Episode 254: The Veggie Burger Frodown

10 Nov, 2009

Posted by: Gregory Ng: The Frozen Food Master

I really hope you all appreciate the sacrifice I made doing this review. The fact that me, The Frozen Food Master AKA the Ultimate Carnivore subjected myself to not 1 or 2 but 4 different veggie burgers to make this review should be commended. I reviewed veggie burgers from Morningstar Farms, Amy’s, Gardenburger, and Boca.

Which will make the Frozen Food Master forget about a juicy meat burger? The Frozen Food Master will tell you!

P.S. I wrote a little more detail on my feelings about these products here on the Freezerburns Facebook Group!

Amy’s All American Veggie Burger
Nutrition Facts:
Serving size 1 Burger (71g)
Servings per Container 4
Calories: 120
Calories from Fat: 25
Total Fat: 3g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 390mg
Total Carbohydrate: 15g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 10g

Price: $5.99

Boca Original Vegan Meatless Burgers
Nutrition Facts:
Serving size 1 Burger (71g)
Servings per Container 4
Calories: 70
Calories from Fat: 5
Total Fat: 0.5g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 280mg
Potassium: 340mg
Total Carbohydrate: 6g
Dietary Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 13g

Price: $4.25

Gardenburger The Original Veggie Burgers
Nutrition Facts:
Serving size 1 Pattie (71g)
Servings per Container 4
Calories: 100
Calories from Fat: 30
Total Fat: 3g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 10mg
Sodium: 400mg
Potassium: 110mg
Total Carbohydrate: 18g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Sugars: >1g
Protein: 5g

Price: $4.19

Morningstar Farms Grillers Original
Nutrition Facts:
Serving size 1 Burger (64g)
Servings per Container 4
Calories: 130
Calories from Fat: 50
Total Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g
Monounsaturated Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 260mg
Potassium: 130mg
Total Carbohydrate: 5g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Sugars: >1g
Protein: 15g

Price: $4.69

This product has received a rating of

Rating: 4.5

Tags: burgers, Gluten free, Vegan, vegetarian

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Brack

Greg is a douche. Can you tell me more about the f*cking box which we can already see and has absolutely no effect on taste?

All veggy burgers taste horrible out of the microwave. Taking just a couple extra minutes to pan-fry makes all the difference.

Sara

I'm definitely not a vegetarian but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try something new eh?! I can wholly appreciate your sacrifice and I'm terribly sorry that you had to put that in your mouth!! (mostly referring to the boca burger!)

I'm going to be anxiously awaiting a frozen pizza frodown, I would just like to know once and for all which is the best~!

Meg

I don't even pretend these are a substitution, so no bun and my topping is only salsa (different varieties, depending). Anyway, I think how these get cooked makes a ton of difference. I use my toaster oven and toast them. Morningstar is my favorite and Gardenburger makes some great flavors. Haven't tried the others.

Adam

Greg,
A 'regular" Vegan/Veggie burger sucks without cheese, but some of the 'flavored' ones are tolerable. I remember on GrubGrade we tried one of the Boca flavors (Tomato/Basil/Parmesan) and it was actually pretty good.

Still crap compared to the real thing, and even frozen turkey burgers (which I think are pretty good, try Jennie-O)

mia

When I get veggie burgers, I usually get the Boca burgers, to be honest, just becuase they have a good nutritional profile. 13 grams of protein for only 70 calories? That's great.
I smother them in mustard and salsa before I eat them though.
I'll have to try the Morningstar ones!
Great review!

Marcie

I think it's important to note that non-organic soy is almost certainly a variety genetically-modified for pesticide resistance, and hence, likely heavily sprayed with pesticides/herbicides. I think that contributes quite a bit to the offensive taste, on top of the 'dog food' one you mention. (I grew up running errands with my mom near a soybean processing plant, I totally know what you are talking about). The boca burger's #1 ingredient is soy, while morningstar's is vegetables, which would explain the stark difference, I think, along with the cheese. (And no fair testing one with cheese and the others naked!)

In any case, I spend the extra $ on organic, esp. for my young son, to not have the extra chemicals.

Oh and thanks for your sacrifice :) with meat production in the US being a huge contributor to pollution, disease, and greenhouse gas emissions, it would help immensely if more Americans integrated some meatless meals into their menus.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-trueman/eme...

Thanks :-)

Boris

"The boca burger's #1 ingredient is soy, while morningstar's is vegetables..."

The number 1 ingredient in Morningstar Grillers is TVP--it's soy plus wheat gluten.

I'll never figure out how they get away with gouging as they do for what is effectively a by-product of a fantastically cheap GMO crop, though.

Sharon

I've been eating the Morningstar Farms Grillers for years and I think they are great. I still eat real burgers but I love the taste of the Grillers. I just wish they were a little more budget friendly. I'm going to have to try the sausage one of these days.

a

interesting music for the 'time for a frodown' thing

i also don't think you should use 'mcdonalds sized burger' as a unit of measure. their burgers are tiny, like bottle cap tiny, and that burger was visibly larger.

the boca burger was absolutely hilarious.

also i'm not sure how the cheese burger was on the same playing field as the other burgers, especially considering one of them was a vegan burger (the one that was the absolute worst).

thanks for the entertaining review