Sweet and Sour Soy Curls

If you’re looking for a quick and easy weeknight dinner, look no further than vegan Sweet and Sour Soy Curls. This delicious dish, which is a meat-free version of sweet and sour chicken, comes together faster than you can order takeout. Plus it’s much healthier than what you might order in a restaurant. In this easy recipe from The Mindful Vegan by Lani Muelrath, stir-fried vegetables and soy curls are cooked together with a delicious sweet and sour sauce made from pineapple juice. It's vegan and gluten-free.

Vegan Sweet and Sour 

I’m a sucker for any dish that contains soy curls, so Sweet and Sour Soy Curls from The Mindful Vegan is a dinner time favorite for me. It’s loaded with all of my favorite veggies, too – broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, and onions.

This dish comes together super quickly, and it’s a great recipe for newbie vegans. It’s also a great meal for busy weeknights, when you don’t have a lot of time to cook dinner. I added a little extra broccoli, and I ended up getting four servings out this dish, which meant we had tasty leftovers for dinner the next day.

What are Soy Curls?

Soy Curls are made from whole, non-gmo soybeans, and they’re minimally processed. They have a meaty texture that’s similar to seitan, so they’re a good option for those who follow a gluten-free diet. They soak up marinades and sauces well, and they’re terrific in just about everything from stir-fries to sandwiches.

Where to Buy Soy Curls

I can’t find Soy Curls in any store in my area, so I like to buy them in bulk from Amazon. You can also buy them directly from Butler Foods. Since they are minimally processed soy beans, they can get rancid if they sit in a hot pantry or kitchen cupboard for too long, so I like to store them in the fridge.

What You Need

• Onion 
• Red bell pepper 
• Bell pepper 
• Mushrooms
• Broccoli
• Vegetable broth
• Apple cider vinegar
• Pineapple juice 
• Tamari or coconut aminos
• Ketchup
• Molasses
• Grated ginger
• Ginger powder
• Chili pepper flakes 
• Cornstarch
• Soy curls
• Pineapple chunks

See the recipe card for exact amounts.

How to Make Sweet and Sour Soy Curls

This recipe is super easy to make!

• First you stir-fry all the vegetables in the broth over medium heat. Start with a small amount of the broth and add more if it’s needed. Cover your pan and let the vegetables continue to cook over low heat while you prepare the sweet and sour sauce.
• Next you combine the sauce ingredients and stir together until it’s smooth.
• Then you add the soy curls to the sauce to soak up the flavor. It will only take 2 to 3 minutes.
• Now you add the sauce, along with the curls and the pineapple chunks, to the stir-fried vegetables, and you raise heat to medium. You cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.

Serving Your Sweet and Sour Soy Curls

Serve your stir-fry over cooked brown rice or other whole grain. It's delicious over cauliflower rice, too.

The Mindful Vegan

The Mindful Vegan: A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness by Lani Muelrath is part meditation guide and part mindfulness handbook. There are some delicious recipes thrown in for those who are just getting started on their vegan journey. (Or for those who are already in vegan but need to get out of a meal rut!) Lani has been practicing mindfulness meditation for 25 years, and she is a certified mindfulness meditation facilitator, award winning health educator, and longtime vegan advocate, so if you want to learn mindfulness meditation, she’s the one to learn it from.

What You'll Find Inside The Mindful Vegan

This plan takes you on a 30-day meditation & mindfulness journey. Lani has created a downloadable audio guides to assist with your meditation practice, and each day the meditation gets a minute longer. So, on day 1, the meditation is just a minute long, but by day 15, you’ll be meditation for 15 minutes. It’s a great way to get started with meditation, if you’re new to it.

Each day in the book, Lani discusses different aspects of mindfulness. During the first few days, she talks about some of the challenges that occur when one is beginning a meditation practice, and she gives tips on dealing with them.

From there, she delves into different topics such as dieting, emotional eating, dealing with cravings, improving your mood, and becoming vegan. Lani shares lots of personal stories with a positive attitude and a good sense of humor.

By day 30 of The Mindful Vegan plan, you’ll feel less stressed and more joyful, and you’ll have a greater sense of ease around eating.

If your goal this year is to be more mindful, overcome compulsive eating, reduce stress, or just bring more peace into your life, The Mindful Vegan is the book for you.

Sweet and Sour Soy Curls

Lani Muelrath

If you haven’t yet had soy curls, here’s a good excuse to try them. They are versatile, taking the flavor of whatever you mix them with, and have a pleasing texture.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 3 servings

Calories 132 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• ½ cup vegetable broth divided

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 3 to 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup pineapple juice drained from can of pineapple chunks
• 1 tablespoon tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 tablespoon organic ketchup
• 1 tablespoon organic unsulphured molasses
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
• ¼ teaspoon chili pepper flakes optional
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 ounces dried soy curls (half of an 8-ounce package)
• 1 20-ounce or smaller can unsweetened pineapple chunks drained (save liquid)

Instructions

 

• Stir-fry all the vegetables in the broth over medium heat, starting with a small amount of broth and adding more as needed. Cover and let these continue to cook over low heat while you prepare the sweet and sour sauce, checking and adding broth as needed to protect against sticking.
• Combine the sauce ingredients and stir together until smooth. Then add the soy curls to the sauce to soak up the flavor—it will only take 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the sauce, along with the curls and the pineapple chunks, to the stir-fried vegetables. Raise heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens.
• Serve over brown rice or other whole grain.

Notes

Recipe excerpted from Mindful Vegan: A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness (BenBella Books; October 2017)

More Soy Curl Recipes Include

• Lemon Pepper Soy Curls
• Kung Pao Soy Curls
• Soy Curl Marsala 
• Soy Curl and Kimchi Tacos

More Sweet and Sour Recipes include

• Sweet and Sour Tofu
• Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts