Going Meatless – Review of Beyond Beef
Going Meatless – Review of Beyond Beef
If you read this blog, you know that I’m a meat eater who’s trying to cut back. So I’m always on the lookout for good meat substitutes. Recently I tried the Impossible Burger and documented that experience. However, the Impossible products are not available in my grocery store yet. The other popular plant-based meat substitute brand, the Beyond Meat products, are available for purchase at my grocery, so I decided to give it a shot.
I bought a 1 lb (16 oz) block of Beyond Beef from the vegetarian/vegan products area and thought I’d try using it to create a meatloaf. So I got out the ingredients I’d need for a meatloaf (breadcrumbs, egg, etc) and set to making it.
How Does Beyond Beef Taste?
Let me just cut to the chase, unless they make some serious changes to the formula of this product, I won’t be buying it again. Here are my impressions:
First off, there was the smell that assaults you as soon as you open the package. I can’t even describe it or decide what to compare it to, but I found it completely nauseating. I mean, seriously just about the most unappetizing smell I could imagine. I wondered if I had gotten a package gone bad, left out of the refrigerator too long maybe, but I looked up some info online and discovered that the funky smell is just how it is.
I hoped that after cooking it, that might dissipate the odor, so I set about making the meatloaf and hoping for the best. In addition to the smell, you also need to contend with a very slimy consistency that is an additional unappetizing feature of this product.
As it baked, the stink did not dissipate. No, now it permeated the entire house. The S.O. and I sat down to eat this thing, and he tried to be positive and say that it didn’t taste too bad, but I honestly found it barely palatable. The smell of it was slightly less disgusting than it was when raw, but still not appealing in any way to me.
If you are a fan of Beyond Meat or you work for the company, please don’t send me hate mail! This is just my opinion, but I really didn’t care for it. I’d rather just eat rice and beans or something like that as a meat alternative.
Have any suggestions or recipes for a couple of meat lovers who want to cut back and try some meatless dishes once in a while? I’d love to hear them! Comment below.
