By Team Dirty
Nov 15, 2023,
The plant based food scene is a hub for innovation and products. It can be hard to keep up with. But we prefer to cook with food that hasn’t been fucked with too much, so we tend to let trends come and go.
However, there’s one vegan product taking the scene by storm that we’ve fallen in love with: soy curls. These protein and fiber-packed morsels are minimally processed, naturally gluten-free, and soak up whatever deliciousness you marinate them in, so the options are endless. Our Soyturkey Avocado Club is a crazy delicious sandwich featuring soy curls marinated in a careful selection of seasonings to give them big turkey flavor, avocado, and all the fixins. You won’t believe this satisfyingly loaded sandwich is completely vegan.
Clean Food Dirty Girl members are loving this fun and festive soy curls recipe. Melanie says, “Shut the fork up! [The] Soyturkey Avocado Club was delicious. Even the picky spouse loved it! Making this was my first time using and eating soy curls. Easy to prepare and just freaking delicious. Heavy rotation has been requested. That’s a win!” So let’s dive in.
What’s inside
Soy curls: At the time of writing, there are only a handful of companies making soy curls (some under different names) and there are a few recipes out there for making your own. If you want to purchase the OG like we do and they’re not available at your local supermarket, you can find them online.
Soaking liquid: Soy curls are a dried product, which makes them shelf stable and ups the convenience factor. You’ll want to soak them before cooking. And while you can just pop them in warm water for a few minutes, we like to add some extra flavor to the party to maximize the yumminess. Our soaking liquid includes vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, and liquid smoke. This is where the turkey magic happens.
Hoagie rolls: We like 100% whole grain, sprouted, or gluten-free hoagies for this monster of a sandwich, but if you prefer a more traditional club, feel free to use toasted sliced bread.
Toppings: No club sandwich is complete without layers of crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and tangy pickles. Plus, we’ve added delicious avocado, dried oregano, and dried cranberries to really send this one over the edge. The dried cranberries may be surprising, but trust us.
How to make the Soyturkey Avocado Club
Soak and cook the soy curls
First, let’s get our soy curls soaking. Whisk all your soaking liquid ingredients together in a large bowl and drop the curls in for about 10 minutes. We like to give everything a stir about halfway through the soaking time.
While your curls are soaking, combine your marinade ingredients. To make things easier (and save dishes), we like to whisk up the marinade directly in a large measuring cup with a spout for pouring.
Once your soy curls are done soaking, strain them using a colander or fine mesh strainer. You can discard the soaking liquid, but don’t toss the bowl in the sink yet. With the curls still in the strainer, use clean hands to give them a good squeeze to remove any excess liquid. Then, if you desire, transfer them to a cutting board and chop them into bite-sized pieces. If you like them a little bigger, feel free to leave them as they are.
Transfer the soy curls back to the bowl they were soaking in and pour about half of the marinade over top. Give everything a good stir and allow to sit for about 5 more minutes to soak up more flavor. You can set the rest of the marinade aside for now.
While the curls are marinating, get a skillet heating over medium heat.
Once they’ve had their second soak, transfer the curls and any marinade left in the bowl to the skillet. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the curls begin to brown all over and are a little firmer, about 7–10 minutes.
Pour the remaining marinade over the soy curls and cook while stirring until everything is nice and hot, about 1–2 more minutes. Remove them from the heat and set aside to cool slightly while you assemble your sandwiches. If you’re making the curls ahead of time, allow them to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge.
Assemble your Soyturkey Avocado Club
Toast or warm your hoagie if desired. Then, squirt some mustard on the bottom piece and spread it around.
Start laying your salad greens, soy curls, pickles, and tomatoes. Once your tomatoes are on the sandwich, season them with a bit of black pepper and oregano. Finally, add sliced avocado and dried cranberries. If you’re feeling it, squirt a bit more mustard on top and then cut this bad boy in half. Hell yeah, dinner is served! Pro tip: this sandwich has low-key holiday vibes, so it’s a great option for when that Thanksgiving food craving hits.
Want even more smoky, savory flavor on your sandwich? The Soyturkey Avocado Club is incredible as it is, but we love to turn the flavor up even more by adding Bacony Pepitas. These crispy and smoky little gems are good on almost everything and once you’ve had them, you’ll wonder how you got through a week without them. Not a Clean Food Dirty Girl member? Sign up for a free trial to check them out.
The soy curls recipe makes about 3 cups, enough for about 4 hoagie-sized sandwiches. The soy curls should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and will last about five days.
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried soy curls (120 g)
Soy curls soaking liquid
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth or stock (240 ml)
- 1 cup water, room temperature or warm
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 4 drops liquid smoke (optional)
Soy curls marinade
- ½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth or stock (optional: you can sub up to half this amount with the soy curls drained soaking liquid)
- 1 teaspoon low-sodium gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon white or yellow miso (6 g)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ⅛ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper (about 5 turns)
- 1 pinch mustard powder
- 1 pinch celery seed
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 drops liquid smoke (optional)
Everything else
- 4 100% whole grain, sprouted, or gluten-free hoagie rolls, toasted or not
- ¼ cup yellow mustard (or any mustard of choice / 60 g)
- 2 cups mixed salad greens (95 g)
- 1 cup dill pickle, sliced (140 g)
- 1 cup tomato, sliced (180 g)
- black pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 medium avocado, sliced (150 g)
- ½ cup Bacony Pepitas (optional, linked in the notes / 80 g)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (80 g)
Instructions
Soy curls
- Whisk all of the soaking liquid ingredients together in a bowl large enough to hold the soy curls. Add the curls and stir to saturate them with the liquid. Let the soy curls soak for 10 minutes, stirring once about halfway through.
- While your soy curls are soaking, place all of the marinade ingredients into a liquid measuring cup and whisk to combine. Set aside for now.
- When the 10 minutes are up, immediately drain your curls into a fine mesh strainer or colander (set the bowl aside, you will be using it again shortly) and, using your clean hands, squeeze well to remove as much of the liquid as you can. If you want, you can chop any large chunks into bite-sized pieces at this point.
- Transfer the curls back to the bowl and pour about half the marinade over top (set the remaining marinade aside for now). Stir well to coat then set aside for a few minutes more to soak up the marinade.
- While the curls are soaking, heat a skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the soy curls to the skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown all over and firm up, about 7-10 minutes.
- Pour the remaining marinade evenly over your soy curls and cook, while stirring, until nice and hot, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Assemble your sandwich
- Squirt some mustard on the bottom of your hoagie roll, then layer salad greens, soy curls, pickles, and tomatoes. Season the tomato with black pepper and oregano then add a few slices of avocado and the dried cranberries. Squirt some more mustard on the top and slice your sub in half if you like. Open wide and prepare to fall in love.
Notes
Have you tried any soy curls recipes yet? Did they blow your mind? Let us know in the comments below.
Here’s to trying new things!
Xo
Team Dirty
More soy curls recipes from Clean Food Dirty Girl
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Good luck finding those hoagie rolls, not possible within 500 miles of me. And they’ll taste like cardboard anyway…
Some of us opt for whole wheat instead, which tends to be easier to find.