How do I use soya mince?

busymumof3

I have used the sainsbury's one for more years than I care to remember. 59p for 200g and makes enough to feed us twice.

Have no idea how this compares to price of mince mince. I have never bought or cooked mince or any red meat in all my 40 years!

wigginsmum

Hmm - thanks busymum. Just checked Sainsburys online - their basic mince is 63p for 400g which is considerably cheaper than TVP. We're meat-eaters but I was hoping it might be cheaper to use TVP for part of the meal. Oh well - I'll bulk up on veg instead. I've used TVP before and preferred meat.

Mariel

sorry to butt in on this one - the TVP bulks up when water is added so the actual weight when it is in use is far far more than the dry weight. It definitely works out cheaper.

wigginsmum

Thanks Mariel - that's a good point!

lynzpower

I bought a box of haldane organic soya mince from tescos for about 99p.

Its lasted me a good few meals so far and theres at least 2 more meals in the box. I dont eat mince as a rule ( apart from burgers) as its too fatty for me etc.

I reckon its about 10p per portion., maybe even less.

I use it in chilli where of course it will take on the flavour of the sauce.

And best of all I know no animals have been mistreated in making it, and its completely free of gristle and fat. Brilliant for dieters.

And for those with menopausal issues there is a wealth of info about how increased soya intake can reduce hot flushes.

dolly_day_dream

have to agree that including more soya in your diet when you are at a certain age has its benefits. Since I turned vegan just over 2 years ago I have not suffered from any of those inconvenient symptons such as night sweats, hot flushes etc (whats the betting I start getting them now!) I put it down to my change of diet and that includes using soya mince in a tomatoe based sauce every so often. Not only is it cheaper than mince it is more convenient. I don't have to worry about defrosting it and it doesn't go off. I tend to use vegan recipes when I cook with the children at school because there is much less chance of food poisoning.

johanne

Right i just bought some of this to bulk out our meals - my question is... if i add it to mince to make a spag bol....... can i then freeze the extra portions and de-frost as usual without the taste being funny?? Just ive never used soya before so im a complete novice!

culpepper

we used to bulk out our bol with this. I found that it takes on the flavour of whatever it is with to begin with so if we put it in with the onion ,it tasted of nothing but onion , we used to mix it in with the ordinary mince seperately first and sweat it before adding the whole thing to the bolognaise..

annie-c

I have tried TVP in bolognese and first time round found it had an after taste that I didn't like - I looked it up and found that other people have 'tasted' this too though most people are fine with it. However, given that I'd batch baked some bolognese sauce I decided not to waste the stuff I'd frozen and second time round found the taste of the sauce generally nicer (as usually happend with bolognese as the flavours develop) and also the strange after taste was much reduced.

Personally I won't be buying again but this is a roundabout way of saying that, yes you can freeze TVP and that it actually improves this way.

wigginsmum

For two people for a bolognese sauce using a tin of tomatoes and a chopped onion? I've not used it before and don't know how much it swells up when soaked.