I am not sure if I would see the day I would be eating meat-free nuggets. But here I am…eating meat-free nuggets.
The whole taking meat foods and making it plant-based is the new craze. Supermarkets are on the express meat-free producing bandwagon right now. Vegan burgers have also become very trendy and you can even buy things like impossible burgers in shops. Now I am all for crazy new food inventions and will be definitely diving into these products with Mrs Reviews. But I wanted to review one of the first meat-free products I came across which is Quorn.
I came across Quorn from a Mo Farah TV advert and it didn’t really appeal to me. Probably because the advert wasn’t that good and I didn’t have any plans to become a long-distance runner. But whilst in Lidl, I saw Quorn’s 15 Meat-Free Crispy Nuggets and I wanted to try it. I guess I was curious to find out if it tasted like chicken nuggets. Plus it is meant to be healthier…right?
So I bought a pack for £1.70 and we had some on the side for dinner that evening. I like to point out that we oven bake 99% of the time so these were not as crispy as they would be if they were fried. But they came out okay looking so that’s a positive for me.
So it tasted okay, wasn’t bad but wasn’t good. I guess it was less salty than actual chicken nuggets but it also lacked seasoning. I am not sure if people can tell the difference as the texture is the same as chicken. But they might not be as fond of it as it lacks the extra flavour. Also, the coating was more like the batter used for fish and does not have the crunch of a chicken nugget.
I will be honest, I was not too bothered about the taste of Quorn Nuggets. It was more if it was a healthier alternative. We are trying to have more meat-free meals on weekdays so we feel more energetic. I also brought this during Ramadhan to have something on the side with our main meal.
However, I am not sure if these meat-free nuggets are the answer. I was doing some research and there are strong opinions if Quorn products are healthier and how it’s actually made. Here is a link to an article from My Food & Happiness which explains a bit on the ingredients that Quorn uses. The decision is still up to you but I thought this is something people should know.
So knowing all this, my conclusion is I probably won’t be regularly buying Quorn Meat-Free Nuggets. I think at my undisclosed fatherly age, I cannot be thinking about implementing processed chicken nuggets into my dietary plans.
Mrs Reviews did make her own chicken nuggets using panko bread crumbs and again we oven-bake it. Although it’s not meat-free, we know its 100% chicken and tastes good. I am still going to go on the hunt for healthy, meat-free substitutes. But the lesson I am taking away is to find things that are made naturally.