Easy Vegan Lo Mein with Beef TVP Slices and Sauce

These realistic Beef TVP Slices make this the best vegan lo mein recipe to get your fix for stir fry noodles, with the lo mein sauce recipe.

I’d been looking for cheaper and healthier meat substitutes to use, and saw these Beef TVP Slices in an ad recently. They look like tender slices of real stir fry beef! These soy protein slices don’t have the fat or the sodium content of other meat substitutes. I reached out to the company that sells them to find out more, and they graciously sent me out some samples to review.

My wife and I miss a good beef lo mein. This variety of soy protein in beef slice shapes worked perfectly to make a realistic vegan version of these favorite stir fry noodles. These soy protein slices are the healthiest substitute for beef to use in your recipes. Unlike Impossible style meats, this vegan meat substitute doesn’t have any fat or cholesterol. This makes it perfect for anyone wanting to eat leaner, yet still have a satisfying and realistic meat substitute.

What is Lo Mein?

Lo Mein is a tossed or stirred noodle dish that usually has a basic protein option with a generous amount of a commonly recognized brown sauce. Although it appears quite similar to chow mein, the difference is that lo mein noodles are boiled instead of fried. This difference makes a noodle that isn’t really greasy compared to the chow mein noodle which retains some frying oil. With a balanced amount of protein, noodles, vegetables, and savory brown sauce it’s a popular favorite.

Are Lo Mein Noodles Vegan?

Generally, traditional lo mein noodles contain eggs in them so they aren’t vegan. We’re fortunate that most of the lo mein noodles on the market shelves now don’t contain eggs. If you can’t find vegan lo mein noodles, or want a cheaper option, you can use regular spaghetti noodles in place of proper stir fry noodles in a pinch.

You can use a neat trick to change the texture to more resemble the traditional noodle. If you boil spaghetti with a teaspoon of baking soda per quart of water the alkalinity will change the texture and color to more resemble a ramen noodle. This simple hack get you a noodle that’s perfect for your lo mein recipe.

What are these Beef TVP Slices made out of?

To get a meat substitute that cooks firm like this a special kind of textured vegetable protein is needed. These slices are made from soy protein, but TVP can be made with other types of vegetable protein as well.

The process to make TVP uses the vegetable meal left over from oil production and turns it into a food product using a high heat and pressure extrusion. The resulting product can be shaped and formed into various shapes and sizes. Carmel color can be added to the meat substitute to give it an appearance to more closely resemble beef.

My recipe here uses the Beef TVP Slice shape available from Yang Kee Trading Company. 50 grams of this 200 gram bag made enough beef slices for a generous two portions of vegan lo mein for this recipe. The pieces rehydrated without losing their firm texture, and had a good amount of bite that closely resembled the resistance a slice of beef would give.

Yang Kee Trading Company

Yang Kee Trading Company has been in business since 2004, selling products wholesale to Asian supermarkets in the San Franscico Bay Area. They’ve taken their business online in the last year, with an offering of mail order vegan products that I recently came across. With a foundation built upon finding foods for their family’s health and sensitive stomach, they’ve been “vegan and vegetarian since before it was cool”.

I have to admit, these soy protein beef TVP slices are as cool as the new products on the market and deserve a place in the rotation. If you’re interested in learning more, check out this episode of the Healthy Planet Show hosted by Dr. Grace O’Neil featuring Michelle Yang.

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Lo Mein Recipe Components

Undeniably, the star of this recipe are these Beef TVP Slices that have the amazing look and texture of the protein you’d expect in your stir fry noodles. They soak up the lo mein sauce and have a beefy flavor and bite that satisfies! You can make this recipe with any other plant-based protein, or even with all vegetables, but it really shines with these textured vegetable protein slices from Yang Kee Trading Company.

Use a package of your favorite lo mein noodles, or try the spaghetti noodle and baking soda trick.

The array of Lo Mein Sauce Recipe Ingredients.

Ingredients for the Vegan Lo Mein Recipe

• Beef TVP Slices – A soy protein option that makes this dish look realistic and appetizing. The texture and bite of the “beef slices” perfectly replicates this classic dish.
• Lo mein noodles – Use your favorite noodle or whatever you have on hand.
• Bite sized veggies – Uniformly cut vegetable pieces are easy to cook, and look great in the final dish.
• Sesame oil – Sesame oil gives the dish a great flavor. Can be substituted for a neutral oil or omitted entirely.
• Dark soy sauce – Adds to the complexity of the sauce with a richer flavor and less salt content. Substitute with Tamari or a strong broth if needed.
• Soy sauce – The backbone of the lo mein sauce, substitute with a low sodium soy sauce if needed.
• Vegan mushroom oyster sauce or Hoisin – These ingredients add some depth, complexity, and sweetness to the lo mein sauce.
• Chopped garlic – Fresh chopped garlic cloves elevate the flavors and aroma of this lo mein sauce recipe.
• Chopped or grated ginger – Fresh ginger is going to make your noodles stand apart from the others.
• Organic white sugar – Not all sugar is vegan, some are purified in a process using bone char. Organic labled sugar is guaranteed to be vegan though.
• Cooking wine – Shaoxing or other light cooking wine adds some tangy flavor to the sauce. Can be substituted with a bit of rice vinegar and water.
• Cornstarch and water slurry – Either mixed into the ingredients, or reserved to add as a last minute thickener, the cornstarch is what brings the sauce together enough to cling to the noodles.
• White pepper, or red pepper flakes – Brings a bit of spice to the dish, but can be omitted if necessary.

Instructions for Making the Vegan Lo Mein Recipe

1. Soak the Beef TVP Slices in water for an hour to hydrate.

2. Drain and squeeze out the beef TVP slices, rinse and repeat then set aside.
3. Boil your lo mein noodles according to instructions, rinse until cold and set aside.

4. Prep your veggies into bite sized pieces and set aside.

5. Whisk the ingredients for the lo mein sauce recipe together and set aside ready to add to the dish.
6. Add a tablespoon of sesame oil to a hot pan and sear the beef TVP slices and set aside.

7. Add a tablespoon of sesame oil to a hot pan and sauté the veggies. When cooked al dente add the beef TVP slices back to the pan.

8. Add the noodles and sauce to the pan and toss to combine. Cook the lo mein and sauce until thickened.

9. Remove from heat, plate and serve.

Serving Ideas and Storage Suggestions

This recipe is perfect to serve as soon as the stir fry noodles have been tossed together with the beef TVP strips, veggies, and whisked together lo mein sauce. The sauce doesn’t need too much exposure to heat to thicken. It should be near complete once the ingredients have been tossed to combine. At most, an additional minute or two over medium high heat will bring the sauce to the perfect consistency.

If you have leftovers, preposterous but maybe there’s an emergency or something that takes you away from this plate, you can cover the stir fry noodles or place in a covered container into the refrigerator. You could also meal prep some extra servings of vegan lo mein into covered containers for storage in the refrigerator. The dish should remain fresh for two or three days, although the noodles might absorb most of the sauce they will still be good to eat.

More Recipes for Vegan Noodles

Watch for more recipes featuring Yang Kee Trading Company Products and recipes for interesting dishes featuring vegan noodles.

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