Tempeh! Hands up if you’ve tried and love this superfood. If you’ve not heard of it or haven’t given it a chance, well it’s time to add this superfood into your diet.

So what’s tempeh? Tempeh is a fermented form of soy that’s high in protein, low in fat and rich in probiotics, hence making it very easy to digest.

For every 100g it contains 18g of protein and under 200 Calories! It is also a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids. Hence, making it an excellent choice as a meat replacement, without the saturated fat or cholesterol.

Tempeh has a chewy consistency and a nutty flavour. Some of you might not enjoy the taste on your first few tries, but give it some time, and you’ll grow to love the unique taste and texture.

Although it’s firm, it still absorbs the flavours around it, so it’s an easy and versatile ingredient to add to any dish. You might be wondering, how do I cook it? Well, just treat it like meat. It can be steamed, grilled, baked, or sautéed.

It’s a great food to add into your diet especially if you are watching your weight. I’m going to share with you 3 methods to cook tempeh and how you can create 8 different recipes for it.!

Method 1 - Stir fried or Sauté

Let’s make most people’s favourite “Sweet & Sour Chicken” but using tempeh instead. What you’ll need are:

Sweet & Sour Tempeh (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1. 1 (250g) packages Tempeh, cut into cubes – 482Cals
2. ½ medium red bell pepper, cut into chunks - 18.5Cals
3. ½ medium green bell pepper, cut into chunks - 18.5Cals
4. ½ Red Onion, roughly chopped – 23Cals
5. 1 cup Pineapple, cut into chunks – 80Cal
6. 2 Garlic Cloves, minced – 9Cals
7. 1.5 tbsps. Sesame Oil – 180Cals
8. A handful of Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped – 6Cals
9. ¼ tsp. Red Chilli Flakes – 2Cals

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1. ¼ cup Ketchup (68cals)
2. ¼ cup Rice Vinegar (8cals)
3. ½ tbsp. Soy Sauce
4. 1.5 tbsps. Raw Honey (96cals)
5. 1 tbsp. Cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsps. Cold Water (30cals)
6. ¼ cup water

Steps:

1. First, prepare the sweet and sour sauce. In a bowl, whisk together ketchup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, water and cornstarch. Set aside.
2. In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Stir in tempeh, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and chilli flakes. Cook until just beginning to brown, 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are slightly tender.
3. Mix in the pineapple and sweet and sour sauce mixture. Continue to cook very quickly for another 2 to 3 minutes until all ingredients are evenly coated and remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle with a little bit of cilantro and serve.

Calories per serving – 256Cals

Done! Here’s your favourite Chinese Takeaway, which is a much healthier option! Another really simple recipe is to simple sauté tempeh with any vegetables of your choice.

Tempeh sauté with vegetables (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1. 150g tempeh, cut into cubes – 290Cals
2. 1 red onion, roughly chopped – 46Cals
3. ½ medium red bell pepper, cut into chunks - 18.5Cals
4. ½ medium green bell pepper, cut into chunks - 18.5Cals
5. 2 Garlic Cloves, sliced – 9Cals
6. 1 head Broccoli – 98Cals
7. 1 tbsp. Olive Oil – 69Cals
8. 1.5 tbsps. Soy Sauce – 14Cals

Steps:

1. Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add garlic, tempeh and soy sauce, stir-fry until the tempeh begins to colour.
2. Then add in onion, broccoli and bell peppers. Stir fry for few minutes or until the vegetables are tender crisp.
3. Serve immediately.

Calories per serving – 141Cals

This makes a great main dish or you can also choose to serve it with a side of rice.

Method 2 - Baked Tempeh

 The second method to cook tempeh is to simple bake it and I’m going to show you 4 ways you can enjoy baked tempeh.

Start by slicing up the tempeh into different shapes and sizes, depending on the recipe. Now let’s prep the marinade sauce, I’m using 2 tbsps. Soy sauce, 1 tbsp. olive oil and 2 garlic cloves, minced.

Pour the sauce over the tempeh to pack in more flavours. Lay them out on a tray. What I’ve done is, I’ve also sliced up some vegetables and put them together with tempeh on skewers to make tempeh kebab.

Bake them all at 180 degrees celcius in a pre-heated oven for about 15 -20 minutes.

So you can enjoy:

• Baked tempeh skewers
• Or top your salad up with baked tempeh
• Make tempeh sandwich
• Or simple enjoy it on it’s on as a snack.

1 method but 4 different ways to enjoy it.

1) Enjoy it on it's own as a snack

2) Place onto salad – Baby Spinach, Cherry Tomato, Olives and top with baked tempeh

3) Sandwich – Whole Wheat Bread, Avocado Spread, baby spinach, tomato slices, cucumber slices and baked tempeh

4) Skewers – Cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, cucumber, onion and baked tempeh

Method 3 - Crumbled into dishes

And the final method is to use crumbled tempeh as replacement for minced meat. Let’s make bolognes sauce served 2 ways.

Tempeh Bolognese Sauce (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1. 150g tempeh, crumbled – 290Cals
2. 1 can Diced Tomatoes – 106Cals
3. 2 tbsps. Olive Oil – 138Cals
4. 1 cup Chopped Onion – 64Cals
5. 2 Garlic Cloves, minced – 9Cals
6. ¼ tsp. Dried Basil - 1Cals
7. 1 tbsp. Fresh Coriander, minced – 2Cals
8. Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook the onion and garlic, until they are lightly browned, for about 3 minutes.
2. Then stir in the crumbled tempeh and continue to cook until the tempeh begins to brown. Then mix it the diced tomatoes, basil and flavor with salt and pepper.
3. Allow all the ingredients to cook and simmer for another 5 – 7 minutes until the tempeh absorbs the flavour of the sauce. Don’t forget to stir occasionally.

Each serving packs about 153 calories. You can either choose to serve it on pasta or rice.

These are just few really simple recipes that I’ve whipped up using tempeh. How do you enjoy tempeh? Let me know in the comments below.

Make them, snap and share your pictures with me. Tag me @JoannaSohOfficial #JSohRecipes and let me know which is your favourite in the comments below.