Hi everyone! I usually post over in the South Beach forum, but I wanted to post a vegetarian question here to get as many opinions as humanly possible.

What do you think of Quorn and Tofurky products? I've not tried either, and am looking for honest reviews of their "roasts" and other products.

Please give me 100% honesty! I'm the only veggematarian in a family FULL of meater-eaters, so I'm looking for meat substitutes that not only have good flavor but good texture as well.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

Lisa

Well, I can't give you information on those two things, but I wanted to chime in for Trader Joe's chorizo (non-meat) sausage. That stuff tasted good, I thought, and "acted" just like chorizo so if you're looking for a spicy meat substitute for a dish, you might consider that.

Thanks Sheila! I wish we had a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods here but we don't. We have a place called Food Fantasies that carries a lot of healthy, organic, vegetarian foods/products, but it's very small. I do know that it carries Quorn and Tofurky and have read a lot about them, but am looking for honesty where taste and texture come in. If we ever get a Trader Joes, I'll definitely try that though!

The Tofurkey roast is really really good if not a little expensive. It comes stuffed with a wild-rice stuffing and a gravy mix if I remember correctly. I'm not doing it this year but rather making one from scratch. Tofurkey deli slices have the exact same texture (except less apt to fall apart) as real turkey, even if the flavor is the teeniest bit off.

i'm not a huge fan of tofurkey... it's all right and I eat it but I don't think any non-veg family or friends would be very excited about it. i do really like quorn stuff, i've had their chicken-breast type things and they have a nice texture. I wouldn't hesitate to serve those to meat-eaters!

I eat quarn mince meat and chicken stir-fry like bites. I also eat the quorn sheppard's pie. All of which I love! I use the mince meat to make tacos and personally can't tell a difference in texture or taste (other than the lack of grease). The chicken pieces I use to make enchilladas and stirfries and my nonvegetarian friends thought that they were great. I haven't tried the roasts, so I can't advise you there, but the products I have tried (I live in Ireland so they might be slightly different) are all really good.

I've never tried tofurky, but would like to.

I'll never try Quorn. There seems to be some controversy over the safety of the product as it's made a lot of people ill, and also questions that it's not really a food. They try to make it sound like a mushroom product, but it's apparently a fungus/mold manufactured in a big vat. http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/

I've only had tofurkey at a restaurant. I've tried quorn and thought it was decent but I don't eat it because it has eggs.

Have you thought of attempting your own roast? I did seitan corned 'beef' and it was pretty simple and good.

I'd look at Bryanna Clark Grogan's stuff, she is pretty popular when it comes to do it yourself roasts as well as other stuff
http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1435893.htm

Also, even if you only have a small store, you can request stuff. They may oblige.

thanks for this info, that stinks! we have hardly any choices as it is in companies and now we don't even have quorn....i don't have a trader joes here either

Lisa- I really like the quorn products. IMO- the controversy is not of my concern because it doesn't make me sick or anyone who has eaten it at our house. and we don't eat it very often. Seems to me maybe some people have allergies to it- as many other foods have that effect on people as well...
I think the quorn turkey roast honestly has the texture of turkey and people I brought it to at my work couldn't believe it wasn't really meat! the tofurkey was good too, but doesn't taste or have the texture of turkey. If I prepare the tofurkey I like to buy the thin slices instead of the whole roast. IMHO quorn roast is much better especially for Thanksgiving!

Hi Lisa
We've had the tofurkey and while we thought it was fun as a conversation piece it wasn't all that tasty. The gravy is the best part and you can buy just that if you don't make your own. I've been making the tofu dredged in yeast or a seitan roast for awhile but am going to try something from the link Nelie posted this year.

Hey, thanks girls! We bought the tofurky slices and then quorn chicken nuggets, roast, and chicken patties. Tom and Little Guy LOVED the chicken nuggets, so I figure we'll be ok as far as the roast goes. I tried the sliced tofurky and it tasted like a turkey sandwich to me, so close enough!

Thanks for all your help!

I love Quorn products, especially the bag of tenders. I grill them on my george forman grill, spritz some lite dressing on, and then put them over some lettuce. I also grill them and combine with nansoya veganaise for vegan chicken salad.

JerseyGirl - FYI, Quorn isn't vegan.

One of the best thing I've found for vegan chicken salad though are soy curls. They are awesome.

I must try!