General Question

LuckyGuy's avatar

What is your opinion about the new, meatless, Burger King Impossible Whopper ?

Asked by LuckyGuy (43880points) August 15th, 2019

From Burger King’s website. It is “0% beef, ... made entirely from plant-based sources… soy and potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil.”
I tried it yesterday and liked it. It had similar taste and texture and was not as greasy as a beef Whopper.
The Impossible had 30 fewer calories, 1/9 the cholesterol,
0 grams of transfats vs. 1.5 g for the regular whopper, and 4 g of fiber compared with 2 g for the Whopper.
And it did not require beef.
It did cost $0.50 more but I think it is well worth it.
This sounds like a winner to me.
What do you think?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

56 Answers

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

I haven’t had it at Burger King yet, but I’ve had it at other restaurants. I really like it. I eat mostly vegetarian, so I appreciate this new development.

stanleybmanly's avatar

I’ll have to try one to decide.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Patty_Melt's avatar

I hadn’t heard of them.
I might want to try that.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I know there is controversy about whether or not vegetarians like the taste of meat. I’ll leave that to others to mention. Please check it out! .

I’m just impressed that it is so much healthier for me to eat. The fat and cholesterol is so low. It also comes with raw onions, tomatoes, and pickles so I figure it is somewhat nutritionally balanced.

I see now that DoorDash and Burger King have teamed up so you can get a Whopper and and an Impossible Whopper for $7 so you can compare. (I think you get it with the Burger King App.) If you are eating with another person you can split them and do a taste test. Or, cut them in half and save the remainders for later and see how they taste after reheating.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

I think my biggest difficulty is that I won’t want the fries or the drink that will come with the meal. The fries are ultra-processed food and are truly horrible for health. I don’t drink sugary sodas, and I won’t touch a diet drink full of chemicals.

We have a local chain here where I can get a Beyond Burger, which is also meatless. They have fries made out of real, plain sliced potatoes, and I can drink other things.

stanleybmanly's avatar

Certainly the wave of the future.

ragingloli's avatar

I assume it is just as terrible as their meat ones.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@ragingloli Really, If you get a chance, give it a try. There was a lot going on in that sandwich. Lots of textures and flavors.

stanleybmanly's avatar

@ragingloli ? Why assume anything. My guess is that you’ve tried neither one. I don’t plan to eat speculation.

ragingloli's avatar

@stanleybmanly
I have eaten their meat ones. They are cooked to all fuck, and there is zero flavour in the meat.
Why would I believe, they would do any better with some experimental fake meat?
They will cook that to laboratory levels of sterility, too, because they are afraid of people getting food poisoning.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@ragingloli I think you’ll be surprised. I sure was.

I don’t know if they are giving special care but the one I got was perfect! Perfect bun, perfect patty placement, perfect cooking, perfect veggie and condiment placement. (I looked.)

stanleybmanly's avatar

That is indeed “special care” and powerful evidence that the entire concoction was mass assembled somewhere.

stanleybmanly's avatar

@ragingloli that’s what I mean about assumptions. Your fierce disdain for people and equally fervent veneration of animals (and fantasy creatures) led to my assumption that you would choose death in boiling oil before submitting to a bite of meat. Were you force fed your whopper?

JLeslie's avatar

I hadn’t heard of it. Is it primarily soy? I’m not very fond of soy “meat” but I like a veggie burger option. I also don’t like that it contains coconut oil. However, even though I named a bunch of things I may not like about it, it’s probably much healthier for me than a beef burger, so if it’s good, that’s s nice option.

When I was a child my Indian neighbor used to make veggie burgers with mostly potato and it was delicious. It didn’t try to taste like meat, it was just good. I tend to like veggie options that don’t try to imitate meat.

Next time my husband wants to go to BK I’m going to try it. McD’s is my favored fast food burger place, but my husband prefers BK.

GQ. Thanks.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@JLeslie I’ve had soy burgers before and they were not very good – Boca Burger.
This was totally different.
The description says it is soy, potato protein, coconut oil, and sunflower oil.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@stanleybmanly I don’t know where the patty came from but for sure the burger was assembled at the facility. I saw them do it.

stanleybmanly's avatar

From my experience, craftsmanship has never come to mind on my examination of a normal whopper, and I ALWAYS lift the bun and examine the contents to assure no surprises.

MrGrimm888's avatar

They still cook it, on the same flat top, as meat. That violates the principles of most vegetarians I know. It’ll still have fat/grease from the real meat on it. Therfore, defeating the majority of it’s whole purpose…

anniereborn's avatar

I can’t wait to try it.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@MrGrimm888 They are not making it totally Vegan or Vegetarian. They are making a burger that is tasty, does not use beef, and is healthier for people watching their fat and cholesterol intake. Not a bad compromise.

They said they will eventually make provisions for people who want to be 100 veg. But, at this point, they are not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

@MrGrimm888 I just read an article that said if requested, they will cook it separately from the meat burgers.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I just went to Burger Kings website and looked at their breakfasts! They are new too!
This week. I am definitely going to head over to a BK early one morning.

dabbler's avatar

I’ve been vegetarion (not vegan) for over 30 years, and like to try new veggie burgers whenever I run across them.
“Whether or not vegetarians like the taste of meat” No, they don’t like the taste of meat, but that’s different from liking something that tastes like meat.
Humans seem to like a smoky oily source of protein.

I like Impossible burger plenty. I especially admire the ‘bite’ of the ImpossibleBurger. That is something most veggie burgers fall short on. Something wired in humans likes to bite something that yields and tears with a bit of bounce and resistance but not really tough.

I’ve had Impossible burgers at several places but not yet at Burger King.
I have a reluctance because I’m expecting the bun will be the same doughy whitebread bun as their meat burgers get… waste of a good impossible patty if you ask me!
Am I wrong about what bun they serve with the Impossible?
Same patty on organic seed bread bun or a sourdough bun with some groovy aioli is great I can attest. Expect to pay ten bucks for that, though. Maybe I will try the BK Impossible…

LuckyGuy's avatar

@dabbler Thanks for mentioning the “bite” feel. I liked it too. That is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get.
Sadly the bun appeared to be the same as all the others although it was in perfect shape. Not crushed or wrinkled.

Demosthenes's avatar

@JLeslie I’m not so sure all these meatless burgers are so healthy. There was an article I read recently pointing out that one of these burger alternatives had the same amount of saturated fat and almost the same number of calories as a regular old beef burger (it was, of course, lacking cholesterol). So I’m sure they are the healthier option, but depending on the burger, some might not be by much.

JLeslie's avatar

^^That’s the thing! Like coconut oil is full of saturated fat. I don’t know how much oil is in it though. I’d rather have a roasted veggie “burger” than a patty. I’m not very into fake meats. Although the Morning Star sausage patties i eat regularly.

@LuckyGuy Is there some sort of special vegetarian-ish breakfast that’s new? I didn’t see it on your link. Maybe I missed it.

Yellowdog's avatar

Finally got around to my first meatless Burger King Impossible Whopper.

The first bite was a SLIGHT disappointment because it looked and smelled like a whopper, maybe even cleaner,. But there is NOTHING as satisfying as biting into a whopper. Here, the sensation was a little dry and only about eighty percent of the usual satisfaction.

However, as I ate into it, I liked it better. It tasted cleaner and more wholesome somehow.

My parents, who are elderly. liked it better and described it as cleaner and more fresh, My mother doesn’t like things too meaty.

Overall I thought it between “very good” and “excellent” —slightly less than excellent for being slightly too dry for what I;m used to,

JLeslie's avatar

When I was a kid I remember people complaining the school hamburgers weren’t all beef, but also part soy. I have no idea if it was true, but I always thought that’s probably a good thing.

I wouldn’t mind a low cholesterol burger that still had meat, but also some sort of wheat, soy, cashew, or other filler. It probably would taste really close to a real burger, but I could eat two instead of one. Lol. See how I think. I’ve thought about trying this at home for meatloaf. Maybe most people want all or none. It would be similar to making a one yolk omelet.

@LuckyGuy and @Yellowdog Did it have cheese on it?

LuckyGuy's avatar

@Yellowdog Yes! It did taste cleanerI The tomatoes and onions tasted fresher and the bun was not grease soaked. I could fiddle with my smart phone and not mess up the screen. :-)

@JLeslie It does not come with cheese but you can order it, for a small up-charge, if you like . The sandwich does come with mayo so you can order extra, or none, at no charge.

I posted some nutritional info in the details. The regular Whopper is 660 calories while the Impossible is 630 cal. (660 kcal and 630 kcal respectively)
Unless you just walked 6 miles to the restaurant you should not eat 2. :-)

LostInParadise's avatar

I will have to try the burger just out of curiosity. I don’t care too much for beef, though every few months I give in to a craving for a corned beef sandwich with ginger ale.

Yesterday I went to a hospital for testing, and had lunch at the hospital cafeteria. I was not expecting the food to be tasty, but was pleasantly surprised. If you think about it, a hospital should offer good tasting healthful food.

The soup was flavorful but not overly salty. The vegetable stir fry at the salad bar was cooked to just the right texture, just a little bit crunchy. It had a mildly spicy flavor. Also at the salad bar there was cauliflower yellowed by what I believe was turmeric. I prefer this kind of food to a beef patty or anything that tries to taste like one. Plain unpretentious bean burgers are perfectly fine.

I challenge anyone to eat a plain unadorned burger from McDonald’s. The meat is really greasy and not at all tasty. The texture is okay and the burger can be made barely palatable by covering it with the cheese sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and onions.

omfgTALIjustIMDu's avatar

I didn’t know Burger King was getting the Impossible Burger!!! I’ve had it a couple other times at restaurants that were early adopters and it is FANTASTIC as someone who does not eat non-kosher meat but really enjoys burgers. So tasty, juicy, the texture is almost just right…love them. Very exciting that places like Burger King and Qdoba are adding it to their menus, it’ll make finding food to eat on road trips a lot easier.

JLeslie's avatar

Ok, so the fat is probably almost as high, if the calories are so similar, not sure if it’s similar for saturated fats? The coconut oil adds saturated fat to the imposible, while the meat naturally has some. Let’s say 400–500 calories from fat? That’s like 500/9 50 grams of fat maybe? If I made my own patty that seems like a lot of fat. How many tablespoons of oil is that? Maybe 3? I don’t know how many grams of fat in a tablespoon of oil.

The carbohydrates I’m guessing are slightly higher in the impossible, but the cholesterol much less, and I order no mayo, so maybe mine would be 0 cholesterol, or maybe a scant amount.

I’ll have to look this all up, now I’m curious.

Not that I don’t think it’s great to have this option. I do. I’m just curious about the details.

Darth_Algar's avatar

I haven’t tried one, so I have no opinion on it.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I collected some numbers for you:
...........................Whopper….......Impossible
Calories….............660…................630 Win
Calories from Fat…360…...............306 Win
Total Fat(g)..............40….................34 Win
Saturated Fat(g)......12….................11 Win
Trans Fat (g)............1.5…................0 Win
Cholesterol…............90mg…..........10 mg Win
Sodium(mg)..............980….............1080 Lose
Total Carb (g)...........49….............. 58 Lose
Dietary Fiber(g)..........2…................4 .. Win.
Sugar(g)....................11…...............12 Lose
Protein(g)...................28…...............25 Lose

This makes it easy to compare.
If there were a category for “Clean” The Impossible would win big!

JLeslie's avatar

The only big win I see is the cholesterol, which is very important to me, but I wish it also had less fat.

Thanks for the side by side numbers. Very helpful.

LuckyGuy's avatar

Agreed. The cholesterol is a big win. But the Zero Trans fats, 4 grams of fiber, and 15% less fat are all good, too.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Well. They need impossible french fries, and super sized sodas. I still wouldn’t consider it “healthy.” It’s trash.

Darth_Algar's avatar

I don’t think anyone’s under the delusion that anything from the Burger King menu is healthy. But there are plenty of reasons why someone might still choose an Impossible Whopper over a regular that have little to do with health.

MrGrimm888's avatar

That’s plausible.

JLeslie's avatar

I don’t think fast food is much different health wise than most chain restaurants. Even a lot of local restaurant. I’m betting a hamburger at BK isn’t less healthy than a burger at Chili’s. The zucchini at Ruby Tuesday’s and the veggies at Outback and soaked in fat.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Good point….

stanleybmanly's avatar

Valid point.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I did an experiment. (You knew i would.)
I cut one in half and put it in the refrigerator for 2 days to see how it would taste reheated.

Purpose: Test the taste and mouth feel of reheated BK Impossible Whopper.

Equipment: Microwave oven, toaster oven, 3 small 17cm Corelle plates, Lettuce

Procedure. Open Whopper and separate contents onto the 3 plates. Plate 1 – Patty, Plate 2 – Bun, Plate 3 – Condiments – Mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions.
Set toaster oven to Bake at 350 F

Place Plate 2 with bun halves in Toaster oven
Place Plate 1 with patty in Microwave.
Microwave for 30 seconds.
Take fresh lettuce from refrigerator.
Remove Plate 2 from toaster oven – Plate should be hot to touch.
Scrape condiments back onto the buns
Place patty on bun
Top with fresh lettuce
Top with bun
Eat.

Conclusion. The patty had virtually identical mouth feel and taste. I think they have a winner.

They’d have won the Burger Wars in 1974 had they not aired this commercial: Burger King Ad

chyna's avatar

This is why I love @LuckyGuy !!

ragingloli's avatar

You need to microwave the whole thing, lettuce and all, like everyone else.

LuckyGuy's avatar

That would turn the assembly into mush. I’m trying to give it the care it deserves.

Bread gets really tough after a microwave treatment. And lettuce disappears.
i would only do that if I was going to give it to the fox and raccoons out back.

dabbler's avatar

@Demosthenes “not so sure all these meatless burgers are so healthy”
You are so right, there is a very wide range of quality across veggie-burgers.
Organic makes a huge difference in my opinion, because the crops you find as ingredients in veggie burgers are the ones most heavily industrialized and get the most pesticides in U.S. agriculture. Of course the organic veggie burgers are 50% more costly.

MrGrimm888's avatar

As long as it doesn’t make me sick. Which most chain food does. I give it a try…

LuckyGuy's avatar

@MrGrimm888 Go for it! I’ll buy! :-)

MrGrimm888's avatar

I probably won’t even try it. I’m a fuck up . But I wouldn’t try. I have anxiety issues, that make me bring most food back (vomiting.)

Before my flooding issues, I could hold down anything. For 4 years, I vomit almost anything now. Even a grilled cheese sandwich. I’m sure I couldn’t hold it down…

I’ve been vomiting for 4 years now. About 5 times a week. I’m not happy about it. But, it’s stress induced. If it was something worse, I should be dead by now… it’s just part of life, I’ve adapted to…
I often laugh, at people who are vomiting once in a while.

My body can apparently, handle lots of challenges. I’ve set my alarm clock, to abide me time to dry heave for about 15 minutes. Before I start my shifts. It’s been working for 4 years… I do not enjoy it, but have adapted. I just brush my teeth more often.

Life is trying kill me. But I am not easy to kill. Keep it up life. I’ll absorb, whatever it throws at me. I’m a BMF, it’s gonna take more than it thinks, to kill ME… Bring it on….

LuckyGuy's avatar

I had another one two days ago and it was still delicious. I was going to a meeting so I ordered it with no onions and extra mayo. Perfect.
I think they have a winner.

jca2's avatar

I bet McD’s is scrambling to get a meatless burger out into their restaurants.

stanleybmanly's avatar

I just saw my first ad for the impossible whopper 6:36PM
PST. in the midst of a Simpsons episode.

LuckyGuy's avatar

@stanleybmanly I have not seen any TV ads. The only info I’ve seen are hand-outs at the restaurants and some big pictures on their electronic menus.

JLeslie's avatar

I saw a commercial for it yesterday. Nashville, TN market.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther