In early August, Burger King announced its newest menu item – a Whopper made entirely out of fake meat. The fast food chain partnered with Impossible Foods, a California-based company, to deliver a plant-based version of their most popular burger. The Impossible Whopper is advertised to look and feel like a regular hamburger, with the traditional bun and toppings. But with its 21 ingredients to mirror the texture and taste of real beef, it feels a little more like this
Here are some thoughts from me and my friends on the Impossible Whopper vs. regular Whopper debate that no one asked for. Warning: greasy fast food pictures to follow.
We ordered a classic Whopper and the new Impossible Whopper for roughly the same price, a little surprising considering the hype of fake meat and the many ingredients that go into it. After purchasing, we settled in for our taste test at a local park and felt a twinge of shame as we carried a fast food bag in.
Before
Side by side, the Impossible Whopper does look a little cuter in its teal and white wrapper. Brownie points. The regular burger looks greasier and strangely less circular, but we were willing to overlook it.
After
They’re both sad-looking burgers, but even in its misshapen wrapper, the regular Whopper looks better. The bun looks toasted with sesame seeds, the lettuce and meat are peaking out, and the bottom bun is the right amount of soggy.
What the f*ck happened to the Impossible Whopper? It looks squished, the patty is sliding off the bun, and the white onions are very prominent.
Taste Test
We took a bite from each burger and collected our thoughts. Obviously, the Whopper tasted more like real meat. The Impossible burger had a hard time recreating the fatty flavor of beef, but the two are nearly identical. Without even tasting it, both Whoppers had lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickles and just looked like two fast food hamburgers. The Impossible Whopper patty looked a little different, but the mouth-feel was the same.
Final Thoughts
In general, the Impossible Whopper is a fair alternative to meat burgers. If a person switched to being a vegetarian later in life, it might be a nice option for a burger craving. But if an Impossible burger and a veggie burger were on the same menu, I’m not sure why a lifelong vegetarian would choose to eat a fake meat burger. If a fast food chain can manage to make Impossible meat taste okay, we trust that other restaurants will incorporate plant-based substitutes soon.