Beyond Meat Reviews – Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles

Beyond Meat Reviews – Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles

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Among the diet plans I’ve tried, the vegan diet was the most challenging of them all. I never realized how much I relied on animal products and foods until I had to give them up. I couldn’t even eat what I thought were “innocent” foods like eggs or honey! To be honest though, I wasn’t trying the vegan diet because of the guilt some people feel about eating animal-based products. I was trying this way of eating merely to see if I could lose weight by following a vegan diet.

As always, I set about trying to make eating a vegan diet as painless as possible. This meant I had to find replacements for my favorite meats like chicken, lamb, steak, ground meat and the like. The meat substitutes I wanted had to be similar in texture and have the mouth-feel I was accustomed to when I ate meat. To this end, I researched the latest vegan meat substitutes and discovered the Beyond Meat brand.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard all the raves about the Beyond Meat brand of vegan meat substitutes. If not, no worries, in this and future posts, I’ll give brief reviews for their line of vegan “meats” including their signature Beyond Burger. First up for reviews of the Beyond Meat brand, their version of ground beef known as Beyond Beef Crumbles.


Beyond Beef Crumbles – Feisty Version

My cousin the vegan fitness trainer was the first one to introduce me to the Beyond Beef Crumbles. He handed me a frozen bag of Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles and asked me to trust him. I do trust my cousin, but I still didn’t have any expectation of really enjoying this imitation ground beef. The first thing I did, was to check out the ingredients before I cooked some up.

The Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles is made with the following ingredients:

Water, Pea Protein Isolate, Canola and Sunflower Oil, Spice, Rice Flour, Tomato Powder, Sugar, Potassium Chloride, Contains 0.5% or less: Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Onion Extract, Acacia Gum, Salt, Chili Pepper Extract, Natural Flavor, Garlic Extract, Paprika Extract (For Color).

Given that this is a ground beef substitute, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could recognize all the ingredients in what would normally be highly processed food. The nutritional profile of the Feisty crumbles was also impressive with a whopping 13 grams of protein in a half cup serving. These beefy crumbles were also fairly low in calories with only 90 calories per serving.

So far so good, now, I had to cook some up to see if the taste matched the promise and quality of its ingredients.

Making My First Meal with Beyond Meat’s Feisty Beef Crumbles

After carefully scrutinizing the ingredients on the Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles it was time to bite the bullet and prepare my first meal with this vegan ground beef substitute. I felt like using it to make a quick and easy meal as is my wont, so I decided on making soft tacos. I whipped up a batch of my einkorn tortillas before making the Feisty crumbles because the crumbles cook up in a mere three minutes.

The first thing I did was heat a bit of oil in a nonstick pan and added the Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles. As it heated, I smelled the earthy spices similar to cumin and paprika. The texture was much finer than you would see in regular ground beef. I was afraid to stir it too much for fear that I’d end up with a slush instead of a nice chewy ground beef texture. Thankfully the crumbles were ready in the span of only 3 minutes.

I prepared my soft taco by spreading the prepared Feisty beef crumbles on an einkorn flour tortilla and adding a bit of cilantro and a few slices of avocado and tomato. I rolled it all up and took a big bite. The verdict? It was absolutely delicious! I was not expecting it to taste so good and I was shocked at my enjoyment. This vegan thing wasn’t going to be so bad after all!

Here’s my brief breakdown of the pros and cons for the Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles:

Pros

  • High protein meat substitute
  • Low in calories
  • Animal-free/Vegan
  • Zero Cholesterol
  • Good source of iron
  • Tastes great!

Cons

  • The texture is a bit off because the crumbles are too small
  • High in sodium with 250 mg sodium per 1/2 cup serving

Even with these two small cons against it, I definitely enjoyed the Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles and I would eat it again even without following the vegan diet exclusively.


Beyond Meat Beefy Beef Crumbles

You would think that the only difference between the Beyond Meat Beefy Beef Crumbles and the Beyond Meat Feisty Beef Crumbles is that the Feisty one is seasoned. Alas, this is not the only difference between the two and they could not be more different from each other in both taste and texture.

The Beefy Beyond Beef Crumbles is made with the following ingredients:

Water, Pea Protein Isolate, Canola And Sunflower Oil, Rice Flour, Spice, Tomato Powder, Contains 0.5% Or Less: Yeast Extract, Sugar, Potassium Chloride, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Salt, Acacia Gum, Onion Extract, Natural Flavor, Garlic Extract.

Although the Beefy version of the crumbles has many of the same ingredients as the Feisty version, they are quite different in taste. Where the Feisty Beyond Beef Crumbles fails, the Beefy Beef Crumbles excels. For example, when you look at the Beefy version of the crumbles, you would swear you were looking at actual ground beef from a cow. It’s actually very eerie how closely Beyond Meat managed to emulate the look and texture of ground beef.

However, the appearance is the only quality that’s similar to real ground beef as I found out when I made my first meal with the Beyond Meat Beefy Beef Crumbles.

Making My First Meal with Beyond Meat’s Beefy Beef Crumbles

I made another quick and easy meal with the Beefy Crumbles. Instead of tacos, I made corn pasta elbows with Beefy Crumbles and Basil Tomato pasta sauce. In attempts to boost the flavor of the Beefy crumbles, I added a bit of fresh garlic and onion to the pan before sauteing the crumbles and adding the sauce.

I followed the instructions on how to cook the Beefy crumbles, and fried them for about three minutes after cooking down the fresh aromatics. After draining the pasta, I added the Beefy crumbles and pasta sauce mixture over the top. I was looking forward to eating this meal because it looked delicious. I took a bite.

The actual texture and taste of the Beyond Meat Beefy Beef Crumbles are in a word, horrible. The texture was hard and it felt like I was chewing rubber pellets. I was surprised to be disappointed in the Beyond Beef Beefy Crumbles because their Feisty version actually tastes good even though the texture leaves a bit to be desired. The Beefy Crumbles make a pretty picture when served with a bit of sauce and pasta, but the taste is atrocious.

Pros

  • Soy, gluten and GM free
  • 13 grams of plant protein

Cons

  • Unpleasant rubbery texture
  • Bland and tasteless

As much as I enjoyed the Feisty version of the Beyond Meat Feisty Beef Crumbles, I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone buy the Beefy version of the Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles.

A Tale of Two Beyond Beef Crumbles – Feisty vs. Beefy

I never thought there would be any real difference between the two versions of Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles, but boy was I wrong. How could two similar products made by the same company be so different? The Feisty crumbles are well seasoned and delicious. The Feisty crumbles are small yes, but when combined with other bulking additions like pico de gallo or avocado, it makes a very tasty and satisfying meal that you’d swear was ground beef.

The Beefy style crumbles on the other hand is just bad. It has what I imagine the flavor profile of dog food to be. On top of that the Beefy crumbles were just rubbery. They were the right size and greatly resemble actual ground beef but that’s where the similarities end. In the war between Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles the Feisty version wins hands down.

So, Should You Try Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles?

In a word, yes. If you’re a new vegan who still misses the flavor and texture of ground beef, then I highly recommend you try the Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles. Be sure to choose the Feisty version and stay far away from the Beefy version. Even if you’re a seasoned vegan, you too can enjoy Beyond Meat’s Feisty Beef Crumbles.

If you’ve never tried the Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles Feisty, you can get some here.



16 thoughts on “Beyond Meat Reviews – Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles”

  • Love this article. I know a lot of people that are trying to get healthy that would love to visit your site, the way you explained the product and wrote out the pros and cons of it was great & being that you were able to experience the difference and explain it is great.

    • Thanks Moe! Take a look around the site, you’ll find loads of information on products, foods and ingredients that can help anyone live a healthier lifestyle.

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • Wow. I had never had an idea of going vegetarian… Now you make it so vivid and easy to comprehend…. This is a wonderful site, trying to show how I can live longer!!!
    Am going to follow you.
    Keep up the good job
    Thanks

    • Thanks George! The whole purpose of my site is to provide ways for people to eat clean and healthy as much as possible. I’m glad you found it useful.

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • Thanks for your article Dawn! I have not yet tried any Beyond Meat products but now I definitely want to try the Feisty Beef Crumbles. Probably also going to make some soft tacos.

    • Hi Joonas,

      You’re most welcome! Yes, definitely try the Feisty version of the Beyond Meat crumbles. Stay away from the Beefy version!

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • I have been trying out the vegan diet for awhile, but still cannot acquire the tase of meat substitutes. Every dish I prepare is from scratch, and it can be so time consuming. Based on the ingredients in Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles, I think I’ll give it a try. How many calories per serving? I would love to cook up a rice dish with it for dinner later this week.

    • Hi Carol,

      The Beyond Beef crumbles are 90 calories per 1/2 cup serving, not bad at all. I recommend you get the Feisty Beef Crumbles because they’re nicely seasoned and taste great. Do let me know if you ever try it and what you think.

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • I have not yet tried the Beyond Meat Beyond Beef Crumbles Beefy, but I did try this month (June 2019) the Beyond Meat Beyond Beef Crumbles Feisty. My experience with the latter was that they were dry, rubbery in texture, stiff and too chewy, as well as bland – when I prepared a sample of them according to the package instructions. However I later
    sampled some more of them from the bag, but this time I soaked them in water for about an hour before heating them.

    Soaking them loosened them and gave them a normal chewing experience, like that of chewing meat. I then put them in the skillet (along with the water so as not to loose the flavoring) and had them simmer so the water would gently evaporate without cooking the ‘meat’ further. After the water evaporated I heated them. After I had done those steps they tasted considerably better. If I later add some oil and heat them at Medium and browned them such that they got crispy on the outside, they even taste better. They tasted a little like beef but still somewhat bland, just not as much bland. Maybe the technique I described would also work for the Beefy version. Since we have different experiences with the Feisty crumbles maybe the quality control needs to be improved on the crumbles, or maybe some of the ones in the stores are improved ones and maybe others in the stores are earlier editions with problems. I notice that the picture on the package I bought looks somewhat different than the one on Beyond’s website, thus maybe some packages have a newer version of the product.

    • Hi G. Young,

      Wow! That’s quite a process you’ve described to make the Beyond Beef Crumbles Feisty palatable! It seems to me that Beyond Meat does have a bit of a quality control issue because thus far, I’ve only found the Feisty version to be tasty. In any event, Beyond produces very good vegan burgers and sausages so I guess it’s good that they got somethings right. Thanks for your suggestions. I may try it the next time I give the Beefy version another try.

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • Hi Dawn. I later tried the Beefy ones and they were good/great. For the batch of the Beefy ones I got I didn’t have to do anything special; I simply followed the package’s instructions. I sent an email to the company about our experiences with the two versions, and I provided them with the lot numbers of the packages I bought, so that the company could investigate the matter and resolve the apparent quality control problem.

    • Hi G.

      Way to follow through! I hope they get their act together over there at Beyond Meat, but for now, I’ll stick to the Feisty version whenever I get the urge for some vegan ground beef.

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • Several days ago I bought another package of the Feisty kind and simply followed the package’s instructions, to see if they now are better. This batch of them tasted good. I am happy with them. I added some extra seasonings and tomato paste to them and then they tasted even better. I made them into a burritos, using multi-grain tortillas, brown rice, and cheese – yummy.

    The Beyond Beef burger patties and Beyond Beef ground taste and look even more like real beef (than the crumbles) and taste great, plus you easily make those into crumbles.

    • Hi,

      Just now seeing your message! I’m glad you found a batch of good tasting Feisty Crumbles! Hopefully they will remain consistent with the flavors!

      Cheers,
      Dawn

  • The first time i tried the beefy crumbles they were so rubbery I took them back to the store, I thought they were defective or a bad batch. I took down the control numbers and pics of the packages but I never sent it to the company. I am not vegan but my gran-daughter is vegan and I try to make her the meals she is use to eating. Not a fan of this product the crumbles a definitely like rubber pellets.

    • Hi Monica,

      Yes,

      I fully agree, they are like rubber pellets. The search continues for a suitable vegan beef crumble. Beyond does have some very good sausages that you can use as a substitute. Just take the casing off and use the stuffing as your crumble. Just a thought and much tastier than the rubber pellets!

      Thanks for commenting,
      Dawn

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