OUR 5 Favorite Protein Sources on a Plant Based Diet

[@ericfarias4066]

Lentils are my favorite protein powerhouse. so versatile and so good in a rice bowl, top it with pumpkin seeds and you got a whole busload of protein

[@PlantBasedBistro]

I totally agree! We just don't use them as much as the others.

[@CliveWebber]

You forgot to mention they are very inexpensive, can be grown in drought-prone regions and do not require extensive watering, are easy and fast to cook, and produce far lower greenhouse gases than animal protein. Fun fact, Canada produces the most lentils in the world (34% of the world’s total output). Lentils for the win!

[@StancyTalk]

I’m huge into green peas! I keep a big frozen bag in my freezer, steam them up and add them to all of my salads. 8 g of protein per cup. They are delicious with a balsamic vinaigrette.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Sounds great!

[@SherryEllesson]

Excellent video again, folks! Thanks for continuing to educate those who think it's all smoke & mirrors.

[@brendasmith1503]

I truly love your videos. I learn so much from you two. I am fairly new to this lifestyle, and I’m 73. Proves you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Thank you so much for all that you do.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

You are very welcome! Glad we can help!

[@MelanieOh]

We are truly so lucky to live in a time of such joyfully delicious plant-based proteins 🤩💖

[@PlantBasedBistro]

True! To be fair though, all those on our list have been around for hundreds of years!

[@MelanieOh]

​@@PlantBasedBistrofair! I remember when people would look at you like a weirdo for shopping at Asian grocery stores and health food stores for tempeh, and now I can rely on several mid-size chain grocery stores to come through 😊

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Oh, from that perspective, yes! Absolutely!

[@mockatu]

Haven't plants been around longer than us? 😀

[@nataliemintz6507]

Seitan is so easy to make!! I add a can of Northern White Beans kneaded well into the dough. It helps bulk it out *and* adds more protein, B vitamins, and iron. 💪 (I love beans...)

[@PlantBasedBistro]

We have many videos on how to make it 👍

[@larkendelvie]

Great video - all I would point out is that I do combinations a lot - for example my salads consist of green peas, a tablespoon or so of hummus, some kind of vinegar or citrus and one other bean or some bean salad plus all the vegetables I can find to chop up. Fiber is one of my most important nutrients and beans help that immensely. I watch my fat intake but do try to get some healthy fats in at breakfast time (like peanut butter) plus the hummus in my daily salad -- it helps move stuff along.

[@dawnteskey3259]

I'm not completely plant based, but I love this video for the info. I want versatility in my diet, lol!

[@debbiestevens5490]

Thank you for going through all the nutritional evidence and encouraging me to eat more black beans

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Of course! Happy to help.

[@bethra.flowers]

❤❤❤ My newest favorite, Super versatile, yet not Whole food, is TVP 330 cal, 50 g protein, 32 g carbs, 1 g of fat. When prepared properly it has almost no flavor of its own. I can use it on a full spectrum of flavor profiles because it absorbs what ever flavor you give it, like an oatmeal with dates, vanilla and cinnamon to a spicy "sausage" grounds for chili, spaghetti or lasagna.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Yup, we love it too. We try to limit use though as the methods to process it introduce some questionable ingredients. It's been debated many times if it's harmful enough to avoid, but.... meh, we have it from time to time.

[@ericfarias4066]

@@PlantBasedBistro Would love to hear more on the questionable ingredients the process has in making TVP. i'm still not sure how much I should be consuming it. A video on this would be awesome! also do you still use methylcellulose or do you avoid that altogether now?

[@CarbivoreNick]

Isolated soy protein is the questionable ingredient. Check out John McDougal talk about it.

[@Joseph1NJ]

Tempeh is not just a good source of protein, but it's a bargain price wise, and because it's shrink wrapped, freezes really well.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Very true!

[@trishramsden5551]

Im loving tempeh recently, crumbled up it makes a fab sausage crumble substitute ❤

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Absolutely, add a little fennel and garlic and it's a great sub!

[@DelsonGirl]

Grew up in Mexico, but live in Europe. Pinto beans are my number one favorite bean but it's way harder to get them here than black, kidney, white beans, lentils or chickpeas.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Hmm, very common here.

[@CascadesHomebrew]

I am in my kitchen cooking a batch of black bean soup (first try), and this video popped up. I use tempeh often (it is very easy to make single portions), but I am trying to use tofu more often. I often fall back to commercial black bean patties or Gardein chick'n or be'f. They have reasonable ingredient lists.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

We are coming up with recipes to make your own so you don't have all the extras, fat and sodium of store bought.

[@karleedu]

I really like seitan. Never tried tempeh. I buy A LOT of tofu. I use it in stews and so many other things. I cannot stand chickpeas! Not a fan of black beans, but I like great northern and butter beans. thank you for explaining all of this

[@samuelpierini5189]

Damn no lentils! What an upset lol. I love lentils, so nutritious too

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Oh they are great! We just use the others more!

[@myhorse52]

Soy products are my first choice. They have the best protein profile since they are a complete protein. I have a very small appetite and hate to volume eat. I struggle really hard just to get 50 grams of protein daily. I like to keep seitan chunks handy because they can really boost up your protein with just a small amount. I make my own and keep it on hand.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

They have shown all protein is complete protein. But I agree about soy.

[@myhorse52]

@@PlantBasedBistro Yes, I know that plants do have all the essential amino acids, it is just easier for someone who doesn't eat a lot to cheat by using more soy. Lol I am short and weigh 111lbs. Unfortunately, my calorie requirements are pretty low. I have been tracking on Cronometer lately and the days I use soy, the numbers look better. Lysine tends to be a problem, but by adding soy, it really bumps it up.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Oh, fair enough!

[@NothingBtBlueskies]

Love all the others, but I’ve never tried tempeh. The texture grosses me out. The sliminess. Maybe one day. The other day I sliced up thinly the seitan chicken that I made using your recipe, and I pan fried it with a dollop of bbq sauce and a little bit of water to thin out the sauce. It turned out fantastic, crispy and delicious, like bacon, though sweeter. I imagine that if I could make an easy, more bacony flavored sauce, they would have tasted just like bacon. Either way, I’ll definitely make this again, when I’m craving an easy, protein snack.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Hmm... tempeh isn't slimy... maybe you had some that was spoiled somehow?

[@NothingBtBlueskies]

@ It may have been a video or something where it was being made in a jar, and it had some kind of slime in it that was beneficial. It was gross to me. I’ve only ever seen it packaged in the fridge section. I haven’t seen it jarred and slimy in person. It’s possible that it was something else, but I believe that it was tempeh. Found it! It’s called Natto.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Oh, haven't had that yet myself!

[@VicShoup-ec6jb]

We love Black Bean Burgers!

[@retired_man_about_town]

I have no issues eating seitan.. Its plant based.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Some prefer to be less processed is all. We eat seitan too.

[@BrokeButBountifullyBlessed532]

What about quinoa?

[@PlantBasedBistro]

It's good, but not in our top five is all! It's more of a carb really than a protein at 14.1g protein and 57.2 grams of carbs for 100g dry along with 368 calories. That's more than I would eat as a serving. Usually about half that is a serving of quinoa bringing it to 7g of protein and 184 calories in a serving. As I said, we love it, but it's just not a top five.

[@lorriangus]

Where did you get your 30g of fat amount? I read Power Foods by Dr Bernard and he suggested that as a guideline. I wondered if that's where you got it, or if there was another book I should look into.

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Yup, Dr Barnard!

[@lorriangus]

@PlantBasedBistro Thanks!

[@peterbedford2610]

The one with the lowest carbs by percentage?

[@PlantBasedBistro]

By percentage? It's all measured for 100 grams. So the lowest carb count would be the lowest percentage too. Also, this is just 5 of the dozens of protein sources. These happen to be our most used top five. There's really no reason to worry about carbs anyway, the carbs in these foods are exactly what your body needs for energy.

[@debbiestevens5490]

I eat a lot of tofu crumbles everyday. I take 5pkg of tofu which I have Frozen for at least 3 days and then thawed in fridge for a few days, squeeze them out with some rubber gloves as best I can. Then I just crumble them on a jelly roll pan with NO oil or parchment paper. Put them in a 375 ° oven and every 30 minutes stir them. It takes about 90 minutes to do the five packages and then I put it into a gallon bag in the freezer. I keep a small container of it in my refrigerator so that I can put it in to my food the last 4 minutes that I heat it up. It gives me the chewy texture of hamburger

[@PlantBasedBistro]

You might like this video then: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4q9d42riNuhZ6Msi=wZH2GuipcAvxSRqN

[@debbiestevens5490]

@PlantBasedBistro thank you I will take a look at it

[@debbiestevens5490]

@PlantBasedBistro I have put spices on it before and I don't think it really makes a difference. Whatever food I put it into it picks up that flavor of the food

[@PlantBasedBistro]

It does depend what you put it in certainly.

[@willd6215]

I would like to see how to cook tempeh

[@PlantBasedBistro]

We have a couple videos but can certainly work on more.

[@nunyabizz50]

100gr of Soy Curls has 35gr protein 20gr fiber 16gr fat I use them to make BBQ about 360 calories but this is DRY weight from the bag, no idea what it is hydrated

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Yup. Another good one but that is a lot of fat imo so it didn’t make the list.

[@MelanieOh]

What a kitchen heavyweight soy curls are!

[@nunyabizz50]

@@PlantBasedBistro agreed, but like everything fatty, thats what makes them taste so good I guess, fortunately I do not have to watch my fat intake like you do so I indulge in Soy Curl BBQ, had them last night in fact

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Everyone has to watch their fat intake--at least not overdo it with fat. But I know what you mean 😉

[@TKevinBlanc]

​​​@@PlantBasedBistro Soy curls should be identical to tempeh (in terms of protein:fat) as they are both the whole soy bean.

[@BrokeButBountifullyBlessed532]

Why isn't seitan considered whole food plant based?

[@PlantBasedBistro]

Because it's not a whole food. It's made from wheat but the carbohydrates and starches are removed, leaving only the gluten.

[@venuscruz6075]

I am allergic to wheat and soy..........makes eating plant based hard. I am also allergic to nuts, eggs, berries, and many spices

[@PlantBasedBistro]

I am sorry to hear that. Yes, it would be difficult. Beans, grains other than wheat, non starchy veg, those are fine options.

[@zamin_ali]

I'm sorry but a block of tofu is not meant for sharing 😂😂😂

[@PlantBasedBistro]

lol, actually.... a serving size is like 1/4 the block! Ours are 1 lb blocks so that is a LOT of tofu.