Flour Tortilla Soft Soy Tacos with Sweet Potatoes

Continuing my journey into soy foods, I discovered a product called textured soy protein (TSP) or sometimes it is called textured vegetable protein (TVP). In a nutshell, TSP is a defatted soy flour product that is a by-product of extracting soybean oil. It is extremely quick to cook with a protein content far greater than which comes from meat. Hence the reason why many people use TSP as a meat extender or replacement. TSP has a texture that resembles ground meat so it can easily be used as a meat replacement. It will also easily assume the flavor of other liquids and foods.

I decided to take this stuff and make tacos. You guys, I was skeptical. SOY tacos…. Really? 

In order to dress them up a bit, I seasoned the mixture with a red chile adobo sauce, recipe can be found HERE. It is quick and keeps in the fridge for several months, I highly recommend making a batch to use on chicken, tacos, pasta, fish, and even eggs. 

I also made some refried black beans as well as some Fuzzy’s garlic sauce, which if you haven’t ever made, do it RIGHT NOW. I also finally tried my hand at homemade flour tortillas. I may never go back to store bought. They were so good and honestly don’t take much time at all! 

Anyway, I am proud to say, much to my meat-loving-and-dedicated heart, these soy tacos were INCREDIBLE. My meat loving husband wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole, but I actually ended up choosing these over the ground beef ones. I also took the leftover soy taco mix and made eggs with it the next day, also awesome! 

The texture of this stuff once it is reconstituted is much like ground chicken and it looks a lot like it. It didn’t have the same texture as meat, meat has more of a “bite” whereas the soy protein is more fluffy. I was so surprised and I can’t wait to experiment more with this stuff! 

Soft Soy Tacos

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• Author: Prairie Californian
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

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• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 medium sweet potato, diced
• 1 cup textured soy protein (TSP)
• 1/4 cup red chile adobo
• 2 cups water or broth
• salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in large pan over medium high heat.
2. Once hot, add onion and sweet potato. Saute until sweet potato is tender, about 5 – 7 minutes.
3. Add TSP, red chile adobo, and water.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, or until all liquid is gone.
5. Serve with your favorite taco toppings, enjoy!

Notes

• If you don’t want to use red chile adobo, taco season works as well!

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4

Homemade Flour Tortillas

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quick and delicious homemade flour tortillas

• Author: Prairie Californian
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 40
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 16 1x

Ingredients

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• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup lard
• 1 cup warm water

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Instructions

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add lard and cut in using pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands. Cut in until the dough forms small pea sized crumbles. Gradually add in the water until the dough forms. Only add enough water to make dough cling together.
2. Pour dough onto well floured surface. Divide in half and then in half again, continue until you’ve got 16 portions. Roll each portion into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. Cover flattened balls with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
3. After rest, heat a large pan over medium-high meat. Roll out each flattened ball into a 6-7 inch tortilla. Or feel free to use tortilla press if you’ve got one. Be sure not to stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other.
4. When the pan is hot, place one tortilla into the pan and allow to cook for several minutes, until the uncooked top begins to bubble. You may need to reduce or increase heat depending on how quickly or slowly tortilla cooks.
5. Flip tortilla and repeat. You want a soft tortilla with several browned spots. Remove from the pan and stack in a covered container. You may need to wipe out the pan in between tortillas if flour begins to build up.
6. Serve warm or allow to cool for later use.

Notes

• Don’t skip the lard!