Legumes, soy and plant protein
Textured vegetable protein on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 50 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), dry, before soaking, for around 330 calories. A third of a cup, dry, about 30 g (1.1 oz), gives roughly 15 g of protein for 99 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from textured vegetable protein alone you would need about 60 g (2.1 oz). On a small appetite that is often more than one sitting allows, which is why we pair it rather than chase the whole target from one food.
How textured vegetable protein sits on a GLP-1
Textured vegetable protein is dried, defatted soy that looks like breakfast cereal in the packet and turns into something like mince once it is soaked. Dry, it is about 50 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz); soaked in twice its weight of stock, it lands at about 16 g per 100 g cooked, close to a lean mince, with no fat and a lot of fibre. On a GLP-1 that makes it a soft, wet, mince-like protein that takes on any sauce, keeps for a year in the cupboard and costs very little.
When your appetite is small
Soak a third of a cup, about 30 g (1 oz) dry, in 60 ml (2 fl oz) of hot stock for ten minutes, then cook it as you would mince. That is 15 g of protein in a small bowl of bolognese or chilli, and because the soaked mince is so light, a half serve is still easy to finish on a bad day.
Three ways to prepare it
Soaked in stock and cooked into bolognese
Soak in stock rather than water, then fry with onion and garlic before the tomato goes in. It has no flavour of its own and needs salt.
Mixed half and half with beef mince
TVP stretches a pack of beef mince across twice as many portions and drops the fat. Nobody notices in a chilli.
Tacos or a lettuce cup with cheese
Soaked TVP fried with cumin and paprika, in a small tortilla or a lettuce leaf with cheese and salsa. About 20 g with the cheese.
What to eat it with
Tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, soy sauce, cheese. It carries flavour rather than bringing any, so season it hard and give it a sauce with body.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Textured vegetable protein | about 50 g | 330 kcal | this page |
| Firm tofu | about 14 g | 130 kcal | See the page |
| Beef mince | about 26 g | 180 kcal | See the page |
| Turkey mince | about 27 g | 150 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, dry, before soaking, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
TVP or textured vegetable protein in the US and Australia, also sold as soy mince or dried soy mince in Australian health food aisles and as soya mince in the UK. Bob's Red Mill is the common US brand; UK supermarkets usually stock it in the free from or vegan section.
Questions people ask
How do you use TVP?
Soak it in twice its volume of hot stock for about ten minutes, squeeze out the excess, then fry and sauce it like mince. A third of a cup dry, about 30 g (1 oz), swells to a cup and carries about 15 g of protein.
Your number comes first
Knowing what is in a food only helps once you know how much you are aiming for. The target is 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of your goal weight, not your current weight, which for most people is 90 to 140 g a day.
Work out your protein targetMore on eating well when your appetite is small: high protein foods for a small appetite, how much protein on a GLP-1, and every food we have written up. The whole system in five documents is the Keep Muscle Kit, A$47 / US$29 / £23.
EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor.