Impossible Burgers

So we found them at Tesco. Cooked two for lunch, with a little Mexican pepper cheese on them. These are one of the best veggie-based burgers I think I've ever had. I had to cook them in the toaster oven, but I think they'd probably be much better on an actual charcoal grill. They've got the texture very close - think of the texture of a kind of fatty thick hamburger as opposed to a thin, lean one. The flavor was good. And it smelled like hamburger, a bit. So, while not an exact duplicate of a hamburger, it's pretty darned good. 

Another plus, it's not soy-based. It's pea protein based. So those of us who need to avoid soy have an option here. 

What a coincidence, we are having Impossible Burgers for dinner tonight.  I'm not sure it's sustainable at £5 for 2, but we will give them a go.  You didn't actually put them in the toaster did you?  Are you sure you didn't mean the grill oven?

Enjoy!

Toaster Oven, not toaster. 

Like these  https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/

Yeah, the Impossible Burgers are a little pricey. I wouldn't ordinarily pay five quid for two, but as our food budget is really slashed lately (we're both on the Newcastle diet right now again for the next several weeks) we can splash out a little bit.  We've been eating  veggie burgers by Birdseye (the "Vam" burger if you've seen the TV adverts with the vampires having a cookout). They're pretty good, and much cheaper. Also smaller and thinner. But on a bun with condiments and pickles and you have a pretty nice meal.... We also picked up some meatless meatballs at Tesco and are going to try them soon. (Wicked Kitchen's "Amazeballs" - we figured with a name like that we should try it once!)

I think I like the sound of the Newcastle Diet.  It's one of my favourites and has a star on the back that's printed with temperature sensitive ink so you know if it's cold enough!

I was surprised at how oily those impossible burgers were.  It was like cooking bacon.  They were good, but expensive and seemed to be just as unhealthy as normal burgers.  Not sure I'll be buying them again until the price comes down.

Yeah, they do seem to be designed for a BBQ, where a lot of that moisture would burn off. The instructions I remember were to put them on a grill rack in the oven. I put them on a flat pan instead, and they did have a lot of drippings.

As far as meat substitutes, they're pretty good. Definitely not the same as beef, but they're making an effort. We usually stick, when we are wanting to go meatless, to the BirdsEye ones. They're smaller, but cheaper. And there's no pretense of them trying to replicate the flavor/texture of beef. We cover them in enough other stuff that they have some flavor to them.  We tried the BirdsEye veggie sausages for breakfast the other day. Ok, but very, very bland. Used the leftovers in a good marinara sauce over some carrot "pasta" and it was edible. Not something I'd go out of my way for, but for people avoiding meat I guess it's a good option. And much cheaper than steak of the same size/weight.

We haven't tried the Amazeballs yet. We also have a package of Linda McCartney's sausages to try. (There was a big sale on veggie stuff.) So far my verdict on all of it is that it's of various stages of passable to good, and it's nice to see that there are meatless options now that aren't loaded up with soy. Definitely won't take the place of a nice, rare steak, though. 

Ok, so we tried the "Wicked" brand "Amazeballs" tonight. Pea-protein based meatball substitute. They were actually amazing! Nicely spiced. I can see making a meatball sub with these, a good sauce, some mozzarella/provolone, and a nice Italian roll.  There was just a bit of an aftertaste to them - I fried/baked them as per the package - that a sauce would hide, I think. But they did not scrimp on the spices.

Never thought I'd be enjoying veggie meat substitutes, after my experiences years ago with those awful Bocaburger things. 

How much did they cost?

They're at  £3 for a package of 12 right now online at Tesco. They are not huge - smaller than a golf-ball, each.  We got all this veg stuff on sale about 10 days ago, and I think they cost less at that time.  The only thing that was a bit weird about them was their texture. It kind of reminded the Daughter, texture-wise, of the inside of a hot dog, or maybe bologna. But at 150 calories for 3 of 'em (considered a serving), they're handy to have in the freezer. And we had them without any sort of sauce, just to see what they were like. I do think they'd do well in a nice tomato sauce. Or, as above, in a meatball sub. 

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. We tried the Linda McCartney's Red Onion and Rosemary sausages the other day. They were nice. A bit bland, but for a meat-substitute not bad. (They do have soy in them, tho.) Could definitely taste the rosemary, not so much the onion. They were a package of 6 for £2. I'm not sure I'd get them again, but the Daughter really liked them. I miss the taste of the animal fat that would normally accompany a sausage.

I'm not sure the purpose of any of these is that they are any healthier than meat. It's just that you can avoid eating meat.

[Note to the reader: We are on a seriously calorie-restricted diet right now. So we get really hungry. There are times when boiled shoe-leather would probably taste wonderful to us....]

We're not veggie/vegan, but like to eat veggie/vegan meals several times a week. 

We've had both the burgers and the 'bratwurst'. We were also surprised at how much oil came out.  They taste decent, but are so pricey. 
Soya is a no go for hubby, so nice to have other veggie options besides Quorn (which can be hit or miss taste wise).   

Quorn. Yeah, I've had that and don't care for it. Don't remember, though. Is that the one that tastes kind of mushroomy?

Yeah, Quorn is made from mushrooms

Ok, have tried Linda McCartney's mozzarella burgers.  They are pretty darned good!