Plant-based Chicken

This page is for the chicken-style pieces of any shape - they can be plain or flavoured, but not breaded or battered.

Richmond: Tenderstrips (Formerly Taste & Glory: Tenderstrips)  - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilled / 165g / approx £2.50

Yet again Taste & Glory are leading the pack. The plant-based chicken strips come in three varieties; plain, BBQ and Tikka.

The pieces are produced to replicate the actual shape of chicken pieces so look quite realistic and have a really good chicken-like texture to them. The chilled versions are ready-to-eat straight out of the pack which is very convenient of course.

When it comes to the flavours, they are all great, but the BBQ ones are my favourite to put in a crusty roll for lunch. The plain ones, of course, give greater flexibility when it comes to any other flavours you wish to add, whether it be in a sandwich or to use as part of a meal like a curry.

Please note: Taste & Glory no longer exist, but the product has been incorporated into the Richmond brand of vegan foods. Sadly I don't think the tikka and BBQ have survived the change. The plain ones have and they are just as great as they have always been.

Morrisons Plant Revolution: 4 Chinese Style No Chick'n Drumsticks - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilled / 4pk /  £2.50

Made from mushrooms and pea protein with a sweet and spicy ginger and chilli marinade. I really liked these. Good texture with a nice bite to them. Lots of marinade to spread over during cooking with had a nice sweet flavour. Any chilli that's there is very mild. I'll buy these again.

Oumph!: Pulled BBQ Chunks - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

I'm not sure if these are technically trying to be pork or chicken style, but they had the texture / taste of chicken thighs. Quite a chewy bite to them. The BBQ flavour was subtle but nice. Overall really good and I'd buy them again.

Morrisons Plant Revolution: Korean BBQ Style No Chick'n Pieces - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / £2 (I think)

Made with wheat and pea protein with a Korean BBQ style coating. These are ready to eat and I put these straight in a sandwich with some vegan salad cream. The packaging doesn't mention anything about warming them up, but I'd imagine they'd be nice if you did. The texture was pretty good - tender, decent bite. The coating is nice - not overly sweet or spicy. I would have liked it to be stronger, but maybe Korean BBQ isn't supposed to be stronger. The salad cream probably overpowered them a little. Still, I'd buy them again.

The No Meat Company: No Chick Strips - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 320g

These pieces from Iceland are pretty nice - the texture is almost as good as my favourites above. They are only available frozen and must be cooked before eating, so not quite a convenient as some other options if you just want to make a quick sandwich. I've found that when cooking these within a meal (eg a curry) the pieces can firm up and become quite tough. The shapes and texture resembles the meat you'd get from the thighs, legs and wings.

Plant Pioneers: No Chicken Chunks - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Frozen / 300g /

These are from Sainsbury's own brand range. The pieces work well in dishes that require diced chicken, so curries etc. The texture isn't quite as good as some of the others here.

Quorn: Roasted Sliced Fillets - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (not vegan)

Chilled / 140g / approx £2.50

Quorn has been selling these pieces for years and they do the job really well. They are just tender pieces that are ready-to-eat straight from the fridge. Perfect for putting in a sandwich or salad. They have a nice texture, but sadly are not vegan.

Quorn: Makes Amazing Peri Peri Strips - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / 175g /

I had these once and I have no real complaints about them as a product. You have to cook them before eating, so you can't just open the pack and chuck them in your sandwich / salad, which is a shame.

Squeaky Bean: Chargrilled Cajun Mini Fillets - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Chilled / 

These were ok. The chargrilled element was cool. If I'm being picky there may be a slight dry powdery-ness to them. Probably the biggest downside was that there didn't seem to be very much in the pack and it was only enough to cover one lunch.

Quorn: Family Roast - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (not vegan)

Frozen / 454g / Approx £3

If you're cooking a roast dinner and are looking for a vegetarian meat to sit alongside your roast potatoes, this is a very good option. It comes in a formed cylinder shape and can be sliced once cooked. It's beautifully moist and has a very good texture and flavour. The leftovers are really nice in a sandwich the following day. The only real fault I can find is that it's not vegan - if it was, this would have five stars.

Quorn: Pieces - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (not vegan)

Frozen / 300g or 500g / approx £2 or £2.60

These are very handy for keeping in the freezer to add to cooking (I mostly use them for curry or jerk chicken). They come in cubes, so are like cubed fillets. They do the job nicey, but are not vegan. They are also available chilled, but I've never bought them that way.

Quorn: Fillets - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (not vegan)

Frozen / 

Essentially these are the same as the Quorn pieces but these are in the shape of a full fillet.

Quorn: Vegan Pieces - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Frozen / 280g / approx 2.60

These are basically the same as the regular Quorn pieces but vegan. They unfortunately suffer from the same problem as many of Quorn's other vegan options in that they seem a bit a bit dry - which may or may not be hugely noticeable if they are in a sauce. Price-wise they are more expensive than the vegetarian version. So on balance, I had to rate them lower than the frozen vegetarian version.

Quorn: Vegan Fillets - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Frozen / 

The same story here when it comes to Quorn's vegan options. A tad on the dry side.

Plant-based Burgers

For a lot of people the plant-based burger is the ultimate test of the progress of plant-based meats. They tend to grab the headlines more often than not. I've tried quite a few different ones, and I have to say I find they are mostly all very good these days. However, I do have a favourite!

I'm aware that I've scored almost all of these the same, so just to test my scoring method and to refresh my mind on some of the options I tried a while ago, I may do a couple of head-head comparisons soon (something like the most-expensive versus the cheapest). This may result in some score revisions.

Taste & Glory (formerly Naked Glory): 2 Quarter Pounders - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (discontinued)

Chilled / 2pk / 227g / £2.75

My favourite. Meaty in both texture, smell and flavour. I could say that I am blown away by these and it wouldn't be an overstatement. Truly great. Naked Glory seem to be on an unstoppable march to becoming THE gold standard in plant-based meats. Sadly the Taste & Glory brand is being discontinued so these look set to disappear forever. I am also going to note that there is a frozen version of these but they don't quite seem the same to me. Go for the fresh ones and be quick because they won't be around for much longer!

Beyond Meat: The Beyond Burger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilled / 2pk / 226g / £5

This is the burger that gets the most coverage in the press. I have no complaints with the taste or texture of these burgers, in fact they are pretty amazing. What does cause a problem is the price, which works out at around double most of the others.

I recently had another one of these burgers, but from a cafe. I had to go back to the staff as I was convinced they had given me a beef burger by mistake. I've bumped this up to five stars from my original four star rating. Of course the price is still high, but the burger is just so good it wouldn't be fair to mark it down.

M&S Plant Kitchen: 4 Vegan Hamburgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilled / 4pk / 454g / £4.25

These seem to be a new addition for the 2022 summer so they may disappear at the end of the BBQ season. The standard price seems to be £4.25 for four burgers which works out pretty good compared to the other top brands. These can quite easily sit alongside the Taste & Glory at the top of my list. The burger cooks nicely, and has a great small, texture and flavour. Really good.

Please note that M&S are currently selling 3 different types of fresh (chilled) vegan beef-style burgers. I will try to get my hands on the others soon.

THIS - Isn't Beef Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / 2pk /

Another quality type of vegan burger which has a good meat-like texture. They have a yeasty, marmite-like smell during cooking and I think this helps to give the burger a beefy taste. Overall I really liked them.

M&S Plant Kitchen: Vegan Steak Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / 2pk / £5.25

Another new addition for the 2022 summer range. These burgers are super thick and very chunky. They were really tasty and they looked stunning once cooked. However they are fairly pricey.

Meatless Farm: Plant-based Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / 2pk / 227g / £2.50

Another really good burger with a really good meaty texture and flavour.

Linda McCartney's: Quarter-pounder Burger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 227g / £2.20

I don't like everything that Linda McCartney's brand sell, but this is a definitely a good burger!

Richmond: Meat-free Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Chilled / 2pk / 170g / £2

Equally as good as all the other four-star rated burgers. But bear in mind that Richmond are known for their pork products, so it should come as no surprise that these taste like pork burgers rather than beef burgers. And these are great if you want a pork-style burger.

Moving Mountains: 1/4 Pound Plant-based Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 227g / £4

Moving Mountains seem to be another really good producer of plant-based meats. These are very good. However, they suffer in the same way as Beyond Meat in the fact they are one of the higher priced options, and this makes me slightly less likely to buy them at their full price.

Moving Mountains: Plant-based Sausage Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 227g / £4

Another great product from Moving Mountains. I bought these to recreate a sausage McMuffin which was fairly successful. As with other Moving Mountains products, they seem to have a tiny bit of spicy-heat in them which is quite nice. They are very sausagey and have a super meaty bite - much more so than the original sausage pattie you would find in a McMuffin.

The No Meat Company: No Bull Quarter-pounders - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 226g / £2

I wasn't expecting to find such a nice burger in Iceland. Totally up there with most of the others, plus it's one of the cheapest, which is great for the pocket too!

Quorn: Ultimate Burger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 227g

Considering Quorn's vegan products can sometimes miss the mark, I found these surprisingly good.

Birds Eye: Green Cuisine Meat-Free Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 200g / Approx £2.50

If I had to pick something that set them apart it would be that the texture seemed a little soft inside. They definitely do the job if you fancy a burger, but they're not quite the same standard as many options above.

Mae's Kitchen / Plant Menu: Vegan No Beef Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Frozen / 2pk / 227g / £1.49

When I tried these they were labelled as Mae's Kitchen, but I think they now come under the Aldi Plant Menu brading. I'm not 100% sure if they are exactly the same recipe or not. These were perfectly acceptable vegan burgers and I enjoyed them. The real winner with these is that they are sold at a much more reasonable price than some of the other options. It's been quite a while since I last had them and have tried a lot of other options since then, so I can't quite remember of they are a three star or a four. I've given them four for now, but I'll grab another box (these will be under the Plant Menu branding) just to confirm if that is correct.

Sainsburys: No meat burgers - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Frozen / 8pk /

These are a value-style everyday burger option. They are not on the same level as the premium burgers, but they are reasonably decent given their low price.

Quorn: Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Frozen / 6pk

These are similar to the Sainburys option above. A lower cost everyday type of burger that you can keep in the freezer for when you fancy a simple burger. Does the job it intends to do. Possibly slightly nicer than the Sainsburys ones.

Plant-It: Meat Free Burger - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

2pk

Burger was decent enough but probably middle of the road compared to some of the others here. Possibly a bit too smooth texture wise. Made with onions, mushrooms and beetroot. Seems to do the fake bleeding thing when cooking (I imagine that's the beetroot).

Vemondo (Lidl): Vegetarian Burger - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (not vegan)

2pk /

A pretty decent offering from Lidl here. It has a good texture and flavour, but not quite as refined as the options at the top of the page, and sadly not vegan as it contains egg. I've given these three stars as they are not vegan.

Coming soon... Gro Burgers (which are Co-Op's own brand).

Plant-based Chicken Burgers

I only have one reason for buying chicken burgers, and that is to attempt to recreate the KFC Zinger Tower Burger. I have made both vegan and vegetarian versions. The star ratings below heavily relate to how I judge them to work with in my quest to make the perfect vegetarian or vegan Zinger Tower Burger!

The VEGilanties: Z*nger - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Now, these are moving closer to a KFC Zinger. The coating has a good spicy flavour and similar texture to the original. However, I haven't quite decided if I like the chicken part - I can see where they are going with the texture, but it seems to be closer to the brown meat part of a chicken rather than the breast meat. And the zinger should contain the white meat. Very similar to the Plant Menu option (below).

Plant Menu: Spicy No Chicken Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

I found these to be very similar to the VEGilantes option above. The coating is probably slightly less spicy, but the inside seemed pretty similar. So instead of feeling like the white breast meat, it is more akin to the brown meat from other parts of the chicken. Which just like the one above, I'm not sure if that's what I want in a chicken burger. However, the shape and the coating feels quite Zinger-like and it works pretty well.

Quorn: Takeaway - Crunchy Fillet Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This is a fillet-shaped chicken-style piece with a breadcrumb coating. I'd say that this is easily Quorn's best offering for a chicken-style burger in a bun. They also seem to have improved their vegan recipe as the texture is soft and not at all dry like some of their other vegan options have been. The coating isn't spicy although it does have some flavouring to it. It worked really well in the burger.

VFC: Chick*n Fillets - ⭐⭐☆☆☆

These are clearly aimed at being a vegan KFC-style option. The name, the packaging etc...

The fillets themselves are hash brown-shaped, which I wasn't expecting. I thought they'd have more of a natural shape to them (like the chicken piece you get in the zinger burger). Anyway they have a southern fried cornflake coating which is fairly decent. The chicken part is white, quite chunky and has a softish chicken-like texture. I found it worked pretty well in the burger, but there is a strange flavour and aftertaste to these.

Update: I tried them a second time and decided that I really don't like the flavour of the chiken part. I've decided not to buy these again.

Quorn: Southern Fried Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (not vegan)

The Quorn chicken southern-fried burgers are sadly not vegan. They're also not perfect for the Zinger burger as the coating isn't spicy enough. The Quorn vegetarian chicken is pretty decent, however it's not vegan.

Quorn: Vegan Hot and Spicy Burger - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

This offering also from Quorn has the advantage of being vegan, however Quorn tend to have problems with their vegan range in that it can be drier in texture than their vegetarian options. So even though the chicken part isn't quite as good as its vegetarian counterpart, the spicy coating and the fact that they are vegan brings them level on scoring.

Mae's Kitchen: No Chicken Burgers - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

I found these in Aldi and they did the job, but were underwhelming. There wasn't really much in the way of flavour and the texture wasn't quite as good as the other options.