Review: NUGGS Spicy Plant-Based Nuggets

If you're new to plant-based protein, vegan chicken nuggets are a less-intimidating option to start with. It seems like nuggets are easier to replicate because chicken nuggets are so processed anyway.

I tried Boca's chik'n nuggets a few years and they were pretty good. I heard some buzz about NUGGS and wondered how they would stack up.

The NUGGS website calls their plant-based nuggets, "The Tesla of Chicken" that are "engineered with the world's most advanced nugget technology." (It must be fun to work on their marketing team!)

I have to say these were even better than other vegan nuggets I've tried. They really nailed the outside crispy coating. I also love that the spicy version is actually spicy. About twice as spicy as Boca's spicy chik'n patties.

I went in skeptical and ended up craving these. The same thing happened to me with Tofurky plant-based deli slices.

Another unique thing about NUGGS is they're always improving the recipe and post the updates like a tech product's release notes. It's kind of cool to read through the releases and see what changes they've made over time. This review is for NUGGS 2.0.

NUGGS Spicy Plant-Based Nuggets ingredients: 

Water, Soybean Oil, Textured Wheat Protein, Soy Protein Concentrate, Breadcrumbs, Wheat Flour, Corn Flour, Wheat Protein Isolate, Yeast Extract, 2% or less of: Modified Food Starch, Corn Starch, Tapioca Dextrin, Sunflower Oil, Potato Starch, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Methylcellulose, Sea Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Calcium Chloride, Black Pepper, Red Pepper, Paprika, Dextrose, Natural Flavors

Review: NUGGS Spicy Plant-Based Nuggets

First impressions: Smells good

Taste: Spicy, chicken-y flavor. Reminds me of Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets, although I haven't had those in a long time. 

Texture: Very crispy

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe
Better than other vegan options? Yes

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Rising Moon Vegan Ravioli

I love ravioli (all pasta, really). But usually ravioli contains eggs and cheese. I was pleasantly surprised to find not just one but TWO vegan raviolis from Rising Moon at Sprouts: butternut squash and roasted garlic & veggie.

I liked both, but the roasted veggie was my favorite. The butternut squash was a little sweet for me. The roasted veggie had a hint of sweetness but it wasn't overpowering. 

I didn't miss having cheese. The filling was creamy and not dry. It also held together fine without using egg wash to hold the sides together. I actually had less of these fall apart than some vegetarian versions I've had before. 

I like having some ravioli on hand in the freezer for nights when I don't feel like cooking. Now that I've found this vegan ravioli, I won't need to get the vegetarian ravioli with cheese that I used to eat. 

I'm all about finding vegan replacements for my favorite foods that are just as satisfying and delicious. I can check another food off my list with this one!

Rising Moon Vegan Garlic & Roasted Veggie Ravioli ingredients:

Pasta: Organic wheat flour, water, organic turmeric oil. Filling: Organic soy milk (filtered water, organic whole soybeans, calcium carbonate, organic fair trade vanilla flavor, salt, vitamin a palmitate, gellan gum, riboflavin [b2], vitamin d2, vitamin b12), organic butternut squash, organic spinach, organic garlic, organic carrots, organic potato flakes, water, sea salt, organic onion powder, organic tomato, organic black pepper. 

Rising Moon Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli ingredients:

Pasta: Organic wheat flour, water, organic turmeric oil. Filling: Organic butternut squash puree, organic potato flakes, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, organic garlic, organic onion powder, organic black pepper, organic nutmeg powder. 

Review Rising Moon Vegan Ravioli:

First impressions: Oooh this is good.

Taste: Good balance of flavors, savory with a hint of sweetness

Texture: No difference from non-vegan ravioli, smooth filling but not mushy

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes, I'll probably always have some in my freezer

Overall: 5/5

How to Make Vegan BBQ "Pulled Pork" Style Jackfruit

Have you tried jackfruit yet? It's the ultimate vegan substitute for shredded pork. I was so surprised by how similar the texture is to pork. And even though it's a fruit, it doesn't have a strong flavor by itself and will take on the flavor of the sauce or seasoning you use.

I love finding fruits or vegetables like this that make perfect vegan alternatives for meat. (Oyster mushrooms is another example worth checking out.) While I love the Beyond Burger and how popular faux meats are becoming, it's nice to have less processed options too.

I'll walk you through how to make bbq "pulled pork" style jackfruit. It's also great in tacos or other recipes that would use shredded pork or chicken. I want to try tamales or enchiladas next.

You can buy the whole fruit at some grocery stores, but it's easier to buy it canned. You can find it at Trader Joe's. One can made four sandwiches for me.

Drain and rinse the jackfruit and pat it dry with a towel. It will look like triangles.

Shred the jackfruit pieces. It's easiest to use your hands. You can also use a fork or knife. Now it should look more like shredded pork.

Saute the jackfruit with a little bit of oil, salt, and pepper. You can also add garlic and onions or other seasoning at this stage if you want. Cook it on medium-high heat until it starts to brown a little bit, about 10 minutes.

Add your favorite barbecue sauce. If you're cooking for other people who are vegan, check that the barbecue sauce is vegan because not all of them are. Lower the heat and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes (15 is ok if you're really hungry).

Now it's time to build your sandwich. This is good by itself or you can also top with vegan coleslaw.
It's good leftover too, just reheat in the microwave.

Review: Gardein Seven-Grain Crispy Tenders

Gardein has a ton of vegan products, so I tried these seven-grain crispy tenders next. Similar to the Gardein fishless filets, I probably would have liked these more if I was blindfolded. They tasted good, but the seeing the squishy texture of faux meat was too distracting for me. 

These were much smaller than I expected, about half the size of their fishless filets. But this is a good thing in my opinion, because it helps the texture. I prefer most faux meat to be small and thin in order to have a higher breading to meat ratio and keep the texture as crispy as possible. I think that's why the Boca chick'n patties are still my favorite plant-based chicken alternative.

Speaking of the breading, I didn't realize these where seven grain when I bought them. It surprised me at first, and you can see some oats and seeds in the breading. It reminded me of seven-grain bread with the seeds pressed into the top. But it still tasted like regular breading, and I didn't notice a difference in the breading texture. It was still crispy and crunchy. 

Gardein Seven-Grain Crispy Tenders ingredients: Water, Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid). Soy Protein Isolate, Canola Oil, Vital Wheat Gluten, Rice Flour, Ancient Grain Flour (Khorasan Wheat, Amaranth, Millet, Quinoa), Methylcellulose, Oat Bran, Oats, Yeast Extract, Salt, Organic Yeast Extract, Sea Salt, Potato Starch, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Organic Cane Sugar, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil, Spices, Yeast, Color Added. Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream Of Tartar). Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Organic Soy Sauce Powder, Extractive of Paprika (Color). Pea Protein, Turmeric Extractives

Review: Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders
Taste: These tasted pretty good. I would give them a 5 for flavor but 3 for texture. 
Texture: The outside is crunchy but the inside is a little too mushy for me. It helps that they're smaller pieces though, compared to the Gardein fishless filets which were too big in my opinion. 
Can you tell it's vegan? Yes, like most faux meat, the texture gives it away. 
Better than other vegan versions? I liked the Boca chick'n nuggets more. 
Worth buying again? I would eat them again if someone else was serving them, but probably wouldn't buy them again on my own.
Overall: 4 out of 5

Review: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Cups

Usually what makes chocolate not vegan is the milk in milk chocolate, and most dark chocolate is vegan. These sunflower seed butter cups are also allergen friendly on another level by replacing the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter.

I hadn't tried sunflower seed butter at all before and wasn't sure what to expect. But it tastes a lot like peanut butter. Overall these were very similar to Reese's peanut butter cups. The sunflower seed butter was a little creamier than a peanut butter cup, but that could also be because it's less processed. I would definitely eat these again.

I'm not the biggest fan of dark chocolate, but the sunflower seed butter helped balance it out so it didn't taste as bitter.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Cups ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter), sunflower seeds, powdered sugar (cane sugar, tapioca starch), cocoa butter, sea salt.

Review: Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter Cups  
Taste: Tastes like a peanut butter cup. The sunflower balances the dark chocolate so it's not as bitter as dark chocolate by itself. 
Texture: A little creamier than Reese's peanut butter cups and the chocolate is a little bit thicker. Otherwise very similar.
Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan versions? I haven't tried any other vegan peanut butter cups but this will be hard to beat. 
Worth buying again? Yes
Overall: 5/5

Review: Annie's Organic Vegan Mac - Pumpkin and Sweet Potato

I was skeptical about the pumpkin and sweet potato, but had heard good things about Annie's Vegan Mac. Note that it doesn't say "mac and cheese." So it's not necessarily trying to imitate cheese, just providing a vegan comfort food alternative.

This is one of the first vegan products I've tried where the texture was spot on but the flavor was not for me. Usually texture is the more difficult part so this was surprising.

The taste was not bad, but would take some getting used to. If you're vegan and craving mac and cheese, this would do the trick. And it was better than some restaurant vegan macs I've tried. But for people who still eat cheese, this will probably not be good enough to replace your favorite cheesy mac.

I also liked that the ingredient list is pretty simple and recognizable, especially considering it's a processed food that comes in a box.

Annie's Vegan Mac Pumpkin and Sweet Potato ingredients: Organic Pasta (Organic Wheat Flower), Organic Pumpkin Powder (Organic Pumpkin, [Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin]), Organic Sweet Potato Powder (Organic Sweet Potato, [Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Corn Starch, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin]), Organic Corn Starch, Organic Tapioca Starch, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Organic Paprika, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Garlic Powder.

Review: Annie's Vegan Mac - Pumpkin and Sweet Potato
First impressions: When I was making it, it seemed identical to non-vegan boxed mac and cheese. Kids would have fun making this. 
Taste: Not too sweet or pumpkin-y. It had a surprisingly cheesy flavor, especially given that there's no nutritional yeast. But after eating several bites, it felt like something was missing and wasn't quite as satisfying as cheese. 
Texture: Creamy and very similar to traditional boxed mac and cheese. 
Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan versions? Yes, better than some vegan macs I've tried at restaurants. 
Worth buying again? I probably won't buy this again but some people might like to eat it regularly. 
Overall: 3/5

Product Review: Boca Original Chik'n Nuggets

Because of how much I liked Boca's Spicy Chik'n Patties, I tried their vegan chicken nuggets next. They were very similar to the patties, but the original breading is a little boring compared to the spicy. 

Just like the patties, these are ridiculously easy to prepare. They would be great for a quick snack or meal. 

Review: Boca Original Chik'n Veggie Nuggets

First impressions: "This is good."

Taste: Like the Boca Spicy Chik'n Patties, but a little boring without the spice. 

Texture: The inside texture reminds me of McDonald's chicken nuggets. 

Does it look like the picture on the box? Yes.

Can you tell it's vegan? No.

Worth buying again? Yes, I will probably always have these or the patties on hand for when I don't feel like cooking. 

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Product Review: Boca Spicy Chik'n Patties

Updated 9/6/2020

This was the first plant-based meat I ever tried - ahh, scary! Right?!

Well, maybe my fear was unwarranted. These were delicious. My picky-eater boyfriend liked them so much we are adding them to our rotation. I'm more optimistic about trying the other varieties now too. 

These are great with vegan ranch, bbq sauce, or sriracha if you want more spice. They are a little bit spicy. Maybe a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. 

 

If you're skeptical about trying faux meat, I suggest starting with these or another vegan chicken patty. I guess it makes sense, "real" chicken patties and nuggets are already mostly made from soy. If anything, the vegan version is better tasting and probably less processed. 

This was my favorite plant-based meat for a while until I tried the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger. Those would also be good to start with if you're new to plant-based foods and craving a burger. 

Boca Spicy Chik'n Veggie Patties ingredients:

Water, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, corn oil, contains less than 2% of salt, yeast extract, wheat gluten, methylcellulose, spices and herbs, sugar, onion powder, yeast, vinegar powder, paprika extract (color), dried garlic, natural flavor (non-meat), corn, malted barley, rye, succinic acid. 

Review: Boca Spicy Chik'n Veggie Patties

First impressions: "Wow. This is much better than I expected." "I am so pleasantly surprised."

Taste: Like a Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's. 

Texture: Like the inside of a chicken nugget. Obviously there will be no "grain" like a real chicken breast, but you don't get that from any chicken nugget or patty.  

Does it look like the picture on the box? Yes.

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Definitely. We have them on a regular basis because they are a quick, simple meal. They bake in about 12 minutes. It's so easy to throw them in the oven with some fries or another side. 

Overall: 5 out of 5