Meat extender

Meat extender is textured vegetable protein, usually made from soy, sold as dry granules or chunks that are rehydrated with hot water or broth before use. Once soaked and drained, it takes on a chewy, ground-meat-like texture and readily absorbs the flavor of whatever it's cooked with, which is why it's most often mixed into ground beef for chili, tacos, meatloaf, and sloppy joes, either to stretch the amount of meat in a recipe or to replace it entirely in a vegetarian version of the same dish. It's usually rehydrated in a ratio of roughly equal parts dry granules to hot liquid and left to sit for several minutes before it's browned alongside or in place of ground meat.

Dry meat extender keeps for a long time in a sealed container in the pantry, much like other dried legume products, and only needs rehydrating shortly before cooking. At 311 calories and 41.7 g of protein per 100 g (a cup is 88 g), it's a concentrated plant protein that can be blended into a ground-meat dish to add bulk and protein without much added fat, and it also brings 17.5 g of fiber per 100 g, well above what ground meat alone would contribute to the same recipe, along with iron at 67% of the Daily Value.