Another great substitution for protein in your plant-based diet are these Toasty Tempeh Crumbles. If you've never worked with tempeh before, be sure to check out this article, "Cooking with Tempeh."
Tempeh is cake-like fermented soybeans. This fermentation process makes the soybean more easy to digest. Some people like to steam it a little before preparing it in a recipe, but I find it delicious to eat just the way it is.
You can find tempeh in the refrigerated section of your grocery story near the meat and dairy substitutions, sometimes near the regular cheese. Sometimes you see some dark spots on the tempeh, but t's just more fermentation from mold and perfectly fine to eat.
You could make your own tempeh That's something I have yet to tackle but it looks intriguing. See an excellent video below on making it if you'd like to try!
For this recipe, you can steam the cake in a little water, covered for 10 minutes if you like. Otherwise, crumble the tempeh in a non-stick pan over medium-low heat to start the toasting.
This is what the crumbled tempeh looks like before you've toasted it. Once the crumbles start to brown a little you can add the rest of the ingredients, adding the Tamari (vegan soy sauce) after the garlic and spices are incorporated.
Here's a few more tempeh inspired recipes to try:
- Tempeh Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Potato Gratin with Jalapeño & Tempeh Bacon
- Tempeh Salad Sandwich
- Tempeh Reuben Sandwich
These toasty tempeh crumbles would be great in a taco for a meat substitution or used to top a baked sweet potato, throw on a salad, on top of pizza or in pasta.
I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Toasty Tempeh Crumble Recipe! If you have a photo, post it on Instagram, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
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| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
Servings |
people |
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- Cut tempeh block in half. Place in a saucepan and cover with water or vegetable broth. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the tempeh and pat it dry. Allow the block to cool.
- When the tempeh is cool enough to handle, crumble it into small pieces into a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, stirring often until it just starts to brown.
- Add sesame seeds, thyme, savory, oregano, cayenne, turmeric and black pepper for an additional 3 to 4 minutes until it is lightly browned, adding a little oil as needed.
- Add the tamari or soy sauce and the garlic to the tempeh crumbles and cook for another 2 minutes. Season the crumbles to taste with additional herbs or tamari before removing the crumbles from heat
Is this missing a step? It goes from drying the tempeh to “Add the tempeh,” but it doesn’t say what I’m adding it to. Does it just mean to start cooking it in a frying pan, with oil (I’d assume)?
Anyway, thanks for the recipes. I’m always looking for good tempeh ideas.
You’re welcome and thanks for letting me know, Sandra. 🙂 I updated the instructions so it makes more sense.