This Dinuguan recipe is pork-free, savory, and rich in taste and pairs best with steamed rice or white rice puto! It’s a healthier version of the original recipe but still packed with the delicious flavors of authentic Vegan Dinuguan!
Hungry for more Filipino vegan cooking inspiration? Create my Vegan Bagoong, Vegan Batchoy, and Vegan Bistek.
What is Dinuguan?
The word dinuguan literally means “cooked with blood.” Sounds scary, right? But this Filipino food is such a hearty and savory dish that the one who eats it for the first time won’t guess there’s blood in it. In fact, many Filipinos love this dish!
Where did the dish originate from?
Dinuguan originated from the dish in Mexico, which is believed to have been shared by the Spaniards during their regime in the Philippines.
Filipinos make dinuguan by simmering meat, offal, sautéed spices, and clean pork blood. And since Filipinos love spicy foods, they incorporate chili each time they make pork blood stew.
I’ve got a lot of requests to veganize Dinuguan, so here it is! Full of flavor, but without all the blood and meat. Enjoy!
Health Benefits of Black Beans:
- Rich in fiber for digestive health
- High protein content aids muscle repair
- Lowers risk of heart disease due to antioxidants
- Manages blood sugar levels with a low glycemic index
- Supports weight management through satiety
Tips and Procedures:
- If you can’t find the magic meat, you can also find seitan tofu or any vegetarian meat. It tastes just as delicious.
- To make your vegan dinuguan extra creamy, you can replace the water with coconut milk. It gives an authentic flavor to the dinuguan, which you will surely love.
- For a more exciting texture to your vegan dinuguan, you can add oyster mushrooms right before you take it off the stove. Oyster mushrooms cook quickly.
- You can find shiitake or oyster mushrooms in Asian grocery stores near you.
- Feel free to add more chili if you have a high tolerance for spicy foods.
How to Make Vegan Dinuguan:
These are the ingredients that you will need:
- dried shiitake mushrooms
- soy protein (magic meat) soaked in water and sliced into small cubes
- water
- canned black beans
- coconut oil
- ginger
- garlic
- white onion
- firm tofu
- chili peppers
- vinegar or calamansi
- salt
- black pepper
- lemongrass
- bay leaves
Pre-soak dried shiitake mushrooms and soy protein in 3-5 cups of water until softened. Then squeeze out the water from the mushroom and soy protein, then slice it into small cubes.
Pour a little amount of water (2.5 cups) into the blender and add the pre-drained and rinsed black beans:
Blend it until it becomes mushy and grayish-black, then set aside:
In a pot over medium heat, preheat the oil and first sauté the ginger. After 15 seconds, add the diced garlic and medium onion and cook until translucent:
Then add soy protein and sauté for 3 minutes:
Note: Once you pre-soak the magic meat, it will expand. Just squeeze the water out, then slice into specified cuts.
Add shitake mushrooms, and continually sauté for 5 minutes:
Note: Dried mushrooms will expand once soaked in water. After soaking, squeeze out the water and slice into specified cuts.
Next, add tofu and sauté for 3 minutes:
Then add the blended baked black beans to the pot and mix until combined:
Add 1 cup of water to the blender to wash out the remaining black beans and add it to the pot:
Add chili peppers and cover the pot for 5 minutes or until it simmers:
Place the lemongrass:
Then add vinegar:
Then add salt:
Followed by pepper:
Mix and cover for a while:
Season according to your taste. Some love Dinuguan that’s not too salty, and some also like it sour. You will also love it with red chilis if you are a spicy food lover.
This vegan dinuguan is always best served with rice. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions:
The best would be just a day. You can also freeze it, thaw it, and warm it up when you are about to serve it.
For the pork version of Dinuguan, it is made of meat bits and slices, then added with pork blood to make the soup creamy and give that unique taste to the dish. But for this vegan version, you can eat it guilt-free since it has no meat, just vegan protein meat and tofu.
Dinuguan is translated as a dish made from blood but is also known as chocolate pork soup.
For the pork dinuguan, it is savory, rich, and a bit spicy. The vegan version that we made here is also rich, savory, and a bit spicy, but without the unhealthy fat content 🙂
The vegan/vegetarian version surely is! But the pork/meat version should be eaten moderately, as it is high in animal fat.
Delicious authentic Filipino desserts:
- Buko Pandan
- Cassava Cake
- Vegan Filipino Champorado
- Biko – Filipino Sweet Sticky Rice
- Mango Float
- 2 Ingredient Pineapple Ice Cream
Vegan Dinuguan
Ingredients
- 70 grams dried shitake mushroom slice into small cubes soaked in water
- 40 grams soy protein magic meat soaked in water and sliced into small cubes
- 3-5 cups water
- 450 grams canned baked black beans drained and rinsed
- 2.5- 3 cups of water
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1-2 tablespoon ginger minced
- 5 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 small white onion small cubes around 40 grams
- 210 grams firm tofu slice into small cubes
- 3 chilli peppers
- 3 tablespoon vinegar or calamansi
- 1 ½ tablespoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 -2 strands of lemongrass knotted
- 1-2 bay leaves optional
Instructions
- Pre-soak dried shitake mushrooms and soy protein in 3-5 cups of water until softened. Then squeeze out water from the mushroom and soy protein then slice it into small cubes.
- Pour in a little amount of water (2.5 cups) into the blender, add the pre-drained and rinsed black beans, and blend it until it becomes mushy and grayish black, set aside.
- In a pot over medium heat, preheat oil and first sauté ginger. After 15 seconds, add garlic, and onions and cook until translucent.
- Then add soy protein and sauté for 3 mins. Note: Once you pre-soak the magic meat it will expand, just squeeze the water out then slice it into specified cuts.
- Add shitake mushrooms, and continually sauté for 5 minutes Note: Dried mushrooms will expand once soaked in water, after soaking squeeze out water and then slice into specified cuts.
- Next, add tofu and sauté for 3 minutes, then add blended baked black beans to the pot and mix until combined. Add 1 cup of water in the blender to wash out the remaining black beans and add it to the pot.
- Add chili peppers and cover the pot for 5 minutes or until it simmers.
- Add vinegar, salt, pepper, mixed and cover for a while.
- Season to taste.
- Best served with rice
Nutrition
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If you’ve tried this or any other of my recipes, don’t forget to rate the recipe and to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you!
Hi! I was wondering do you think it will work if I use beef instead, together with other ingredients here?
Hi Kaye, I haven’t tried it with beef, but I’m sure it will work out. Thank you for visiting my blog. 🙂
Hi Do i need to drain the canned black beans before blending it in with the 2.5 cups water? thanks
Hi, Julie. That’s a good question. Yes, it is best to drain and rinse the canned black beans before using them. Please see the updated recipe card before making this recipe. Thank you for asking and for visiting my blog. I appreciate it! 🙂