2025-04-24 06:58:53
OUR TESTERS WERE SPLIT ON ABBOT’S PLANTRICH GROUND “BEEF,” WITH VEGANS AND VEGETARIANS PRAISING THE FLAVOR AND TEXTURE, WHILE MEAT EATERS WERE LESS SURE.
Always eager to discover new alternative meat options, we recently came across Abbot’s Plant-Rich Ground “Beef” and decided to put it to the test. Made with simple whole ingredients like porcini mushrooms, onions, black pepper and thyme, this gluten-free and soy-free meat alternative caught our attention. Now, let’s find out what our testers thought!
DEMOGRAPHICS
Our tasters included a vegan, vegetarians and others looking to reduce their meat consumption.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
“I was looking forward to trying this because I’m a big fan of mushrooms, and it says it’s made from 100% real ingredients,” shared a female vegetarian. “Looking at their website they have a ton of different recipes that look really tasty, so I had high hopes.”
“The packaging says it’s ‘Whole 30 Approved’,” said a Gen X female. “That program is pretty strict, which makes me feel less like this is ‘faux meat’ and more like it’s just some ingredients that happen to look like cooked ground beef.”
A vegetarian said, “The packaging made the ground ‘beef’ look pretty similar to real ground beef. I also liked that right on the front it said it was made with 100% real food ingredients, had 18g of plant protein, and was glutenand soy- free.”
“It’s no less horrifying looking than any pre-cooked meat. At least it’s not gray,” a Gen X female said. “I assume it’s roughly equivalent to a pound of ground beef? It should say that on the box. But the ingredient list reads very well. Even though it’s long, it’s all pantry- sounding ingredients.”
APPEARANCE, FEEL, TASTE AND TEXTURE
“This product easily comes out of the plastic package and crumbles in the pan,” a vegan tester said. “I wish it browned more, but it tasted just like I remember chopped meat tasting.”
“The product looked like vacuum- packed dog food,” a couple told us. “And after prep in the skillet, it looked like dry dog food.”
A Gen X female who made meat sauce with the grounds said, “Some pieces disappeared into the pasta sauce, but some didn’t. Some were mushy, and some were almost gristly, which reminds me of ground beef. In the pasta sauce, I would not know it was plant-based.”
A boomer male said: “I like the flavor. It’s slightly sweet, but the texture is not like beef. It bounces back when you chew it. But it’s fine because it’s healthier and has less saturated fat than beef.”
“When I opened it, it was a bit off-putting, especially in the vacuum-sealed bag,” noted a millennial male. “Makes it seem very processed when it comes packaged like that. It was also a pain to open. The taste wasn’t bad, but it certainly was not beef. The texture resembled ground beef, though, so they nailed that.”
A vegan remarked, “The taste was satisfying, and the only negative was that it was so good it took a great deal of willpower not to finish the entire box in one sitting! I definitely consumed at least two servings. The texture replicated chopped meat, and I could feel the browned hard pieces in my mouth along with the ‘fatty’ bits that did not brown. It tasted like I cooked it for hours because it was so well seasoned.”
“I used this as the protein source for stirfried cauliflower. It sautéed quicker than meat but since there is no fat, I had to add an extra tablespoon of avocado oil so the meat wouldn’t stick to the pan,” said an adventurous female. “I also added water to create a sauce since it had a drier consistency than ground beef. There is a robust umami flavor from the mushroom, and the cooked texture is similar to lean beef.”
An older female was disappointed, though, saying: “I just can’t get past the texture. It has a chewy bite even though it looks like ground beef.”
“It had burnt notes and other off flavors when prepped,” a couple told us. “It was dry and crumbly, unlike any meat we have ever eaten.”
“As it cooked, it reminded me of real ground beef,” said a vegetarian. “The preparation was easy and quick. I made tacos so I added taco seasoning, and I enjoyed the taste with and without the taco seasoning. The texture was similar to other plant-based ground ‘beef’ products I’ve eaten. It wasn’t too similar to real ground beef to be off-putting. It had a pleasant aroma while cooking, and I really enjoyed the flavor.”
CONCLUSION
“Cheese, salsa, guac and sour cream helped, but I certainly would not purchase this again,” concluded an older female who tries many new alt-meat products.
A 30-year-old male agreed, saying, “I wouldn’t have this again.”
“It’s crazy pricing at $12.80 per pound,” our couple concluded. “Especially since the first two ingredients are water and pea protein. We would not buy this again.”
“I can’t get past the texture and sweet taste,” another female decided. “I’d rather simply cut back on meat and enjoy ‘real’ meat when I crave that meaty, umami flavor.”
But a female vegetarian was full of praise, saying, “I enjoyed this and will add it to my rotation of plant-based meat products. It’s a bit more expensive than my usual go-to, but I’m willing to pay a little more. I like that it is soy-free since so many similar products contain soy. I’d like to try some other recipes on their website.”
“It’s a good choice for converting sautéed meat recipes to a plant-rich alternative,” agreed an adventurous female.
“The price is on point because of its delicious taste and high protein content,” said a vegan female. “It is a wonderfully healthy alternative that is lower in fat than meat. The cleanup is also easy because it doesn’t contain messy animal fat that sticks to the pan. This is deliciously satisfying, and no animal was sacrificed for my enjoyment!”
“This is an ultimate favorite,” a vegan determined. “The fact that there are unprocessed, simple ingredients and 18 g of plant protein per serving make this product something I will definitely buy for myself on a regular basis.”
Like many plant-based meat alternatives, Abbot’s Plant-Rich Ground “Beef” caters to a niche audience.
Our vegan and vegetarian tasters, always on the lookout for new meatless options, found it especially appealing. However, for those simply aiming to reduce their meat intake, this product, like many alt-meat options, didn’t quite replicate the taste and texture of traditional ground beef.
While Abbot’s Plant-Rich Ground “Beef” is a solid option formore seasoned plant-based eaters, meat reducers and carnivores may prefer alternatives that more closely mimic conventional beef. As usual, the conundrum for alt-meat products is how to delight one group (meat eaters) while not offending the other (meat avoiders).
PRODUCT: Abbot’s Plant-Rich Ground “Beef”
PRICE: $7.99/10-oz. package
NUTRITION PER SERVING (1/2 CUP): Calories 130, Total Fat 4.5g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 550mg, Total Carbohydrate 5g, Protein 18g
by Anna Marie Cesario and Jennifer Vahalik, U&I Collaboration, LLC.
Food product development and consumer research veterans, Anna Marie Cesario and Jennifer Vahalik, join Alt-Meat magazine as contributors to our regular “Taste Test” column. Here’s how the program works: The alternative meat item is distributed to consumers, including the core demographic, for preparation in their own homes. No instructions are provided to the consumer, other than to write their overall impressions of the product, as well as to evaluate the flavor, texture, packaging and ease of use. Cesario and Vahalik look for common threads by using Getting It!®, a system developed to listen to consumers about products. The sample of people is not intended to be a “taste test” in a controlled setting, nor is it intended to simulate a focus group. Others are doing both. Rather, the intent is to interpret the response of the people who might purchase a product like this and use it, simply based on their encounters with the product in their individual, unique home environment. That is how U&I has been developing cutting-edge product and people understanding since 1999.
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