Review: Trader Joe's Protein Patties (Plant-Based Burgers)

I love that plant-based burgers are so trendy right now and so many companies are making their own version.

Trader Joe's has a lot of great vegan products so I had to try their plant-based burger patties. The packaging and ingredients are similar to Beyond Burgers, but unfortunately the taste and texture weren't on the same level.

These were oddly hard when uncooked and then too soft when cooked. They stuck to the pan and fell apart during cooking. I don't know if these would work on a grill because they fell apart so much.

Another difference is these are sold in the refrigerated section and say not suitable for freezing, so they don't last as long as the frozen plant-based burgers.

Trader Joe's Protein Patties Plant Based Burgers ingredients:

Hydrated pea protein blen (water, pea protein, pea fiber), sunflower oil, beets, natural flavors, methyl cellulose, oat fiber, fruit juice (color), onion powder, sea salt, vegetable juice (color). 

Review: Trader Joe's Protein Patties Plant Based Burgers

First impressions: Harder than I expected when uncooked

Taste: Close to Beyond Burger but a little bland

Texture: Fell apart, kind of soft and mushy

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes

Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? Probably not

Overall: 3/5

Review: Yves Veggie Ham

I tried Yves plant-based ham and to me it seemed a lot more like salami than ham. It looks, smells, and tastes similar to salami. 

Maybe I didn't like this because I don't like salami very much? I tried it on a sandwich and that was ok. I finished the sandwich but I didn't finish the package. 

So far my go-to for vegan lunch meat is Tofurky plant-based deli slices. I haven't tried their ham version yet though. 

Yves Veggie Ham ingredients:

Water, vital wheat gluten, tofu (water, soybeans, magnesium chloride), wheat starch, textured wheat protein, natural flavors. contains 2% or less of: spices, onion powder, garlic powder, organic cane sugar, salt, yeast extract, carrageenan, tomato lycopene extract for color (contains soy lecithin), ferric orthophosphate (iron), vitamin b12, citric acid.

Review: Yves Veggie Ham

First impressions: They should call this salami instead of ham

Taste: Kind of like salami

Texture: Also similar to salami

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? No

Overall: 3/5

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing

Trader Joe's has a few different vegan salad dressings in the refrigerated section of the produce, including green goddess and turmeric ginger. Their new vegan Caesar dressing is the first one that's a plant-based version of a traditionally non-vegan salad dressing.

This was highly recommended on vegan Twitter and even by the cashier when I bought it.

So maybe my expectations were too high, but I didn't really like this. It has some similar flavors to caesar dressing and is a little creamy, but it wasn't close enough for me.

The capers are close to the taste of anchovies, but were a little overpowering. It's also missing the cheesy parmesan taste. I just tasted the tofu and capers.

Luckily there are tons of other vegan salad dressings to choose from. My go-to is Brianna's French vinaigrette. If you're looking for a creamy vegan salad dressing, you might like Trader Joe's green goddess dressing or a tahini salad dressing.

Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing ingredients:

Tofu (water, soybeans, glucono-delta-lactone, magnesium chloride), olive oil, water, lemon juice, organic white miso (organic soybeans, organic rice koji [organic rice, koji spores (aspergillus oryzae)], sea salt, water), garlic, organic dijon mustard (water, organic mustard seeds, organic vinegar, salt, organic turmeric, organic cinnamon, organic ginger), capers (capers, water, salt, distilled vinegar), white wine vinegar, sea salt, shiitake mushroom powder, black pepper. 

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing

Taste: Tofu + capers

Texture: Creamy but not very thick

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? Not for me

Overall: 3/5