A Carnivore’s Review of Impossible Burgers
You can be a carnivore and still enjoy meatless meals. When Ibotta offered a 100% rebate on an 8 oz package of Impossible Burgers I figured it was time to give them a try.
They have been offered at Burger King, but so far I have not been enticed to drive-thru that particular window.
I found them at my local Kroger grocery store with a large selection of other plant-based products. Alternatives to meat, pork, and sausage are becoming more widely available.
Last Saturday we enjoyed burger night with this plant-based version instead of beef or turkey.
It was a combination of curiosity and the opportunity to get a free package that motivated me to try them. The price of Impossible Burgers at $5.99 for an 8 oz package is more than I am willing to pay. How about you?
My review of Impossible Burgers
You may want to know a whole lot more about them before you try them yourself and I’ll go into more detail, but I’ll tell you right now that they were better than I expected them to be.
They sorta cooked like beef, sorta tasted like beef, and sorta smelled like beef. A mustard-burger on onion rolls sounded good, so that’s the route we took. Pickles, onions, lettuce, and mustard on a hamburger or turkey burger is a favorite around here. It worked on the Impossible Burger, as well.
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What do Impossible Burgers Taste Like?
If you don’t eat beef because you don’t like the way it tastes or the texture or the smell, you won’t like this any better.
There is a scary thing called leghemoglobin that gives the Impossible Burger the taste, texture, and smell of meat.
It’s also what makes it “bleed” when it’s cooking. At first, I thought it was beet juice and had to read the ingredient list to see if had, maybe, pelletized beet juice that exploded when it reached the right temperature.
Then I had to look up all of the ingredients –except salt– to get a handle on what made this Impossible Burger possible.
If you haven’t embraced a plant-based diet, the ingredients, except salt, might be unfamiliar to you. Reading the ingredient list was like a walk down memory lane in Chemistry class.
What are they made of?
This is what I discovered when I researched the ingredient list:
- Soy Protein concentrate-high protein additive derived from defatted soy flakes. Rich in folate, a source of fiber, calcium, zinc, and magnesium
- Potato Protein-the juice produced in the process of extracting the starch from potatoes
- Methylcellulose- used as a binder and to improve texture
- Yeast extract-used as a flavoring
- Cultured dextrose-added to inhibit the growth of undesirable bacteria and mold in food
- Food starch modified-used as a thickener
- Leghemoglobin-the hemoglobin found in soy used to give it a meaty taste and to give the appearance of blood. Is it safe? See what the NIH says about this!
- Salt- we all know this one!
- Mixed tocopherols-used as an antioxidant
- Natural flavor-umm, what???
- Soy protein isolate-a high protein additive derived from defatted soy flakes
- Added zinc gluconate, Vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and niacin
Are they a healthy choice?
There are some unknowns about the long-term effects of eating any genetically modified foods, so I will not make a judgment call on this.
It’s a meat-free, gluten-free option that is high in protein and other added vitamins and minerals that are missing from a typical vegetarian or vegan diet.
The Impossible Burgers do contain potential allergens. Avoid them if you have a sensitivity to soy.
A head-to-head matchup between Impossible Burgers, ground beef, and ground turkey looks something like this:
| At A Glance | Protein | Calories | Saturated/total fats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impossible Burgers | 19g | 240 | 8g/14g |
| Ground beef | 16g | 375 | 5g/13g |
| Ground turkey | 22g | 193 | 3g/11g |
The Impossible Burgers have zero cholesterol.
They are vegan, but only if you disregard the fact that animals were used to evaluate the safety of Leghemoglobin.
You can probably make more nutritious plant-based burgers at home with black beans for a fraction of the cost. For convenience, this is an option for the occasional quick meal.
Summary
For the occasional, easy meat-free meal I would consider eating Impossible Burgers again. From a health standpoint, they get a stamp of approval from the FDA.
Aesthetically, they look like burgers. When they were cooking I detected an oddly chemical/burning plastic smell that didn’t last long and quickly started to smell more like beef. They didn’t shrink during cooking and when I handled them they were not greasy.
I do understand the push towards more sustainable, eco-friendly plant-based foods and believe that we will see improvements in what is being produced for our consumption over what is now available.
A diet rich in unprocessed whole foods like fruits, veggies, fish, very little red meat is the one I am going to strive for.
No judging, though. The Pumpkin Spice Twinkies call my name every September.
If you haven’t signed up with Ibotta you can do it here. See if the rebate on Impossible Burgers is still available and give them a try.
