Have been almost completly vegetarian for the last 4 and a half years and was pretty much a carnivore before that, so I feel this is as unbiased of an opinion as is possible.

The Beyond, Gardien, Impossible, etc fake chicken have more flavor, nearly indistinguishable texture, are just as juicy, and aren’t greasy. At this point, I consider them better than regular chicken with the sole exception of fried chicken which was never my favorite but I can see the appeal of it.

I’ll concede that the beef substitutes have a ways to go (I like them and they’re not bad but they’re not fooling anyone, either) but they’re not the subject of this opinion.

  • Prok@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    13 days ago

    I think your answers would be more satisfying if the flavor and textures were closer on substitutes. I’m sure it is hard to do, I think I always assumed if companies spent more time making tasty meat alternatives, instead of trying to replicate meat we’d make more progress in reducing meat consumption. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking though.

    I look at it as a person who eats meat but is interested in trying alternatives pretty casually. I’m not looking for something to replace meats in my life, I’m looking for new foods to fill the same role in a meal as meats (sometimes). And I just find it a bit annoying to have to go to the fine print / ingredient list so often to see what I’m actually buying.

    I appreciate the chat though, I can see where you’re coming from. I think I treat food a bit differently from someone just looking to grab their components of a meal… and calling in “meat substitute” is mostly a tell that it’s high in protein and fills that roll in a meal. Removes the extra step of needing to know what parts of the alternatives have the protein…

    If I cared enough I’d have some from-scratch recipes, but it’s more of a minor annoyance and something to think about while I shop