How Do Plant Based Meats Stack Up and My 5 Thoughts

Plant Based Meat

As I was grilling out the other night I started to think about plant based meats. Kind of an oxymoron, don’t you think?

It made me start to wonder how do they stack up to an animal based meat so I did a little research. I found that plant based meats no longer have the stigma attached to them that they used to. People, myself included, thought of them as gross. Well, let’s see what people think about these new meats.

I have seen a lot of advertising for them and I had to wonder if they really stack up to all of the hype.

What Does It Look Like?

The first thing I wanted to know is does it look appetizing? If you are like me, then you eat first with your eyes and then your mouth. If it doesn’t look good, I certainly don’t want to eat it. This is where I did my first research. What I found was that the manufacturers of these “meats” have worked to make it look as close to animal meat as possible. “The next generation of plant-based meats are designed for meat eaters,” says Caroline Bushnell, the Good Food Institute’s associate director of corporate engagement. “These businesses are re-imagining what meat can be and are delivering in a big way on the single most important factor in food choice: taste.”

I looked at Beyond Meat and LightLife.  Both of these manufacturers have the traditional burger patty and the ground meat. Beyond Meat has a sausage and brat option whereas LightLife has a hot dog option. The Beyond Meat burger looked more appetizing but as far as the sausage and hot dog, I think it is a tie. Because they look good, I decided to give them a try.

Here is what they look like so you can see for yourself:

What Does It Taste Like?

So I asked my wife to pick some up while she was out.  Time to fire up the grill and give plant based meat a try. Again, I did some research to see what others had to say and then compare my experience to what they said.

First up – The Beyond Meat Burgers. I read several reviews on this and they all were positive. The comment I saw most in my research was that it is juicy and taste like real meat. Now it’s my turn. I cooked it on a clean grill without adding any seasoning so that the taste would not be clouded. I have to say that 100% agree with the reviews. If I did not cook it myself, I would have thought I was eating a beef burger. I would definitely add this to my menu.

Next Up – The LightLife Burger.  Most of the comments that I read about the LightLife Burger were negative. People said that it did not taste like meat and was more like tofu. Those comments alone made me not want to try it but I did. Again, I cooked it on a clean grill without any seasoning so that I was comparing apples to apples. Well, the verdict is in and I definitely did not like this one. I have never eaten tofu but if this is what it taste like, I don’t think I want to. This burger also left an aftertaste in my mouth. Scratch this one.

Next Up – The Beyond Meat Ground Meat. The comments I have read out there on the ground meat version were promising. Most people had positive things to say but did say it did not smell like ground beef when it was cooking. But, they did say that the taste was remarkably close to real beef. So what did I think?

I decided to use it in tacos. When cooking it, I must say that people were correct in that it did not smell like beef but I don’t know if I really expected it to. It cooked up just like ground beef. I was happy with that. I added the taco seasoning and made some tacos. I could not tell the difference. I will add this to my menu too.

Next Up – The LightLife Ground Meat. Just like the comments on the LightLife Burger, most reviews were negative. People said “it had a tougher texture and their flavor, while meaty, had the off-putting aftertaste that many pea protein products struggle with” (1).  Now it is my turn. To keep things even, I used this one in tacos as well.

The smell was similar to the Beyond Meat and the texture after cooking was similar as well. I added the taco seasoning and made some tacos. I did not like this one at all. The taste was odd. My tacos did not taste like tacos at all. They even had a sort-of “tin-ny” taste. Not appetizing at all. This will not go on my menu.

On to comparing the sausages/hot dogs.

First Up  –   Beyond Meat Brats. Once again, the reviews were great! I don’t think I found any negative comments for it at all. This got me very excited to try these out. I decided to cook these in a cast iron skillet. Can I say that the smell was amazing as they were cooking. My mouth was watering! I also grilled some onions to go with them. Once they were cooked, I put one on a bun with some mustard and grilled onions. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! I like these even better than the burgers! A must add to my menu!

Finally -- LightLife SmartDogs.  These actually had very good reviews. The comments mentioned how flavorful these are. Time to give these a try. These I boiled like most hot dogs. I diced up some onions. They smelled good while they cooked. Once they were done, I put them on a bun along with the onions and some mustard and ketchup.  These lived up to the reviews. They were really good. Full of flavor and not heavy. These are going on my menu too!

What Is It Made From?

Now to see what’s in these plant based meat products. I went straight to the source for this information. I don’t want to give any false or misleading ingredients.

According to BeyondMeat.com, both the burgers and ground meat are made from Water, Pea Protein, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color).

It’s sausages are made from Water, Pea Protein, Refined Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavor, Contains 2% or less of: Rice Protein, Faba Bean Protein, Potato Starch, Salt, Fruit Juice (For Color), Vegetable Juice (For Color), Apple Fiber, Methylcellulose, Citrus Extract (To Protect Quality), Calcium Alginate Casing.

According to LightLife.com, LightLife burgers and ground meat are made from Water, Pea Protein, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Modified Cellulose, Yeast Extract, Virgin Coconut Oil, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Beet Powder (Color), Ascorbic Acid (to promote color retention), Onion Extract, Onion Powder, and Garlic Powder.

It’s hot dogs are made from Water, Soy Protein Isolate, Soybean oil, Evaporated Cane Syrup,P ea Protein Isolate, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Bakers Yeast Extract, Carageenan, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavor (from plant sources), Natural Smoke Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Fermented Rice Flour, Guar Gum, Oleoresin Paprika (Color).

Both producers do mention that people with peanut allergies do need to take precautions when trying their products. So you may want to take that into consideration when you are purchasing these.

How Easy Is It To Cook?

I am sure you are wondering, how do I cook plant based meat? The easiest answer is the same way you do animal based meats. The biggest difference is that plant based meat cooks much quicker than animal based meat. Burgers? Grill them, Pan Fry them, bake them in the oven. Sausages and hot dogs? Same, except the hot dogs are good when you boil them.  What I did find really nice was on Beyond Meat’s website you can find a lot of great recipes!

Cost Comparison

The downside for plant based meat is that they are more expensive options compared to their animal counterpart. At almost $10 a pound for the Beyond Meat ground product, I won’t be purchasing that weekly. Since I am neither vegan nor vegetarian, I still have the option to buy animal meat in addition to or instead of the plant based meat.

What Do I think?

I decided to put my findings on plant based meat in an easy to read chart for you. This pulls it all together.

So what do I think? I think that adding plant based meat to your diet is a good option. I don’t think I would have them for every meal or replacement for every animal based meat but they will go on my menu and grocery list. Plant based meat is more expensive in general than animal based meats so you do have to take that into consideration. Both plant based meat and animal based meat are high in protein which I need in my diet to keep my muscles and body strong and healthy!

Of course, these are not the only two brands of plant based meat. There are many more. These happen to be the most popular.

Here is a video review (this is not me but I found it helpful)

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