Tag Archives: chick’N

Product Review, The Veg Life

Gardein Chick’N Scallopini Review

1 Comment

Loading

I don’t know what a ‘scallopini’ is supposed to be, honestly I think a better name would’ve been a ‘cutlet’ (like their breaded turk’y cutlets) so this review may not be the most accurate.

Call that a disclaimer or warning, whatever floats your boat, but yeah. If I miss something that has to do with it being called a scallopini I apologize in advanced.

AterImber.com - The Veg Life - Product Reviews - Gardein Chick'N Scallopini - Gardein, faux meat, vegan meat, food reviewer, vegan food, vegan chicken, chick'n

I want to start this review off by saying there’s only four that comes in a bag, similar to the Chick’N Burgers.

Also similar to the Chick’N Burgers and nuggets (and tenders) is the flavour of the chick’n minus the breading. They’re also similar in size to the cutlets which I like. They’re not too small or too big. They’re roughly the size of a chicken breast (I think) albeit they’re not nearly as thick as a non-vegan breast. They’re actually about the size of my palm, which is about 3in x 3in. (Yes, I did just measure that)

They’re a good texture too. They’re not too squishy like some tofu nuggets I’ve had, they have a good bite to them, and you have to put some pressure to the knife if you want to cut them.

The first way I tried one was just pan fried (no oil) and I topped it with some Daiya shreds and put it on a sandwich.

My dad even tried a piece and said he liked it!

Taste-wise there’s not really anything new – if you like their other chick’n products, you’ll probably like this too. Also, the texture is pretty much the same as all their other chicken products. It’s that firm-soft texture that uncooked meat has. (If you remember that)

I think the best way to cook these is in a pan. I think the instructions on the back say to cook them in the oven, but that just takes way too long. Why would I put them in the oven and wait 20 minutes, when I could pan fry and have them done in 10? Also, if it’s a tad under-cooked, it’s still fine, because it’s not actually raw meat, so you don’t need to worry about getting sick. (I’m not a doctor, so don’t quote me on that)

One of the things I’ve actually noticed since going vegan is that most of the premade stuff takes so much less time to cook, it’s insane! That’s definitely another bonus of these, and a lot of the other Gardein products, too.

All in all, these are pretty much their Chick’N burgers, if they were naked instead of being breaded. I like them a lot, and similar to the Chick’N Burgers, I wish they put more than 4 in one bag!

Like this review? Check out more here!

Liking the site? Consider signing up for my Patreon, so I can continue bringing you the content you love!

Product Review, The Veg Life

Gardein 7 Grain Crispy Tenders Review

Leave a comment

Loading

These are some of the very first things from Gardein I ever tried.

I’m not gonna lie, like most of the other chick’n Gardein products, you probably already know what these taste like, so if you like those, you’ll like these.

AterImber.com - The Veg Life - Product Reviews - Gardein 7 Grain Crispy Tenders - vegan food, food reviewer, food review, veganism, vegan chick'n, faux meat, food blogger

One thing I actually don’t like about these, is the fact they only come 10 to a bag. I know from personal experience you can fit 20 into the bag. And, while 20 did slightly overfill the bag, you could definitely put more than 10. Even 15 would be better. I really don’t understand the obsession with vegan companies not making foods in family sizes.

I don’t know about other people, but I don’t want to go shopping every week, and like to buy the biggest quantity of something I can, so I’m not constantly running out to the store for supplies. (And, in light of COVID happening, I think it’s more important than ever to buy things in bulk to limit your amount of outings)

Aside from the lack of food, these are as I said above, not very spectacular. But that’s okay! I actually really enjoy these, they’re pretty fast to make in a pan, and can be eaten by themselves as nuggets, or you can add them to other dishes, like pastas or rice.

The 7 grain breading on them is pretty good, too. While I can’t really describe it – I don’t actually taste 7 different grains, for example – but I can say it’s definitely different than the breading on the Mandarin Orange Nuggets. One thing I can tell you though, is that this breading is way more crumby than the other. It’s not really a big deal, but even after washing my hands I still feel like the crumbs are on me, so be wary of that.

As for the innerds – as I said, it tastes the same as their other faux chicken products. The texture is a bit tougher than the nuggets, though. It’s closer to the texture of the faux chick’n burgers.

Another thing I’d like to mention, I recently noticed that the Gardein bags have changed texture, they don’t feel quite so ‘plastic-y’ anymore. So I did some recon, and discovered they changed their bags to be made out of ____ which is awesome, because this means that while they still come in packaging, they’re more recyclable, and – as someone who recently started getting into the zero waste lifestyle – this is awesome! So while I try to move away from pre-packaged foods, I will still continue to support Gardein.

I feel like the Beyond Burger (and Impossible Burger and the like) are more of the flashy/Instagram-y side of veganism, trying to seem interesting and enticing – while Gardein is more like an old friend who’s always there.

If you haven’t tried their products yet, please go out and support them!

Like this review? Check out more here!

Liking the site? Consider signing up for my Patreon, so I can continue bringing you the content you love!

Product Review, The Veg Life

Gardein Chick’n Patty Review

1 Comment

Loading

Chick’N burgers… is there anything greater?

If you’ve been here before, you’ll know that even before going vegan, I was never much of a beef/pork/red meat fan. Chicken was more my jam. I don’t know why, other meats just didn’t taste good to me. (Especially beef)

One of my absolute favourite things ever was having a breaded chicken burger, with some Miracle Whip and lettuce. There’s something just very… I don’t know, satisfying about it. It hits the spot every time.

When I saw these, I was obviously excited to try them.

AterImber.com - The Veg Life - Product Reviews - Gardein Chick'n Patties Review - vegan food, food review, vegan burgers, chicken burgers, breaded chicken burgers, food reviewer

I had tried one other chick’n burger brand that was pretty good (I thiiink it might’ve been Yves), but the patty wasn’t breaded. Which, was fine, but I really wanted to find a breaded chick’n burger, so I didn’t have to cross them off my list of favourites. And, I’m so thankful that the vegan movement has come such a long way, and that there are so many different options on the market to choose from, because these looked and tasted just like I remember! (They might even be a bit bigger, too)

Like some of their other products, Gardein only puts 4 in a pack, and I just want to ask: why is the majority of vegan food packaged so small? Are they assuming not whole families are vegan, or that no one will bring their products to get togethers’ for others to try? How do you expect people to share their vegan food with other people (and possibly convince others to go vegan) if you don’t make the food optimal sharing size? You could easily fit at least two more patties in that bag. Honestly the amount in one bag is usually the only thing I don’t like about their products. If they upped their product to bag ratio, they’d be golden.

The inside/chick’n part tastes just like the rest of their other faux chick’n products (I’m pretty sure it’s just tofu), and the breading appears to be just plain old breadcrumbs. Nothing that fancy to write home about for these guys, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not great! Sometimes, all you need/crave is something simple. I understand why vegan companies keep trying to outdo themselves, and go bigger and more flavourful, but sometimes the simplest ingredients/flavours are all you need.

Another great thing about these burgers, is what I’m dubbing The Vegan Advantage: they take virtually no time to cook. 10 minutes on medium heat in a frying pan, or you could throw them in the oven to bake and in almost no time, they’re ready to go.

Put these babies on a whole wheat bun, topped with Hellmann’s’ Carefully Crafted Dressing and Sandwich Spread (vegan Miracle Whip), add some lettuce, and bam! You’ve got yourself a no fuss, filling and flavourful dinner.

Seriously, there’s not even that much more I can say to describe them. If you haven’t tried them already, go out and do it, and watch how fast they become a favourite/summer staple.

Like this review? Check out more here!

Liking the site? Consider signing up for my Patreon, so I can continue bringing you the content you love!

Recipes, The Veg Life

Chick’N Seitan

2 Comments

Loading

Before learning how to make it, I’d had my first taste of seitan at Hogtown Vegan (their Unchicken Ceasar Wrap, definitely recommend) and I was blown away how much it tasted like chicken. It tasted exactly like it.

After that, I started searching the Internet for how to make this amazing creation at home, and I’m not gonna lie, all the recipes I found overwhelmed me. (Vital Wheat Gluten??? Nooch?????)

After a lot of research and a sort of stealing myself, I decided to finally try and make seitan at home. The first time I ever made it, I followed Peta’s SolFoods Vegan’s Spicy Fried Chicken recipe. (I’ll link it below)

So this recipe is originally adapted from theirs.

Also, I’ve never really enjoyed the taste of beef or pork, etc., which is why I only have a chick’N recipe, and not a beef or pork recipe. I will probably end up making one for if I want notballs or fausages in something, but for now, anytime I refer to using seitan, I’m using this one.

AterImber.com - Seitan Chick'N Vegan Recipe

Dry:

2C Vital Wheat Gluten

5tbsp Nooch

2tsp. Poultry Seasoning

1tsp:

– S+P

– Garlic+Onion Powder

– Oregano

– Basil

– Parsley

– Paprika

Wet:

5Tbsp Tahini Paste

1 1/2C Mushroom Broth

Directions:

  1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
  2. In a measuring cup, (or another bowl), combine the wet ingredients – mix together.*
  3. Mix the wet into the dry and mix together until you get a doughy consistency.
  4. Shape however you like (I usually make patties, breast-like shapes or wings)
  5. Wrap each piece in foil*
  6. Fill a pot with water and turn it on to high.
  7. Once water is boiling, get a steamer basket (or, use a cooling rack and place foil on top of chick’N) and place the chick’N pieces in.
  8. Let steam for 30 minutes.
  9. Once done, remove from steamer (put next batch in), remove the foil and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

*The original recipe I read said to wrap the seitan loosely in foil because they’d expand, but I haven’t notice them expand much if at all

Peta’s SolFoods Vegan’s Spicy Fried Chicken recipe

Check out more recipes here!

Liking the site? Consider signing up for my Patreon, so I can continue bringing you the content you love!