Are Plant-Based Burgers Just Junk Food in Disguise?

Sharing is caring!

This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more.

A plant-based burger has more sodium than a Big Mac patty and about the same saturated fat. That surprised me when I first checked, and it’s the bit the packaging never mentions.

They’re still better than beef for the planet, and by a wide margin. Whether they’re good for you is a separate question with a less flattering answer.

🌱 Why Everyone’s Obsessed With Plant-Based Burgers

Impossible and Beyond made going meat-free socially easy, and I don’t want to undersell that. They’re genuinely useful because they’re:

• Meatless
• Protein-rich
• Environmentally friendly
• Surprisingly realistic

For animals and emissions, they’re a clear win. The nutrition label is where it gets more complicated.

🏷️ The Ingredients List Might Shock You

These are not veggie burgers. They’re engineered to behave like beef, and that takes some doing:

• Isolated soy or pea protein, which is protein stripped of the fibre it came with
• Coconut oil, which is what gives the fat marbling and also most of the saturated fat
• Flavor enhancers
• Yeast extract (aka MSG’s cousin)
• Methylcellulose, a binder that replaces what egg or fat would normally do
• Salt, and a lot of it. Often 15 to 20% of your day in one patty

None of that is dangerous. It’s just a long way from the beans and oats most people picture.

🌱 So… Are They Healthy?

Compared to beef they win on cholesterol, which they contain none of, and on emissions and land use. Against that:

• High in sodium
• Low in fibre, because the protein was isolated out of the plant
• Heavily processed
• Fine occasionally, not a daily staple

I ate them constantly in my first few months vegan because they felt like the safe option. They aren’t health food, they’re a convenience food that happens to be vegan.

🍔 Better Vegan Burger Options (That Aren’t Processed To Death)

These take about fifteen minutes, cost a fraction as much, and have fibre in them:

• Black bean burgers: black beans, oats, cumin and smoked paprika. Chill the mix before shaping or they fall apart in the pan
• Lentil patties: brown lentils hold their shape better than red, and they’re around 15g of fibre a cup
• Chickpea burgers: chickpeas pulsed rather than blended, so there’s still some texture left
• Tofu burgers: press it first, or the patty steams instead of browning. A tofu press makes this quick
• Portobello mushrooms: no recipe needed. Gills down, hot cast iron pan, don’t move them for four minutes

Make a double batch and freeze them raw between squares of baking paper. That’s the thing that stopped me reaching for the packet.

✅ Conclusion: Better Than Meat, But Not A Superfood

Plant-based burgers are a good tool for eating less meat and a bad tool for eating better. Both of those are true at once.

Treat them the way you’d treat any other burger. Not the health option, just the vegan one. Compare them to a beef burger and they look fine. Compare them to a bowl of lentils and they don’t.

I still buy them for barbecues. I just stopped pretending they were a salad.

📚 Related Articles

Sharing is caring!