These are the meatless burgers you might have seen advertised on TV lately. Have you tried them? Are they tasty as is, or only edible if drowned in various sauces?
My opinion: only edible if drowned in various sauces. Also better if grilled or toaster oven-ed. My husband says cooking in the microwave, it smells like dog food. But hey, they’re lots less calories and fat than ground beef and they have like 5 grams of fiber.
They definitely need work. I purchased a variety of the products to try. The “chicken” patties taste nothing like chicken or any other poultry - sort of bready tasting with a weird spicy flavor. The “beef” patties tasted like someone’s idea of copying the taste of beef. They even have grill marks. They have that liquid smoke flavor. The breakfast links are Satan’s turds, and the breakfast patties taste like the “beef burgers.”
I personally consider Morningstar Farms veggie burgers to be superior…especially the flavored varieties like Morningstar’s Tomato and Basil (I think that’s the name) “pizza”-flavored burgers. But I have ordered Boca Burgers in restaurants when I wanted a “hamburger”, and they taste fine to me.
I think they’re pretty good, though it depends on the kind. I remember the ones with the cheese in them being pretty good, but I forget what they’re called (there are new cheeseburger ones, but there’s some other kind with a bit of cheese in it), and it’s been a while since I could eat them, so YMMV.
I have to put in another vote for Morningstar Farms being better though. They make a spice black bean burger that’s incredible. Just don’t go in expecting any of them to taste just like meat, or you’ll be terribly disappointed. Depending on the variety, some are similar, some aren’t supposed to be, and some try but just fail…
smear some vegemite on the bun along with your boca! Adds a real beefy flavor, without fat or animal product (it’s pure yeast extract).
I would prefer a grilled portabello mushroom “burger” instead. I found the texture to be quite meaty and it tasted great with a basil mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce and onion.
The Bocca bratwurst and italian sausages are very good.
The burgers are at the level of McDonald’s or Burger King beef burgers, which is to say not very good.
I’ve been afraid to try those brats…
I agree with spathiphyllum, the tomato & basil are far and away my favorites. Morningstar is a little better than the Boca. I microzap them.
I do dress them up always, especially the Boca. . Adding any or all of the following, tomato slices, lettuce, cheese and salsa make for tasty eatin’!
Something else you can do is buy some Sloppy Joe mix and mix it with the burger mix. Not bad.
I’ll second the MorningStar Farms black bean burgers. Those are deeeeelicious. One box of them had a free sample of their meatless chicken nuggets so I tried them and damned if it didn’t have the exact taste and texture of a chicken nugget. I was impressed. (I’m not a chicken nugget fan, but I might try a box of the chicken patties next time they’re on sale.) I’ll probably try the tomato/mozzerella flavor next since they also got a nod here.
I didn’t care for the Boca burgers when I prepared them at home, yet I think they’re fine in a restaurant. (In fact I had one at a Red Robin that was so good I was wondering if they’d accidently slipped me a meat burger by mistake. The absence of grease confirmed that it was a Boca.)
The taste of Boca sausages is good but something about the texture turns me off. I tried it in a pasta dish though, so it might be better eaten ballpark style on a bun.
I like Boca Burgers, but I live in Boca, so maybe I’m prejudiced. I like 'em with hot sauce and sweet relish. No, there’s not a lot of flavor to them, but it’s a good light lunch or dinner.
I sometimes like Bocaburgers or the morningstar, my personal finding is that grilling a bocaburger gets you a dried cowpatty though. I much prefer skillet frying them or nuking.
“Food” for thought; thanks. I believe I will try them after all and see if I can find the Morningstar brand as well. I have tried Vegetinos (meatless meatballs) with spaghetti and they were all right, so I think I can handle the Bocas…maybe.
Homer Simpson
Mmmmmm…Satan’s turds.
Homer Simpson
I LOVE Bocaburgers!
They come in three types, at least
Vegan - tastes least like meat
Original - tastes like the real thing if you add lettuce, tomato and mayo or mustard, etc.
And the best is the Cheeseburger, with just enough real cheese to make it juicy and tender.
I eat them every day, and finally feel good about my microwave lunches at work.
I’m not to big on Boca burgers. There are so many much much yummier variations out there. When I do eat them, I usually fry them up with some onions and serve then with steak sauce. The trick to that sort of thing is not to pretend that it is meat…instead just enjoy it for what it is- a decent way to fill a sandwhich.
I’ll tell you a secret. though…are you ready?..Chik Patties.
Chick Patties (by Morningstar Farms) are so good. I’d rather eat a chik patty than just about anything else in the world. Most of the people I know, vegetarian or not, are obesssesed with these wonderful disks of goodness. There is a restraunt in town that features several gourmet chik patty sandwhiches. My friends (non-vegetarian) co-op almost had a revolt when they mentioned that too much of their food budget was going to chik patties. Chik patties are the food of the gods.
My Boca addiction:
- roasted garlic flavor pattie, nuked for only a minute or so to keep it juicy
- slice of cheese
- mustard
- red pepper flakes
- toasted bun
- nuke for a few seconds to make the cheese melty
Mmm…
Another vote for anything by Morningstar Farms. Their meatless stuff is awesome, and I’ve definitely fed it to people who didn’t figure out there was no meat.
Is it ethical to feed meat-eaters a meat substitute without telling them? 
Another Yay! vote for the Boca cheese ones (Chef somebody’s Favorite?).
You still gotaa dress them like burgers though, plain on a bun and they’re awful. Add mayo, cheese, lettuce, tomato and turkey bacon and they’re wonderful.