Have you ever heard of Vegan Puerto Rican Corned Beef? Enjoy this new Veganized Puerto Rican with seasonings like recao, tomato sauce, sofrito, garlic & adobo, you can turn TVP into the most delicious vegan corned beef hash.
Vegan | Gluten-free
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve made a #VeganizedPuertoRican recipe, and boy is this a good one!
Arroz con Corned Beef (rice with corned beef hash) is a Puerto Rican staple. Veganizing this recipe has been on the top of my to-do list for months, and I finally nailed it! I grew up eating this dish probably once a week, and I haven’t had it for almost a decade, crazy right?
With the help from my mom, today I bring you: Vegan Puerto Rican Corned Beef Hash.
What is corned beef?
Okay, so let’s get into the basics. Corned beef is a sort of cured meat that comes in a can. There’s no sugar coating this, the real deal is gross af and completely unhealthy. It has waaaaay too much salt, a bunch of preservatives and tons of trans/saturated fats. Not to mention that there are (or used to be) a lot of unsanitary mishaps during the production of it (more on that later). Hence why I stopped eating it almost 10 years ago.
Corned beef hash and Puerto Rico
Oh, there’s history with Puerto Ricans and corned beef. One time (2011) the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) tried to ban corned beef from being imported into the Island from Brazil, where its main processor had been banned from the U.S. and whose meat was the subject of the recalls. There was chaos; not only because arroz con corned beef was a staple of our cuisine, but because it was one of the cheapest things that you could find in the supermarket. You could feed an entire family twice, with a $.40 can and 2 cups of rice.
Since then, being able to purchase it has become a luxury due to restrictions issued by the FDA. And there have been more recalls over the years; in 2019 it was found that corned beef products (meant to go for schools) were contaminated with extraneous materials, like pieces of metal. YUM!
How do we veganize corned beef hash?
In Puerto Rico, there are various ways that you can make this dish. Traditionally, it’s stewed with potatoes, corn, or yellow plantains, and it’s also used as a side for rice and root veggies, as well as stuffing for sandwiches, empanadillas and alcapurrias. So today I’m sharing with you the veganized version of my family’s recipe.
There’s this wonderful thing called TSP/TVP, textured soy/vegetable protein. Turns out, that when seasoned correctly (& with a little bit of the VeggieJeva magic) along with beets & walnuts, you can achieve corned beef consistency. Then cook it up with some seasonings like: recao, tomato sauce, sofrito, garlic & adobo.
Lastly, but definitely not least, what completes this dish and takes it to a whole other level: fried potatoes. Like I said before, you can choose anything else like ripe fried plantains & corn or even boiled potatoes, but we just feel like there’s nothing like fried potatoes in corned beef hash.
BEFORE: TVP being rehydrated with veggie stock. 
AFTER: TVP after processing with beets & walnuts.
Notes:
- You can use either Textured Soy or Vegetable Protein, there’s not much of a difference.
- If you can’t use walnuts, you can use cashews or almonds instead.
- Recao is a herb that grows locally and wildly through Puerto Rico; you can probably find it already growing in your backyard. If you don’t have any (or don’t live in Puerto Rico), you can find it in supermarkets either as recao or culantro.
- If you don’t have sofrito, here’s a quick recipe for you to make at home.
- Beets are an essential ingredient to this recipe; it’s what’s going to give the meaty color. Super important to only add ¼ cup to the recipe, as the goal is to achieve a light pink color.
Vegan Puerto Rican Corned Beef by Karla Alverio Valle is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recipe: Vegan Puerto Rican Corned Beef
Ingredients
Corned Beef Hash:
- 1 ½ cups TSP/TVP (Soy or Vegetable Protein)
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- ¼ cup beet, cubed
Other Ingredients:
- 1 large Yukon Gold Potato (or 2 small ones), diced in small cubes
- 4 tbsp avocado oil or olive Oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup bell peppers, diced
- Oil for frying
Seasonings:
- 1 ¼ cup of veggie stock (or 1 veggie bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup of water)
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp sofrito
- Adobo seasoning, to taste
- 1-2 leaves recao/culantro (optional)
- Salt & pepper
Procedure
- First, boil the veggie stock (or veggie bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup of water). To a mixing bowl, add TSP/TVP, walnuts and veggie stock; allow TSP/TVP to rehydrate for about 5 minutes or until it’s fluffy & soft.
- While the TSP/TVP is rehydrating, boil or steam the beet for 5 minutes.
- Strain both, the TSP/TVP & walnut mix, and the beet. Add both to a food processor; process until everything is well incorporated and finely chopped. The mixture should be light pink and should resemble finely chopped corned beef hash. Set aside.
- To a frying pan, add frying oil, wait until the oil is hot and fry the diced potatoes. Fry until golden brown. Remove fries from oil, season with salt, and set aside.
- Now moving on to the “corned beef”: heat a saucepan to medium heat. Add the avocado oil, diced onions, bell peppers and garlic; sauteé until translucent and fragrant. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Next, add the sofrito, tomato sauce, and recao leaves; sauteé for 1 minute. Season to taste with the adobo seasoning.
- When everything is well incorporated, mix in the fried potatoes and cook covered with a lid for about 7-10.
- Serve with cooked rice, avocado, some tostones, and ENJOY!
Here are my other #VeganizedPuertoRican recipes:
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Vegan Puerto Rican Corned Beef by Karla Alverio Valle is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
