The meat-alternative market has absolutely exploded recently. Even if you’re not vegan, I’m sure you’ve noticed all the new products in the supermarkets, as the vegan and veggie fridge sections get bigger and bigger. You can buy pretty much anything nowadays in a vegan alternative, which is just amazing! We’ve been trying out some of the best vegan chicken alternatives on the market to share with you, hopefully making your next shop that little bit easier. All the chicken alternatives on this list are some of the best options out there.
THIS ISN’T CHICKEN
Sea Salt & Black Pepper Pieces 190g
£3.65 – Tesco
Best for: chicken flavour
THIS is a brand we’ve bought things from before. We reviewed their vegan bacon in a post a few months ago, and it was the best vegan bacon alternative we tried, so we had high hopes when trying their chicken! Out of all the ones in this list, this is the most convincing as chicken. It even smells like chicken in the packet before it’s been cooked. Although we do like using vegan chicken in dishes, it’s more the texture we’re after. The flavour of this was so close to chicken, it was a little odd for us. However, for a meat-eater looking to eat less meat, this would be ideal! I honestly don’t think you would be able to tell the difference. So although it’s disconcerting for us, it has to win for being the most similar to real chicken in flavour, texture and smell. We cooked up a lovely creamy, lemony and thyme pasta dish and lightly pan-fried the vegan chicken pieces to go on top. They worked really well in this, but they would work in any other recipe you would usually put some chicken in.
NAKED GLORY
Vegan Tikka Tenderstrips 280g
£3.30 – Tesco
Best for: the size of pieces
Naked Glory is a relatively new brand, only releasing their products in supermarkets in Autumn last year. They sell meat-replacements such as vegan sausages, burgers, and chicken. We picked up a bag of their Vegan Tikka Tenderstrips in the freezer section in Tesco. You can also find them in Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op. These Tenderstrips were such a perfect size, as some of the other options come in quite small pieces. We used these in a vegan butter chicken, in which we made a marinade for the chicken pieces. The size of the pieces meant there was lots of surface area for the sauce and marinade to coat. These pieces don’t need a marinade though, as they already come coated in Tikka flavour, we just like a lot of spice, so we added more for our tastes! They worked perfectly in our curry and had a delicious flavour and taste.
SQUEAKY BEAN
Ready To Eat Sweet Smokey BBQ Chicken Style Pieces 160g
£3.00 – Tesco
Best for: ready to eat
These Ready To Eat Chicken Style BBQ Pieces from Squeaky Bean are delicious. They can be eaten straight out of the pack, making them a great option for a picnic. You can easily make them into a sandwich or add them to a salad with zero cooking needed. That’s what we love most about these. The BBQ flavour is not too overpowering, and the texture is spot on! We added these to a nourish bowl, which is perfect as a packed lunch or a quick dinner at home. They come in two other flavours: King of Tikka & Tasty Thai, both of which are equally delicious.
THE UNBELIEVABLE ALT.
Chickenless Strips 400g
£3.50 – Tesco
Best for: value for money
The Unbelievable Alt’s Chickenless Strips are amazing value for money! You get twice as much in a pack for the same price when compared to the other options. The pieces are on the smaller side, so we thought they’d work well in tacos, as the larger pieces would be too big for the little tortillas. These come completely unflavoured, which we liked as we could create our own marinade for them. The Unbelievable Alt. is a very new company, only having launched last month. They currently have four products to choose from: Lambless Pieces, Beefless Pieces, Beefless Mince, and the Chickenless Strips. They worked wonderfully in our tacos, the texture was great, and they really soaked up the Mexican marinade we made. They also went really crispy in the pan, meaning we had all these lovely little crispy bits to sprinkle on the top.
VIVERA
Plant Chicken Tenders 210g
£3.00 – Sainsbury’s
Best for: texture
We eat these most regularly, as they always have them in stock in our local Sainsbury’s. We’ve had them in so many different ways, and they’re always delicious. They’re just a really versatile and safe bet. We think they have the best texture out of all the options, as well as being the largest in size. You can cook them as whole pieces, or chop them up into smaller ones. We like to chop them up, marinade them in bbq sauce, then make them into skewers for the BBQ. We usually serve them up with a potato salad, some barbequed corn, and lots of fresh salad.
Other brands we’d recommend:
- Fry’s – Southern Style Tenders
- Iceland – No Chick Strips
- The Vegetarian Butcher – What The Cluck
What’s your favourite vegan chicken alternative? We’d love to hear what you think. Leave us a comment, like, or share this post with your friends.