1/31/23 – It greatly saddens me this product is no longer in production. This is most unfortunate and they nailed the taste and feel of ground turkey.
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Right out the bat, I’m reviewing one of the newer products available in the States, OZO® Plant-Based Ground Turkey . OZO® is a new plant-based protein brand from JBS USA’s division
Planterra Foods, located in Lafayette, Colorado. Disclaimer, I live in Colorado – had no idea they were in Lafayette! I have tested two of their other products, bacon and a faux chicken filet, and will be posting those soon.
The product ingredients include: Water, Textured Pea Protein Blend (Textured Pea Protein, Pea and Rice Protein Fermented by Shiitake Mycelia, Pea Fiber), Canola Oil, Steamed Chickpea Flour, Contains 2% or less of: Pea Protein Powder, Natural Flavor, Salt, Sugar, Onion*, Tomato*, Carrot*, Garlic*, Turmeric* (Color), Rosemary Extract, Methylcellulose. (*Dehydrated).
Per the OZO® website, the plant-based ground turkey blurb is, “Our Plant-Based Turkey Grounds pack big flavor into delicious ground crumbles. Perfect for any meal – from Sloppy Joe’s to turkey burgers, chili cook-offs to casseroles. Savor the flavor.” Let’s see if it delivers.
Faux-meat.com Evaluation
Visual appeal – This plant-based product definitely looks like ground turkey in its packaging. The visual texture definitely looks like ground strands of meat turkey and has that pink-ish cast very similar to ground turkey. As a former meat-eater and meat grinder, it definitely looks like a real meat product that has just come out of a #12 or #16 meat grinder plate. I think they nailed it.
Tactile dimension – I will be honest. When working manually working with the grounds by hand, there was a bit of sliminess to them. The grounds almost felt similar to, well, real, raw meat. Your brain may get confused as this product is not truly raw but it sort of feels raw. There was a little sticky, gooey-ness which is good if you plan to make meatballs or pâté (a.k.a. meatloaf) with them. Just be prepared for a little extra stickiness, that’s all.
Preparation/cooking – I did two tests with this product, both including browning and sauteing.
The first cook test was browning in a stainless skillet. I placed a little oil in the pan, sauteed some onions and garlic, added half a package of faux ground turkey, and it sadly did not brown. The product, though, produced caramelization and a crusty fond in the bottom of the pan, (see photos for fond) but the faux meat did not brown, per se. I did add some broth to loosen the lovely fond and that process did add great flavor and a bit of color to the soup. If you cook, you know that say that normal turkey doesn’t brown that much either, but since the tactile dimension was a bit slimy, I needed to remove the sliminess for the dish.
The second time I sauteed the turkey faux meat in a cast iron skillet, and, for whatever reason, the meat did not caramelize the bottom of the pan and made a fabulous faux pork Bolognese sauce. I’m not sure the difference – perhaps my stainless skillet was too hot in the first test? It soaked up the vermouth, plant-based milk and other ingredients very well, simulating what veal and pork do in the traditional Bolognese recipe.
Both times the product cooked up nice and firm in the initial browning or sauteing process, just like ground turkey. Bingo for that.
I’m not sure can eat this product at room temperature. The slimy texture would be off-putting. You could marinade this product with some herbs, spices, and other ingredients. I’m sure it would grill into patties or even smoked might be nice. Most plant-based products suggest cooking to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Taste. Tasted like – turkey. I’m not sure how they do it but it takes like a poultry ground. Definitely does not taste like beef or faux-ish, not sure what it is, taste. It’s flavorful without assigning a cuisine such as Italian or Tex-Mex.
Texture – Bingo. As real as it gets. Kind of chewy with that ground animal crumble. You get the message in your head you are eating some kind of meat.
Nutrition. Wow. OZO® Ground Turkey is high in protein, low in fat, low-ish in salt and has some four grams of fiber. Here ya go.
Protein – 22 g Sodium – 390mg.
Total Fat – 9g Fiber – 4 grams
Cholesterol – 0 mg Calories – 190
If you need a recipe, try this yummy Guascas, Green Chili with Bulgur, and Beans Soup! (and OZO ground turkey!)
Want more cooking ideas for eating less meat? Want to eat more plants? Let’s do it!
LEARN ABOUT AND ENJOY THESE OTHER PLANT-BASED FOCUSED PRODUCTS IN MY STORE!
RATHER ORDER AND SHIP? TOTALLY COOL!
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO WORKBOOKS and COOKBOOKS ALSO AVAILABLE ON MY AUTHOR PAGE ON AMAZON!
