Last week I wrote a post about tofu for tofu haters. Today, I’m going to tackle another tricky vegetarian protein: tempeh.
I promise you, tempeh is not that strange of an ingredient. Really! Even my small town grocery store sells tempeh. Like tofu, tempeh is a starting point, not a finished product–if you buy it, cook it, and eat it as-is, you’re probably going to think, “Ew, I don’t like tempeh.”
What is tempeh?
Tempeh is a slab of fermented soybeans. Because it’s made with whole soybeans, it’s less processed than tofu. It has a mild nutty flavor and a firm texture. If the softness of tofu puts you off, try tempeh.
My tempeh looks moldy!
Black or white mold on tempeh is normal and perfectly fine to eat.
Fermented soybeans? Mold? You want me to eat this?
I know, I know. It doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? But so many foods that we eat are fermented or contain (good) mold. Don’t let that scare you away from trying tempeh!
What kind of tempeh should I buy?
You’ll find that there are several different types of tempeh at the store: regular or soy tempeh, tempeh with flax seeds added, multi-grain tempeh, and flavored tempeh. The flavored tempeh is great, but for most recipes, you’ll want to pick one of the first three varieties. They’re pretty much interchangeable, with the difference being that the flax and multi-grain kind have flax and grains added to the soybeans.
So I bought it. What do I do with it?
Like tofu, I like to sauce up my tempeh because I’m not crazy about the flavor on its own. Thinly slice it, marinate it in just about any sauce for an hour or two, and then saute it in a skillet with a small amount of oil or cooking spray. I like doing this with barbecue sauce and making barbecue tempeh sandwiches.
My other favorite thing to do with tempeh is to crumble it up and use it as a substitute for ground beef. Those frozen ground beef substitutes are so processed and they don’t taste very good either. Tempeh is a much healthier option. Use your hands to break it up and brown it in a skillet with a little bit of oil, just like you would with ground beef. Add it to jarred pasta sauce for vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese or use it to make tacos–so many possibilities!
These Veggie & Tempeh Sloppy Joes are the perfect example of tempeh being used in place of ground beef. Crumbled tempeh gives the Sloppy Joes a texture similar to ground beef and the sauce obscures any tempeh flavor that picky eaters might not like. I’ve added some fresh summer veggies to up the nutritional value of these sandwiches a little bit too.
Tempeh and fresh summer vegetables replace ground beef in this easy vegetarian Sloppy Joe recipe. Adapted from Rachael Ray's Super Sloppy Joes.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 16 oz. tempeh, crumbled
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
- 1 ear of corn, removed from cob (or 1/2 c. frozen corn)
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 rolls, sliced in half
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in crumbled tempeh and cook 2 minutes more. Add sugar, garlic powder, and cayenne and stir for 1 minute.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add bell pepper, zucchini, corn, red wine vinegar and soy sauce to skillet; cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and pepper and cook 3-4 minutes more, until vegetables are softened, continuing to stir constantly. Spoon onto rolls to serve.
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I tried tempeh for the first time a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised. Great post for anyone new to tempeh.
I love tempeh so much that I eat it several times a week. I’m not a big fan of tofu, but only because I find tempeh so much more appetizing. Love that you used it in sloppy joes! I haven’t had one of those in ages.
I made one of your tempeh recipes not too long ago! The Walnut-Encrusted Tempeh. It was so good! In fact, I have a bunch of walnuts in the fridge–I should totally make that again.
An excellent primer on tempeh!
Yum my husband loves sloppy joes and I love tempeh. I’m going to try this since I hate the prepackaged TVP sloppy joes! I now don’t mind the slightly bitter taste you get from tempeh, but a tip to get rid of it is to cube the tempeh and steam it for a few minutes. It somehow gets rid of that bitter bite, which is great for people who aren’t too keen on the flavor.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of TVP either. I’m going to have to start steaming my tempeh! I don’t notice any of that taste in a recipe like this, but if the tempeh is cut into large chunks, I definitely taste it.
I’ve never tried tempeh, actually never heard about it before this post. I like to experiment new things, so I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
I hope you like it if you try it!
Yep. I’ve just read few good things about it. Because of the fermentation process tempeh is much more degistible than tofu. Following a good recipe like yours it can’t taste bad.
This is really interesting – I didn’t know there was mold on tempeh OR that it was safe to eat. I’m not sure how I feel about this. My grandpa cuts mold off cheese and keeps the cheese, this just seems in the same vein.
Well, it’s kind of like the mold on blue cheese. It’s not the kind that’s bad to eat or that has a moldy flavor to it…
I tried tempeh once (I’m pretty sure it was the same brand you have pictured) but it was a flavored one maybe. I used it in an eggplant curry recipe that was a flop, so maybe that turned me away from it. Sloppy joes do sound good, maybe I’ll give it another try
Just realized I used the word ‘maybe’ like 4 times, I blame it on post-night shift coma :p
Ha! I catch myself leaving comments like that all the time. I type faster than I think. But I think maybe if you try something where the tempeh is broken up, you might like it more. I’m usually not crazy about big hunks of it because they don’t absorb the sauce so well and the center tastes kind of meh.
Hi Kiersten, I used to make tempeh sloppy joes for my kids all the time. Cruised around your blog today looking for dinner inspiration, I think I’ll make a simpler version of this plus some roasted green beans and potatoes and something for dessert with either the strawberries or the blackberries that we have in the fridge. I’m cooking for our exchange student, too, now, trying to not hit him with too many stir fries and too much tofu at once. I think he’ll be able to relate to the ‘burger’ aspect of this one.
I hope it turned out well! How exciting that you’re hosting an exchange student–I’m sure he’ll go home and be asking for tofu and stir fries after you’ve cooked for him!
Turned out great. And it had been so long since I made them that my own teen didn’t remember ever having or even hearing of a sloppy joe. Our exchange student said that even he had at least heard of a sloppy joe, though this was his first time eating one, and he liked it!
I’m glad it was a success! We just had it again for dinner last night–I froze half a batch of it.
I didn’t realize you could freeze tempeh for later— I’m learning something new here, thanks.
Thanks for posting this AWESOME recipe.
The only changes I made were I cooked the onions in coconut oil (because it smells so darn good), and since its winter I didn’t have corn or zucchini on hand so left those out. Oh, and I added some nutritional yeast which made it a little pastier/nuttier!
I really enjoyed it, and it indoctrinated me into the world of tempeh (which I’ll admit, I’ve been quite skeptical of in the past).
Woo hoo! I’m glad I could help convert you.
How could I incorporate tempeh into a stir fry without it being bland? What sauces/seasonings would be best??
There are two things that I’ve found help: 1) Cut the tempeh into small cubes, slices, or even crumble it because this makes it easier for the flavor to soak through, and 2) marinate the tempeh in advance. You can use any sauce or seasoning you like, but I think the reason tempeh often ends up being bland is because only the very outside of the tempeh soaks in the flavor. A lot of stir fry recipes call for large cubes of tempeh and they’re just too big to soak up the sauce.
I used this recipe!! I made a few adjustments but it was very good. I took out the bell peppers because I hate bell peppers, haha, and I added pine nuts. I also used half as much tempeh, though that was an accident because I assumed I’d only need one package. It was very tasty and flavorful though I probably could have used a tad less tomato sauce. Lastly I used 2 1/2 tbsp of both vinegar and soy cause rather than 2.
Basically in the center of sticky rice triangles seasoned with a bit of salt an pepper. I still have a bunch of left over filling.
I didn’t use it for sloppy joes, though I can see why its a good sloppy joe substitute–I instead used it to fill my Onigiri with.
Thanks for the recipe! It was pretty easy to do.
I’m glad it turned out well! I love onigiri.
I made these exactly as it’s written with the exception of red bell pepper for green bell pepper, and they were delicious! Never tried tempeh before, but it smelled good while it was cooking. I hardly even noticed it mixed in with everything else. I will definitely make these again. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the comment–I’m so glad you enjoyed them (and tempeh!).