Fake Meat Question

Charleybarley

Gold Member
Hi all

I am a total carnivore and love my meat - although saying that I love my veg too. However one food area I have always avoided after a couple of botched attempts are meat substitutes - I do not like the mince, I find it sludgy - but I am curious as I look at food diaries and find that quorn sausages, cold quorn slices, lamb steaks etc. feature in a lot of meals for people. What are these like please? As I am a bit of a frugal spender and I dont want to buy something I will ultimately throw away. Can it be that since the last time I tried a quorn sausage (early 2000s) that they have improved? I have noticed there are different flavours now too. Is it the way I cook these things perhaps? Thanks Ladies. x
 
I'm not a huge fan of quorn or other substitutes, I would rather have the real thing. I do however love the quorn nuggets they are only 1/2 syn each and although u can tell they aren't chicken they are a great low syn substitute :)
 
If you love your meat - stick with it.
Red days & EE are fine to eat meat as long as its lean.
Stick with what you love x
 
It's a bit hit or miss in my experience

Tesco MF Lincolnshire sausages are fantastic so I can really recommend them

Quorn Goujons are great, just like the real thing

I also like Asda MF meatballs and their mince is ten times better than quorn.

But a lot comes down to how you cook it to be honest - they can dry out if you over cook them and you need to add flavour through your other ingredients.
 
I'm happy with the sausages but I had the fillets yesterday with my roast and they were not nice at all. I reckon in a sauce they'd be just about passable but I won't buy them again.
 
I was with you on the mince opinion but picked up a tip a while ago that improved it somewhat. Basically, you shouldn't treat the pseudo mince the same as the regular version - it just doesn't need the boiling/simmering.

The quorn mince should only be added to a dish as late as possible in the cooking process - for spag bol for instance, only for the last few minutes - enough for heating through.
 
I regularly have a vegan friend to stay and when she does I eat the same as she does, so have had some varieties of meat-free products over time.
Best sausages are Linda McCartney ones, imo. I think they are synnable but not many. Quorn ones are ok but now have a small syn value too, I think?

As for meatfree mince, the symingtons granose soya mince is pretty good as far as texture goes. As for fake chicken, Frys chicken pieces are almost impossible to tell the difference. Only ever seen them in Holland and Barrett though. They work very well in stir-fries.

Hope that helps.
 
im not a fan of the chicken style pieces but i dont mind qourn mince.. i use it in spag bolls cottage pies etc.. i just flavour it a lot with beef stock.. and i find if i slow cook it on the hob it tastes much better than if i make a quick sauce
 
Thanks for your advice ladies, I think I will just stick to my meaty meat on Red and EE and then just stick to green on green and not stray over to trying the meat substitute - although the chicken nuggets/goujons sound nice. x
 
Why eat mushroom/cardboard mixed sausage (my opinion!) when you can real sausage such as Sainsbury's low fat cumberland sausage at 1/2 syn each!
 
bilsat said:
Why eat mushroom/cardboard mixed sausage (my opinion!) when you can real sausage such as Sainsbury's low fat cumberland sausage at 1/2 syn each!

I'm actually a bit addicted to Quorn sausages! But I'll get some Sainsburys ones, didn't like the Tesco ones they tasted a bit off!
 
I dont like any quorn stuff - especially the chunks of meat. However, I have to say with Quorn mince you barely notice the difference!
 
I really dont get on with Quorn mince :( Same as the OP I find it slushy. I used to like the sausages and LOVE LOVE LOVED the peppered beef slices, but they're changed the recipe for both now and I dont like either of them The sausages have gone all slimy and the beef slices are dry as cardboard and taste of nothing. Ugh. :9529: I have no idea why in the world they changed it to this :(

I still like my Quorn pieces for curries though, but other than that Quorn has been struck off the shopping list. Shame, as I used to buy TONS of it! I stick to my lentils and veggies mostly now.
 
When I was vegetarian a hundred years ago I used to use TVP mince (textured vegetable protein) and it was a good meat substitute I thought!

Speaking of meat substitutes, I have some dried soya chunks, two questions how do I cook them, and any idea of the syns?
 
If its the de-fatted version its free. I cant remember about the other version though and I cant find it online. There was a thread about it a while back I seem to remember.
 
I'm also a real meat lover and was never keen on Quorn. Still cannot stomache quorn 'chicken breasts' as I find them too wobbly lol, but I do pick up a few Quorn items on my weekly shop: Quorn nuggets, Quorn peppered steaks, Quorn hot and spicy big bites (like KFC) and Quorn garlic & mushroom escalopes. None of them, to me, feel like a meat substitute and are all very yummy :drool: would definitely recommend xx
 
I'm also a real meat lover and was never keen on Quorn. Still cannot stomache quorn 'chicken breasts' as I find them too wobbly lol, but I do pick up a few Quorn items on my weekly shop: Quorn nuggets, Quorn peppered steaks, Quorn hot and spicy big bites (like KFC) and Quorn garlic & mushroom escalopes. None of them, to me, feel like a meat substitute and are all very yummy :drool: would definitely recommend xx

Yow! :faint2: Not cheap on the old syns though eh? :eek: Yow, Id rather have a red day and have the real thing for free! :drool:
 
Yow! :faint2: Not cheap on the old syns though eh? :eek: Yow, Id rather have a red day and have the real thing for free! :drool:

Not cheap on Syns? Peppered steaks are free and the nuggets are half a syn each. The hot and spicy bites are just 2 syns each and are a really generous size. The escalope is the only thing high in syns IMO, at 8.5

Fair enough, you might prefer to have the real thing, each to their own. But for those that might struggle in using their syns and are looking for something quick, handy and tasty, these are ideal.

It's all about personal preference..
 
I dont like any quorn stuff - especially the chunks of meat. However, I have to say with Quorn mince you barely notice the difference!

OMG H*Bomb seriously!!?? Do you have any taste buds left!!?? :eek: I tried putting the quorn mince in a cottage pie and it tasted like I had emptied the hoover bag in it!

I'm a real meat eater too! Why go for an alternative when if you can probably have the real thing for free on a red day. I have tried most of the quorn products assuming I would come across one that I would eventually like and have so far only found the chicken style nuggets edible

I have the occasional green day, but when I do normally both my HEXBs go on meat!
 
Not cheap on Syns? Peppered steaks are free and the nuggets are half a syn each. The hot and spicy bites are just 2 syns each and are a really generous size. The escalope is the only thing high in syns IMO, at 8.5


Fair enough, you might prefer to have the real thing, each to their own. But for those that might struggle in using their syns and are looking for something quick, handy and tasty, these are ideal.


It's all about personal preference..

I've just been caught out by the escalopes. I ordered some this week on my never ending search for a nice Quorn product - I assumed they were low. Now I have them stuck in the freezer knowing that I'm likely to dislike them and they are fairly high in syns :sigh:
 
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