It’s no secret, I love burgers! And really, who doesn’t? Gone are the days where vegans were stuck with vegetable patties or bean based patties. We can now enjoy a multitude of different options. I took the opportunity to do this vegan burger comparison. Plantein, Moving Mountains and V2 Foods have been pitted against each other in this vegan burger review.

Disclaimer: Plantein sent me the patties for free. So whilst this post hasn’t been paid for, I thought I should let you know that it’s been partially sponsored. It hasn’t affected my judgement and I promise to give you my honest thoughts about these 3 products.

The Perfect Vegan Burger

When I think about the perfect vegan burger patty I want it to be as meaty as possible. I want it to really remind me of the burgers I used to love pre-vegan. I want juiciness and tenderness, and I want it to be affordable. Whilst Beyond Meat patties are nice to eat, I find the cost prohibitive at around $6 each.

If it’s owned and made in Australia that’s another great benefit. I would prefer to buy something with less food miles and have the money stay in our economy. V2 and Plantein are made in Australia by Australian companies. Moving Mountains is a British company who also makes hot dogs, which by the way are really good!

How to do a vegan burger comparison

When I thought of doing this vegan burger comparison I decided to test 3 products I hadn’t tried before. They all remind me of traditional beef burgers which is the main reason I selected them. Plantein had already sent me their patties as part of a larger sample of their different products, so that was easy. I had heard about Moving Mountains and V2, and they happened to be on the shelf at Woolworths when I did my shopping. They are all similar products which made comparing fairer and easier.

There were some other products I’d been looking forward to trying, so I incorporated them into the vegan burger comparison. The Special Burger Sauce from Coles and the Fry’s Brioche Burger Buns from Woolworths. Both great products and I’m really glad they made their way into this cook up.

Earlier this week I had a craving for a Big Mac. So I went with Big Mac style for these burgers. The construction was simple. Bun, Special Burger Sauce, Lettuce, Pickles, Vegan Burger Patty, Cheese (I used Bio Cheese), Onion and Bun.

Moving Mountains Burger Patties

Let’s start with the Moving Mountains burger patty. I was really excited to try this product after loving their hot dogs, and it didn’t disappoint.

Flavour and Texture

It was meaty in texture and definitely tasty. I felt like it was the closest in taste to the Beyond Meat burger. I think it’s the pea protein that gives it that certain flavour.

Size

One gripe I have with this and many other vegan burger patties is the size of them. Not only are they small in weight at only 110 grams, the shape they are moulded to leaves a lot of bread overhanging the burger. I mean, I could stand there and squash it down I guess. But I wanted to cook the 3 patties as similarly as possible. I let them all cook on the same griddle pan without too much manipulation and just a light spray of olive oil. I want my patty to go right to the edge of the bread, and these just don’t, as you can see in the picture above.

Ingredients and Nutrition

When it comes to ingredients they use a variety of proteins and oyster mushrooms, which is great as I love mushrooms. There’s added Vitamin B12 in there as well.

These patties were the richest in terms of calories, even though they were the smallest. 305 calories per patty. They also have the most fat at 20g per serve. Salt content is good at 389mg.

Moving Mountain Burger Patty Ingredients: Water, Vegetable Oil (Coconut), Oyster Mushroom, Vegetable Protein (Soy Protein Concentrate, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Protein), Rice, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Starch, Natural Flavour, Thickener (Methylcellulose, Sodium Alginate), Oat Fibre, Barley Malt Extract, Vinegar, Colour (Beetroot Red), Lactic Acid, Vitamin B12

Availability and Price

So far I’ve only seen Moving Mountains at Woolworths in Melbourne. Upon looking at their website it seems they have an exclusive distribution deal with Woolworths.

These were the most expensive out of the 3, coming in at $4.50 per patty. Less than Beyond but still not exactly cheap. This is understandable considering how far they’ve come, but that’s also one of the things I don’t love about them. Supporting Australian is becoming a higher priority for me especially during the pandemic.

All in all Moving Mountains have created a good product, but there were a couple of things that probably didn’t have it bolting out of the gate (pardon the animal metaphor).

V2 Burger Patties

I was super excited to try the V2 option as these guys also produce the Hungry Jacks Rebel Whopper burger patty. They come in a larger pack size with four patties instead of two. This is both a blessing and a curse, as if you live alone like I do, you need great willpower not to eat all the burgers in a single sitting.

When it comes to individual patty size, they are fairly similar to the Moving Mountains patty at around 113g. They also don’t extend to the edge of the buns I used, which is a little annoying.

Flavour and Texture

I can tell these aren’t the same patties as the ones that HJ’s use. They are a different size and they aren’t as smoky in flavour. But they were still very good. Definitely meatier in texture than the Moving Mountains patty with less of a noticeable flavour. This and the Plantein patty were most similar in terms of flavour. The Moving Mountains patty stood out with its distinctive taste.

One of the issues I found with the V2 burger patty is that it was a little dry. This may be due to the way I cooked it, or it could just be the product. I also find their mince a little drier than others on the market, so I’m assuming it’s the product itself. Some of these mock meat products really need to be cooked in oil to soak up the moisture. Maybe cooking it on the griddle pan with a light spray of oil, for the purposes of the vegan burger comparison, wasn’t the way to go.  Apart from that, it was really good.

Ingredients and Nutrition

This burger is soy based and contains some added vitamins. At 249 calories per serve they sit between the other two. Fat content isn’t too bad at 14g, less than Moving Mountains. Salt is actually quite good with only 306mg of sodium.

V2 Burger Patty Ingredients: Water, Soy Protein, Vegetable Oils (contains Antioxidant (Tocopherol)), Thickeners (Methylcellulose, Modified Starch, Carrageenan), Flavours (contains Glutamic Acid), Colours (Caramelised Sugar, Beetroot Powder), Onion, Salt, Yeast Extract, Herbs (Parsley, Thyme), Minerals (Zinc, Iron), Vitamins (B3, B6, B12), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid).

Availability and Price

So far I’ve only seen the V2 burger patties at Woolworths, however they are quite new. I’m assuming Woolworths has exclusivity for the moment especially among the larger supermarket chains, but no doubt that will change eventually.

From a cost perspective V2 definitely wins. You get 4 patties per packet for $9, which works out to $2.25 each. They definitely hit that price sweet spot, especially for a larger household or family. Another great benefit of these is they are owned and made in Australia. So if that is important to you then these are a great option.

Plantein Burger Patties

My favourite thing about the Plantein burger patty is the size. Coming in at 125g it’s around 10% heavier than the other two and the physical diameter is bigger too.

Flavour and Texture

It was also the best at holding it’s moisture and reminded me of the juiciness of a beef burger. When I cooked it there was moisture actually seeping out of the top of the burger. The water/oil content inside the mix seemed to be higher and this has resulted in a better texture for my taste.

The flavour was comparable to the V2 option which lent itself to carrying the flavours I had in my burgers. In other words, the flavour of the patty didn’t overpower my burger and complimented it well. It gave a meaty texture but a relatively neutral flavour, which I prefer in a burger patty.

Ingredients and Nutrition

They contain around 189 calories which is the lowest of the three in the vegan burger comparison. And given they are actually the largest in size, that’s pretty impressive. They have half the fat of the Moving Mountains option at around 10g vs 20g. There sodium content was the highest though at 794mg per serve.

Plantein Burger Patty Ingredients: Water, Soy Protein, Coconut Oil, Plant Fibre (Cellulose), Methyl Cellulose, Yeast Extracts, Dehydrated Vegetables, Beetroot Powder, Salt, Sugar, Flavour, Spices, Preservatives (202, 234).

Availability and Price

What I didn’t realise until after I cooked and reviewed the patty is that it’s not yet readily available in Melbourne. I spoke to the team at Plantein who informed me that some IGA stores in South Australia have them, and the burger chain YOMG in Melbourne is using them on their menu. I’m hopeful they come to Melbourne stores soon, as I really loved the product.

Apparently they sell for around $7 or $8 in SA, which is similar to their other products at Woolworths here in Melbourne. If we assume that the cost will be $7 if and when they do come here, they end up being $3.50 per patty. This is smack bang in the middle of the two others and still represents good value for me.

The Verdict

I’ll probably be accused of picking the free product as my favourite, but I guarantee you it didn’t influence my decision. The reason that Plantien has won my vote in the vegan burger comparison is because it ticks multiple boxes. Size, texture and nutrition.

The Plantein patty fit my bun perfectly as you can see in the photos and was around 10% bigger in weight. I didn’t have to squash the moisture out of it to flatten it down it just came like that, which was perfect for the burger buns I used.

It also had the best texture, holding it’s moisture throughout my photo shoot and throughout eating. I was really impressed that I didn’t have to cook it in loads of oil for it to stay the way a burger should be: juicy. I also didn’t add any salt and the flavour was slightly better than the V2.

Having the lowest calorie count out of the burgers included in the vegan burger comparison was especially impressive. Especially considering it was the largest patty. That definitely helped to get it over the line.

Being Australian and pretty good value for money when compared with the Moving Mountains or Beyond Burger patties of the world, give it even more points.

They were all good!

Don’t get me wrong, all 3 patties included in the vegan burger comparison were great. I’d 100% buy any of them. But I can’t wait for the Plantine Burger Patties to come to stores in Melbourne. And now that I know it’s at YOMG I might have to go check them out. If you’re in South Australia, get down to IGA and give them a go. Let me know what you think in the comments.