I'm already a hot dog snob, so these guys weren't gonna do it for me. Steal these tips from vegan trainers for fueling your tough workouts.). In an effort to understand and gain empathy for the vegetarian's plight, I, a staunch anti-veggie adult who eats like a toddler, bought a sampling of the most beloved fake meats, served them up to myself, and ranked them all. The ultimate 30-day squat challenge, featuring 12 squats that tighten and tone. Considering all the nutritional and environmental benefits of a plant-based diet, it's no wonder more and more people are looking for meatless ways to round out their meals. And, in terms of taste, texture, and ingredients, it was a very "love the one you're with" situation. (Yes, way!) Chicken is harder, but one brand has really nailed it. Daring Foods' "chicken" tastes like the real deal and even shreds the same way chicken does. That, and an upset stomach for doing this entire story in one sitting. So if you’re after products with the simplest, tastiest, healthiest veggie ingredients you already know and love, here are five whole food, plant-based meat brands that promise to be good to you and the planet. (Please think of me and my stomach as you scroll. These vegan and non-GMO bowls are available in varieties like Mediterranean, Southwest, and Sweet Potato Shepherd's pie. If this list has you worrying about your fridge and freezer space, read on: Loma Linda's shelf-stable microwaveable plant-based meal solution packs are so "I can't even"-friendly for nights you come home exhausted and want a flavorful meal that's done in 60 seconds. Tempeh. Amazon // Amino / Shutterstock, Credit: Make no mistake, though: This tastes NOTHING like sausage. If you want to eat beef but don't want to kill cows, this is a great option. They might look a bit off, but if I got these at a continental breakfast in a rural Best Western in North Dakota, I wouldn't be the wiser. They're widely available in grocery stores and from online retailers. Basically, it's a brick of thick batter with some fishy stuff in the middle. This list is a product of my own research (and taste-testing) along with input from other dietitians, clients, and friends. Then pondered another. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, get Eatmail for more food coverage, and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun. If you're a jerky fan, you'll love the jerky from Louisville Vegan Jerky Co., which comes in flavors like Smoked Black Pepper, Smoked Chipotle, and Sriracha Maple. You can make them in the oven or in the microwave. Like other fermented foods, tempeh is rich in probiotics, which are a type of beneficial bacteria found in your digestive tract.In addition to being one of the best meat … 10 Things I Learned During My Body Transformation, Field Roast Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages, Hilary's Vegan Apple Maple Breakfast Sausage, tips from vegan trainers for fueling your tough workouts. These plant-based numbers taste like they'd fit right in on a $5 turkey footlong from Subway. Even better, there's none of that overpowering fish scent I was dreading. Not that they'd serve veggie bacon in rural North Dakota... but if they did, I'd definitely be okay with it. No, a Boca burger doesn't really taste like a burger, but its chewiness, crusty exterior, and blast of salt make it stand out, and without the dryness that plagues so many fake meats. With 6 to 12 grams of soy-based protein per serving, you'll actually stay satisfied for a while. These puffed vegetable snacks are essentially pork cracklings without the pork. This may be why Boca has essentially become the Kleenex of the veggie burger canon despite a taste not unlike the old high-school cafeteria beef puck (which, let's face it, was probably about as much "beef" as this). Impossible's Burger King partnership produced a vegetarian-friendly Whopper that I think is even better than the original -- which is quite a feat. My clients and fellow dietitians love Beyond Meat's The Beyond Burger. Impossible is able to edge out Beyond thanks to its texture. The pieces are slightly sweet, a little smoky, and actually pretty good, in a generic jerky sort of way. In all honesty, it tastes like dry stuffing that somebody clumped together in case somebody invited a vegetarian over for Thanksgiving. All Rights Reserved. These vegan slices have the look, feel, and some of the flavor of America's favorite deli-meat punchline, though there's an overarching blandness that hurts this curiosity in the end. Impossible Foods is one of Beyond Meat's largest competitors, but they're both after the same mission: make meaty tasting stuff crafted from plant proteins and save the planet. To make it feel even more like a real burger, they also contain beet juice so the burger "bleeds" when you bite it, so to speak. Rest assured: Compared to a lot of other heat-and-eat items, these gluten-free, non-GMO, soy-based sustainable protein packs feature shorter ingredients lists made up of things you can actually recognize and pronounce. Amazon, Credit: Whole Foods is predicting that faux meat products will continue to gain popularity in 2019 as more people look for meatless alternatives and companies make it delicious to dial down your meat consumption. I would not recommend this in a sandwich, as a snack on a charcuterie board, or really anywhere -- unless you like bland, cold, and floppy fake meat paper. If you're looking for vegetarian-friendly chorizo for scrambled eggs or chilaquiles, this is your best bet. Of all the meat-substitute products out there, the British company Quorn (what, you thought they'd be from Nebraska?) 5 Healthy Vegan Meat Brands Made From Whole Foods. So, the tube makes this product, helpfully subtitled "meatless soy chorizo," look more like sausage than it really is. Here are 10 must-tries. Luckily, there's been a ton of innovation in that space since. If you're missing pork bacon, Sweet Earth Foods Benevolent Bacon will fill the void. But their flavor is oddly right and I'm surprised to say, they're pretty damn delicious. These plant-based patties (first launched in 2015) provide more than 20 grams of protein that comes primarily from peas (great news for people who suffer from soy allergies). Why not emulate some baller artisan brand? Read on for 10 must-try faux meat products you can find at a grocery store near you or at your favorite online retailers. It'd also work well with spaghetti or a generous pour of gravy. Like Beyond Meat's burgers, the protein (13 grams per serving!) Whole Foods recently announced their food trend predictions for 2019 and—along with hemp food products and eco-conscious packaging—faux meat snacks made it on the list of what's going to be hot in the year ahead. The casing, you see, is plastic, and the meat gets squeezed out of it like spicy toothpaste, then drops into the pan like a goopy mass of semi-coagulated meat jelly. The sweet-and-savory flavor combo in Field Roast Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages is adored by herbivores and omnivores alike.