Vegan Walnut Meat (for Pizza Topping)

Recently I have been looking for easy natural substitutes to make some of my favorite foods into vegan versions… it specifically started with a taco craving (if I am being honest- lol).

But I’ve also been craving Sloppy Joes and Maid Rite (loose meat) sandwiches, and one of my favorite splurges: Ground Beef & Black Olive Pizza. 😋

I’ve been seeing a lot of buzz around using walnuts as a ground beef substitute. And- OMGosh!- it really does make the perfect substitute. Not only does it visually look similar to ground beef, it also has a really good texture. Personally, I don’t really like vegan foods to mimic real meat too closely; however, the combination of look, texture and flavor of the walnut meat works great to turn some favorite foods that are traditionally meat based into a yummy vegan version of it.

I’ll post the recipes for Walnut Taco Meat and Walnut Sloppy Joes meat separately at a later date, but today we were making homemade pizzas before the Denver Bronco game. I made the plain walnut meat to use as a topping on my pizza (along with some Chao vegan cheese shreds and sliced black olives), so I thought I would post this recipe first.

I used this recipe for the Pizza Dough.

I’ve been trying to get away from using processed, packaged meat substitutes since there are really no health benefits to those… they are easy, but over-processed, and definitely not something I want to eat on a daily basis.

It is surprisingly quick to make vegan Walnut Meat (literally just a few minutes of cook time in a skillet) with very few ingredients; however, you do need to plan ahead because the walnuts need to be soaked. While they can be soaked as little as 30 minutes, I find it’s best to soak overnight or for a full day. The longer you soak the walnuts, the softer they will be. Plus, soaking walnuts makes them more digestible, and the nutrients become more bioavailable (soaking helps to reduce phytic acid, lectins, and oxalates in raw walnuts that block nutrient absorption).

Soaking & Prepping the walnuts:

1. If you need the walnuts same day: place the walnuts in a bowl, cover with hot or boiling water, and leave it on the counter to soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. To prep overnight or longer: place the walnuts in a bowl or glass jar, cover with cold water, cover with a lid, and place in refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days.  (I like to use a canning jar because it is easy to store in the fridge and does not take up as much room as a bowl)
3. When ready to use the soaked walnuts:
   1. Drain the water & rinse the walnuts in a colander.  (Discard the soaking water; do not use it as cooking water).
   2. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until you have meat like crumbles.
   3. Do not over process the walnuts or you will end up with walnut butter. 

There are also a lot of health benefits to eating walnuts. They are a good source of protein, rich in antioxidants & a good source of omega-3 fat. Plus walnuts may decrease inflammation in the body, promote a health gut, and may reduce the risk of certain cancers (i.e., breast, prostate & colorectal cancer).

Vegan Walnut Meat for Pizza Topping

This is enough walnut meat to top 1 large pizza.

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Ingredients

  

• 1/2 Cup Walnuts
• 1/8 Cup Onion, diced (or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
• 1 Clove Garlic, diced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 3/4 teaspoon Simply Organic "Pepper & More" (or 1/2 teaspoon black pepper + 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt (or to taste)

Instructions

 

Prep 30 minutes to up to 1-2 days before:

• Soak the walnuts (see notes about soaking).

When ready to prepare walnut meat:

• Drain the walnuts in a colander & rinse well (discard the water the walnuts were soaked in).
• In a small food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts until you have meat like crumbles (do not over process).
• Cut a couple slices of an onion & dice small.
• In a small skillet, over medium heat, sauté the onion in a few tablespoons of water until soft & translucent.
• Add the diced garlic, and cook 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add in the crumbled walnuts and remaining spices; stir well. Cook & stir for 4-5 minutes.
• Add 2-3 more Tablespoons of water, turn down the heat to low, cover pan, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (the walnut mixture does not really need to be cooked so this step could be skipped; however, I like the texture that steaming it covered for a few minutes gives the walnut meat).
• Remove from stove & add to top of pizza; bake your pizza per normal instructions for the pizza recipe you are using. (I used my Pizza Dough recipe- link in post above)

Notes

Soaking & Prepping the walnuts:

1. If you need the walnuts same day: place the walnuts in a bowl, cover with hot water, and leave it on the counter to soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. To prep overnight or longer: place the walnuts in a bowl or glass jar, cover with cold water, cover with a lid, and place in refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days. (My personal preference is to limit the soaking to 1 day max).  
3. When ready to use the soaked walnuts: 
   1. Drain the water & rinse the walnuts in a colander.  (Discard the soaking water; do not use it as cooking water).
   2. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until you have meat like crumbles.
   3. Do not over process the walnuts or you will end up with walnut butter. 

 

For the Onion & Garlic: 

1.  I tend to make small amounts of my recipes, so I rarely use a full onion.  
2.  Once you slice off what you need for this recipe, the remaining onion can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days. 
3. Plastic will absorb the scent of the onion, so I usually use a glass-lock container to store my leftover onion once cut. 
4. You can also chop the extra onion, add to a ziplock bag or glass-lock container & freeze it for longer storage.
5. If you don’t want to use fresh onion & garlic (or don’t have it on hand)- you can also use 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder & 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of the fresh.