My Family Tried JUST’s Plant-based Egg. Reviews were Mixed

While grocery shopping in an Ohio Kroger with my extended family this week, my eyes set upon something intriguing in the egg aisle. It was a container of JUST Egg, a plant-based substitute made from mung beans meant to scramble just like the real thing.

Since last holiday break my family did a White Castle Impossible slider taste test, I thought that this year we should keep the tradition going and try out a new alternative protein product. So I added a container JUST Egg to my cart.

I scrambled up a couple of regular eggs in some neutral oil to compare to the JUST Eggs, and kept the salt amount the same on both. The JUST Egg took a bit longer to coagulate than the regular egg but once it did, the textural cooking experience was quite similar. Almost undistinguishable.

JUST Egg on the left, traditional eggs on the right. [Photo: Catherine Lamb]

In fact, texture was the number one thing my family commented on. While almost everyone sniffed out the real egg, they still commented that the JUST Egg had a creamy texture almost eerily similar to the real thing.

The flavor, however, was not quite as successful. While everyone enjoyed the JUST Egg — one even preferred it — no one said that it would have fooled them. “Put some cheese on it, and I might not know the difference,” said my dad.

Clearly our family isn’t the only one to like JUST Egg. The plant-based substitute is now available at Costco, Whole Foods and Kroger, plus over 500 foodservice spots. It’s even on menus at Le Pain Quotidien as part of an eggless frittata. To keep up with the growth, JUST just (lol) acquired a 30,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Minnesota to amp up production.

JUST Egg may not have fooled my family, and at its price — $7.99 for a 12-ounce container — I doubt it’ll become a regular fixture in our fridge. However, the crew still liked JUST Egg well enough to finish the whole thing. And we’re a crew that really loves our eggs.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll scramble the rest of the JUST Egg into breakfast burritos and see if it’s more popular.