Ceviche de Soya
Ceviche de soya is a traditional Mexican ceviche made with texturized vegetable protein (or TVP) and it’s a delicious, budget-friendly, plant-based alternative to fish ceviche. Ready in no time and served on tostadas with avocado slices and your favorite hot sauce. Makes the perfect meal for buys nights or hot summer days.
What is Ceviche de Soya
If you don’t already know, ceviche is a dish from Mexico, and some parts of South America, that is made with raw fish or seafood and marinated in lime juice and other ingredients.
Soya means soy in Spanish, and in some countries it’s spelled soja.
So ceviche de soya in English refers to a plant-based ceviche made with soy protein instead of fish or seafood.
Ceviche de Carne or Ceviche de Res or Carne Apache
Did you know that Mexican ceviche isn’t only made with fish and seafood?
In Mexico we also have meat ceviche and it’s called ceviche de res or carne apache. This ceviche is made with ground beef, lots of lime juice and traditional pico de gallo vegetables. Just like in the seafood ceviche, it is the citric acid in the lime juice that helps “cook” the meat.
I grew up eating this beef ceviche in the small Jalisco town that my family is from, and I can tell you that it’s just as delicous as the fish and seafood one.
Ceviche de soya is the vegan ceviche alternative to the ground beef based one. And amigos, it’s just as scrumptious as the meat and seafood ceviche.
Why You’ll Love Vegan Ceviche de Soya
• Soy ceviche is made with TVP or soy protein and it’s incredibly budget friendly.
• You don’t have to worry about raw meat or fish!
• Makes the perfect, light, and refreshing meal perfect for hot summer days, Lent, and Meatless Mondays.
• TVP is a plant protein with a high content of healthy protein.
Ceviche de Soya Ingredients
Soya: Textured vegetable protein or TVP can be found at any grocery store, Asian food markets, as well as Hispanic and Mexican grocery stores.
In English you’ll find it as soy protein, TVP, or texturized vegetable protein, or soy crumbles. In the Spanish speaking stores look for carne de soya, soja protein, or proteina de soya texturizada.
Wherever you buy it, you’ll notice that it’s inexpensive, and you’ll get a large amount fo little money.
To Prepare the Soy Meat: Dried soy needs a little help to make it taste better and for that I rehydrate it in a broth made of bouillon powder, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper. You can find my how to cook soy protein recipe here.
Ceviche Vegetables: The vegetables used in Mexican ceviche are pretty standard and usually the same as making a pico de gallo salsa. You’ll need roma tomatoes, white onion, a green chile, fresh cilantro, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Seasonings: Traditionally just salt and black pepper are used, but you can also use some soy sauce for extra umami flavor. Now if you want that seafood taste then mix in some flakes or finely ground nori sheets. (I use nori for my vegan tuna salad and cauliflower ceviche.)
For Serving: Traditionally ceviche is served with saltine crackers, tortilla chips, and tostadas, this ceviche de soya is best on crispy tostada shells. You’ll also need mayonnaise for coating the tostadas, avocado, and your favorite bottled hot sauce.
💡Learn how to cook carne de soya with my step-by-step guide.
How to Make Ceviche de Soya
Step 1: Rehydrate the Soy Protein
Bring the water with bouillon powder, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaf, to a boil. Then pour in the TVP and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Then drain and allow to cool, once cooled drain off and squeeze out all the excess liquid. Place in a large glass mixing bowl.
Step 2: Make The Ceviche Salsa
Finely chop the tomato, onion, chile peppers, and cilantro, and squeese the limes.
Step 3: Mix The Vegan Soy Ceviche
Pour the freshly squeezed lime juice over the rehydrated soy protein, then sprinkle in the sea salt and mix until well combined. Mix in the chopped tomato, onion, chile until well combined then fold in the finely chopped cilantro until well combined.
Step 4: Marinate The Ceviche
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve.
Step 5: Taste and Serve:
Once ready to serve, taste the ceviche and adjust the salt or any other ingredient you’d like. Allow each person to serve their own tostadas as they go otherwise they’ll get soggy and break. Spread mayo on a tostada, use a slotted spoon to scoop ceviche onto tostada, garnish with avocado slices and hot sauce. Enjoy!
💡Fun Fact: Carne de soya or soy protein is a popular ingredient in Mexico that serves as a meat alternative and budget friendly protein option.
How to Serve Ceviche de Soya Tostada
If you don’t like mayo you can instead mash some avocado and spread it over the tostada before topping with the ceviche.
In my family when we eat ceviche we don’t usually do an appetizer or side dish, instead we just dive right into the ceviche. We just serve tostada shells, tortilla chips, and saltine crackers.
Drinks that go well with soya tostadas are ice cold beer or a margarita or paloma (if you drink alcohol). Some people do a soft drink but I personally prefer a light and refreshing agua fresca like agua de jamaica, cucumber agua fresca, or pineapple agua fresca.
How to Store Leftovers
Place any leftovers in an airtight container, make sure it’s glass, and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days. After that the tomatoes will turn mushy and not taste too.
Nancy’s Tips
• Squeeze out as much of the boiling broth from the rehydrated soya so that it can better absorb the flavors of the lime juice and other ingredients.
• You can rinse the TVP before simmering to remove some of the powdered bits.
• While the rehydrated soy meat is cooling down you can begin to chop the vegetables.
• Core the tomatoes to avoid extra moisture in your ceviche.
• Buying the TVP at ethnic stores is cheaper than other places.
• As with all ceviche, the longer you let it marinate the better the flavor.
Try These Recipes with Soy Protein
Vegan Carne en su Jugo, Vegan Chorizo, Vegan Picadillo, Ensalada de Pollo, Carne Picada, and Vegetarian Chiles en Nogada.
Gracias
I’m so happy you stopped by. If you have any questions or want to let me know how you liked this recipe, do leave a comment. Muchas gracias, I appreciate you!
Authentic Ceviche de Soya Recipe
Amigos, ff you’re looking for a fresh and flavorful dish that’s perfect for summer, look no further than ceviche de soya. This vegan twist is light, tangy, and bursting with zesty flavors. Whether you’re a longtime fan of traditional ceviche or just looking to try something new, this plant-based version is sure to impress your taste buds.
Best Ceviche de Soya Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ lb texturized vegetable soy protein* It’s about 2 cups or 4oz or 114g
- 4 cups water for boiling
- ¼ teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 small cloves
- ¼ small white onion
- ½ teaspoon sea salt adjust to taste
- ⅓ cup to ½ cup fresh lime juice adjust to taste, I used 2 larger limes
- 3 large roma tomatoes cored and finely chopped
- ½ cup white onion finely chopped
- 2 large serrano peppers finely chopped **
- ½ cup to ¾ cups fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 10 corn tostadas
- ½ cup mayonnaise adjust to taste or use crema instead
- 2 large avocados sliced or mashed
- Valentina hot sauce or spicy salsa of choice
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil then add the bouillon powder, bay leaf, garlic and onion and stir until well combined. Pour in the soy protein or TVP. Simmer for 5 minutes then turn heat off and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes or until the soy meat is rehydrated and soft.
- Remove from heat, drain, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- While the TVP cools, core and chop the tomato, onion, chile peppers, and cilantro. Squeeze the lime juice.
- Squeeze out all of the excess liquid from the rehydrated soy meat then put it in a large glass mixing bowl.
- Pour the lime juice over it then sprinkle in the salt. Mix until well combined.
- Mix in the tomato, chile, and onion until well combined. Then mix in the cilantro.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. The longer it marinates the better the taste.
- Serve on crispy tostada shells with a smear of mayonnaise then top with the ceviche and garnish with avocado slices and hot sauce. Or you can spread smashed avocado over the tostada before topping with the ceviche and hot sauce.
Recipe Notes & Pro Tips
**For a milder ceviche use fresh jalapeño peppers, or you can do a mix of serrano and jalapenos.
***For a “seafood” taste you can mix in some nori powder.
****Sometimes I’ll also add soy sauce for extra umami flavor.
Nutrition
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Looking for a Salsa Bowl Like Mine
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Nancy Lopez is a Mexican-born food writer and author of Mexican Tamales Made Meatless. Raised in the U.S. and now living in Southern Mexico, she creates authentic vegan and vegetarian Mexican recipes rooted in tradition and tested for real home kitchens.Read more…
