Everyone loves shredded beef, I’m going to teach you how to make a carrot shredded beef recipe (and a side to go with it)! Yes, it looks and tastes just like the real thing, but it’s made from carrots! If you like this, be sure to check out this recipe too! and this one!
Prep Tofu
First we need to prepare our tofu. I’m using a super firm, pre-pressed tofu for this. I cut my large tofu block in half and put the halves on a baking rack (to help them dry out a bit more). Now sprinkle on then rub in some coarse sea salt. I then made my own little drying rack contraption out of some iron skillets. Then put the skillets on top of the tofu to press it, while it was on the baking rack, to really dry them out.
Carrot Meat
Now to start on our “meat” I shredded up my carrots using a cheese grater! Once I shredded about five carrots I tossed the bits into a bowl and added some soy sauce, a pinch of salt, a touch of olive oil, a teaspoon of yeast extract and some black pepper. I give that all a good stir then throw the carrots onto a lined baking sheet. I only spread them out over half of my sheet.
It’s been around fifteen minutes so I grab one of my halves of tofu. I shred the tofu up with the cheese grater as well. I add the tofu shreds to the same bowl I used for my carrots, then add in a little soy sauce, olive oil, black pepper, a teaspoon of yeast extract and a pinch of salt. Mix it up, then add the tofu to the other half of the baking sheet. I have my oven preheated for 250ºf. Now put the sheet in there and let them cook for about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes is up! Take my carrots off the sheet and add them to a bowl. Now leave your tofu on the sheet, spread it all out, and put it back in the oven for another fifteen minutes.
On the Side
So for our other half of tofu, I was thinking of making some vegan cottage cheese out of it! I believe this would go well with a bbq sandwich. To do this, I shredded my other half of tofu, and chopped up the shreds a bit with a knife. Add the shreds to a bowl. Then in a separate bowl, I add about half a cup of water, and two tablespoons of vegan cream cheese. Now I started to mix this up with an immersion blender but it came out too thin so I added two or three more tablespoons of cream cheese.
I begin to add some of the tofu to the cream cheese and mix it in, until it becomes cottage cheese consistency. Then tasted it and it was watered down so I added some salt, some lactic acid, and a touch of yeast extract. There we go! I add it to a smaller container and into the refrigerator to chill. It should be about time for the tofu to be done in the oven so I take that out. I add it all into the bowl with the carrots and cover it up.
Are you Hungry Yet?
Now I want to get an onion prepared, I cut a half of a yellow onion into slices. Toss those in a hot pan over a medium heat with a bit of olive oil. I let them cook for just a few moments and brown up. Once they’ve cooked a pinch I add maybe an eighth of a teaspoon of baking soda, this will make the onions caramelize quickly. While those cook I slice up a red pepper, get a cast iron skillet nice and hot, toss in a bit of oil with the peppers, and cook those down for a moment.
After they have had their moment, I add in the carrots along with them. I stir this up, add a pinch of rice vinegar, some soy sauce, and a decent amount of tomato paste. Then I add some of my new favorite ingredient Not Steak Sauce, this is my steak sauce! If you don’t have my Not Steak Sauce, you could use a combination of any of your favorite savory sauces. Add about a half of a cup of water, stir that in, then cover it up. In our onion pan, I add my buns to toast them up a pinch.
The buns are toasted so I added some vegan cheese to them and torched it. I top my cheesy bun with a hefty portion of the carrot beef, some of the caramelized onions, and a pinch more Not Steak Sauce. On the side I get some of my vegan cottage cheese of course.
We Did It!
The meat has an awesome sweet and savory flavor as well as a good firm bite. It’s very tender and has a real meat-like texture. Also, it looks just like pulled pork, or shredded beef! Your friends and family would have no idea! The cottage cheese is super nice and cheesy. It really tastes like the real thing, and the texture is almost spot on! It’s a great cottage cheese substitute. There you have it! Shredded carrot Beef! You have to try to make these! Watch the full video here!
No One Would Know this Shredded Beef was actually Carrots!
Ingredients
- 1 tofu block super firm pre-pressed
- pinch coarse sea salt
- 5 carrots
- soy sauce
- olive oil
- salt
- 2 tsp yeast extract
- black pepper
- 1.5 cup water
- 4 or 5 tbsp vegan cream cheese
- pinch lactic acid
- .5 yellow onion
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1 red pepper
- pinch rice vinegar
- few tbsp tomato paste
- Not Steak Sauce
- bun
Instructions
- Cut tofu block into halves, set on baking rack.
- Sprinkle on and rub in some coarse sea salt. Then press tofu to dry it out.
- Shred carrots and add to bowl with soy sauce, salt, olive oil, yeast extract, and black pepper.
- Stir then add to baking sheet, leaving half of sheet empty.
- Shred half of tofu, then add to bowl along with soy sauce, olive oil, black pepper, yeast extract, and salt. Add to other side of baking sheet with carrots.
- Preheat oven to 250ºf.
- Cook for twenty minutes.
- Take carrots out, add to bowl. Spread out tofu and add back to oven for fifteen more minutes.
- Cut yellow onion into slices, add to hot pan with olive oil. Let them brown a pinch then add baking soda.
- Slice up red pepper, add to cast iron skillet with oil and cook them down for a minute or so.
- Add in carrots, tofu and stir.
- Add in rice vinegar, soy sauce, tomato paste, Not Steak Sauce, water, and stir. Cover it up.
- Toast up buns. Add cheese if you'd like.
- Add your carrot beef to the bun and enjoy!