That One Viral Turkish Pasta, But Make It Vegetarian

"Cheat" yalancı mantı with mushrooms and tofu

Nov 28, 2025

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Where viral recipes are concerned, I am chronically behind the times. By choice and preference, I don’t have the app where most of them are found, so for a bit I’d wait for them to trickle down to other apps. These days, though, I’m less present even there, so my introduction to the next hot new dish tends to wait until one of my preferred recipe bloggers makes it, or the New York Times food section decides to try being cheeky and contemporary.

This probably comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me. I’m also a late-and-reluctant adopter of technology, treating each new iPhone release and tracking gadget with the skepticism of a but wait, there’s more! late night network TV ad. I shop for phones, cameras, and audio equipment among my husband’s hand-me-downs - a technology enthusiast, I can depend on him for pretty recent and thoroughly-tested tech, all without needing to make a trip to Best Buy (my idea of actual purgatory on earth.)

On to the pasta. I finally peeked in the door of the almost-vacant “cheat yalancı mantı” party a couple of weeks ago while cooking dinner with a friend. It was one of those evenings where no-one wants to run to the store, so you just open cupboards and forgotten refrigerator drawers until inspiration strikes. Ground turkey…the remnants of a tub of yogurt…some forlorn-looking tomatoes…just a tiny bit of butter. Even with these slightly sad scavenged ingredients, the dish fully lived up to the hype.

At home, I like to cram all the veggies into everything I can, so my version below, which riffs on one over at Ambitious Kitchen is vegetarian-ized. I use tofu to add a little protein and mushrooms for their earthiness and umami and bump up the spices significantly from the version I found online (tofu can disappear a lot of seasoning.) Other notes:

Don’t skip the freeze-and-thaw step for the tofu: doing this makes it significantly chewier and is helpful in wringing out lots of water without making things mushy.
Don’t skip the oil - you’ll need it to prevent your mushrooms and tofu from sticking to the pan.
I recommend using well-seasoned carbon steel or cast iron if you can, avoiding nonstick: your mixture should be allowed to adhere slightly to your cooking surface before stirring and scraping, preferably with a metal implement so you can pick up all the crispy bits.
You’ll want to cook the mushrooms and tofu longer than you think. The volume will reduce by 1/2 to 2/3 and most of the water will cook off, leaving crumbles similar to the texture of ground meat.
I use pomegranate seeds instead of tomatoes for one simple reason: tomato season is over, and pomegranate season is here. The tomatoes I can find in the grocery store right now are mushy, anemic, and flavorless. The only thing worse than no tomatoes is mushy tomatoes.
Fresh herbs are non-optional!

I also strongly encourage you to to a little refrigerator rummaging of your own. Half a can of chickpeas? Throw it in there. I suspect this would also be tasty with a few sliced green olives, some additional herbs, or a little feta. There is great, meal-enhancing satisfaction to finding the last two tablespoons of something from the back shelf and turning it into a magical little flourish.

Vegetarian “cheat” yalancı mantı with mushrooms and tofu (serves 4)

8 oz dried bow-tie pasta (or any pasta you prefer)

For the tofu/mushroom “meat”:

1 12-oz block extra-firm tofu, frozen and thawed

8 oz cremini mushrooms

1/2 of a yellow onion, minced

2 T neutral oil, such as grapeseed

1 t kosher salt

2 t smoked paprika

1 1/2 t garlic powder

1 1/2 t onion powder

2 t mild curry powder

1/2 t black pepper

For the yogurt sauce:

1 1/2 c full-fat or 2% greek yogurt

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 T fresh mint, minced

1/4 t kosher salt

For the paprika butter:

4 T salted butter (or unsalted butter + a pinch of salt)

1/2 t sweet paprika

To serve:

4 T flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1/2 c pomegranate seeds (or any other cheerful garnish you prefer)

Directions:

Prepare the thawed tofu: crumble and place in a clean, dry kitchen towel. Squeeze as much water out as you possibly can.
Clean the mushrooms and blitz in a food processor until they form small crumbles. Add to the dried, crumbled tofu and add salt, paprika, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Mix well.
Heat the 2 T oil in a pan until shimmering. Add the minced onion and tofu/mushroom/spice mix.
Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the volume has significantly reduced, the mushrooms are cooked, and the texture is slightly dry and crispy. This may take longer than you think - be patient and use a metal spatula to scrape the pan periodically. Don’t be tempted to remove from the heat early or it will be mushy (if it’s still mushy, keep cooking!)
While the mixture is cooking, prepare the pasta according to package directions.
Prepare the yogurt sauce: add the grated garlic, salt, and mint to the yogurt and stir.
Prepare the butter sauce: melt the butter and stir together with the paprika.
Assemble: begin with a layer of cooked pasta; add 1/4 of the yogurt mixture, then 1/4 of the tofu/mushroom mixture, then drizzle with paprika butter. Sprinkle with parsley and pomegranate seeds.
Turn off all short-form video content and enjoy.