In case you haven’t noticed, the faux-meat industry has been focusing on two primary areas: ground beef and chicken. From burgers to nuggets, consumers have many, many choices now. I have no doubt they are doing their market research on what to focus on that will start moving consumers from eating high-consumptive animal industry supply chain products, into what is my review today, faux chicken pieces. Although in these reviews, I am not focusing on items that are pre-made for easy consumption as a cuisine, (perhaps I will in the future), I will give a nod that most burger and nugget options are fairly tasty, but have their drawbacks, such as high fat, saturated fat, and salt, and are cuisine limiting. So, let’s talk faux chicken pieces – particularly, Sweet Earth® Mindful CHIK’N™ Strips.
Chicken is such a versatile protein. From grounds, to small chunks, filets, and pieces, chicken provides an opportunity to cook cuisines and dishes that bring variety to our table. Sweet Earth® Mindful CHIK’N™ Pieces is another option to add protein, the look of chicken, and yes, to veganize many non-vegan dishes, including pork-ish and beef carnitas.
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Faux-meat.com Evaluation
Visual – Sweet Earth® Mindful CHIK’N™ Strips are not exactly “strips”, meaning, they are not cut into rectangles like Morningstar® Chik-N Strips (which, by the way, I do buy, use and need to review!). The Sweet Earth® strips look more like pieces of chicken breast or thigh. The color is spot on for cooked chicken. Light beige, not white, somewhere between thigh and breast perhaps. I’m sure a side-by-side comparison of poultry meat and Sweet Earth® might be obvious, but once in a dish, to me, it’s hard to tell the difference.
Tactile – The product feels like cooked meat. It is not slimy or mushy. The strips are firm, just like regular chicken pieces. In fact, it can be a bit dry, but chicken can be that way as well. It does have a “shred-iness” to it, you can pull it apart if necessary. Some pieces are larger than others. That’s OK. Poultry pieces are not uniform except for those weird, frozen chicken breasts that look like they came from a chicken cookie press.
Cooking – how did they hold up? I have been using these faux chicken strips for several years now and have perfected (in my humble opinion) converting them to a pork or carnitas taste. It’s really all about the seasoning and cooking method. I have added them to soups and stews and they do not deteriorate. The texture stays firm and they absorb flavors nicely. These chik’n strips really require just warming to 165 degrees, saucing or spicing, and adding them to a salad, wrap, or bowl or longer preparations of stir-fry, baking, braising, etc. My favorite application, though, is creating faux porchetta by braising the pieces in herbs, garlic, vermouth, and umami caramelizing agents. Unbelievable good!
Taste and Texture: My husband warms them up and adds them to his popcorn. I know. Weird. But they taste like cooked chicken. The mouthfeel and chew are chicken-y, without the fat and sinew. The basic strips have a very neutral flavor – not too herby or salty. You cannot identify any one cuisine like Tex-Mex or Italian. The company does have other pre-spiced pieces, such as Chipotle, Korean, and Taco flavorings, available on its website and other purchasing options online.
Ingredients from the packaging:
Water soy protein concentrate, canola oil, distilled vinegar, yeast extract, seasoning (salt, natural flavors, yeast extract, citric acid, roasted onion powder, onion powder, sugar, sea salt). Contains wheat and soy.
Nutritional expectations:
≥ 14 grams of Protein
≤ 500 milligrams of Sodium
≤ 9 grams of Fat
Any fiber is a bonus!
Sweet Earth® CHIK’N™ weighs in at:
Protein – 18 grams
Fat – 4 grams
Saturated Fat – 0 grams
Sodium – 330 mg
Fiber – 5 grams. Gets the bonus award!
There are several competitors in the marketplace and not all are available in all areas of the country, or in grocery stores. For Fort Collins, some stores carry Sweet Earth® brands, some carry others.
Note: be sure and check the refrigerated section and the freezer sections of the store. These products seem to be where ever there is space and might peek consumer interest. Sprouts has them in the deli section next to non-plant-based products. Keep looking!
Enjoy! Visit Goodnes Sweet Earth® brands for more recipes and information!
Want more cooking ideas for eating less meat? Want to eat more plants? Let’s do it!
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