The old veggie burgers of yesteryear have competition from new meatless burgers that fans say look, cook and taste like the real thing.
Move over, traditional burger. There's a new "meat" in town.
The old veggie burgers of yesteryear have competition from new meatless burgers that fans say look, cook and taste like the real thing.
At Carl's Jr., the Beyond Famous Star with cheese is made with the plant-based Beyond Meat patty, while Burger King's Impossible Burger is made by Impossible Food.
Inside Edition's Victoria Recano went to check out what all the fuss is about, visiting Beyond Meat's headquarters in El Segundo, California. There, executive chef Cris Sanchez cooks up all different kinds of plant-based meats, not just burgers. There's also Italian dinner sausage and breakfast sausage patties.
Sanchez showed off how the meatless meats take on char from the grill, just like real meat. "Wow, it's got a great crust," said Recano.
But do they taste like meat? For the moment of truth, Recano was joined by Beyond Meat's founder and CEO, Ethan Brown, as she bit into the burger.
"It tastes just like meat!" she declared.
"That's the plan," Brown replied.
The burger is made of peas, rice and mung beans for protein. Coconut oil helps it look juicy and beets provide the red hue to make the burger look real.
As for the sausage? That's made from peas, rice and fava beans, with an algae-based casing.
"We are providing the consumer with nutritional benefits of meat, so we are very careful about that, the protein levels," said Brown. "Everything you want out of meat, we are trying to give the consumer."
Inside Edition visited a Carl's Jr. to see what the customers thought.
"It does taste the same," said one woman. "Same texture and everything."
She added: "It was really good."
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