Description
The Impossible Burger can be a sustainable alternative to regular burgers and also does contain higher amounts of several important nutrients, including vitamin B12, folate, and thiamine (3, 4 , 5 ). However, the Impossible Burger contains more sodium than regular ground beef and is lower in some vitamins and minerals.
The Impossible Burger is a plant-based alternative to traditional meat-based burgers. It’s said to mimic the flavor, aroma, and texture of beef.
Some claim that the Impossible Burger is more environmentally friendly than beef-based burgers, while others argue that certain ingredients in the Impossible Burger may not be optimal for your health.
I sampled the Impossible Burger and will discuss my thoughts on the taste and texture of this popular meat substitute in this review.
This article will also explore what the Impossible Burger is, what it’s made of, and whether it’s nutritionally superior to beef-based burgers.
The Impossible Burger was created by Impossible Foods, a company Patrick O. Brown founded in 2011.
Brown is a scientist and professor emeritus at Stanford University in California. He holds a medical degree and a PhD and has worked as a research scientist for many years.
Through conferences, Brown tried raising awareness about how using animals for food harms the environment. However, this had little effect, so he created a business that produced plant-based alternatives to popular animal products.
Impossible Foods now offers a variety of products, including plant-based burger patties, ground sausage, nuggets, meatballs, and pork.
Its signature product, the Impossible Burger, aims to perfectly mimic the taste of beef.
Using carefully selected ingredients, Impossible Foods created a plant-based burger that some people say perfectly resembles the taste, aroma, and texture of beef.
The ingredients list for the Impossible Burger is as follows:
Water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, natural flavors, 2% or less of potato protein, methylcellulose, yeast extract, cultured dextrose, food starch modified, soy leghemoglobin, salt, mixed tocopherols (antioxidant), soy protein isolate, zinc gluconate, thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1), niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and vitamin B12.
The original Impossible Burger was made with wheat protein. However, in 2019 the company introduced a new recipe featuring the following changes:
- The burger contains soy protein instead of wheat protein and is certified gluten-free.
- It contains a plant-based culinary binder called methylcellulose to improve texture.
- The company replaced a portion of the coconut oil with sunflower oil to reduce saturated fat content.
Heme, or soy leghemoglobin, is the ingredient said to set the Impossible Burger apart from other plant-based burgers. It adds to the flavor and color of the burger and makes it “bleed” like a beef burger does when cut.
It’s also perhaps the most controversial ingredient in the Impossible Burger.
Unlike the heme found in beef, the heme in the Impossible Burger is engineered by adding soy protein to genetically engineered yeast
Though it is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some people have raised concern about the potential health effects of soy leghemoglobin.
Currently, Impossible Foods products are available at a variety of restaurants, fast-food establishments, and grocery stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Macau, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
You can cook and prepare the Impossible Burger just like regular ground beef.
The brick form contains three servings per pack and can be separated and shaped into individual patties or crumbled and used in place of ground beef in sauces or fillings.
It’s also available in frozen or refrigerated preformed patties for additional convenience.
You can grill, saute, or bake these patties and cook them to varying degrees of doneness depending on your preference, as you would regular meat.
The “meat” is fully cooked once it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C). You can also evaluate the firmness or color of the patty to determine whether it’s cooked to your desired doneness.
Though I’ve tried the Impossible Burger while dining out in the past, this was my first time making it at home on my own.
Forming the patties and preparing the burgers was very simple, and the texture of the uncooked patties reminded me of regular ground beef.
They also held together very well during and after cooking, which can be a common issue with other meat substitutes and veggie burgers.
The patties darkened from pink to brown and formed a charred crust during cooking, similarly to regular burgers.
I was impressed by the taste of the burger, which was smoky, rich, and meat-like. As a vegetarian, I felt that it was definitely a good substitute for meat and was satisfying enough for a main meal.
My boyfriend, who regularly eats meat and is a self-proclaimed burger connoisseur, also felt that it was pretty close to regular burgers in terms of taste and texture.
Though he noted it wasn’t an exact match and wasn’t as juicy or flavorful as a real burger when eaten on its own, the toppings we added masked any major differences.
