I received these product(s) free of charge from LightLife and MomsMeet. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. I received no other compensation in exchange for my review. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.
As many of us have seen an uptick on plant based meats, many companies have hit the market with their version of the burger. Some have failed miserably in the past, rather others just keep adding more and more selections to their meatless options to broaden your weekly menu. I am okay with a veggie burger as long as it tries not to pretend it is meat, so to me it is a veggie patty per say. Now, when a company claims a burger substitute that is as good as the moo-ing thing, I definitely change my expectations.
In comes LightLife, with their new plant-based burger. They start with 20 grams of protein per serving. No fillers and it is 100% plant based. This means no soy, gluten free, no GMOs, zero artificial flavors, and is even qualified to be a Kosher product. You also get zero cholesterol and the saturated fat is just 2.5 grams in a 1/4 pound patty. Lots of zeros where we want them but does that also go for taste?
LightLife was founded in 1979, so they have been part of the plant based foods before it became the “trending” thing to do. I felt that was a good start and worth the leap to try and see for myself if LightLife burgers can actually deliver a good tasting burger that is not just okay for pretending. We opted to treat the burgers like we would our predecessors, so we grilled it. Let us give it the chance from the get go and I am not going to give this patty any special treatment. The patty grilled and held up with zero issues. Again, another zero that lands in the right category. No sticking, did not fall apart and did not overly shrink up either. I went with just a simple salt and pepper seasoning because I wanted to taste the patty as close to how it is. LightLife burgers are seasoned and the pea protein gets mixed with coconut oil, sea salt, beet and garlic powder. I went light on the salt but because I like a nice crust on my burger, I did give it a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper. Went it came to dressing up my burger, I went with a smoked cheddar, which is thinly sliced and just a smidgen of mayonnaise and some pickles. I even had my salad on the side, so no lettuce to drown my burger flavor.
Verdict:
Smells good and “burgery”. Nice grill marks and it looks appetizing. When making my burger, the patty was not flimsy or like cardboard, just like a regular beef patty. It even has a meaty smell to it that quickly makes your mind think, “grilled beef…..mmmmmmm.” First bite has a nice chew and I do not taste peas or anything vegetable like at all. This patty does not taste 100% beef if we are using that as the marker (makes sense right), but it tastes like a patty that is mixed with beef and pork. I kind of like that because I add pork to meatloaf and other applications, even when beef is the majority in the mix. I actually see myself buying LightLife and making it part of my weekly meals. Yeah, I liked it that much. It may not taste 100% cow but that is what drew me in the most. They definitely hit the mark in the meat notes and if you want a plant based patty (hard to believe with how good it tastes) that does not taste or have an odd and off texture, I seriously recommend you give LightLife a try. My only complaint is that finding the burger patty is a bit hard as it sells out and I tried two Sprout’s and a Albertsons, but call ahead and ask and most stores are kind enough to hold how many containers you want. I did try the “ground beef” and made that into a taco salad because hey, I enjoy LightLife and wanted to see how the texture was if I was cooking it like I do ground beef. Again, it succeeded but I recommend a nonstick surface, as it allows the plant based mince to get a crust and brown like you expect beef to do so. I did use a stainless steel pan the first time but found I needed more oils/fats to get the desired texture. A ceramic coated cast iron or a nonstick pan gave me the results in the same amount of time (about 6 to 8 minutes) to get the browning I was looking for.
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