In this Episode of The Edgy Veg Candice is back with James to Taste Test some of the more popular vegan meat substitutes currently available to the vegan looking to get back to that classic meat flavor. Most notably they run the Beyond Meat Bleeding Burger through its paces, as well as several other products.
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It has been quite some time since the last taste test here on The Edgy Veg and Candice and James decided testing meat substitutes that all vegans secretly crave would be the best way to go. They start things off by frying up a few patties made from the Beyond Meat Bleeding Burger product. The Beyond Meat Beyond Burger is a plant based replacement for your typical burger patty. As you can see in the video it looks just about as close to being a burger patty as it possibly could. They stack them up with some lettuce and tomato and dig in. Although somehow they lost the original audio for the clip of them eating the burgers themselves they did do a rather amusing voice-over of the event that had them unanimously praising the flavor of the burgers and definitely gave them full approval. This is a product they would recommend to any vegan in need of a burger fix.
Moving right along they select the SOL Cuisine Veggie Breakfast Sausages as their next taste test. After cooking these up James notes right away that they look “kind of weird”. Candice however wastes no time tasting hers and says it’s really good. James states that he has always felt that breakfast sausages in general have a strange flavor so he really doesn’t have high hopes. After several bites and a bit of maple syrup added in for flavor they both agree these replacement breakfast sausages make the cut. Candice says she could easily see these breakfast sausages in the vegan version of an Egg McMuffin. James points out that while he would eat it, honestly it’s not quite where he would expect it to be in terms of flavor, almost like it’s just missing some crucial element. James rates it a 3.5 out of 5 and Candice does not weigh in with a final number.
The next product in line for the vegan meat substitute taste test is the Breaded Vegan Scallops made be a company called Sophie’s Kitchen. As Candice pulls these from the box and places them into the frying pan she notices that while the box claims these are breaded they certainly are not. Her next statement of note is that they not only smell weird but they look weird as well. She also says they are definitely not the most appetizing thing in the world. As they taste them James says that in fairness they did not cook them with anything whereas traditionally scallops are not cooked alone. He also mentions that texturally they are really quite similar to scallops. Candice is pretty clear on her feelings regarding them, calling them gross. James says he would rate them at a 4 to 4.5 out of 5 and thinks they would be good in a lemon butter sauce.
The next taste test puts the Gardein Veggie Burger in the hot seat. To be clear this is the medley of roasted vegetable burger not the soy based burger. This is the burger that carnivores buy when they have a barbecue they have invited a few vegans to and they aren’t sure what to buy. After cooking these up and assembling them into burgers they both note the amount of corn actually popping out of the burgers. In short, these are the classic stereotypical veggie burgers carnivores around the world picture when they think of vegans eating at a barbecue. They both say that the product is good, but it does not taste anything at all like a hamburger. They say that as far as a garden burger goes though it’s really quite well done, mentioning specifically how well it’s spiced. In regards to her likelihood to eat it again Candice rates it a 5 out of 5 and James a 4 out of 5.
That concludes the taste test, we hope you will try some of these products and decide for yourself what you think about them.
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I’m The Edgy Veg, a gal on a journey to revolutionize the food we define as “vegan”. Instead of salads days in and day out I choose to re-purpose familiar favorites, by recreating childhood cravings for an audience with sophisticated palettes and food-nerd obsessions with nostalgic fare.
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Oh my goodness you guys! I wish I could send you ALL of the meat substitutes from the Loma Linda brand for you to taste test, but shipping to Canada would cost more than my rent haha. They have the best veggie dogs and spicy chorizo. If you’re ever in Southern California, come through Loma Linda. The LL Market has an entire aisle of fake meat. *Not ALL are vegan, though, but you still have a great select.
Wow, I get a cheese ad before a vegan video xD
I don’t why, but vegan beef always is horrible to me. I’ve tried different sausage brands, burger brands, etc. and it always feels as if the texture is weird and the taste isn’t beefy and meaty. I’ve yet yo try this “Beyond Burger” though so has anyone else? Does it taste like an actual burger?
Emily Thank you! I love that you were honest because I hate when people hype up these brands and they are simply mediocre. Now I can try and not have my expectations TOO high. Thanks so much ❤️
it tastes fairly meaty to me, a long time meat-eater-turned-vegan. the texture is pretty on point as well. it has a dog/cat food kinda smell when raw and never actually fully changes from pink to grey, which is a little disconcerting. it has a bit of a sweet flavor to it you don’t normally find in a beef burger. overall, they’re pretty tasty, but not as overwhelmingly amazing as a lot of people have hyped it up to be.
I love you two!!! #relationshipgoalz
Also, I’m surprised you guys liked the beyond meat burger! I like their other products but that’s way too close to meat that it is a turn off. Like the juice and the way it cooks. My boyfriend tried it at Whole Foods and we were freaked out they gave him the beef patty! Lol my thoughts are, for someone who is just transitioning yes. For vegans, no too scary 😱
Whole Food but they sell out very very fast