This veggie meat sauce is outrageously delicious! It tastes just like a ground turkey veggie Bolognese sauce except it’s vegan! I use rehydrated TVP (Click here to see basic “recipe” to rehydrate dry TVP) and sauté it in extra virgin olive oil, with garlic and onions, along with 6 cups of any chopped veggies (WOW!) that you have on hand, and I mean any– How simple is that?! Simmer for 15 minutes in a simple store-bought or homemade marinara sauce (here is one I like but any wholesome one will do). Follow this throw-everything-together-in-one-pan recipe and use the sauce over wholegrain pasta or ciabatta or bread of your choice, lined with fresh raw baby spinach, or stuff hollowed squash or bell peppers with it (check out the many ways I have used this wonderful sauce in my instagram videos below). You can top it with grated cheese and place under the broiler for a few minutes to make it “au gratin”. I like a good gruyere cheese but you can also use any non-dairy cheese of your choice or just leave it out…et voilà!
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup extra virgin Olive Oil (organic)
- 2 cups rehydrated TVP
- 6 cups chopped veggies*
- 1 tsp ground thyme or fresh Thyme to taste
- ¾ tsp salt
- 32 oz organic marinara sauce (no added sugar)
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan and sauté the diced onion and garlic for a few minutes, until barely soft.
- Add the rehydrated TVP, diced veggies, thyme and salt and stir to coat with the sautéed onion and garlic, and continue to cook, uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Add the marinara sauce, stir and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Click here if you’d like to know more about my husband’s and colleagues’ verdict on soy.
Dave the Brave says
April 14, 2019 at 4:37 amIt tasted pretty good. Thanks for the recipe. Maybe try adding some nutritional yeast for some extra cheesy flavour.
Catherine Katz says
May 2, 2019 at 11:02 am“pretty” good is pretty lukewarm but hey, I’ll take it!!! hahaha!!
Wanda K says
March 16, 2018 at 1:40 pmI heard that soy products are all GMO since soy is 98% GMO, these dishes might be delicious but for sure not healthy, all GMO products are toxic and harmful they are simply not digested by our system, people who eat a lot of soy they have always big belly, because the soy stays in intestines undigested and is takes a lot of energy from the body to get rid of this toxic product.
Catherine Katz says
March 20, 2018 at 3:00 pmHi Wanda, I wrote about this here: http://cuisinicity.com/the-verdict-on-soy/ with regard to TVP, as I wrote in my recipe, I use Bob’s Red Mills TVP. Their products are non-GMO, including the soy beans used in the making of their TVP but the reason that they do not advertise it as such on their packaging is because the company feels that they have little control over factors such as wind and pollen drift. I think that’s honest! You can also get organic TVP in bulk at Nuts.com.
Em says
January 5, 2019 at 1:49 pmOnly soy used for animal feed and soybean oil is going to be GMO. Products like soy milk/tofu/tvp are pretty much always organic.
Heather says
February 26, 2019 at 5:41 amThat couldn’t be more inaccurate. Please post your non-credible “nutrition expert” blogger source.
While it certainly is better to avoid GMO products, 1. Not all soy products contain GMO’s (especially when you don’t live in the US) 2. There is 0 scientific, pee reviewed literature that supports ANY of the claims you’ve made 3. What the literature DOES support is that people who consume more soy typically live longer, healthier lives.
I’m so sick of people regurgitating random nutrition BS.
How am I so sure?
MS Biomedicine
PhD Integrative Medicine, Specialization in Functional Nutrition
Catherine Katz says
March 2, 2019 at 6:07 pmThank you very much Heather, I appreciate your stepping in!
Catherine Katz says
March 2, 2019 at 6:09 pmThank you Heather, I appreciate your sharing your knowledge with this reader! I get a lot of this all the time, as you can well imagine!
Robin says
November 19, 2017 at 7:09 pmThis was absolutely fantastic! My vegetarian and my meat lover kids both liked it! It was very good heated up at work a few days later too! Thank you!
Catherine Katz says
November 19, 2017 at 9:23 pmThat’s what I love to hear Robin!!! 🙂
Julie Zimmer says
November 5, 2017 at 4:11 amFantastic Catherine! I have found something similar here in Geneva, Switzerland – it’s soya and it looks like ground beef/turkey but I don’t have to add water to it. I buy it in the fridge section and have been making bolognese sauce with it. Since both my daughters stopped eating meat, I miss having my old spaghetti bolognese with a glass of red & crusty bread, but what can I say, I’m off meat too. Now, with this soy product “ca marche bien!” The only thing I’m not crazy about are the vegan cheeses here in supermarkets (they just came out with some –yes we are a little behind here in some ways). To make things work, I put the grated cheese(s) in a side bowls and it’s OK – SERVEZ VOUS COMME CA VOUS PLAIT! There’s always a way to make our meals work because in this family we “sort of” follow different diets and like different things. Eventually, I’ll post my bolognese sauce and take a picture of the soy product that I use. Thanks for sharing this! Cheers and happy cooking! 🙂
Catherine Katz says
November 6, 2017 at 10:15 amYES! YES! YES!! Julie, once again you and I feel the same way about this!! BOLOGNESE is exactly what I was going for, and what a wonderful way to satisfy everyone’s taste at the table, while still saying true to everyone’s preferences! I am with you too on the cheese! On another note, I just tried to comment on your beautiful Flax crisps crackers yesterday on your website but because I couldn’t remember my password, which I was sure was the correct one (argh!!) I didn’t. I will go back, even if it means resetting my password! In any case: WOW, this crackers look amazing and so nutritious!!! I can’t wait to make them!!! 🙂
Cindy says
November 4, 2017 at 10:39 pmDoes TVP contain soy?
Catherine Katz says
November 5, 2017 at 3:09 amYes Cindy, TVP is defatted soy flour–see:http://cuisinicity.com/basic-tvp/
Ann lafontaine says
November 4, 2017 at 9:12 pmLove your recipes
Catherine Katz says
November 5, 2017 at 4:00 amThank you so much Ann! 🙂
Arlene O'Rourke says
November 4, 2017 at 8:26 pmThank you, this looks delicious. I can’t wait to try it.
Catherine Katz says
November 5, 2017 at 4:00 amI can’t wait for you to, Arlene! 🙂
Bill Berg says
November 4, 2017 at 6:40 pmThis is the first recipe of yours that I will completely ignore. This highly processed soy isolate seems to go against the trend towards natural, whole foods you generally promote. Yes this product is high in protein, but sorely lacking most of the other nutrients in the soy bean. I avoid the processed meat alternatives that have TVP as their base.
Catherine Katz says
November 5, 2017 at 3:57 amEnjoy my other recipes then, Bill!