I prefer my chicken meatless too. Honestly the bones and feathers are my favourite part.

I have tried a number of the substitutes available in Australia, our products aren't even close. My missus is vegetarian and she hates them as well, there is some sort of underlying chemical taste to most of the products over here.

Hard agree, but that's probably I'm only used to the 'plofkip' variety. 'Plofkip' is a Dutch word which roughly translate as 'Exploding chicken', which is chickens that are raised at an unnatural rate. After being um.. processed, the meat is commonly injected with water as well. That stuff smells vile and the taste is mediocre at best. It is also almost physically impossible to burn it while cooking because of the water content.

I would not know what a chicken would taste like if it had had an actual life. I am told, it is a world of difference, but I would buy the vegetarian or vegan alternative anyway.

Hey in the way if beef substitutes, have you tried carne de soya? It's sold as "textured soy protein" here in the US which isn't as tasty sounding, but effectively it's dried, shelf stable tofu and it's hugely popular among the poor in mexico for being dirt cheap and very healthy.

Because of it's dry sponge like properties, it soaks up flavor and fats like you would not believe, and the way it's crumbled let's out Cook to be nearly identical to perfectly cooked 90:10 ground beef. I now use it for everything but meatloaf and biscuits in gravey.

You can mix any combination of flavor with some olive oil and water/broth/beer/thin sauce/etc as a marinade, toss it in to soak it up, throw it in a pan and cook it until it's the texture you like. Made sloppy joes with it, better than with beef. Flavored it like I was making Italian sausage, best pasta I've ever had. Mixed it with bacon fat, pale ale, and a fist full of spices, put it in chili, and my coworkers refuse to believe it's not two pounds of chorizo. My autistic spouse is the only person who can genuinely distinguish the difference in texture, and I rule out that it's because she introduced me to it. It even comes out perfectly in a crock pot!

To top it off, it's $1 for 5oz, which is about 2lbs of beef worth of volume, has the same protein per serving, and a third of the calories with still half the calories after you add in your oil.

I'll be frank, I'm not into it for a health food reason, I'm into it for a culinary experience reason. I can flavor it in two different profiles and cook them both in the same dish, and the flavors will stay distinct in the meaty bits while mingling in the sauce. It's functionally flavorless on it's own and uncooked has the texture of fresh crumbly cheese when rehydrated, so you could probably soak it in whey, salt and herbs to get unmeltable cheese. I'm even toying with the idea of grinding it to smaller bits, flavoring it with vanilla and simple syrup, and putting it in rocky road cookies as a substitute for marshmallow that won't be sticky or caramelize on the bottom of the pan. The possibilities here are endless!

Great post :)

I can't say I agree in detail, but I don't disagree completely either.

I'd say that it depends on brand, preparation, and then personal taste (as in the variability of human taste as a sense, not preferences) as to whether a given substitute is going to be better, acceptable, or worse.

Texture wise, I'd agree that the usual options are on par. Slightly different, but not in a bad way. Juiciness, in my experience, is iffy. Definitely not as greasy; but for some dishes, that missing fat is a significant detriment. Flavor is more like texture; any given person is going to interpret the chemicals on their tongue slightly differently.

I think where the substitutes often fail for the most part is the smell, not the actual on-tongue taste. Even though most chicken meat isn't going to smell a lot, it is there, and the nose is very important to perceived flavor. I've yet to smell any chicken substitutes that smell right at all, though none have smelled bad. Soups and stews that aren't very chicken centric, that won't matter. But other stuff, it can and will.

Something like chicken noodle soup though? That's a hell no lol. You can't currently get anything that will make a stock that actually tastes right. I'm not saying you can't make good soup with chicken substitutes, just that it's a totally different taste. Enough so that calling it by the same name would be a joke.

Where chicken substitutes shine is nugget size dishes that don't rely on the chicken fats and soluble components for the flavor. I've had some sesame substitute that was as good or better than chicken. Stuff like that, with sauces, or even straight up breaded nuggets, that's where even if the substitutes didn't taste of anything at all, they'd be just fine.

Now me? I tend to be of the mind that for most dishes, you're better off just abandoning the original meat based recipe entirely and just cook things that make veggies shine on their own.

The beyond steak tips are pretty good. I've been using it as a beef substitute in tacos and in Hamburger Helper. The Hamburger Helper meal is now my 5 year old's favourite food.

Quorn is the best I've had. I don't think it's quite as tasty as real chicken, but it's close enough for plenty of uses. It's a touch dry. It has very good verisimilitude to slightly overcooked chicken.

I find Gardien's beef crumbles to be equally enjoyable as beef for chili and tacos and overall better when considering convenience, putting aside the ethical argument.

Ill find out when I find them with price parity.

I wonder to what kind of chicken you are comparing it though considering you mention fried chicken. Some minced chicken mixed with condiments? I can believe that. A high quality well roasted chicken with no condiments needed? I have doubts the substitutes are there.

Everyone I've tried is obviously fake. They're too rubbery. The texture is all off. Not awful, but nothing on the real thing.

How is it chicken if it doesn’t have meat?

also, non-dairy ben&jerry's >> regular b&j

Quorn is my favorite. That shit is tasty. Don't get me wrong, I'll fat bitch a plate of wings in a heartbeat, to stop said heartbeat, but I do prefer Quorn to nuggets or tendies.

Mainly, chicken breast is bland if unseasoned, and that's what meatless chicken is emulating. So, any flavor tends to stand out more.

For beef mince, textured vegetable protein (soy mince) perfectly captures the texture IMO, and you can make it taste any way you like. It's actually more protein-dense than beef mince, too, and it's completely shelf-stable. I bought a huge bag of it over a year ago. It's very convenient. I use it to make a fucking incredible chilli recipe

My brother in owning tastebuds... On all cooking shows/challenges/etc, they always do side by side comparisons - which is the best tomato sauce? Blindfolds, side by side comparisons... You know why? Because NO ONE would be able to compare a sauce from today to a sauce from when we filmed last week, much less FOUR YEARS AGO.

This is a pet peeve of mine as my irl community is filled with vegans/vegetarians and I hear shit like this ALL THE TIME.

"No trust me it tastes exactly like XXXX"

"When's the last time you had XXXX?"

"Highscool"

long sigh

I like most chicken substitutes. Some are impressively close to real chicken in terms of texture and taste. Actual, well prepared chicken is still a lot more delicious and offers more variation between different parts and the way they can be prepared.

I think this is still a pretty unpopular opinion, even if I've heard similarly positive responses to chicken substitute products from people I know (who aren't necessarily vegetarian). I've never heard anyone say they were flat out superior.

While I still eat meat occasionally, I try to choose vegetarian/vegan stuff when I can. I have only tried one chicken alternative plant based something, and while I could definitely tell the difference, I really don't mind it: it's tasty, even if in a slightly different manner.

What I can totally switch to without skipping a beat is Beyond Meat "beef" patties. At least the ones I had back around 2021.

Back when I was a kid we raised our own chickens, so I'm still waiting for a proper substitute, but I haven't tried everything yet.

There is a brand they sell at a vegan store where the chicken is very close in texture to real chicken, that I can't eat much of it. They also have a beef product that is super close to real steak/beef. And same, I can't eat it (makes my stomach churn), but my wife loves it. She's more of a I gave up neat for animals type, but loves the taste/texture/dishes and I more of the "I never enjoyed meat" type.

I'll find the brand name out next time I buy it.

Now I'm interested to try it. I do have two criticisms of the non-meat alternatives. The first is price. They're typically significantly more expensive, which seems odd to me. The second is lack of variety. The beyond sausages are actually really, really good. But there is only one type. The permutations of real sausages is so vast I'm spoiled for choice.

I think some of the chicken is hit or miss, but Beyond Burgers are definitely better than the real thing.

Yes. Vegan Gyros is nice, too. And you'll get higher quality than some random super cheap meat that just couldn't be used for any other product.

I had one that tasted hella good, but the texture with how it was like cabbage or something folded up a bunch, it was like chewing a wad of toilet paper.

The most perfect meat substitute I have ever had was carrot bacon. Cut thin enough, cooked to crispiness and covered in seasoning and liquid smoke, it's indistinguishable from real bacon. It even kinda looks like bacon.

That's like saying cake is better than meatballs. "Vegan meat" has nothing to do with meat.

Aren't the sodium levels really high with that stuff? I'm not trying to dismiss all the benefits of getting away from meat but you can't ignore that a lot of that is ultr-processed.

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Honestly, for nuggets and chicken burgers I could see this but there's no way this is remotely true for roast chicken / chicken breasg unless all those brands have dramatically changed their products recently.

The texture between difference between actual real chicken and chicken paste that they add to nuggets burgers etc is wildly different and I've never seen any fake chicken product be able to replicate that texture.

They have more flavor but the flavor isn't chicken... Despite being called chicken. My main issue with imitation meats is just that they won't be honest about what they are... If it's a flakey tofu or something of a certain style just name it that, why call it the thing people are trying to avoid?

At this point, I consider them better than regular chicken with the sole exception of fried chicken which was never my favorite

Ha! Now we know you are a vegan plant, how ironic!!! 😀

I haven't tried a lot of them and I'm not vegetarian or vegan.

But Morningstar Farms "chicken" patties are superior to any actual mechanically separated chicken item.

Meatless chicken is better than regular chicken

This makes me want to find a crowded street and punch random people in the dick.