My Honest Thoughts on the New Impossible Chicken Patties Launching at Burger King
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Impossible Foods launched the new Impossible Foods Chicken Patties Made From Plants yesterday.
The chicken patties are available at select Burger King locations in Cincinnati, Ohio, and are more widely available at Safeway and Sprouts.
Experts weigh in on the plant-based chicken’s nutrition info.
After launching plant-based pork, the Impossible breakfast sandwich at Starbucks featuring Impossible sausage, and announcing the Burger King Impossible Whopper, Impossible Foods is here to make your plant-based dreams come true yet again. The brand that boasts “meat made from plants” launched the new Impossible Foods Chicken Patties today in stores and at select Burger King locations, and Prevention got an exclusive first look.
How does the Impossible chicken patty taste?
We’ve been fans of the brand for a while at Prevention. In fact, our food team recently named the Impossible Burger the best ground meat alternative in our roundup of best meat substitutes and we previously named the Impossible Burgers the most meat-like burger in a roundup of best veggie burgers. But how do the new Impossible chicken patties taste?
I haven’t had any meat products in 17 years, so I had a meat eater join in on the taste testing to get their views as well. I generally have mixed feelings about some of the plant-based meat options. I find that though meat eaters I’ve dined with love the realistic flavors and textures of many of the Impossible Meat products, I find them a bit too realistic for my taste and dislike the heavy, greasiness that comes along with a red meat-like product that I’m not used to. What I have found is that mock chicken products tend to go over better with my personal preferences, so I was excited to give these a try.
At first glance, the chicken patties looked like a classic, breaded chicken patty. They arrived frozen in a bag and required about 20 minutes in the oven (with additional options for microwave and air-fryers). Once they were ready, I served them up just on a plate to get the full flavor. The breading bubbled slightly when it came out of the oven, glistening as a real chicken patty would. The patties cut similarly to traditional chicken patties, with the exterior nice and crispy and the interior soft and juicy. The inside appeared just like chicken, so much so that if I hadn’t just pulled it from the packaging I may have had to ask someone to confirm they were actually plant-based.
The chicken patty tasted as much like the real thing as I ever would have imagined, but felt lighter than the red meat alternatives. It was crispy, juicy on the inside, and had a texture and flavor that was reminiscent of my old chicken-eating days in the best way. My meat-eating companion even suggested they tasted identical to classic fast-food chicken nuggets and if he did a blind taste test of the two might not even be able to tell the difference. We ate ours with a side of zucchini lasagna but agreed they’d be excellent as chicken parmesan, sliced up over a caesar salad, or as a crispy chicken sandwich.
Overall, I found the chicken patties to taste almost identical to their Impossible Nuggets and Impossible Wild Nuggets that launched last year. And though, that’s not a bad thing at all, it may help you determine if it’s something you’ll like.
Impossible Foods Chicken Patties nutrition
We know that the Impossible Chicken Patties are better for the environment overall (they use 49% less land, 44% less water, and 36% fewer greenhouse gasses than animal chicken patties, according to a press statement from Impossible Foods), but are they good for our bodies? Here’s what you’re looking at nutritionally if you have a single Impossible Foods chicken patty:
Calories: 180
Fat: 9 g (1.5 g saturated fat)
Carbohydrates: 15 g
Protein: 10 g
Sugars: <1 g
Sodium: 350 mg
Fiber: 3 g
According to a release from Impossible Foods, these patties contain 50% less saturated fat and 30% less total fat per serving compared to leading animal chicken patties. If compared side-by-side to a popular breaded chicken patty they have fewer calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, with more protein and fiber. But, they do have more carbohydrates.
Impossible Foods Chicken Patties ingredients
If you’re curious about what the plant-based chicken patties are made of, the ingredient list includes water, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, soybean oil, sunflower oil, 2% or less of potato starch, methylcellulose, salt, natural flavors, cultured dextrose, yeast extract, wheat gluten, dextrose, yellow cornflower, food starch-modified sugar, leavening (cream of tartar, sodium bicarbonate), dried yeast, paprika extract (for color), and mixed tocopherols (antioxidant).
Additional vitamins and minerals are also added including, gluconate, niacin (vitamin B3), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5), thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and vitamin B12.
Are the Impossible Foods Chicken patties healthy?
Keri Gans, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N., nutrition consultant and author of The Small Change Diet explains that the main benefit of the Impossible Chicken Patty is that it’s a great option for those looking to cut down on their meat consumption. “The big difference really is going to be when it comes down to choosing one or the other is if you’re focusing on including more plant-based products in your life,” she says.
Nutritionally, the Impossible Chicken Patties have more fiber, which a 100% chicken patty won’t offer, she notes. But, ingredient-wise, there is quite a list of ingredients in the Impossible Patties, whereas a homemade chicken patty made with only ground chicken has just one ingredient. So, if you’re looking to simplify the ingredients in your diet, this may not be the best pick for you.
“I can’t say it’s going to be the healthier choice, nor can I say it’s going to be the unhealthier choice. It depends upon what you’re looking for,” Gans says.
She adds that the healthfulness of the chicken patty is also determined by how you eat it. She recommends serving your Impossible Chicken Patty with a whole wheat bun and including ingredients like lettuce, tomato, and healthy fat like avocado for the tastiest nutritious option.
Where can you get Impossible Foods Chicken Patties?
For now, Impossible Foods is testing the chicken patties out at select Burger King restaurants in Cincinnati, Ohio where it can replace traditional chicken in their chicken sandwich. The sandwich can be made completely plant-based by omitting the mayonnaise, but the patties are cooked on the same equipment as the animal-based foods, according to a press release provided by Burger King.
In the meantime, Impossible Foods is also launching their new chicken patties in the frozen aisles nationwide in retailers such as Safeway and Sprouts this month, with more to follow in the fall, including Kroger and Albertsons. You can use the store locator on their website to find a retailer near you.
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