Question about meatless ground beef.

[Lisa0825]

Hi all! I'm not really a vegetarian, but for the past couple years, I have been trying to include lots of meatless meals each week. Mostly I just go for recipes that do not include meat, rather than using meat substitutes, because I didn't like them when I tried them long ago.

Recently I decided to give them another try. I have been having Boca Burgers (Classic American Burger) this week for dinner and really like it! Even my cats have begged for a bite and liked it! LOL

Anyway, what I remember from several years ago when I made spaghetti with "meat" sauce, is that the ground beef crumbles got really spongy when cooked in the sauce. So I thought I would pop in here and see if anyone recommended a particular brand for the crumbles or if there is a way to avoid the sponginess. Maybe I just need to make the sauce separately and add the meat each time I have it so it doesn't sit in the liquid?

Thanks for any tips!

[Warren Stupidity]

1. the stuff is fine in tacos

but there are so many great meatless pasta sauces that I wouldnt bother with making a fake meat sauce.

[Lisa0825]

4. There is a certain recipe I want to make that has meat, so I was interested

in trying it with a meat substitute. Plus, pasta with just sauce tends to be high on carbs and low on protein, so I want to keep the protein in the sauce.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Use canned tuna in sauce

Good protein, easy, and tasty.

For really quick, use jarred sauce and add two cans of drained water pack light or dark (but not white - too dry) tuna to it.heat normally, add to the pasta and that's it.

Easy and healthy. High protein.

[Lisa0825]

17. Not for this recipe.... would totally change the flavor :-) But thanks, I will

have to try that sometime too!

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Quorn is the one I like the most for that....

Boca also makes a 'ground' style. It is my second choice. Either way, I do add to the sauce at each eating instead of adding all at once....

[Lisa0825]

5. Thank you for the input! :-) nt

[Warpy]

3. I know exactly what you mean about the mush

that they tend to turn into. I used to add bulgur wheat for a little more bite and that helped in tacos. However, I really think the stuff is much more successful in meatless balls if you're going to do them in a tomato sauce.

[Lisa0825]

6. It wasn't horrible, but kinda "not right" and not as enjoyable.

Texture is a big part of enjoying food. What I am wanting to make is a goulash, and having the sauce without the meat texture wouldn't be the same to me.

[CrispyQ]

7. Never store a cooked meat replacement product in sauce. Never.

Always cook & store them separately from anything if you are not serving them right away.

You had it right in your last sentence in your 3rd paragraph: Maybe I just need to make the sauce separately and add the meat each time I have it so it doesn't sit in the liquid?

It's a little bit of an orchestrated affair to serve your pasta, sauce & vegan meat, but it's worth it. You cannot just toss your cooked Nate's meatless meatballs (or whatever meat sub) into the sauce & simmer or store for a long time. They will get soggy.

So serve your cooked Nate's not-meatballs on the side, & you will be fine & your guests will not believe that so many non-meat items are so meat-like & they will think, "Oh, I could do this. At least for a few meals a week."

[Lisa0825]

8. Thanks! I am used to cooking by taste, and having all ingredients mixed in

is how I am accustomed to taste testing, but I will try the recipe this time without meat, and then add some crumbles and see how it goes.

[WillParkinson]

9. The meatballs I can understand, but...

We've stored 'meat' sauce in our refrigerator plenty of times and never had an issue with it at all. It retained it's texture and flavor just fine. I can understand the meatballs falling apart, though, due to the stuff used to shape them.

[Chan790]

10. A recommendation but not a brand.

I've had a lot of success with TVP/TSF. It's the "meaty" chunks in most mass-produced vegetarian chili. It comes in bags of granules and they basically absorb the liquid they're cooked in to rehydrate. Also, they have a vague meaty taste but they're mostly flavorless so they taste like whatever you cook them in. Also, they're cheap, usually sold in loose bins or by the bag.

They weren't invented as a vegetarian meat substitute, they were invented to reduce the amount of ground meat used in commercial food prep. They have the same texture as meaty bits so their use allowed companies like Hormel to use less meat without making their foods less "chunky". Nobody notices when they use them with meat unless they read the label because they cook them with the meat and thus...they taste exactly like the meat. Now, we're seeing them used even more in commercial food prep because they're healthier than meat bits so their inclusion makes the nutrition labels look better in terms of things like cholesterol, calories and saturated fats. (I can't really object to that because less meat by-volume means less animals slaughtered for food.)

[deucemagnet]

11. I've only been eating a predominantly vegetarian diet for about 7 months,

but so far there's only one imitation meat product that I like, and that's Field Roast Italian Sausage. I just used it to make Pasta con Verza, and I was surprised at how good it was. On rare occasions I'll still make Pasta con Verza with a small amount of italian turkey sausage, and the vegetarian police haven't come to get me yet.

Still, my favorite meatless spaghetti meal is spaghetti with eggplant meatballs and marinara. If you don't like eggplant, just dice it finely before sauteing it and it you won't even taste it. I like it eggplant, so I dice it into about 1/4" chunks so I can taste bits of eggplant in the "meatballs". Even my non-vegetarian family members enjoy the eggplant meatballs.

Just a note on protein, if you want to have complete protein in a pasta meal, you need to add a legume component. I experimented with cannellini meatballs, but I found that they fall apart easily and get mushy. Now I like to go with the eggplant meatballs and complement it with a green salad with garbanzos so that I get all of my essential amino acids.

[RebelOne]

19. I have seen eggplant meatballs readymade

in the vegetarian section of my local Kroger. I think I will try them.

[byronius]

12. Gimme Lean can't be beat. Taste, texture, flavor -- just like hamburger.

Disclaimer -- I may have forgotten what hamburger tastes like. It's been twenty years.

I went Vegan two years ago. It's been an incredible change for me. I feel better than I have ever felt in my adult life.

Wasn't hard.

I grew up a Texas boy -- meat all day, every day, slathered in butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Seemed like it, at least.

[Zoe623]

14. Gimme Lean. Yum!

Sautee it with garlic and then sauce, well brown it or make "meatballs" the usual way using Gimme Lean. Ok now I am hungry

[Codeine]

13. I always add it when I serve, never before.

Brown it up separately and add as you plate the sauce -- not only will the "meat" get spongy, the character of the sauce will change as the moisture is drawn up by the crumbles.

[HopeHoops]

16. The easiest thing to do is get raw TVP (much cheaper anyway) and follow the package directions.

In chili it is almost indistinguishable to the carnivores.

[Codeine]

22. And the chunks are really great for stews

and teriyaki "chicken" as well. I make a Scotch Broth that uses TVP chunks and it is amazing.

[RebelOne]

18. I use Lite Life Smart Ground in my spaghetti sauce.

Holds it texture and does not get mushy.

[flvegan]

20. Here's what I do...

I'll use Boca grounds or even just cut up a couple/few Boca Original Vegans really finely. My secret? I make my own sauce from scratch. Heat pot. Add a bit of oil. Heat oil in pot. Add chopped onion, mushroom...maybe some green pepper. Once that's well on the way, add the faux "meat" to the mix. Add spices. Cook a bit, let the moisture cook out some. Then start adding your liquid sauce ingredients (tomato sauce/paste/puree/whatever). I find that cooking the "meat" first takes the "sponge" out of it. But that's just me, but then I have omni's that will cagefight to the death for some of my sauce.

[Lisa0825]

21. Thank you everyone!!!

I really appreciate all the tips! I will be trying several of them soon