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Vegan Beef-less Ground Recipes Made with Whole Foods, 4 Ways

August 28, 2019Updated August 6, 2024 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

You can make your own vegan beef-less ground with whole foods you may already have in your pantry. Here are 4 easy DIY plant-based meat alternatives from your own kitchen!

Italian-Flavored Vegan Beef-less Ground

We’ve got a few great beef-less ground recipes to choose from on this site, including an Italian-flavored variation, one with an Asian spin, and two that are perfect for tacos and other Tex-Mex specialties. 

Homemade vs packaged beef-less ground

The options for plant-based meat alternatives are growing by leaps and bounds. While there are a number of convenient beef-less ground brands to choose from, vegan “beefy” crumbles are super-easy to make from scratch using whole foods.

Packaged brands often need help in the flavor department, so starting with a fairly blank canvas of grains (like quinoa or bulgur), walnuts, mushrooms, and tempeh, in varying combinations, isn’t much of a stretch in terms of added effort.

Your homemade beef-less crumbles can also be made in  bigger batches and in that way, are more economical than the packaged varieties. 

plant-based beefy tacos

Though I’m not opposed to packaged meat alternatives — being of the opinion that anything’s better than meat — they all have pros and cons. And so, presenting the following recipes for whole foods beefy ground adds to your choices; it’s always good to have options!

Homemade beef-less crumbles, if well seasoned and moist, are tasty in their own right and not necessarily as a dead ringer — excuse the metaphor — for ground beef. And if you’re looking to avoid soy and/or gluten, some of the recipes that follow will give you some fantastic options. All the recipes in this round-up freeze well, too.

If you’re still curious about the ready-made varieties, here are some of the popular brands of packaged plant-based (vegan) beef-less ground, or crumbles. Some are made from soy, others from pea protein:

  • Gardein™ Ultimate Beefless Ground
  • Trader Joe’s® Beef-less Ground
  • Morningstar Farms® Grillers Crumbles
  • Lightlife Smart Ground
  • Beyond Meat™Beyond Beef Crumbles

There’s also the completely blank canvas of  TVP (AKA TSP, texturized vegetable or soy protein) and a nifty newer product called Longéve™ Plant-Based Protein Crumbles, which are used in this taco recipe. Let’s get started on our homemade versions:

Italian-flavored beef-less crumbles

Italian-Flavored Vegan Beef-less Ground: Made with bulgur and/or quinoa, this recipe is also quite budget-friendly. I enjoy using a 50-50 combination of bulgur and quinoa, which results in a terrific melding of texture and protein.

For an extra protein boost, there’s also an optional addition of hemp seeds. To give the crumbles plenty of Italian flavor, I simply use a good-quality marinara sauce rather than having to add a million ingredients! Use these homemade vegan crumbles over pasta, on pizza, or in hearty sandwiches. 

Korean Beef-less Bowls

Vegan Korean Beef-less Rice Bowl: Here’s an easy recipe to convert to a completely meatless version. The original recipe for Korean Beef Bowl is a simple dish made of ground beef bathed in a gently spiced and slightly sweet sauce, served over rice and topped with scallion.

This recipe will show you how to make a simple Asian-flavored vegan beefy crumbles substitute from three basic plant proteins: red quinoa, black beans, and walnuts. In addition to using these vegan beefy crumbles in this rice bowl recipe, you can also toss them into noodle stir-fries as a nice change of pace from tofu.

Beefless Vegan Taco Crumbles

Walnut and Mushroom Vegan Taco Crumbles: These beefy-textured vegan taco crumbles are made with walnuts, mushrooms, and either bulgur or quinoa. Use the latter if you want to keep this gluten-free (and also make sure to use GF soy sauce in that case).

The mushrooms and walnuts give this beef-less ground a truly scrumptious flavor. These crumbles are also good as a burrito filling or used to top tostadas.

Soft tacos with tempeh walnut filling2l

Walnut & Tempeh Taco Filling: Two high-protein foods team up to make an easy and tasty taco filling. This recipe goes a long way, so you may be lucky enough to wind up with leftovers.

Use this to boost protein and add texture to bean dishes and stews, and to fill burritos. You can always freeze half of the yield for a future taco dinner.

You might also be interested in …

Vegan Recipes for using plant-based ground pin1

25+ Awesome Vegan Recipes Using Plant-Based Ground “Beef”

Beyond® Beef vegan meatloaf

Classic Vegan Meatloaf

See Veganize This! for more ways to make familiar dishes meatless.

Filed Under: Recipe Roundups, Vegan Recipes, Veganize This!

About Nava Atlas

Nava Atlas is the author of many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including Vegetariana, Plant-Powered Protein, 5-Ingredient Vegan, Wild About Greens, Vegan Holiday Kitchen, and many more. A longtime dedicated vegan, find out more about her on this site's About page.

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