your own for a fraction of the price!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's quick and easy to make in just a few minutes.
- Homemade meatless crumbles will save you a lot of money.
- TVP is a healthy, low-fat, high-protein, alternative to meat.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Onion - this is optional, but it gives the plant-based ground beef a lot of flavor.
- Mushrooms - for flavor and texture. You can leave them out if you want, but they provide a lot of flavors and a great texture. I like to use crimini mushrooms, but you can also use button or portabella mushrooms.
- Water - for correct moisture level. You could use Not Beef-Flavored brand broth for a beefier flavor as well. (Omit the salt if you are using broth.)
- TVP - for the beef texture and protein. TVP stands for textured vegetable protein. It is soybean flour that has been cooked, formed into small pieces, and then dehydrated. You can buy it at most natural food stores, or larger grocery stores, or order it online. You can read more about it in my guide to TVP.
- Soy Sauce - for a beefy flavor. You can also use Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos for a gluten-free alternative.
- Garlic Powder - for flavor.
- Onion Powder - for flavor.
- Paprika - for flavor and color. You can use smoked paprika for a smoky beef flavor.
🔪 Helpful tools
- A Food Processor - to help chop the onions and mushrooms up into very small pieces. You don't need one, but it saves a lot of chopping.
🥄 How to make vegan ground beef
Step 1 - Chop up a small onion very fine (you can use a food processor to mince it) and saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat for 5 minutes.
Step 2 - While the onion is cooking, wash and chop 8 oz. of mushrooms into tiny pieces. (I toss mine into a food processor to get them very small.) Add the mushrooms to the skillet once the onions become translucent.
Step 3 - Sprinkle the onions and mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms release their juices and become soft.
Step 4 - Add 1 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and stir well.
Step 5 - Once the liquid starts to boil, add 1 3/4 cups TVP and stir well.
Step 6 - Sauté the beefless crumbles until all of the excess liquid is absorbed.
Spice it up - You can add a little salt and black pepper to taste or spice it up with some cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, or cayenne pepper if you would like.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- To make this recipe quick and super easy, you can omit the onion and/ or mushrooms. They provide flavor and texture, but it's still good without them.
- You can also use broth instead of water. You may want to use low-sodium broth or omit the salt if you do this.
🍲 Ways to use vegan ground beef
🍞 How to make gluten-free vegan beef crumbles
This recipe is gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free soy sauce like Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: This vegan ground beef will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days in a sealed container.
Freeze: Homemade vegan beef crumbles freeze well and can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat the meatless crumbles in the microwave for about 3 minutes or pan-fry in a little oil until warm.
🍔 Can I use it just like ground beef?
You can use it in place of beef in recipes that calls for the beef to be cooked in a skillet and added as crumbles to a dish. It alone will not be able to keep its form as a veggie burger.
If you want to use it in this way you will have to use a binder to hold it together as I do in my Meaty Vegan Meatballs. You can check out my post on how to substitute an egg to figure out which egg alternative you want to use to bind the meatless ground if you need it to hold together.
If you are looking for a meatier vegan beef recipe, you can use my vegan beef seitan. It works great for vegan beef stew, vegan pot roast, and seitan roast beef.
🌟 More meaty vegan recipes
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan ground beef recipe
Vegan Ground Beef
Equipment
- A food processor is helpful.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup onion chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup mushrooms chopped (an 8 oz. container)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (or Tamari or Liquid Aminos for gluten-free)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 3/4 cup TVP
Instructions
- Chop up a small onion very fine (you can use a food processor to mince it) and saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat for 5 minutes.
- While the onion is cooking, wash and chop 8 oz. of mushrooms into tiny pieces. (I toss mine into a food processor to get them very small.) Add the mushrooms to the skillet once the onions become translucent.
- Sprinkle the onions and mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms release their juices and become soft.
- Add 1 cup of water, 2 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and stir well.
- Once the liquid starts to boil, add 1 3/4 cup TVP and stir well. Saute the beefless crumbles until all of the excess liquid is absorbed.
Notes
- To make this recipe quick and super easy, you can omit the onion and/ or mushrooms. They provide flavor and texture, but it's still good without them.
- You can also use broth instead of water. You may want to use low sodium broth or omit the salt if you do this.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
I really detest mushrooms and wonder if this could be made without them.
Yes, you can omit the mushrooms and it still works well. Enjoy! 🙂
Monika,
Have you tried using Bulger and Soy powder / flour instead of TPV crumbles?
I've read many TPV labels that always include information about the possibility of small amounts of LEAD might be contained in the TPV
I haven't tried it with bulger and soy powder, but I usually buy the organic TVP crumbles to use in this recipe.
I always enjoy your recipes! Any idea how this might be used to make a burger type patty? I eat grain/gluten free so avoid vital wheat gluten, and any rice or oat flours. It makes it tricky!
This is so so so good! I made this today and still can't believe how good it is. Thank you for the recipe!
I'm so happy that you liked it! 🙂
I'm new to vegan and I am beyond excited to find your recipe. I will be making my own and controlling the flavors. Thank you
You're welcome, Angelia. I'm glad you found my site too! Enjoy!
Your recipes are beyond brilliant!! Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!! I can't wait to try them all!!
Thank you, Heidi! I'm so happy that you are enjoying my recipes! 🙂
This turned out very well! I've been using TVP for many years, but this is a new twist. Froze half, and will use the other half for for Vegan Beef Stroganoff recipe. I can't say if it tastes like beef or not; I've haven't touched meat in over 35 years. But the flavor is great on it's own. I bet you could add taco seasoning to it and make some yummy tacos.
I'm glad that you liked it, Scott! You can definitely use it for taco meat too! Enjoy! 🙂
can you freeze this
Yes, It makes about 4 cups of ground "beef" so you may want to freeze half of it for later. Just put it in a freezer bag, get out as much air as possible, and it should keep well for about 3 months.
How much would you say four cups is? I am looking for an alternative to ground beef in my recipes, and they all call for a pound of ground beef. How much would this recipe make compared to that?
I think about 2 cups of this would equal a pound of ground beef. Enjoy!