This smoky, flavorful breakfast tempeh scramble is made with sweet potato chunks, red pepper and avocados. Serve on it's own, or wrapped in a warm tortilla!
If you love a good savory breakfast, well I've got something for you! This tempeh scramble is absolutely scrumptious.
This isn't your typical savory vegan breakfast. Most use something along the lines of tofu or chickpea flour to replicate eggs. And that's great! I love those dishes. But in this recipe tempeh is the star, and it's not pretending to be anything it's not. Tempeh is basically a block of fermented soybeans, so it crumbles up really well and has an excellent texture for breakfast scrambles.
In this recipe, the tempeh gets doused with smoky seasonings and cooked up with chunks of sweet potato, which happen to go really well with smoky flavors.
Definitely give this one a try if you're looking to break out of the usual tofu scramble routine.
Jump to:
Ingredients You'll Need
- Olive oil. You can use another high-heat oil if preferred.
- Sweet potato. We're using a standard orange sweet potato, which may also be labelled as a yam at some American supermarkets.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Tempeh. This can be found in the refrigerated are of the natural foods section of most supermarkets, near the tofu. You'll find different varieties of tempeh containing different grains and seeds — any of them will work in this recipe. Or, if you're up for it, try making some homemade tempeh.
- Red bell pepper. Feel free to use a pepper of another color if that's your preference.
- Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted if needed.
- Ground cumin.
- Smoked paprika.
- Maple syrup.
- Lemon juice.
- Salt & pepper.
- Accompaniments. You can serve your tempeh scramble on it's own, or stuffed in tortillas, topped with scallions, avocado, hot sauce, or anything else you desire!
How It's Made
Start by heating your oil in a large skillet. Add diced sweet potato and cook it until it starts to brown. Make sure to use a good nonstick cooking surface to prevent burning.
Add the onion and cook it for a few minutes, followed by the garlic. The sweet potato should be starting to soften up by now. Add crumbled tempeh and cook everything for a few more minutes, until the tempeh starts to brown.
Finally, add diced bell pepper and the remainder of your seasonings: soy sauce, cumin, smoked paprika, lemon juice and maple syrup. Cook everything for just a couple minutes more, just to dry up the liquid ingredients you just added.
Tip: Tempeh naturally has a slightly bitter flavor, and not everyone is a fan. If this sounds like you, try steaming it for a few minutes before cooking with it. This will reduce the bitterness.
Your vegan tempeh scramble is ready to serve! Enjoy it on it's own, or with the accompaniments of your choosing. You don't even have to eat it for breakfast — this one makes an excellent lunch or dinner as well!
Tip: Looking for a great side dish to serve with your scramble? Try some tempeh bacon or tofu bacon.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover tempeh scramble will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Savory Vegan Breakfast Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
Smoky Sweet Potato Tempeh Scramble
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small sweet potato finely diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 (8 oz.) package tempeh crumbled
- 1 small red bell pepper diced
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- Salt & pepper, to taste
For Serving (Optional)
- 1 avocado sliced
- 2 scallions chopped
- 4 medium flour tortillas
- hot sauce
Instructions
-
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add sweet potato and sautee until lightly browned, about five minutes.
-
Add onion and continue to sautee until softened, about five minutes. Add garlic and sautee another minute. Add tempeh and sautee until browned, about five minutes. You may need to break up some bits of tempeh with a spatula.
-
Add pepper, soy sauce, cumin, paprika, maple and lemon juice. Sautee about two more minutes.
-
Remove the skillet from heat and season the scramble with salt and pepper to taste.
-
Serve in tortillas or in bowls.
-
Top with avocado, scallions and hot sauce.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition information is for the scramble only and does not include accompaniments.
Oh man, I LOVE tempeh scramble!
This is my first tempeh scramble! I'm a huge fan of tofu scramble, and this is the first time I decided to sub tempeh. I love how it turned out :)
This sounds fantastic and would be great in burrito form!! :)
Thank you! Yeah, I tried it plain and as burrito, and burrito was definitely my favorite. I might try it on toast as well...next time!
Love this recipe. It's a keeper. Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you so much and enjoy!!!
Haha, definitely know what you mean about social media - I'm a musician and in this internet day and age have found myself with no CHOICE except to start using Facebook to promote myself. But really it just doesn't come naturally at all XD
I've been experimenting with tempeh a lot lately, trying to figure out the best flavours to match it - definitely going to try this next, it's making my stomach growl just looking at it!
Good to know it's not just me! It's definitely a learning process with me and social media, but I'm trudging along and have gotten (a little) more familiar with twitter in the couple weeks since this post...
I think you'll like this! The spices really compliment the tempeh nicely. My boyfriend doesn't even like tempeh but he enjoyed this. Hope you do too :)
We had some friends 'round and served this as a 'diy buritto' night with various toppings (inc the sweet potato nacho cheese!) amd it was amazing. Everyone loved it!! Excellent and super easy!
I love a good DIY burrito night, and this sounds like an awesome addition! So glad you all enjoyed it. Thanks Joey!!!
This looks so yummy and I want to save the recipe but the Pinterest link doesn't work! :(
Sorry about that! Pinterest has been acting weird lately! Here's a link to my pin if you'd like to repin from that: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/312226186639136761/
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I made it this morning and it was wonderful. The cool avocado slices on top of the warm scramble sends it over the top. I also added one cut up field roast Mexican chorizo sausage and that gave it more flavor and texture. Best to you.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I love Field Roast Mexican sausages and I bet they were great in this!
I've been making this for years. It's become a breakfast favorite and my meat lovers enjoy it, too.
I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thanks Lisa!
Tasted really nice, and even non vegan family enjoyed it:)
That's so awesome to hear!! Thanks so much Simon!
My tempeh hating family was won over tonight because of your recipe! Even my picky 5 year old asked for seconds! There were chopped tomatoes, chopped avocados, homemade salsas, limes, hot sauces and sour cream to add to the tasty scramble. Thank you for posting such a fantastic recipe! We will definitely be making this again:)
This recipe has been in my wheelhouse since I first started really cooking!! Big fan. I usually add greens in at the end for the added nutrients. Tonight I made this and threw in some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that I needed to use up and it was delicious! A new go-to mod. This recipe is so versatile! Breakfast, dinner, burritos, bowls, a variety of toppings...so simple and so yummy!