I don’t know very much about the NotCo brand – aside from their partnership with Kraft Dinner – so when I saw they had chicken burgers, I was obviously curious and had to try them.
These burgers were better than your standard veggie chicken burger for so many reasons, and I’m so happy I decided to try them! Their sizing, for one thing, was surprisingly good. They were, dare I say, slightly bigger than an actual burger!
Their breadcrumb coating was also nice. It had the classic texture of what I remember chicken burgers having, and they felt pretty solid when pulling them out of the bag. Like you could man-handle them a little without needing to fear they would break in your hand, y’know?
Speaking of the bag, I loved that it was purple. It also only had instructions for oven or grill cooking (usually, I cook burgers in a frying pan), so I cooked them in the oven. On the plus side, the instructions said they only need about 10 minutes total, with a flip in the middle before they’re done, so they weren’t a pain to cook at all.
A small pet peeve of mine is when cooking instructions say things like: Frying Pan: 10 minutes, Oven: 30 minutes.
They don’t really change colour when they’re done, and the first time I made mine, it did get a little softer/more breakable, so I didn’t think 10 minutes was enough. Luckily, more than one come in a bag, so I was able to experiment a few times after the tester I made for the review. I found 15-18 minutes was better for my oven. But of course, ovens vary, so I would recommend checking after the time on the bag, and then throwing them back in if they feel a little squishy.
Sometimes with vegan food, it’s hard to know if a food is supposed to remain squishy after it’s cooked, or if it’s supposed to firm up, so I always exercise caution when cooking vegan products.
Also luckily, these guys firmed up a little after longer cooking, so if yours come out a squishy, pop them back in!
I kept my tester burger simple, with just some lettuce and a mayo’d bun. I also cut out a piece of the burger to eat ‘plain’ on the side.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a ‘real’ chicken burger (at least 9 years), but these burgers had the flavour and texture of what I remember. They’re not eerily close like Beyond Meat products, but it’s enough to tell you’re not just eating breaded tofu.
Also, the cross-section of what the inside looks like showed off a great texture.
One thing that is not-so-awesome about these burgers is the fact only 4 come in a bag, and they were $7.49 (Metro), so I wouldn’t recommend making them a new staple. But, I can definitely recommend you try them at least once – especially if they’re on sale – as they’ll be a welcome addition to help you close out the summer.
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