I do not follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, but I enjoy eating plant based alternatives every once in a while. The beyond meat burger recently became available in stores in Canada so I wanted to try it out. I also had some vegan cheese slices (daiya brand) on hand, so “cheeseburger” was a must.

I pan-fried the patty then placed the cheese on top and attempted to steam it until it was a little melted. Once that was ready, I added my toppings. I had romaine lettuce and tomato, and then some mustard and ketchup.

I was actually impressed when eating this burger. The patty had some good flavour and it was “meaty”. It also got browned nicely when I cooked it. And this daiya cheese is quite good too, it almost has the taste of cheese sauce. I’m happy I had the chance to try this new product and eat a meat-free dinner.

I know there was so much hype for this product because of the advances in meat alternatives, but you have to be wary sometimes. Sure it’s great that there are so many options available these day. However, this beyond meat patty, along with other vegan substitutes, are made with a lot of oils/fats. It’s this amount of oil that gives the creamy and fatty aspects for “cheeses” and “burgers”, respectively.

If you look at the nutrition facts for these products, you might be surprised with the high amount of fat. So even though you think you’re being healthy by choosing these alternatives, it might not be best to eat them all the time. Like most things in life, everything is good in moderation.

If you are following a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle, it would be best to eat a lot of whole foods instead of processed alternatives. For example, it’s pretty simple to make your own veggie burgers with healthy ingredients like beans, quinoa and veggies.

So that’s my two cents on the beyond burger/vegan alternatives. Let me know what you think about these products.