Plant-Based Meats - Disgusting or Delicious?

Plant-based “meats” are all the rage right now as many of us work to embrace healthier lifestyles and diets. But what are these odd plant-based offerings in the grocery store, and do they deliver in terms of both health benefits and taste? I’ve sampled these products so you don’t have to – so are they disgusting or delicious? Read on to find out!

I’m a meat eater – always have been and always will be. Beef, chicken, pork, I love them all. I mean, is there anything better than a thick grilled ribeye cooked to medium rare perfection? But unfortunately, red meat seven days a week isn’t exactly the secret to a healthy heart and a long life. So, there are now a plethora of choices out there designed to provide a healthier experience while still emulating the meats we all know and love – enter plant-based meats!

I’ll confess that I started out with a serious bias against these plant-based foods – I just couldn’t imagine that you could really reproduce both the taste and just as importantly, the texture of the real thing. And to be honest, some of them looked really gross in their packaging. But Laurie was really interested in incorporating them into our diets along with more pure vegetarian-based dishes so I proceeded to include these plant-based meats into some new recipes to see how they taste. Here's what I discovered, and what you need to know about these alternatives to the real thing!

• You can find a plant-based version of almost any meat-based food you grew up eating and loving. They make plant-based versions of burgers, bacon, steaks, chicken nuggets, sausage patties and links, fillets, and even seafood. That’s not to say that all of them are great, but there are a lot of options out there to choose from and the selection continues to grow every year.

• Plant-based meats are truly healthier options than the real thing. While you need to watch the labels for additions that make them taste better (like sodium and saturated fat levels as well as calorie count for example), most plant-based meats are lower in saturated fat and are free of cholesterol as well, making them more heart healthy than their animal protein counterparts.

• Plant-based foods are better for the environment. Production of plant-based foods results in significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional meat production, and also requires significantly less energy and fewer natural resources such as land and water. So, from a climate perspective, plant-based foods can help to slow down the impact of climate change across the globe.

• You will pay more for plant-based meats than you would for the originals. Plant-based meats aren’t cheap so you need to factor that in to the equation. In some cases, plant-based versions can be twice as expensive and are usually at least 50 percent more expensive than their animal protein counterparts. You can find bargains by shopping around a bit, but generally, you’re going to pay more if you go the plant-based route.

• Most plant-based meats really do emulate the textures found in the real thing. I was amazed at how well some of the plant-based versions of meat “copied” the taste and texture of animal proteins. While there were some exceptions, generally speaking these alternative meats delivered as advertised and I was often hard-pressed to notice any real difference between the two. That was particularly true of the plant-based chicken nuggets and sausage links.

• Plant-based meats in their raw form are somewhat disgusting in a number of ways. While handling raw chicken and ground beef isn’t necessarily appetizing, I find that plant-based meats in raw form can be even more disgusting than their animal protein-based counterparts. Raw plant-based meats have a slimy texture that’s hard to overlook, and even worse, they smell bad too – like canned dog food – yum! That’s why I prefer the frozen options more than the fresh ones for the most part.

• The best plant-based offerings that I tasted include the Beyond Beef Crumbles and Beyond Chicken Nuggets and Patties. The crumbles, which come frozen, are great for emulating ground beef in dishes (like tacos for example) and the chicken nuggets and patties taste identical to the real thing – I promise!!

• The worst plant-based offering that I tasted was the Impossible Ground Beef. In addition to the slimy texture and horrid smell, it didn’t cook like regular ground beef and turned out mushy and watery. That product isn’t allowed in our house any more, but the pre-formed frozen burger patties are fine and actually taste pretty good even though they don’t come close to a perfectly cooked burger on the grill! If you want a vegetarian option, I’d recommend just making your own veggie burger using black beans, mushrooms, or quinoa as the base.

So, bottom line, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and taste of the plant-based meats I tried. And with just a few exceptions, would recommend that you give them a try if you want to incorporate some more healthy offerings into your regular meal rotations. In the future, I’ll be sharing some of the plant-based meat recipes that Laurie and I have created that I think you will enjoy!