I had them air fried before, and if you really inspect them and think about it you can tell they aren’t chicken (from the texture but the taste is identical IMO). But I had them fried in a deep fryer this weekend and they were indistinguishable from real chicken nuggets. I am flexitarian so it’s not like I haven’t eaten a chicken nugget in years, they are legit. Definitely recommend trying them if you are trying to cut your meat consumption or even if you are just curious.
They make animal shaped and spicy versions too
It makes sense. Nuggets arent exactly known for their strong fresh chicken flavor so I imagine a good coating and some oil would do a lot of heavy lifting in bridging the gap in flavor
Fake chicken has come a long way in general. Daring chicken is meant to substitute white meat with no breading and very close in flavor. I wouldn’t eat it on it’s own because the texture is a little weird, but shredded in soup or gumbo or whatever it’s suspiciously close to real chicken.
And now lab grown chicken is FDA approved 👀
Barbecue sauce is a winner pairing
My drunk snack is the animal shaped nuggies (they have to be the animal shaped ones, I find the irony of it hilarious) and some Lillie’s Q smoky BBQ sauce.
Probably because chicken nuggets are ultra processed food, so replacing them with an other ultra processed food should be easy.
How does the taste/feel compare to TVP (textured vegetable protein)? TVP has a sponginess that is slightly unpleasant to me, but I’ve seen some promising advancements in plant-based meat replacements that gives them a texture closer to animal meat.
They are definitely a flakey texture inside, I would compare them to Wendy’s nuggets. I am autistic so texture is a big thing for me, and it doesn’t bother me. I am not even a huge nugget fan because a lot of them do have that spongey texture that grosses me out
I would recommend trying them deep fried for the best texture
Spongey nuggets are officially the worst. Why do they bounce back so hard?
Costco in my area (Portland) occasionally has these, and I always grab 3-4 bags when they’re available. They’re as near as makes no difference to a “real” chicken nugget to me, and that’s saying a-fucking-lot from a meat lover! These get 10/10 for me, onward goes vegan supersession!
Personally I feel that plant based food is hurting itself by trying to imitate meat.
Instead of trying to make minced meat out of vegetable, just Calle DIY minced vigetables. Or chickpea nuggets. Or oatjuice. This way you don’t have to compare them to meat, milk or any other product. Just value it for what it is
Not to sound like an asshole, but tf is a flexitarian? I personally mostly eat veggies but meat isn’t off the table, I think of myself as an omnivore. Am I missing something?
Also, Beyond is my favorite veggie-meat - it’s close enough but not quite spot on. Impossible doesn’t taste quite right to me but I can’t put my finger on why.
Flexitarian is apparently someone who has a primarily vegetarian/plant based diet but will still occasionally eat meat. This is a new term for me too and it’s apparently what I am. I’ve been describing myself as a “part time vegetarian” lol.
Also impossible burgers are superior to beyond and I will die on this hill. Beyond is better at everything else though. Their ground breakfast sausage is 🤌 perfection
This term has been around for decades and still, very few people know what it means. As someone who eats 0 animal products 90+% of the time, it’s just easier to say “mostly vegan.”
Some people will nitpick and say that I mean plant based instead of vegan but the general public knows what vegan means and do not think of plant based as synonymous with “vegan in diet only” so I’ll continue to use what doesn’t require a ton of explanation.
it’s just easier to say “mostly vegan.”
I dated a girl who really didn’t care for meat or cheese and was 98% vegan. Her mom was/is a militant vegan, so growing up she just never developed a taste for meat or dairy. She had no problem eating it, but it was far from her go to - the best steak in the world would have been ‘meh’ to her cause it’s wasn’t her jam.
I get what you’re saying tho. If I understand right, a flexitarian is a vegetarian/vegan by preferred diet but not unwaveringly.
Yes, a flexitarian is a part-time veg but still sometimes eats animal products. A vegan does not consume or use any animal products for ethical reasons. If you consume a vegan diet but still buy animal products to wear, clean with, etc, then you consume a plant-based diet but are not technically vegan.
The problem with saying plant-based is that it implies “based on plants” with no rigid definition. Some people think it means “vegetarian but not vegan” or just “mostly plants.” I have even seen products that contain animal products that I am allergic to marketed as “plant-based,” so it’s just not a good term for me.
FWIW I think impossible is closer in texture but further in taste. I’m pretty open to meat alternatives but something about Impossible just doesn’t taste quite right to me (not bad, just off somehow).
But that’s just me, I can’t hate on what others prefer since neither are actually bad imho
They are really quite good. I like Nuggs too. I figure if we’re going to eat junk food it may as well not come from factory farmed chickens.
I wish they could bring them to fast food but if KFC was any indicator they’d be cooked like fucking ASS and ruin it anyways.
But yeah, impossible chicken is very good. Also partial to Simulate Nuggs.
I had them at Dog Haus which isn’t fast food but close
Yeah something like that I could see them going very well.
when I tried the impossible whopper I got a regular one too and couldn’t tell the difference. it really is legit.
I would love to eat meat replacements on a more regular basis, but impossible and beyond burgers are more expensive than actual meat where I live. So I just don’t buy them. If the technology /economies of scale actually manage to make them cheaper than meat, I’d replace 80% of my meat consumption.
In Canada prices have been dropping drastically recently. Lately there are sales for the beyond meat ground beef for ~6.50 CAD. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until its comparable everywhere.
I have a pack of these in my freezer and I was thinking of air-frying them, chopping them up, and adding them to a mu shu gai pan or rice stir fry. Think that would work well?
Not OP, but IME the breading tends to fall off when they’re chopped and moved around a bunch, but if you mix sliced air fried ones in at the very end that’d probably turn out pretty well.
Should work fine. They also sell patties, I’ve used those to cut to strips for salads or ramen before and it works well.
Personally I like Gardein’s chicken strips that come with teriyaki sauce for stir fry because the sauce is good and those aren’t breaded.
Yeah! Those nuggets are my go to quick protein snack. And cholesterol free, to boot.
BRB, gonna make some nuggets now…
Impossible burgers are the flip side… they don’t taste like beef, but man, the texture is spot on and good enough to fool my tongue.
Beyond has a weird, kind of nutty, aftertaste I don’t care for, not so with Impossible.
Idk I had an Impossible Whopper at BK when they first started doing them, and I couldn’t yell the difference.
I can’t really taste the difference between beef and impossible burger IF the burger is a cm or so thick. If you tried to make a restaurant burger (2-3cm thick, rare/med rare) I think the difference would be pretty noticeable. It’s good in ground beef recipes, too (like pasta sauce or stuffed squash). I’m so happy this alternative is available. Big fan! It’s not that much more than beef I think? I dunno it all seems pretty cheap compared to fish/coffee/beer/wine.
The only real drawback is the sodium content:
One persons drawback is another persons “salt of life” haha. Yea they aren’t healthy, that’s for sure. Tasty though!
The best plant based chicken nuggets I had, I can’t remember the brand name (id recognize the package tho). But even then, they had a texture more akin to a stack of paper than chicken. Still, I’d get 'em again. The texture wasn’t off-putting, just a little weird.
The texture was from it actually being some kind of leaf just wrapped around itself tightly, though. It wasn’t, like, lab made weirdness. Just creatively made and flavored salad.
I’m interested in trying these. Can anyone recommend the best brand?
To add. Impossible is the brand they are talking about in this post. I agree they’re probably the best brand for basically anything they sell. They have burgers (patty and block form), chicken nuggets and patties in both normal and spicy, and breakfast sausage in log or patty form(also spicy/normal). (They also have some microwave meals but those are exactly what you’d expect from microwave meals… so probably don’t.)
Simulate is another brand that sells Simulate Nuggs (also have a spicy version). If for some reason you can’t find impossible but can find these, they’re a very close 2nd.
Beyond is another brand known to make decent stuff. Theirs is fine, definitely edible, but personally find theirs to be worse than the other two brands listed.
Gardein makes a ton of frozen meat substitutes. They’re all overall fine. Not AMAZING, but easy to use in everyday cooking for stuff like stir fries, tacos, etc. maybe slightly under beyond, but I tend to prefer them outside of what I buy Impossible brand stuff for.
impossible is a brand. they also do really good imitation burgers
