You want to know the honest truth? I've always been a fan of veggie burgers. Even when I was a devout meat-eater in my college days, I'd sneak the occasional veggie burger off the grill at the backyard barbecue, or I'd order one (topped with bacon and pepper jack cheese) from the old Miracle of Sciencegrill in Cambridge. I also love making my own veggie burgers, whether it's agrain-based, 100% vegan burger, or a great black bean burger.
But there are times when I want what a veggie burger has to offer without having to go through the trouble of making the patties myself. Which supermarket brand is the tastiest and which come closest to homemade?
The Contenders
Cooking burgers on an electric griddle.
There are more varieties of veggie burgers out there than you can shake a stick of seitan at. To be clear, we distinctly did not set out to find faux-meat burgers. We're not looking for beef substitutes here.* Instead, we're on the hunt for veggie burgers that celebrate real vegetables and grains, and we selected nationally available brands that highlighted those ingredients. In cases where a given brand had several different flavor options, we selected those that were closest to that ideal.
*A faux meat-burger tasting is another test for another day.
With that criteria, we arrived at six brands for our taste test:
- Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties
- Boca Grilled Vegetable Patties
- Gardenburger Original Veggie Burger
- Amy's California Veggie
- Amy's Sonoma Veggie
- Trader Joe's Veggie Burger
We prepared all of the burgers by searing them with a minimal layer of vegetable oil on a griddle according to the time recommended on the packaging. The burgers were served on toasted buns with just a touch of mayo (some participants opted to taste both with and without ketchup).
The Criteria
Burgers were tasted on a toasted bun with just a touch of mayo.
Tasters were asked to judge burgers on their texture, flavor, and overall preference.
We want veggie burgers that provide textural interest—a mix of crunchy, meaty, and soft textures were ranked higher than burgers that were uniform.
When it comes to texture, our results indicate that most tasters were looking for burgers that were robust enough to stand up under the pressure of biting into a bun. Were they mushy or squishy? No good. We want veggie burgers that provide textural interest—a mix of crunchy, meaty, and soft textures were ranked higher than burgers that were uniform. We also tend to like burgers that have identifiable grains and vegetables in them. Generic Vegetable Protein Matrix (or GVPM) was not a good selling point for a patty.
Jamie and Robyn taste burgers and fill out their tasting sheets. IN ABSOLUTE SILENCE, of course.
As for flavor, our tastes ran similarly: we wanted real food flavor. Nutty, mushroomy, oniony, cheesy, or spiced—whatever it is, it has to be something we come across in our day to day life. Something familiar enough that it doesn't taste artificial.
via:http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/04/taste-test-the-best-frozen-veggie-burgers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feedmeaburger+%28A+Hamburger+Today%29
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