What Is TVP? Textured Vegetable Protein and Soya Mince

Textured vegetable protein, or TVP, is defatted soya flour (sometimes wheat) cooked under heat and pressure and extruded into dry chunks, mince or granules; it is a food rather than a supplement, and soya is one of the UK's 14 labelled allergens. The packet's protein figure is for the dry product; once the pieces have soaked up water, 100 g of what you eat holds a fraction of that, which is the mistake most online figures make. The UK composition dataset, CoFID 2021, has no row for TVP, so this page gives its values for the soya foods around it and says "insufficient data" where none exists.¹ TVP is one of the vegan protein sources in the Wellgard guide, and because it is made from soya the hormone and thyroid questions sit on the soya protein page.

What is TVP made of, and how is it made?

Soya beans are pressed or solvent-extracted for their oil, and the flour that remains is mostly protein, fibre and carbohydrate with little fat. That defatted flour is mixed with water, cooked under heat and pressure inside an extruder, forced through a die and dried. The heat and shear give the proteins a fibrous structure that turns chewy once water goes back in. The size of the die sets the product: large pieces are sold as soya chunks or nuggets, small ones as soya mince or granules. Textured soya protein, TSP, textured vegetable protein, TVP, soya chunks and soya mince are all the same food under different names. Some products are made from wheat gluten rather than soya, or blend the two, and are labelled textured wheat protein; the ingredients list is the only way to tell. Plain TVP is sold dry in supermarkets, wholefood shops and South Asian grocers and is the base of many ready-made vegetarian mince and burger products.

How much protein is in TVP, dry and rehydrated?

CoFID 2021 has no row for textured vegetable protein, soya chunks or soya mince, so there is no dataset figure for TVP either dry or rehydrated; only pack labels give one.¹ What the dataset does carry is the material it is made from. Dried raw soya beans hold 35.9 g of protein per 100 g with only 8.5 g of water; the same beans boiled hold 14.0 g of protein per 100 g with 64.3 g of water.¹ The protein did not change; the beans took in water, so each 100 g held less of it. The dataset's soya flour row is 34.3 g protein, 22.4 g fat and 409 kcal per 100 g; defatting removes most of that fat, so protein becomes a larger share of the dry weight, which is why a TVP packet's panel shows a higher protein figure than whole soya flour.¹

Read your packet's figure as grams per 100 g dry. To know what you eat, weigh the dry amount, soak it, and weigh it again; the protein is unchanged while the weight has risen by however much water the pieces took up, so the figure per 100 g as eaten falls by the same factor. Rehydration ratios vary by product and soaking time, so use the packet's serving guidance rather than a website figure that quotes the dry value as the cooked one.

Salt is the other label figure to check. Plain TVP has no added salt and no dataset row (insufficient data); flavoured or marinated versions carry whatever salt was added, and the NHS limit for adults is no more than 6 g of salt a day, around one level teaspoon, including the salt already in food.²

Is TVP healthy, and is it ultra-processed?

TVP is a concentrated pulse food. The dataset's closest row, soya flour, carries 34.3 g protein, 18.0 g fibre and 8.42 mg iron per 100 g; TVP's own fibre and iron values are insufficient data, so the packet is the source.¹ Extrusion makes it a processed food, and people ask whether it is ultra-processed. The NHS page on processed foods says "Not all processed foods are unhealthy, but many ultra-processed foods are high in calories, saturated fat, salt or sugar", and that "It's not known if ultra-processed foods are unhealthy due to the processing or because of the calories, fat, salt and sugar they contain" (page reviewed 12 June 2023).³ Plain TVP is low in fat, salt and sugar by what it is; a flavoured version is judged on its label.

The protein itself has been studied more than most. In the 2025 pooled analysis of 30 randomised trials of plant against animal protein for muscle, soya and milk protein showed no difference in muscle mass across 17 trials (standardised mean difference -0.02, not significant), while the small overall deficit for plant protein (-0.20) was driven by non-soya sources and plant-based diets, with no difference in strength across 14 trials.⁴ An earlier analysis of nine trials in 266 people found soya protein and whey gave the same gains in strength and lean body mass with resistance training.⁵ Those trials used soya protein powders, not textured soya; they describe the bean's protein.

Is TVP a complete protein?

By composition, yes. Soya protein carries all nine indispensable amino acids above the reference pattern, and soya protein isolates and concentrate scored a PDCAAS of 0.95 to 1.00 across two laboratories, the gap put down to analytical method.⁶ "Complete" describes an amino acid profile and is not a benefit claim. Those scores belong to isolates; no human DIAAS exists for textured soya as eaten (insufficient data), and a whole or processed soya food is digested less completely than an isolate of the same bean, so the distinction is explained on the complete protein page.

How do you use soya chunks and soya mince?

Cover the dry pieces with hot vegetable stock or boiling water and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes until soft; mince is ready sooner than chunks. Drain in a sieve and press out the excess water; waterlogged pieces will not brown and dilute a sauce. Rehydrated TVP tastes of very little and takes on whatever it is cooked in, so marinate chunks, or fry squeezed mince with onion, garlic and spices before adding liquid. Mince goes where minced meat goes, into bolognese, chilli, shepherd's pie, tacos and keema; chunks suit curries, stews and kebabs.

For portions, work from the packet's dry figure. If the panel says 50 g of protein per 100 g dry, then 60 g dry is 30 g of protein, however much water it then takes up; 40 g dry is 20 g. The 25 to 30 g per meal reasoning, and a worked day, are on how much protein vegans need.

Who should avoid TVP?

Anyone with a soya allergy. Soybeans are one of the 14 allergens that pre-packed food must emphasise in its ingredients list every time they appear.⁷ The NHS lists soybeans among the most common allergic foods and says to see a GP if you think you or your child may have a food allergy, and to call 999 if your lips, mouth, throat or tongue suddenly become swollen or you are struggling to breathe (page reviewed 20 August 2026).⁸

People with coeliac disease need the soya-only kind. Coeliac disease is an immune reaction to gluten, the protein in wheat, barley and rye; a textured wheat protein or a soya-wheat blend contains it, and a product may only be labelled gluten-free if it holds no more than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram.^{7, 9} Check the ingredients and any "may contain" line. If you take levothyroxine for an underactive thyroid, ask a pharmacist before changing how much soya you eat; the thyroid trials are reported on the soya protein page.

How does TVP compare with tofu, tempeh and mycoprotein?

The table gives CoFID 2021 values per 100 g as eaten and per 100 kcal; TVP has no row.¹

Digestibility note: these are grams of protein in the food, not grams absorbed. Soya isolates score a PDCAAS of 0.95 to 1.00, whole and processed soya foods are digested less completely, and no human DIAAS exists for TVP, tofu or tempeh as eaten (insufficient data).⁶ Some mycoprotein products are bound with egg white, so vegan status is read from each label. Per 100 kcal, mycoprotein pieces lead; per 100 g, fried tofu and tempeh lead; TVP's place depends on the packet figure and how much water you add.

Frequently asked questions

Is TVP the same as soya mince?

Yes. Soya mince is textured vegetable protein in fine granules; soya chunks are the same material cut larger. Both are defatted soya flour that has been extruded and dried, unless the label says textured wheat protein.

How much protein is in soya chunks?

The figure on the packet is per 100 g dry, and CoFID 2021 has no row for soya chunks (insufficient data).¹ Once soaked, the protein per 100 g as eaten falls by whatever factor the weight rose; for comparison, boiled soya beans are 14.0 g per 100 g and fried tofu 23.5 g.¹

Is textured vegetable protein gluten-free?

Soya-based TVP contains no gluten ingredient, but a product may only be labelled gluten-free at 20 mg of gluten per kilogram or less, and textured wheat protein and soya-wheat blends contain gluten.⁷ Read the ingredients list and the "may contain" line.

Is TVP vegan?

Plain TVP is soya flour and water, so yes. Ready-flavoured or ready-made products built on it can contain milk, egg or other labelled allergens, which the ingredients list must emphasise.⁷

Sources

1. Public Health England. McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID), 2021: rows 13-115, 13-116, 11-898, 13-570, 13-571, 13-118, 13-574. gov.uk.
2. NHS. Salt in your diet. Page reviewed 17 April 2023. nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/salt-in-your-diet.
3. NHS. Processed foods. Page reviewed 12 June 2023. nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/what-are-processed-foods.
4. Reid-McCann RJ, et al. Effect of plant versus animal protein on muscle mass, strength, physical performance, and sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Reviews, 2025. PubMed 39813010.
5. Messina M, et al. No difference between the effects of supplementing with soy protein versus animal protein on gains in muscle mass and strength in response to resistance exercise. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2018. PubMed 29722584.
6. Hughes GJ, et al. Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores (PDCAAS) for soy protein isolates and concentrate: criteria for evaluation. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2011. PubMed 22017752.
7. Food Standards Agency. Allergen labelling for food manufacturers, 14 December 2017. gov.uk.
8. NHS. Food allergy. Page reviewed 20 August 2026. nhs.uk/conditions/food-allergy.
9. NHS. Coeliac disease. nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-disease.