I want to chime in and say that while my meal prep won’t win any blue ribbons, rice plus TVP is my MVP. It’s cheap because it’s a diversion of defatted soy flour, which is otherwise used as animal feed (so demand won’t drive prices up long term, the price actually goes down if it gets more popular). TVP is 50% protein by weight, and its digestibility is remarkably similar to beef.
I use it in a ~1:2 ratio with rice by dry weight. Actually here’s my recipe:
Rehydrate TVP by mixing 1:1 with boiling water, beef base, and taco seasoning in heatproof bowl. Stir thoroughly and let it sit until the rice is done.
Combine with drained beans
Portion and freeze for up to 90 days.
Reheat from frozen in a microwave for 3min or on auto with a little water.
Mix in 1 tbsp of butter or oil. if you do not do this it will taste like shit, this is the only fat in the entire recipe
Buying in bulk at Winco, the total cost per batch is $6.29 here in the PNW. Divvy it up into 9 portions and that’s $0.70/serving.
Textured vegetable protein, aka textured soy protein, soya chunks, maybe a couple other names. It’s basically the part of the soy left over after they extract the oil out of it. It takes on the flavor of whatever you put in it. When it’s dry it has a shelf life of a couple years or so. And it’s hella cheap, a pound of it is under 4 bucks around where I live.
Sounds like Soylent or people kibble tbh, like kudos for finding the right cheap meal for you but god it seems so sad to have to eat that. I’m not picky but I’d go crazy never eating fresh foods
Its just a base, I buy whatever produce is cheap and mix it in. Jalapeños and cilantro are a couple of my favorites. Trying to eat just this would probably give you scurvy lmao.
I want to chime in and say that while my meal prep won’t win any blue ribbons, rice plus TVP is my MVP. It’s cheap because it’s a diversion of defatted soy flour, which is otherwise used as animal feed (so demand won’t drive prices up long term, the price actually goes down if it gets more popular). TVP is 50% protein by weight, and its digestibility is remarkably similar to beef.
I use it in a ~1:2 ratio with rice by dry weight. Actually here’s my recipe:
Buying in bulk at Winco, the total cost per batch is $6.29 here in the PNW. Divvy it up into 9 portions and that’s $0.70/serving.
I have no idea as to what TVP is.
Textured vegetable protein, aka textured soy protein, soya chunks, maybe a couple other names. It’s basically the part of the soy left over after they extract the oil out of it. It takes on the flavor of whatever you put in it. When it’s dry it has a shelf life of a couple years or so. And it’s hella cheap, a pound of it is under 4 bucks around where I live.
Sounds like Soylent or people kibble tbh, like kudos for finding the right cheap meal for you but god it seems so sad to have to eat that. I’m not picky but I’d go crazy never eating fresh foods
Its just a base, I buy whatever produce is cheap and mix it in. Jalapeños and cilantro are a couple of my favorites. Trying to eat just this would probably give you scurvy lmao.