Vegan Miso Udon Noodles with TVP
Soup season is here! A delicious creamy and high protein bowl of udon noodle soup with meatless TVP.
Sometimes you just want to cozy up in your favorite pajamas and have a warm, comforting bowl of soup. Umami rich with a nutty, creamy aftertaste – you really can’t go wrong with this flavorful vegan miso udon soup recipe!
If you’re looking for more cozy soup recipes, give the following recipes a try.
- Easy veggie filed malatang hot pot
- Spicy Korean tofu and kimchi stew
- Vegan friendly vegetable wontons
What is TVP?
Going meatless or just curious? You might want to try textured vegetable protein, or TVP for short. TVP is typically made of soybeans and are usually found as dehydrated shapes of chunks, nuggets, and strips. It’s a great meatless protein option and easily absorbs the flavors of sauces and spices. In this miso udon recipe, we’re topping it off with a savory asian style meat sauce by mimicking the texture of “ground meat”.
Key ingredients & substitutions
- TVP – You may find TVP at your local health food store, asian grocery store, or online such as Amazon. It is also known as soy curls or soy chunks. No TVP? Try making this recipe with shredded firm tofu.
- Miso Paste – I recommend either yellow miso or white miso paste.
- Udon Noodles – Udon noodles are chewy and fun to eat! I typically buy frozen udon noodles from the grocery store. For substitutions you can use any type of noodle such as ramen noodles, soba noodles, or even rice noodles.
- Meat Sauce – the flavor of the ground meat comes from a combination of vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and green onions.
- Soy Milk & Peanut Butter – both give the soup a creamy texture that’s dairy-free. You can skip these ingredients if you want to just keep the soup as a miso soup.
Vegan Miso Udon with TVP
Ingredients
Method
- Prep the TVP. Rehydrate the TVP by following the instructions on the packet. Mine typically requires me to rehydrate by soaking in hot water for 15 minutes. Use vegetable broth instead of hot water for more flavor. After rehydrating, squeeze out the excess water and finely dice up the TVP to mimic the texture of ground meat. You want to squeeze out any excess liquid so the TVP can soak up the delicious sauce.
- Prep the herbs and spices. Crush the garlic and grate the ginger. Thinly slice the green onion, separating the white part from the green part. The white part will be used for the meat sauce while the green part will be used for garnishing.
- Cook the meat sauce. Heat a pan over medium high heat and add the vegetable oil. Once the vegetable oil is hot, add the white part of the green onion and sauté for 30 seconds. Lower the temperature down to medium and add the diced TVP, garlic, and ginger. Sautée for a minute so that the aromatics cook and then stir in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, white sugar, and chili oil. Cook while stirring for another 2 minutes, until the sauce is absorbed into the TVP. Remove from heat and set aside for serving.
- Mix the miso broth. Bring 2 cups of vegetable broth and ½ cup of water to boil in a large saucepan. Mix in the peanut butter and garlic powder. In a small bowl, mix together the miso paste with ¼ cup of water. This helps the miso mixed with the liquid. After the liquid boils, turn the heat off and mix in the soy milk and the miso liquid.
- Serve. In a noodle bowl, add the cooked udon noodles and hot broth. Top with the TVP meat sauce, and optional toppings such as cooked bok choy, sliced green onions, and a drizzle of chili oil.
