In Praise of TVP

An easy weeknight chili with 20 grams of protein

One of my current favorite clients is MyFitnessPal. I’ve been working with them for several months as a part-time senior editor and writer.

It’s always fun when I can work with a company whose product I actually use. I’ve been tracking my nutrition on and off on MyFitnessPal for 15 years!

I’ve been using the app lately to get a sense of how my diet is stacking up in terms of the nutrients I care most about—fiber, saturated fat, and protein.

Protein problems

There’s controversy about protein in plant-based circles, with some experts saying you can safely ignore it.

On the other end of the spectrum, other experts recommend extreme high-protein diets that crowd out other important foods, like vegetables.

But the consensus across the research suggests that the current recommended daily allowance for protein—0.36 grams per pound of body weight—is too low for most people. For a 150-pound person, that’s 54 grams a day.

That probably it isn’t enough, especially for people over 40 who want to prevent sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) as you age.

I have interviewed a lot of registered dietitians on this subject, and in general, they recommend getting 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal.

When I first started tracking this a few weeks ago, I was shocked to see many days when I only ate 40 grams of protein all day.

Enter texturized vegetable protein (TVP)

I immediately started to brainstorm ways to get more protein into my life. I had a bag of TVP on hand. This isn’t a highly processed food—it’s just dried and defatted soy extruded through a machine just like pasta or breakfast cereal.

I started adding 2 tablespoons of dry TVP to my morning muesli for an additional 6.5 grams of protein. I added a tablespoon of hemp hearts for another 3 grams. Combined with the soymilk and muesli, it brought breakfast up to 20 grams of protein.

I did this kind of tinkering with a lot of my normal meals and foods with tofu, seitan, lentils, soy curls, etc. I’ve been doing this only three weeks, and my body composition scale tells me I’ve added almost a whole pound of muscle—0.8 pounds.

Along the way, I created this quick, easy recipe for TVP chili! It also has 20 grams of protein per serving. It’s wonderful served with cornbread (comment to tell me if you want Dan’s recipe for vegan cornbread!) or topped with avocado.

The next time I make it, I’m doubling the batch so I have some to stash in the freezer.

Weeknight Bean and TVP Chili

Serves 4 to 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ onion, diced

1 poblano chile, chopped (or sub green bell pepper)

1 carrot, chopped

2 Fresno or jalapeno chilies

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1½ teaspoons tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne

¾ cups TVP (textured vegetable protein)

2 cups cooked or canned red beans (drained)

Corn kernels from 1 ear of corn (or 1 cup frozen corn)

1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes

1½ cups vegan broth

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1½ teaspoon Bragg’s amino acids (you can substitute soy sauce)

Warm up the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, poblano, and carrot until the vegetables are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chilies, garlic, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and cayenne and continue cooking just until fragrant, about another minute.

Lower the heat to medium, and add in the dry TVP, beans, corn, tomatoes, broth, brown sugar, nutritional yeast, and Bragg’s amino acids. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender and the flavors have melded.