BYPASS or BUY - Not Chicken Burgers

5/3/2023

You guys know how much I love plant-based chicken products. I'm literally sharing nuggie posts on my insta stories at least once a week, literally obsessed. Any time a new chicken product becomes available, I'm on it.

What struck me initially about the Not Chicken burgers was the picture. That patty looks thick with a crispy, almost hand-breaded appearance. When I saw them, I immediately thought how nice it would be to do a chicken parm with these gigantic, crispy patties. Something a little different than the typical, flat, kind of sad looking plant-based chicken patties. So, I happily snatched up a bag and got to preparing my chicken parm!

Ok, so, I was immediately disappointed after opening the bag, because they did NOT look anything like the picture on the outside of the bag. They were flat, thin, and looked just like every other plant-based chicken burger I'd seen. Needless to say, I felt deflated in my recipe testing for a minute, but I was still hopeful that they would at least taste good.

THOUGHTS

First of all, the cook time on the package was not accurate. They were still quite soggy and not ready when the timer went off. I ended up cooking them an additional 7 - 10 minutes until they had some golden brown, crispy action. With that being said, once I finished them, they were nice and golden brown and had some enticing golden action.

I cooke done of the patties without cheese for my recipe so that I could taste the patty itself. Honestly, they were really good. I have nothing bad to say about the flavour. They were seasoned well, the breading had a nice flavour to it, and I'd happily eat them again. They were the perfect plant-based chicken for my chicken parm recipe.

BUY! - Look, there were some short-comings with the patties, but overall, they were really tasty and worked perfectly for my recipe. Despite the inaccurate cook time and frankly, misleading photo of the product on the bag, they were super crispy, flavourful, and did the trick. I could see them utilized as burgers easily with some lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickled hot peppers. They were definitely worth the money and I would buy them again knowing now what they look like out of the bag. I would recommend you guys give them a try and let me know what your thoughts were!

Peep the link below to the Not Co website for a peek at their other products and information about their company and mission!

notco.com/ca-en/

HAPPY VEG

3 Comments

Patrick

9/10/2023 01:42:49 pm

I'll have to give these a try if I see them - I tried the "NotBurger" today, and was astounded to be completely honest

I had a look at your post (bypass or buy) with the Beyond, Impossible and Lightlife options, and it wouldn't win that based on ingredients, but as an omnivore, it's the first "faux" burger I think I'd choose consistently over beef. The taste and texture are excellent.

When opening the package, it looks exactly like a Beyond patty, and from that impression, the only difference I could see was it came with instructions for cooking from frozen (Beyond does not)

I elected to cook it that way, since I was hungry, and itching for a meal - and the idea of thawing it on the counter for 3 hours, or throwing it in the fridge and having it for lunch tomorrow just didn't cut it - instructions are simply, cook for 45 second per side at Med-High, then drop to medium heat and cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

First thing I noticed, no weird smell - Beyond's smell isn't offensive, but it's odd. The first time I had one, I almost didn't eat it because of that (I didn't regret eating it, so I'm glad I did), but that wasn't happening with this one at all.

Cooked it up, and threw it on a grilled bun with some spicy mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a slice of cheddar.

and it's not a Beyond burger - I think, so far, it's my favourite "faux" beef burger, and not by a little bit, if you asked me to choose between this and a beef burger, I think I'd choose this. Beyond is close, but beef would likely win that battle.

Happy Veg

9/13/2023 04:24:39 am

Hey Patrick!

Thanks so much for your comment. I agree with you on most of what you said about the Beyond Burger and to be honest, I've yet to try the NotCo Beef so I'll have to give them a try and get back to you!

Thanks again!

Jesse

2/16/2024 04:58:27 pm

We tried these last week and they were delicious.

I put two in the air fryer for 7 minutes but it didn’t seem cooked so I did another 7 and it was perfect. At first I was confused as the package said 6-8 mins but I then realized it actually said 6-8 on each side!