Review: Morningstar Farms Products
Posted on January 3, 2008
Filed Under Product Reviews |
Today I’m taking on the giant of vegetarian substitute products. As far as I know they seem to be the largest company, at least distribution wise, and most easy to find in non-specialty grocery stores. Most of the products that I’ve tried have been very good, which I’ll detail below, but I haven’t yet tried them all.
Firstly I’ll say that I was pleasantly surprised to find all vegan burgers from Morningstar Farms just a couple weeks ago. In the past, Morningstar Farms had only carried vegetarian (non-vegan) products so this is a nice and somewhat unexpected change. I had heard rumblings on various vegetarian/vegan message boards expressing the desire for vegan meat-substitutes from Morningstar Farms; it is very nice to see that the company is in touch with their vegetarian and vegan customer base.
Grillers Classic
This is apparently the original veggie burger from Morningstar Farms. It happens to be one of my favorites, perhaps only surpassed by Grillers Prime veggie burgers. It has a classic ‘burger taste’ without the greasy, gritty real burger texture. Although its been quite some time since I’ve had a real burger, this one really seems to fit my memories.
Grillers Prime
In my opinion, there isn’t much difference between the Grillers Classic and Grillers Prime, but I guess I do prefer the Grillers Prime. It may only be a mental difference (the word prime!) as I’ve yet to do a direct comparison, but thats good enough for me. I officially declare Grillers Prime as my favorite veggie burger and likewise my favorite Morningstar Farms product.
Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burger
While not a bad product, my biggest argument is that it doesn’t attempt to taste like a real burger. Of course I’m sure thats not what they were aiming for but this one just doesn’t do it for me. The title is perfectly descriptive of the product though if you were wondering what to expect. This vegetarian substitute is very heavy on the black bean taste and does include spice. The spice rating I’d give is a 3.5/10, so don’t worry Thai food fearers…
Garden Veggie Patties
Perhaps my least favorite of the Morningstar Farms vegetarian products I’ve tried, the Garden Veggie Patties are fairly extreme with their vegetable taste and texture. Apparently there was no attempt to disguise the vegetarian nature of these meat substitute burgers. They don’t look, taste, or feel like a real burger. I have trouble eating them as you’ll occasionally run across a crunchy section. Maybe its just me, but I can’t handle the taste/texture combo.
Veggie Dogs
The first time I ate a Morningstar veggie dog I was thrilled to no end. I hadn’t had an actual hot dog in years and I was excited to eat such a great replacement. The next time I ate them it didn’t go so well though. The flavor in my second batch really put me off of eating them unless absolutely necessary. It seems they have some sort of aftertaste not even coverable by massive gobs of ketchup. Overall an acceptable product considering I haven’t found a better one. Oh yeah, and one more strange quality I noticed…when you cook them they hold their frozen shape. It’s not a big deal, but they certainly don’t plump when you cook them.
Chik Patties Original
As far as I know, these could be real chicken patties. I cannot distinguish a difference in taste, although I’ll point out again…it’s been quite some time. They nailed the texture and flavor in the vegetarian substitutes. Perhaps a chicken patty is easier to copy because they are such a mishmash of ingredients anyways. These definitely get an A.
Veggie Corn Dogs
Another great product from Morningstar Farms. Unlike the original Veggie Dogs, I can’t discern an after taste. Perhaps its because of the exterior breading, but the flavor is much better all throughout consumption. Dip these in ketchup and you’ve found yourself a quick tasty all-vegetarian snack.
Vegetarian Crumbles (?)
Now I forget the exact name of these, but the idea is that they imitate ground beef. They come in more of a bag than a box and are very easy to cook. Its easy to put them into a vegetarian burrito for a change. Or mix them into a chili, pasta, or anything else where someone might put ground beef. This is a vegetarian must-try; its definitely not ground beef, but an amazing vegetarian substitute.
Vegan Products - I’ve yet to get my hands on one, but I’m hungry in anticipation!
An old post from The Lazy Vegetarian regarding Veggie Burger reviews can be found HERE
What Morningstar Farms products have you tried/liked/disliked? Let me know which products you disagree about!
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[…] presents an extensive review of Morningstar Farms Products posted at The Veggie Hub. Marilyn Terrell presents A Vegetarian in Paris posted at Intelligent […]
Hi, Ive been largely vegetarian diet but after reading “the China Study” I decided to become pretty strict vegan since 1/1/08. As a result my wife and I had to discard all the Morningstar veggie sausage as well as all the Quorn products as they both contain either milk/casein or egg based products. I am amazed on how many people assume alot of the products dont have egg or milk. Anyway, no more Morningstar for me and I have had to be so so careful with labels. The Morningstar sausage use to be a frequent choice as it was the best flavor and texture. I wish it were vegan and less proceesed. Regards, Andrew
I am a new vegetarian and I have brought my family including 19 month old daughter along on the ride to healthier eating and a more humane way of living. There is a lot to learn and one of my questions is are there any health concerns with eating these meat substitutes? I have noticed that some of these have a lot of sodium, as an example. Are there any other things to look out for and what are some of the ways to avoid these processed foods? Thanks!