Nutrition
Ingredients
- 1 cup TVP
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F
- In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 6 tablespoons of water. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes until it has turned into flax goo.
- In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together (I use a fork) until well-mixed
- On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spread out mixture and flatten with the back of a spoon
- Cook for 25 – 30 minutes, flipping halfway through to ensure even cooking on both sides. You will want to break them up into crouton sized pieces. They should be fairly dry and crunchy when done cooking.
Equipment
This section may contain affiliate links
Notes
- Use Textured Pea Protein instead of TVP – you can buy this on Amazon – I like the brand Acre Made.
- Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
If you are looking for a high protein crouton substitute, look no further! These are super easy to make and add a great crunchy texture to any salad! They aren’t identical to croutons texture-wise (because they’re not made out of bread), but the flavor is pretty similar to seasoned croutons. I really like these in a High Protein Caesar Salad, but they are great in any salad!
You can make a big batch of these and have them on-hand for a week of lunches! These should work for a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) option too! They can easily be made gluten-free by subbing out the soy sauce with coconut aminos.
Ingredients
- TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein – this is a great shelf-stable vegan protein source that you can find at most grocery stores, usually near the gluten-free flour option. You can also order it online! TVP is one of the best vegan ingredients, in my opinion, because it’s so versatile – you can use it in savory recipes like this one, or in baked goods!
- Ground Flaxseed – this is another great shelf-stable ingredient that you can find at most grocery stores, and also online! Ground flax is often used as a vegan egg substitute, and is great for binding things together, which is how we’re using it in this recipe! Ground flax is really easy to use – you just add water, let sit for about 5 minutes and you end up with flax goo!
- Nutritional Yeast – also known as Nooch! If you haven’t used Nutritional Yeast before, it is the perfect ingredient for adding a savory, cheesy taste to anything! It also has a surprisingly high protein content!
- Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, Salt – these are the seasonings I used for these high protein croutons, but if you want to try something different, you definitely could!
- Soy Sauce – feel free to sub out soy sauce for coconut aminos if you’re making this gluten-free.
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
- In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 6 tablespoons of water. Allow this to sit for at least 5 minutes, and then you have flax goo!
- In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together – TVP (dry TVP – do NOT re-hydrate for this recipe), flax goo, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, soy sauce and salt. I just use a fork and mix by hand.
- On a parchment paper-lined (or silicone sheet) baking sheet, spread out the TVP mixture and flatten with the back of a spoon. I like to press this down and compact it as much as possible so that it sticks together and stays in larger pieces.
- Cook for 25 – 30 minutes, flipping halfway through to ensure even cooking on both sides. You will want to break them into crouton-sized pieces – I did this when I flipped it.
- The croutons should be fairly dry and crunchy when they’re done cooking.
Silly Little Haiku
High Protein Crouton
TVP is the coolest
Nooch is also great
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan