Plant-based swaps for ground beef — lentils, mushrooms, and walnuts that behave like meat in tacos, chili, bolognese, and stuffed peppers.
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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 😅
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Open in Pepper →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.
Chop mushrooms fine
Pulse them in the food processor to ground-beef size — they brown and crumble just like beef.
Sear lentils in oil
Cooked lentils, tossed with olive oil in a hot pan, get a browned edge that reads as meaty.
Walnuts + mushroom = taco meat
Toasted walnuts pulsed with sautéed mushrooms and taco seasoning fools everyone.
Deglaze with soy sauce
A splash of soy adds the salty, umami punch that beef contributes.