Franklin Farms Fresh Veggiburgers - Healthy and Flavorful

Franklin Farms is a privately owned corporation in North Franklin, Conn., and is the Northeast's premier supplier for fresh certified organic mushrooms since 1983. The farm grows several varieties of mushrooms without pesticides, including buttons, Portabella, Shiitake, Crimini, Oyster, Enoki, Beech and Maitake.

In 1993, Franklin Farms created one of the first vegetarian burgers in the U.S., which is now available in the organic food section of health food stores, supermarkets, wholesale clubs and some restaurant nationwide and is the focus of this review. The company is committed to the environment without much waste and even recycles its soil medium.

In addition to Franklin Farms Veggiburgers, the company also produces other all-natural vegetarian products including VeggiNuggets, Veggiballs and Veggidogs.

Varieties & Ingredients

Franklin Farms Fresh Veggiburgers come in three flavors.

Original Recipe

It is described as fresh mushrooms and garden vegetables with the following ingredients.

Vegetables (mushrooms, carrots, corn, onions, red peppers), soy flour, water, egg whites, isolated soy protein, non-hydrogenated soybean oil, tamari sauce (water, soybeans, salt), salt, rice starch, maltodextrin, cultured dextrose, sodium alginate and ascorbic acid.

Portabella

It is described as fresh portabella mushrooms and garden vegetables with the following ingredients.

Vegetables (portabella mushrooms, onions, carrots, red and green peppers), water, soy flour, egg whites, isolated soy protein, natural flavors (from non-meat sources), tamari sauce (water, soybeans, salt), non-hydrogenated soy bean oil, salt, rice starch, maltodextrin, cultured dextrose, sodium alginate, and ascorbic acid.

Chili Bean

It is described as red and black beans, fresh mushrooms & spicy seasonings with the following ingredients.

Vegetables (onions, red peppers, green chilis, mushrooms), water, soy flour, egg white powder, black beans, red kidney beans, cilantro, isolated soy protein, rice starch, maltodextrin, cultured dextrose, spices, garlic, salt, sodium alginate and ascorbic acid.

Nutritional Info

Each flavor serving contains under 100 calories, under 2g total fat, under 390 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrates and 3g sugar. As for the positive nutritional statistics, each serving contains antioxidants, which may lower women's chances of getting breast cancer and other cancers. They are also gluten free and contain sea salt.

Preparation

Preparing Franklin Farms Fresh Veggiburgers is simple and easy. Broil, bake, fry, grill or microwave them, and they will turn out great. Just make sure they are thawed before cooking and keep uncooked burgers refrigerated.

Recipes

These veggiburgers can be treated like any meat burger and served any way you would serve them. The site suggests the Original Recipe Veggiburger be served on toasted bread, with lettuce, tomato and cucumber slices and mayonnaise.

Their site has a section filled with great recipes for their Veggiburgers, some that might surprise you. They can be broken up and used in recipes for stuffed peppers, baked ziti, enchilada, eggs, baked potatoes, soup, pizza, nachos among many others.

Review

I am not a big fan of vegetarian food but it is starting to taste a lot better than it did years ago, and it is a good time for me to try it again. Franklin Farms is one of my latest tryouts and I am very satisfied with their veggiburgers. Honestly, they are my favorite so far because they taste very good without the bland taste associated with vegetarian foods from the 80s and 90s.

I tried two varieties - Original Recipe and the Portabella. I want to try Chili Bean because I like spicy, but so far it has not been available at my supermarket. Both are equally good and taste distinctly different. Portabella has a milder taste with hints of mushroom flavor. Original Recipe has a more pungent mushroom taste with a touch of smoke which I can't figure on based on the ingredients but it might be the mushroom.

The texture is slightly smooth with enough graininess to mimic real beef. The packaging is a plastic dish with a plastic film on top and a cardboard sleeve around it. It would have been nice if the packaging were re-sealable.

The first thing you will notice is that the veggiburgers have grill marks, so their appearance will make you think they are beef burgers. Ever little bit helps make you forget it is vegetarian. Cooking was a snap fried and another time microwaved.

The package contents weighs 10 ounces with four patties, so I assume they are 2.5 ounces each which is a nice size. Most people can eat two at a time.

I ate them like burgers and tried them with the Original Recipe serving suggestion, another time with mustard, and another time with thick Worcestershire sauce and cheese. They taste great every way I have eaten them.

The cost might be a little high to some consumers but it is pretty standard for veggiburgers. I paid $3.48 per package of four which isn't too bad. If they cost over $4, I would have been reluctant to buy them.

Conclusion

If you want to feed your family healthier but they don't like it, Franklin Farms is the perfect choice because it's healthy but tastes so good that they won't know it! Definitely give these a try.

Rating: 4.5/5

Sources: Franklin Farms, Wikipedia