When I first heard Beyond Meat was releasing a ground beef-like product, I immediately started anticipating what I would do with it once I got my hands on a pack. Burgers, sure. But also meatballs, bolognese, even tacos?
Last week I finally got the chance to put those plans into action when I was shopping at my local Whole Foods and my eyes landed on a fresh new lineup of Beyond Beef. I decided to put the Beyond Beef to the test in the simplest way possible: burgers. Coincidentally I also had a pack of Lightlife’s meatless burgers in my fridge, so I opted to cook up both plant-based offerings for comparison’s sake.
Left, Lightlife. Right, Beyond Beef. (Photo: Catherine Lamb)
Beyond Beef looks like ground beef. It has the same reddish hue, texture, and is even speckled with white bits of fat (made from coconut oil). It was easy to shape into a patty shape — perhaps even easier than real beef, which you have to handle very delicately to avoid toughening.
As I cooked the Beyond Beef the fat rendered out and sizzled and the burger changed from red to brown. But it was as soon as I bit into the Beyond Beef burger that I knew something was really different. The texture was exactly like beef (at least the way I remember it): loose and tender, speckled with pockets of juicy fat. By comparison, the Lightlife burger had a tougher texture and their flavor, while meaty, had the off-putting aftertaste that many pea protein products struggle with.
Left: Beyond Beef. Right: Lightlife. (Photo: Catherine Lamb)
In truth, the Beyond Beef was almost too realistic for me. I haven’t eaten meat in five years, and eating a Beyond Beef burger was almost too close to the real thing for comfort. Even when I made the remainder into bolognese later in the week (you guessed it — it cooks up just like ground beef) I had trouble finishing it; the beefy flavor permeated the whole sauce in a way that was a little too strong for my liking.
But the real reason I likely won’t buy Beyond Beef again is why so many others will. Beyond isn’t targeting vegetarians or vegans to buy its products (though many certainly do and will). Instead, they’re hoping to attract flexitarians: people trying to cut down their meat consumption, for health or environmental reasons, but don’t want to give up burgers, meatballs, or tacos. With the new Beyond Beef I think they’ve nailed it.
That said, there’s one big reason Beyond Meat might have trouble capturing a mainstream audience: it’s expensive. A pack of Beyond Beef, which is 16 ounces, cost $9.99 at my local Whole Foods. It has four servings, which means it’s actually a better deal than the Beyond burgers (which cost $5.99 for a pack of two). But it’s still almost triple the price of your average ground beef. Organic, grass-fed beef is roughly the same price as Beyond Beef, but Beyond will have to get its cost down before it can hope to tear the average consumer away from beef.
Photo: Beyond Meat
Separately, I’m curious to see whether Beyond Beef is helped or hurt by the entrance of Impossible Foods into the retail space later this year. Impossible hasn’t yet announced if they’ll be selling their “beef” as burger patties or ground meat. However, seeing how much emphasis the company has been putting on the versatility of its product, I’m guessing it’ll be the latter.
That means we could soon have the two main plant-based meat companies duking it out for ground “beef” supremacy of the grocery aisle. However, I don’t think it’s a winner-take-all situation; when it comes to meatless ground meat, there are so few good-tasting options that there’s likely room for both players to flourish.
And room for more to enter the scene. Startups like U.K.-based Meatless Meat, which is heading onto Whole Foods, are offering new plant-based options in retail. Big Food companies like Tyson and Perdue are also dipping their toes into the alt-protein space with their blended products, which combine meat and plants. Just this week Gardein, which is owned by Conagra, announced it’s developing its own line of meat-like meat alternatives, including a burger that looks a heckuva lot like Beyond Meat’s.
Despite the competition ahead, with its versatility, Beyond Beef is a great step by the company to bring plant-based meat to consumers’ plates in a variety of different dishes. Just not mine.
I have similar issues with these products. I’ve been vegetarian for 22 years. When it is served in restaurants that also have meat, besides being concerned about not cooking it in the meat grease, but even more importantly, that I know the person making the burger didn’t “accidentally” serve me dead animal instead. It’s much more of a dilemma than it seems most realize.
My problem is that this product is from a Company that is meat based in Canada…seems weird to me that a pro meat company is now making meat sub products…
Even weirder that it was almost “too meaty” tasting…
My issue with the pea protein, tho I prefer that over soy/wheat gluten, it is hard to digest. I’m assuming that this product is much like their other products, so hate to spend $10 to find out that it’s digestively challenging. Kind of hoping that they come up with another option for folks like me.
Why are you even trying to eat “meat alternatives” at all that mimic real meat of you don’t want that flavor? Seems completely contradictive. Rather than just not eating any meat mimicking product at all? If you really don’t want to be reminded of meat, DONT eat their mimicking counterparts and then criticize them for doing a good job. It’s a great movement in the right direction to reduce the amount of meat consumed.
Absolutely, I share your sentiment
We also bought this for the first time and thought that it was rather too much like the real McCoy!
I haven’t eaten meat in decades, but if I was given this and told it was the real deal I would have believed it with no coaxing!
I was actually wondering whether it was the real thing, but it smelled awful in the raw so I knew it was the fake meat.
My kids loved it and managed to broil all 5 packs that I had bought to use for preparing foods for the freezer!
At $10 per lb it was a rather expensive snack throughout the day. It was just sliced from the pack and broiled in the toaster oven.
We love it! Great alternative for those needing to watch calories and cholesterol.
Okay I recently bought this product at a store and tried it. I made tacos, although it tasted half decent it did not agree with my body at all and my body expelled it instantly. I have never experienced such explosive diarrhea after eating this product. I didn’t have any issues eating the beyond burger but the beyond beef is a different product. Be cautious with this product. It may mock the idea of ground beef but remember it is a highly process product.
As someone who has committed to being plant based Monday through Friday, I tried the beyond burgers and was really really impressed. Someone on Youtube said something along the lines of, “We don’t need to convert millions to Vegans, we just need millions to be kind of Vegan” – it was something along those lines but it really struck a chord with me. So here I am, week 2 and feeling great.
For personal reasons, I don’t want to give up meat entirely but I like to think that at least limiting the consumption to weekends is better than nothing.
My question is though, meatless aside, how safe or healthy are these products? Google landed me here so I’m trying to get as much information as I can. I would hate to feel like I’m doing something healthier for myself but in reality, putting something processed into my body. As far as I’ve read, which to be honest hasn’t been much, many nutritionist are saying that in moderation, it’s definitely the healthier option and even though it’s considered processed, it’s not really “junk” food.
My issue with these products is that vegetarian options are being replaced on restaurant menus with these substitutes. As the article points out, these aren’t being made for vegetarians at all, and most vegetarians are not going to eat these foods. They are WAY too much like real meat as far as texture, appearance, and flavor and that is exactly what I am trying to avoid. My wish is that restaurants would substitute these for actual beef, turkey, etc. and stop substituting them for bean or actual vegetable burgers.
First time I ever tried anything plant-based — guess that make me a flexitarian – and the smell instantly reminded me of wet dog food. It also taste like it smells. I’m not sure I’ll finish the packet. The texture and so forth was very similar to meat. I made a burger, and drowned it in seasoning once I got a whiff of the meat… no luck make it taste any less like it smell. I’m a 28 year old male; I’d rather just eat meat.
I agree with Hayden. When I opened the package of Beyond Beef all I could think of is the smell of the canned dogfood from the early 60’s. I spiced the heck out of it (although it is already heavy on the salt) and baked it. Then went out for supper. It is in the refrigerator waiting for me. But that smell is still nagging at me. I think I’ll be staying with beef.