Gochujang TVP with chickpeas and apricots
The BBC’s 20-minute gochujang mince, rebuilt for this kitchen: soya mince instead of meat, no gnocchi, chickpeas and dried apricots in, and rice or bulgur underneath. Six steps, one pan, ≈ 32 g protein a serving. Related: Dinner, Chicken Tagine with Harissa (the same template with harissa), In the larder and fridge
Why it was adapted this way
- Gnocchi out, rice or bulgur in. Not a pasta fan — and bulgur or brown rice carries the same sauce with more fibre and no potato.
- Plant mince (TVP) instead of the BBC’s plant mince. Dry soya mince is the cheap, cupboard-stable version and rehydrates in 10 minutes. Soya chunks work too if you prefer the bite — give them 5 extra minutes in the sauce.
- A legume and a dried fruit, borrowed from the tagine. Chickpeas add fibre and body; dried apricots answer gochujang’s heat with sweetness — the same trick the tagine uses, and the reason both dishes taste finished rather than just spicy.
- Kept deliberately short. The sauce is the BBC’s own spine — tomato purée, gochujang, soy, lime, coriander, sesame. That is already a complete flavour, so nothing else was added.
Ingredients (serves 2, doubles cleanly to 4)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dry soya mince (TVP) | 100 g | or 100 g soya chunks; or 250 g ready plant mince |
| Boiling vegetable stock | 250 ml | for rehydrating the TVP |
| Oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Onion | 1 small | finely chopped |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | crushed |
| Fresh coriander | 1 large handful | stalks finely chopped, leaves kept for the top |
| Tomato purée | 2 tbsp | |
| Gochujang | 1½–2 tbsp | to taste — this is the whole dish’s character |
| Dark soy sauce | 1 tbsp | |
| Lime | ½, juice | plus a wedge to serve |
| Chickpeas | 120 g drained | ⅓ of a 400 g tin |
| Dried apricots | 60 g | roughly chopped (or 40 g dates) |
| Toasted sesame seeds | to finish | |
| Brown rice or bulgur | 80 g dry rice / 100 g bulgur | per person as you like |
| Optional: spinach | a handful | stir in at the end |
| Optional: Greek yoghurt | 2 tbsp | tames the heat, +5 g protein |
Steps
- Rehydrate the TVP — 100 g dry mince in 250 ml boiling stock for 10 minutes, then drain and squeeze. (Soya chunks: same, but simmer 10 minutes.) Skip if using ready mince.
- Brown it — 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan, medium-high. Add the mince and fry until browned and a bit crusty. Tip into a bowl and set aside.
- Build the base — a little more oil, then the onion with a pinch of salt for 5–7 minutes until soft. Add the garlic + coriander stalks for 1 minute, then the tomato purée for 1–2 minutes until it darkens.
- The sauce — stir in the gochujang, then a splash of water to loosen it to a glossy coating.
- Legume and fruit in — the chickpeas + chopped apricots + soy + lime, with another splash of water. Simmer 5 minutes, then return the mince and warm through. Taste: salt, sweet, heat. (Spinach now, if using.)
- Serve — over rice or bulgur, scattered with coriander leaves and sesame, lime wedge on the side, yoghurt if you want it milder.
Nutrition (estimate)
Per serving: ≈ 570 kcal · ≈ 32 g protein · ≈ 18 g fibre. Calculation from the ingredient list, not a lab figure.
- Protein — TVP ~25 g, chickpeas ~4 g, rice ~3 g. Two servings from a 100 g bag of soya mince.
- Salt — gochujang and soy both carry salt, so this dish needs none added. Taste before you season; that is where this one can go wrong.
- Sugar — 60 g apricots is ~35 g carbs, roughly 18 g of it sugar; a serving carries ~9 g. Less than the tagine, and it is doing real work against the chilli.
- Heat control — gochujang varies a lot by brand. Start at 1½ tbsp, and remember the yoghurt and lime are the brakes.
Notes
- Batch it — the whole pan doubles and keeps 3 days in the fridge; freezes well. Cook the rice fresh.
- The template, once more: protein + legume + dried fruit + a fermented chilli paste + lime + sesame, over a grain. Swap gochujang → harissa and apricots → apricots and you have Chicken Tagine with Harissa; swap the mince → chicken thigh and the same six steps still work.
- Source: adapted from BBC Food’s gochujang mince gnocchi, 2026-10-08. The BBC’s own tips — add veg (courgette, broccoli, tomatoes) and leave leftovers a little looser — still apply.