Vegan Chicken Nuggets, or “plant-based” meats, have received comprehensive media coverage over the past several years.
As fast-food chains have begun offering meat-free versions of their famous sandwiches, much of this content has been positive, such as my write-up about the Burger King Impossible Whopper for my local newspaper.
From a macronutrient standpoint, meat analogs Vegan Chicken Nuggets resemble their meat counterparts in equivalent calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat composition.
They are typically deficient in cholesterol compared to their meat versions, but they often contain significantly higher sodium. As with their meat equivalents, they are also massively processed, which has put them under massive scrutiny from those that think processed foods are unhealthy.
However, compared to their meat complements, these analogs’ nutritional “healthiness” has not been thoroughly researched. In addition, it will require long-term study to determine if they can replace animal meat in a well-rounded diet due to their lack of overall amino acid “completeness,” concerns regarding additives and processing, and questions about their sustainability in terms of overall manufacturer impact on the environment.
All the nuggets were cooked up in an Instant Vortex air fryer and used with different condiments, including a commercially-available BBQ sauce, honey mustard, and Asian sweet chili sauce.
Although deep frying might have enhanced the overall taste (and is more inclined to be how a restaurant would assist them), we chose not to deep fry because this is not a traditional home cooking method, and these products were purchased in retail.
Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Chicken Tenders
- Established by a classically-trained French chef, Yves Potvin
- Utilized in culinary applications
- Used in vegan and vegetarian eateries
- Product variants to foodservice industry in unprepared applications
- Retail as consumer stocks with seasonings and sauces.
- Breaded, frozen, pre-cooked
- Natural-style chicken tender shape with no sauce
- Ingredients include soy protein isolate, wheat flour, canola oil, pea protein concentrate, sunflower oil.
- Less aggressive seasoning
- Lower sodium content
- More natural “meat” texture
- More flexible culinary applications.
Daring Plant-Based Breaded Chicken Pieces
- The product looked better nutritionally than others
- Huge amounts of sodium
- Over-the-top salty
- Terrible plastic texture
- It tasted like the picture of cooked chicken meat from a tv broadcast
- Feed human abductees in the hybrid breeding program
- Primary ingredients included soy protein concentrate, sunflower oil, potato starch, and rice flour
Trader Joe’s Chickenless Crispy Tenders
- Bit as flavorful or as pleasant a texture
- Saltier
- Primary ingredients are soy flour, textured wheat protein, wheat gluten
- Whole grain flour blend of millet, sorghum, amaranth, quinoa, and teff
- Healthiest of all the offerings
- Tasteless except salting
Impossible Chicken Nuggets
- Frozen and already cooked
- Ingredients include soy protein concentrate, wheat flour, sunflower oil, soybean oil, and cornstarch
- Additionally, added vitamins and minerals
- Address the target market, i.e., children
- Macronutrient close to a leading brand of real chicken nuggets
- Better on saturated fat and cholesterol
- Very high in the sodium
- The tasty and good overall texture and “juiciness.”
- Limited culinary applications
MorningStar Veggitizer Popcorn Chick’n
- It looked good on paper from a protein and general macronutrient standpoint\
- Tiny in sizes like small marbles or fried okra nuggets
- Resemble “popcorn” chicken than nuggets
- Pre-seasoned with Buffalo Wing, Garlic Parmesan flavors
- Taste like breading
- No meaty moisture
- Primary ingredients include soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, wheat flour, yellow cornflour
Vegan Chicken Nuggets Consist Of
Meat analogs are made out of green proteins, such as soybean flour, soybean concentrate, soybean isolate, textured wheat protein, pea protein isolate, and wheat gluten. They also use various flours and starches, like rice flour, wheat flour, potato flour, and cornstarch, and vegetable oils, spices, salt, and different chemicals and preservatives used in processed food products.
Why Eat Vegan Chicken Nuggets
Some people don’t need to eat animals or establish them for food due to noble and moral concerns regarding their practice. They may also have religious or other dietary demands that may prevent the eating of animals.