20 grams of plant-based protein. Red like a beef burger looks. Does the Beyond Burger go beyond other veggie burgers? And if it does, do you want to give up meat for this burger?
The argument with a veggie burger is the protein level of a meat burger without the meat. But does that protein have to come from something that looks like a burger?
You can buy the Beyond Burger in the store for home cooking. Since Epic Burger sells the Beyond Burger in its restaurants, I wanted to try out the Beyond Burger under the guise of a typical eating out scenario.
The chain is known for its quality ingredients. The regular burger is $4.99 while the Beyond Burger is $7.29. The veggie burger would have to be really good at that price level.
I ordered the burger the same way I would eat an Epic Burger, but did substitute a brioche bun instead of the usual wheat bun.
The veggie burger looked similar to the flat regular burger that the restaurant serves. Like most fast food pictures, the product didn’t match up: the redness touted in the ads was not there. The Beyond Burger did look like a burger more than other veggie burgers. Then again, looks matters less than frosting on a cupcake.
If you stack a veggie burger with actual vegetables, you don’t get a sense of taste of the veggie burger. Since I eat the regular Epic burger with few to no toppings, I chose to get the true taste of the veggie burger.
The initial reaction to the taste is the sensation of crunchy. The crunching isn't bad but a bit disorienting in eating a burger.
The taste was very neutral but also tasted like an overcooked burger. Comparing a veggie burger to a regular burger is easier if you overcook your burgers. For those of us with love a medium-rare burger, crunchy isn’t going to work.
As a meat eater, you can't mistake this Beyond Burger for a meat burger. If you haven't had a beef burger in years, you might think this burger could be a beef burger if you ignore the crunching and visible pieces.
As a veggie burger goes, and that may be the only viable comparison, this burger does have some good non-crunchy points. The taste isn’t bad. The burger held together well.
The nutrition element in the comparison chart is surprising for a vegetarian burger. The comparison notes that the veggie burger is only 1g of fat (23g vs. 22g) behind the beef burger. The beef burger has 9g of saturated fat but the veggie burger has 5g of saturated fat. The nutrition comparison makes the beef burger seem not that bad.
The nutrition numbers are comparable while the price point isn't. That difference can change over time, especially if climate change affects the price of cattle and innovation reduces the cost of the veggie burger. For $7.29, you could make an amazing vegetarian lunch and have plenty of change.
I have tried a few veggie burgers with a general consensus: I could eat this burger, but why would I want to do so? If I were a vegetarian, I would rather put a grilled portobello mushroom in a brioche bun with thin slices of roasted red pepper, sautéed spinach, and a nice whole grain mustard.
You can easily argue that I am biased against veggie burgers and you would likely been right. The Beyond Burger will not sway an omnivore, but if you are leaning toward being a vegetarian, try it out with lots of toppings. And if you convince yourself you aren’t eating a burger, you might enjoy the Beyond Burger.
photos credit: me; Beyond Burger
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