10 Recipes

Vegetarian Ground Beef Recipes

Plant-based swaps for ground beef — lentils, mushrooms, and walnuts that behave like meat in tacos, chili, bolognese, and stuffed peppers.

Contributors
Donaldo Estevam
Trazia Rae
Susan Peterson
+7

Popular

Oyster mushroom sandwich Popular

Oyster mushroom sandwich

If you are looking for a vegan alternative for a chicken sandwich, you found it. Honestly this sandwich was so good I think it’s even better then a chicken sandwich, but hey Don’t tell my chicken people I said that 😅

30 min620 cal12g proteinServes 41,330 saves
Donaldo EstevamDonaldo Estevam

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch Oyster mushroom
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Ginger
  • 1 tbsp Garlic
  • 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 1 tsp Rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp Warm water
  • .5 cup Maple Syrup
  • 1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 2 slices Tomato
  • 1 Banquet

Instructions

  1. 1Break apart your oyster mushroom, try to keep the layers together. It should look like a fan if you are able to break it out.
  2. 2Dredge the mushrooms in beaten egg (you can use a vegan binder here) and then into corn starch, ( firmly press into the corn starch for the best results). Deep fry in oil till golden and crunchy at 350F
  3. 3Vegan honey garlic glaze. Add all the ingredients from above into a bowl and mix well ( you can add some sesame seed for some wow factor if your into that)
  4. 4Micro greens. I believe I used pea shoots for this but you can use any micro you like. Just add a handful into a bowl add the apple cider vinegar and olive oil and mix well
  5. 5Fresh. Heirloom tomatoes and a banquet toasted
  6. 6Bottom spread. Siracha and vegan mayo mixed well
  7. 7Build Sirach mayo, tomato’s, micro greens, oyster mushroom, sauce, top

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The Ground Beef Swap That Works

Lentils, finely chopped mushrooms, and toasted walnuts have the exact texture and umami depth to stand in for ground beef — you get the mouthfeel, the browning, and the protein.

Cooks on Pepper love this collection because every recipe delivers a meat-forward dish — tacos, chili, bolognese — without a pound of beef.

Every recipe here is meatless, higher in fiber than the beef version, and finishes in under an hour.

Quick Tips

  1. 1

    Chop mushrooms fine

    Pulse them in the food processor to ground-beef size — they brown and crumble just like beef.

  2. 2

    Sear lentils in oil

    Cooked lentils, tossed with olive oil in a hot pan, get a browned edge that reads as meaty.

  3. 3

    Walnuts + mushroom = taco meat

    Toasted walnuts pulsed with sautéed mushrooms and taco seasoning fools everyone.

  4. 4

    Deglaze with soy sauce

    A splash of soy adds the salty, umami punch that beef contributes.

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