Food Review: Beyond Meat Burger

I was following the production of this burger way before it hit the market, so finally giving it a try was a much-anticipated, exciting day for me. They can be found in the meat section, un-frozen, side by side with regular old beef burgers at most major chain super markets like Wholefoods. They also have a wide array of chicken strips and sausages that can be found in the frozen section or online that I still haven’t tried yet. So far I’ve only had the burger and I have to say I was incredibly pleased. 

The burger is made of mostly pea protein, so it is all plant-based without being soy bean based like most other faux-meat on the market. It has 20 Gees of plant based protein, which is awesome for anyone trying to cut back on animal products or go fully vegan. No actual animals harmed, no factory farms, and no resources burned through at the same rate as regular meat (which is ridiculously exponential if you haven’t heard yet).  It does have some salt in it, so if that’s something you need to be careful with just be aware. My diet is pretty low in salt since I do most of my own cooking, so I had no problem with that.

I’ve been amazed lately by how tofu sausage has improved in texture and flavor over the years. Back in the day it was pretty bland and very obviously tofu that had just been shaped to represent the food you were actually craving. It was kind of depressing to me, frankly. But the stuff coming out now I’m increasingly loving. They’ve got that denty-chew quality that makes meat so enjoyable and the seasonings are on fire. I’ve eaten an entire pack of tofu sausage with glee at one sitting before, not missing the animal factor one bit. I actually love that an hour later I don’t have that heavy animal fat feeling in my chest that makes you feel like your heart might collapse from a pig fat OD at any moment. Do you know that feeling?

So many of our factory farmed animals are so painfully unhealthy that the meat that is produced doesn’t even have much flavor to begin with. They are sickly and pale and that’s the flavor I get on my plate or at the drive through. It comes across loud and clear to me that the animal was not in good shape. It’s not a very nutrient dense food and it’s not a fun one either.

 

Getting back to the Beyond Meat Burger, with factory farmed meat in mind, I was pretty blown away at how good this burger was. You could really trick your friends at a BBQ by serving this up and telling them it’s a veggie burger only after they sing it’s praises. It’s got a very beefy texture and smell as it cooks, and is colored with beet juice so it’s red and sizzling as it cooks up on the grill. It develops a nice smokiness to it too and pretty much encompasses what makes a burger enjoyable. Like I said, I really enjoyed it. And as someone trying to eat more plant protein, I was actively thrilled to have found such an easy way to get it.

Being honest, if you are a meat eater for joy (I know some of you guys are big animal loving vegans and I respect that, but for the other people out there…) the flavor and juiciness isn’t exactly the same as a real high quality burger, like a buffalo burger. There is just that element X that a grass-fed healthy animal has. SO I’d pick this burger over most burgers on the market, but I won’t say it is the best.

Flavor isn’t the only reason to want to eat more plant-based though, so with that in mind, I give it 5 stars! For what it is, it’s incredible. I’d choose this most days over 90% of the meat on the market. I do wish the packaging was a little greener, but that is a wide-spread supermarket problem and it does help a lot of people who wouldn’t feel comfortable buying a tofu burger give this a try since the packaging is so much like everything else they buy. It’s a step in the right direction though. I cant wait to try out their other products.

Trick your friends with this one and let me know how it goes! 🙂