Beyond Burger!

I've been dying to try Beyond Meat's new super-meaty Beyond Burger since I first read about these patties online. But for some reason, they're not available in any Tennessee stores yet. Beyond Meat's other products — Beast Burgers and Sliders, Chicken Strips, Beefy Crumbles, and microwave meals — are available in our Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, and Target stores. But no Beyond Burgers! Sigh.

So imagine my excitement when I was visiting Little Rock for the marathon a couple weeks back and stumbled upon a Beyond Burger display in the meat case at their Whole Foods. I wasn't even looking because I didn't expect Little Rock to have them yet either. But I was walking back from the restroom and passed a meat case, and — BAM! Score! 

In case you're not aware, Beyond Meat stocks their Beyond Burgers in the meat sections of grocery stores because they're hoping to appeal to omnivores with this beefy veggie burger. Their other products (all of which are also amazing) are typically available in the vegan meats section. There's a reason why these burgers are marketed to meat-eaters — they're extremely convincing! If I didn't know, I'd think I'd accidentally purchased beef burgers. For one, they LOOK like ground beef.

They also cook up like ground beef. Because each burger contains canola oil, coconut oil, and sunflower oil, you get that same greasiness you get with a beef burger. 

The main ingredient, though, is pea protein isolate, which makes for a very meaty texture and a high-protein patty (20 grams!). Of course, they're also pretty high in fat and calories (all that oil!) but totally worth it. When you're trying to win over meat-eaters, it's best not to sell them a healthy hippy patty, am I right? 

I enjoyed mine on whole wheat buns with Daiya vegan cheddar, tomato, onion, and Dijon. Pictured here with a side of raw carrots and salsa because balance. Look how meaty the inside is! These taste exactly like ground beef burgers, or at least as far as what I remember them tasting like (mind you, I haven't had beef in 22 years). They definitely DON'T taste like veggie burgers, and that's a good thing. I love a good veggie patty as much as the next vegan, but the market is flooded with those. And real talk — I didn't go vegetarian (and later vegan) because I hated the taste of meat. I loved the taste of meat. I just hated the thought of killing an innocent creature for something as fleeting as a meal. If plants can taste like meat, that's a win in my book.

There's only two patties per box, and sadly, I bought the very last package Little Rock Whole Foods had that day. So I'm all out of burgers. Now I'll have to wait until we get more here (or until I'm in Little Rock again!!).