This vegan ground beef recipe is satisfying, full of umami, and made with healthy, whole-food ingredients. It's a great base recipe for everything from stuffed peppers to chili mac to spaghetti! It's rich in protein and fiber and has a meaty texture that even omnivores love! This vegan ground "beef" is also oil-free and easily made without nuts!
Why You'll Love It
This recipe was inspired by our favorite Vegan Taco Meat. A reader commented on that post that it tasted just like Beyond Meat but more affordable, and I thought, "You know, she's totally right. It really is beefy!"
So I ditched the taco seasonings, added meaty mushrooms, and now we have a high-protein, filling, healthy vegan ground meat option to use any way we like.
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When I'm creating a vegan version of something high in fat, calories, and protein, I usually gravitate toward ingredients like beans, tofu, tempeh, TVP, seitan, etc, since these are more filling than vegetables, which are sometimes too low in calories, if you know what I mean.
A ground beef substitute made from cauliflower or mushrooms alone isn't going to keep me or my weight-lifter husband satisfied for very long!
But that's the beautiful thing about versatile homemade dishes like this. If you're watching your calories and/or fat intake, it's very easy to tweak the ingredients for your specific needs.
And unlike meat substitutes like Beyond Meat and Impossible, you're in complete control of the ingredients. This one is even oil-free!
Best Ingredient to Replace Meat
Since the texture of tofu is a little soft for imitating beef, soy curls were an easy choice. If you're not familiar with soy curls, be sure to check out this post: Soy Curl Recipes + FAQs.
Soy curls are chewier and firmer than tofu and work really well here. Black lentils or TVP are good substitutes if you don't have soy curls.
This vegan ground beef also includes mushrooms and either sunflower seeds or walnuts. The added richness from nuts or seeds really takes the flavor over the top, but you can omit them if needed.
This vegan meatless ground is delicious as is, yet the seasonings are light enough that you can take it in different directions. Add more herbs and a binder and turn it into meatballs or burgers.
Or just pile it on top of your favorite grain, add a sauce and some greens, and call it dinner.
Ingredients
- Soy Curls - if you're not in the U.S. and don't have access to soy curls, black lentils, soya chunks, or TVP are other options.
- Broth - any good quality vegetable broth you like is fine. This is for rehydrating the soy curls, and adding moisture to the finished meat.
- Mushrooms - I chose baby bella (cremini) mushrooms for their darker color so the beef would be brown, but other varieties will taste great, too.
- Onion - I usually use yellow onion but other varieties are fine, too.
- Walnuts OR Sunflower Seeds - since beef is high in fat, I wanted to add some richness to our vegan ground beef. Walnuts contribute a slightly darker color, but raw sunflower seeds work very well, too. The nuts/seeds also add bite and texture.
- Nutritional Yeast - a small amount adds to the overall savory flavor. I recommend this non-fortified nutritional yeast by Sari Foods.
- Smoked Paprika - adds red color and a hint of smokiness.
- Tamari - for saltiness and umami. Or use soy sauce if you don't need gluten-free.
See the recipe card below for amounts and full instructions.
How to Make Vegan Ground Beef
- Soak soy curls in broth for about 15 minutes while you prepare the sauté in Step 3 below.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the broth, and drain the rest. Lightly squeeze the soy curls to remove excess moisture.
- Dry sauté the onion and mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic, soy curls, and smoked paprika, and cook until the soy curls are heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor (I use this 14 cup Cuisinart) pulse the nuts or seeds, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper until the nuts/seeds are chopped.
- Spoon the sauteed mixture into the food processor and drizzle with tamari and vinegar. Pulse 7 or 8 times or until it resembles ground meat.
- Return the vegan ground "beef" to the sauté pan, and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Dissolve the corn starch in the reserved ¼ cup broth. Pour into the pan and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. The soy curl beef should now appear more moist, slightly clumpy, and lightly browned.
And that's it! You just made some tasty vegan ground beef. Enjoy it as is, or add more spices or seasonings. It's totally up to you.
If you have an air fryer be sure to try it in these Italian Air Fryer Stuffed Peppers.
Substitutions
- Nut-Free - sunflower seeds are delicious in the recipe. The color of the finished ground beef will be slightly lighter than when made with walnuts.
- Gluten-Free - the recipe is gluten-free as written. Just make sure your broth and tamari are certified gluten-free.
- Soy-Free - since the base of this recipe is soy curls, unfortunately I don't have a tested, soy-free option to share with you. But if you feel like experimenting I suspect brown or black lentils would be great, similar to our lentil taco meat!
- Mushrooms - if you're not a fan of mushrooms, increase the amount of soy curls by about 1 cup, or substitute cauliflower rice to replace the volume.
Batch Size
The recipe makes enough for 2 to 4 servings, depending on your appetites and how you plan to serve it. So if you're cooking for more than just a few people go ahead and double the recipe.
Leftovers taste great, and it freezes well, too.
Vegan Ground Beef FAQs
Store leftover vegan ground beef in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat on the stovetop or in a microwave. From frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Absolutely. And the best part is that this is easy to adjust at the end of cooking. So you can prepare the recipe as written, then taste it and decide whether to add oil to the pan.
I hope you enjoy this healthier vegan ground beef option as much as we do. If you try the recipe please share your feedback with us in the comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Ground "Beef" (Gluten-Free, Oil-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 ounces dry soy curls (half of a bag) - or sub TVP
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable broth
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 8 ounces baby bella or portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds or walnuts - walnuts create a darker "beef" color
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- black pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
For final saute:
- 1 tablespoon corn starch or arrowroot
Instructions
- Preheat a large saute pan over medium heat.
- Place soy curls in a large bowl and cover with the broth. Let them soak for 10 to 15 minutes. After soaking, reserve ¼ cup of the broth, and drain the rest. Lightly squeeze the soy curls to remove excess moisture, then set aside.
- In the preheated pan, dry sauté the onion and mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, rehydrated soy curls, and smoked paprika, and cook until the soy curls are heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor combine the nuts or seeds, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pulse until the nuts/seeds are chopped. Spoon the soy curl mixture into the food processor and drizzle with vinegar and tamari. Pulse 7 or 8 times or until it resembles ground meat.
- Return the mixture to the same sauté pan, and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Dissolve the corn starch in the reserved ¼ cup broth. Pour into the pan and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. It should now look more moist, slightly clumpy, and lightly browned. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy vegan ground beef as is, or use in other recipes.
Notes
- Gluten-Free - the recipe is gluten-free as written. Just make sure your broth and tamari are certified gluten-free.
- Soy-Free - since the base of this recipe is soy curls, unfortunately I don't have a tested, soy-free option to share with you. But if you feel like experimenting I suspect brown or black lentils would be great!
- Mushrooms - if you avoid mushrooms, increase the amount of soy curls by about 1 cup, or substitute cauliflower rice to replace the volume.
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used.
Rachelle ThibodeauRachelle Thibodeau
Wow! I’ve been an avid vegetarian cook for nearly 40 years and using Soy Curls for about 15. This is hands down the best ground beef substitute I’ve had. I used the full batch in shepherd’s pie where it had to really shine and it did.
I was very sceptical of an oil-free recipe but the walnuts and flavours made it rich enough.
I substituted 2 oz dried mushrooms, soaked and drained), so this is a great pantry staple recipe that I’ll make over and over.
Deb
This turned out really, really good! It was a terrific way to use up the soy curl "dusting/powder" left over from my bulk bag of soy curls, and the pieces of walnuts too small to use for anything else. I used them as a filling for taquitos as another reader suggested.
Doina
This is hands down the best vegan ground beef recipe. I made it for stuffed cabbage rolls, but it will now be my go to recipe for any time I want a flavorful plant based food.