A Review of New Things I've Tried #33 (Vegan Proteins Edition)

Seriously, how many vegan proteins are there these days? I keep finding new ones. (If you've missed my previous compilations of vegan proteins, you can find them here, here, here, and here.) A lot of these are breakfast sausages, since I've making my breakfasts more substantial and having a bit of frozen sausage is a super easy way to boost my protein intake, but of course you should never limit yourself to sausage links or patties only at breakfast. They're good at all times of day. Go forth, and eat sausages! (And deli slices, and nuts, and beans, etc.)

1. Fry's Plant-Based Breakfast Links

These have a nice flavor, but I was mildly disappointed in the texture--slightly too soft, like Field Roast breakfast sausages tend to be. But I loved how cute the little sausages are, and since I eat with my eyes, that takes things a long way.

2. Yves Veggie Bologna

One of the first vegan deli slices I had ever tried was bologna. That was Lightlife bologna and I do really like that bologna, but I was at a different store that only had Yves, so I picked some up. This is really good, too, and probably even more like the bologna I remember from my childhood. I may or may not have had it before, but I know I've never included it in one of these compilations. I liked this a lot, and I really liked that it was fortified with iron. That's one of the things I've been working on these days (getting more iron in my diet). I would definitely buy this again.

3. Beyond Meat Classic Breakfast Sausage Links

I've been eating a lot more breakfast sausages since I committed to having more protein at breakfast. I hadn't tried the Beyond Meat sausages yet because they were so expensive, but I was at a store that didn't seem to have other options at that moment, so I picked some up. These mimic raw meat in ways I found unsettling--weird, pink, and squishy sausages that you pan fry or bake until they are brown and firm. But they do taste really good, and I really liked that they weren't mushy the way some vegan sausages can be. These have to be thawed before cooking and you can't refreeze the package, so once you open the packet you're committed to eating it within a week or so. I can easily go through a package of sausage in a week so that's not a big deal, but I would like the option of not committing to eating all of the sausages. I guess I have mixed feelings about these.

4. Rosarita Vegetarian Refried Beans

Still on a quest to replace my once-beloved Goya refried beans, I tried these out recently. They're better than a lot of refried beans I've had, but still pretty bland. They can be improved if doctored up a bit, and it's a big step up above some of the others I've tried, but refried beans in a can are starting to make me a bit sad!

5. Beyond Meat Classic Breakfast Sausage Patties

These are more convenient than the Beyond Meat breakfast sausage links, and can be cooked from frozen, so I can just pull out what I need. Although I liked them, I have tried a lot of breakfast sausage links that I've liked, and most of them were less expensive than Beyond Meat's are. Unlike several of the links I've had, most vegan breakfast sausage patties are nice and firm, so the selling point may be the familiarity of the brand and the fact that they're pink until cooked. These do have a good amount of protein and are both soy and gluten free, if that is important to you. 

6. Hilary's Organic Apple Maple Meatless Breakfast Sausage

Hilary's feels like the opposite end of the vegan spectrum from Beyond Meat; they are not trying to mimic meat but more do their own thing. These sausages are therefore very different. As you might expect from the apple maple flavor, these are pretty sweet, and I think they'd go pretty well with fruit and toast with some nut butter. I say nut butter because although these do have some protein in them from the millet and lentils, they seem comparatively lower in protein than some other options. However, that being said, if you have allergy concerns, these may be a godsend, since they're free of all the major suspects--soy, gluten, and all the nuts. I could easily see these going well in a breakfast sandwich with JUST Egg, too, or alongside a chickpea flour scramble, if you're needing an option that avoids allergens.

For my own purposes, I have mixed feelings about these sausages, and I prefer to think of them as not sausages at all, but some sort of millet-lentil-apple patty, in which case I find them far more appealing. They're kind of hard to eat if you bake them, so it's better to pan fry. After baking, they crumble and don't hold together, so I was chasing them around the plate with my fork. They do not really taste like sausage to me, as much as something entirely different. And I wish they had more protein. But as a totally different thing than what I usually think of as breakfast sausages, I rather liked them, and I will probably try more of the Hilary's brand in the future.

7. Trader Joe's Vegan Stuffed Roast

Okay, this is the best thing ever. It's so sad that we can only have it when the planets align and we run across it at Trader Joe's before it sells out. It's savory with the perfect tender-but-firm texture and it won't freak out the omnivores because it isn't pretending to be somebody's favorite meat. It will go with gravy and mashed potatoes; it will go with sweet veggies we tend to have for American fall and winter holidays; it will go with rice and polenta and in bread as a sandwich. You can also just thaw it, slice it, and eat it cold if you want. You can slice it and pan-fry just a couple of slices if you're on your own. You can bake the whole roast direct from frozen if you want. Or thawed. Or whatever. It's amazing. If you can find one, seize the day! Buy a year's supply. But save some for me. Next time, I'd probably pick up three or four of them.

8. Good & Gather Organic Refried Black Beans

I guess my hopes spring eternal with my refried bean quest! I figured if pinto beans weren't making me happy, I'd venture off into refried black beans. These were not what I had hoped for, but like most other refried beans I've tried, they're fine if I doctor them up a bit. I'll still be looking for someone who actually seasons their beans.

9. Nuts.com Butternut Peanuts

Butternut peanuts have no butter; they're coated in a mixture of oils and sugar. These were a nice snack or dessert on days I thought I needed a little bit more protein, but they're very sweet and I can only have a little bit at a time so that may defeat the purpose. Still, it's definitely more protein than I would get in other sweets, so I'm including them here instead of with snacks. I will probably try the other flavored nuts Nuts.com has before buying these particular ones again, but I would by no means turn my nose up at these.

10. Wegmans Don't Be Chicken Meatless Nuggets

In a world full of nugget options, this is the only store brand I've tried yet. I had low expectations but was really pleasantly surprised! The nuggets are not the uniform, cookie-cutter pressed-and-formed kind you might have had from, say, Morningstar Farms. Also, they're not little, either, but instead nice, big hunks of breaded goodness. I'd buy these again whether or not I was boycotting Kellogg's (manufacturers of Morningstar Farms).

Have you tried any new vegan proteins lately?