Boca Crumbles Review
Meatless crumbles seem to be one of the easiest faux-meat products to translate comfort food dishes into plant-based versions for the vegan or plant-forward person. They are great “transition” products to transform familiar dishes into healthier and more climate-friendly versions of their former selves.
There seems to be a meatless crumble for almost every application. Just as there are differences between ground chuck, round, and chili meat grinds, there are subtle differences in meatless crumbles. Some are smaller, some stiffer, and some chewier. Some have more mouthfeel, some more seasoning. Some hold up great in a sauce, others sort of melt away if you cook too long. This may be an individual preference and I’m not trying to be a crumble snob. There are subtle differences, yet, most are super great! Here’s my Boca Original Veggie Crumble review.
Faux Meat Evaluation
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Boca Original Veggie Crumbles Review
Visual
Right out of the bag, the crumbles look like cooked ground meat crumbles. They are brown like browned ground meat. The crumble size is about the size of cooked ground meat that has been separated after cooking just a bit. This is not a bad thing!
Tactile
The crumbles feel like meat, spongy and springy to the fingers. A bit like high-quality textured vegetable protein.
Taste and Texture
First, I tasted these by themselves. I heated a couple of tablespoons briefly in a microwave and tasted a teaspoon or so. They have a good chewy texture, a nice neutral flavor with the aromatic seasonings in the product. There are some nuances with cooking, mostly in a traditional red sauce.
Second, I microwaved them with taco spices and a bit of oil. The result was very nice and pleasing. Not too dry. Nice and chewy. Perfect for burritos, salads, tacos, etc.
Cooking – how did they hold up?
Packaging skillet instructions – heat in oiled skillet for 12 minutes.
Other applications – may heat, cool, and stir into a sauce or just pour directly.
Heat and serve for wraps and tacos or on top of sweet potatoes. Add your favorite cuisine spice mixes!
Third – I used them in a white sauce lasagna and they held up well to baking in the oven.
I have used them in tomato sauce. My advice is to heat the sauce and the crumbles separately. Then combine briefly before serving with pasta. But overall, these are always one of my go-to crumbles. It’s a preference thing – some dishes are better with smaller grinds of “meat”.
Nutritional expectations:
The Boca ingredients are pretty minimal. Pretty much water, soy, and flavorings. The bonus is that the product has no fat, which is a bonus, but also creates a few hiccups with some dish applications. You will need a binder to keep the crumbs together for something like a meatloaf or meatballs.
Ingredients: Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Natural Flavor (non-meat, contains gluten), malt extract, (contains gluten) salt, yeast extract, caramel color, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, celery, glutamic acid
Boca Original Veggie Crumbles nutrition weighs in at:
0 (that’s Zero folks!) Fat – just wow!
190 mg of Sodium – another wow!
11 grams of Protein
4 grams of fiber – got the bonus points!
Final Impression:
Boca crumbles have been my go-to crumbles for many years. Bad me for not getting this review out here sooner. They were one of the first crumbles we tested along with LightLife Smart Grounds. Different textures and applications!
With such low fat, low sodium, and high protein, Boca Veggie Crumbles will add a wonderful chewy, meaty texture to your classic comfort foods!
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