If you’ve been on social media at all in the last while then you would have heard of Deliciou. I think they are probably most famous for their Bacon Seasoning, which scored them a sweet cash investment on Shark Tank in 2017. But the main product that I’ve been interested in trying is the Deliciou Plant Based Chicken. It so happens that Deliciou reached out to me recently and asked if I’d like to try it. So of course I said “hell yes”.

I want to be completely up front with you. Whilst I haven’t been paid for this review, I did get the product for free. But something else you should know is that I will always give you my honest opinion. No one can buy my word… so here goes!

Deliciou Plant Based Chicken

When you look at the packaging, you know this company means business. The clean matte black box with the vibrant green leaves and colourful food really draws me in. It looks even better in person that it did online and it makes me just want to dive in and mix my first batch.

One of the rather unique things about this product, compared to many other mock meats on the market, is the ‘mix yourself’ format. It says it right on the front of the box “Just add Water & Oil”. Many of us vegans are familiar with mixing TVP with water, but this is the first time I’ve seen a ‘mix yourself’ vegan mock chicken product, and I’ve gotta say, I’m excited to give it a try.

The process reminds me a lot of the Vegan Easy Egg (for Cooking) product from Orgran. You simply empty the packet into a bowl and add the specified amount of water and oil, then mix.

This gives you the option to mould the plant based chicken into pretty much any shape you desire. On the back of the box Deliciou invites you to use the plant based chicken mix to make an array of different foods.

• Pasta Sauces
• Meatballs
• Kebabs
• Salads
• Tacos
• Nachos
• Wraps
• Nuggets

But there are obviously even more things you could make – including burgers – which is the option I went with and which we will get to later.

Easy to mix

This was so easy to mix. I added my 240ml of water and 1tbsp of oil and then mixed well with a spoon. I eventually gave up on using the spoon and went at it with my hands, which seemed a lot more efficient (and more fun).

I decided to go for more of a ‘chicken tender’ shape for my patties. I knew I wanted to coat them in a KFC style seasoning and deep fry them, so this allowed me to create more surface area and give them a meatier look.

Shaping these tenders with dry hands was not the best idea, as the mix kept sticking to my fingers. When I make them again, I’ll wet my hands after mixing the batch and use moist hands to mould the shapes I want. Being excited to get stuck in and too impatient are the only reasons I didn’t do that this time around.

I got 6 relatively large tenders out of the pack. In hindsight, I could have made them a bit thinner, as they ended up being quite chunky on my burgers. Two tenders for each burger gave  me 3 decent sized burgers, which will probably still only last this hungry mouth around 10 minutes.

Size Matters

Once the water and oil was added to the mix it weighed out to around 400 grams. If you wanted to make 4 burgers that’s 100 grams per patty, which isn’t too bad. If I had to guess, I’d say the patty in the Rebel Whopper from Hungry Jack’s is around 100 grams, so fairly standard.

I do think that I’d like to see a packet with more mix in it for those extra hungry families (and for me), so I’ve passed that feedback on to Deliciou.

KFD Burgers

I had a craving for something crunchy the day I made these tenders, so I decided to find a well regarded KFC-style vegan fried chicken recipe online. K33 Kitchen has a recipe featuring oyster mushrooms that seemed easy to substitute for the Deliciou Plant Based Chicken tenders. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I went about making the spice mix and coating my chicken. If you want to make the same burger I did, follow the recipe here and replace the mushrooms with your tenders.

I went pretty simple with my fillings. Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion and Deliciou Bacon Mayonnaise. Oh, and of course, my ‘Kentucky-Fried Deliciou’ Plant Based Chicken tenders.

To make the mayo I simply measured out a few tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise into a bowl, added around 2 tsp of Original Bacon Seasoning, and stirred. Add as much or as little as you like and taste as you go. Easy.

The Verdict

If you haven’t worked it out by now, it really liked these products. But I think it’s important I talk more about some of the reasons why.

Versatility

Being able to shape the product into whatever I like is a huge plus. There are some great mock meat products out there but usually there’s only so much you can do with them. I love that this protein revolves around what I want to cook on the day, and not the other way around.

Flavour

This is definitely one of the tastiest mock meats I’ve tried. There was no chemical-like smell or aftertaste. The coating I used obviously added a lot of seasoning, and I didn’t get to try it without salt, but I did make sure I got into the tender to try the plant based chicken inside, and it was delicious.

The other thing I really loved is that it tasted great cold the next day. Most mock meat tastes horrible cold, but something about these had me going back to the fridge for leftovers a few times the day after.

In terms of the Bacon Seasoning, I loooove the taste. It reminds me of those bacon and cheese balls I used to have as a kid, and I have been putting it on everything I’ve eaten since getting it. Addiction level = high.

Texture

The texture was interesting. It didn’t have the layers that you find in some other mock meats and real chicken, but it did have this really lovely meaty texture. It was more stringy. Probably a cross between a chicken nugget and shredded chicken. I enjoyed it.

Price

The box of Delicious Plant Based Chicken is $12.95 online and you have to spend $25 to get free shipping. Assuming you do that then 400 grams of plant protein for $12.95 isn’t terrible. It’s certainly not the cheapest product on the market, however the versatility, flavour and texture make it worth it in my book. The fact I can keep this in the cupboard and use it quickly and easily is a real bonus.

You can buy bundles online which makes the unit price cheaper, so make sure you check those out.

Overall

I’m really happy with the products from Deliciou, but not just that, the online ordering process and their vibrant marketing make them really appealing to me. I eat with my eyes first and appreciate a brand who can bring so much colour and fun into their marketing.

I will definitely be stocking up on this great product and might share some of my own recipes soon.