Although the diet is traced back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean times, in the last ten years the term ‘Vegan’ has become very popular.
In fact, according to Redefine Meat, there are an estimated 79 million people across the world who now eat a fully plant-based diet.
Though there is no one answer to why more people have swapped animal produce for plant products, the rise in vegan supermarket produce has helped boost the market.
Including the budget supermarket chain Aldi with its ‘Plant Menu’ range that offers everything from vegan sausage rolls, no pulled pork burgers, vegan cheese and much more.
Now the brand has added even more vegan produce to their plant-based offerings and I got to give them a taste.
The brand’s new range includes the likes of Corn Dogs, No Chicken Strips, No Pork Patties and more.
I will first admit that I am not vegan although I do try to swap as much of my meat intake for plant-based items and I do often buy from Aldi’s plant-based range because of its good price tag.
But, dietary requirements aside, let’s get on to how Aldi’s new Plant Menu items tasted.
I tried Aldi’s new vegan range- Here’s what I thought
Starting strong, was the Plant Menu No Pork Patties (£1.99), at first glance the patties look different to their meat counterpart, and it seems to stay that way.
Opting to fry instead of bake, they were simple and quick to cook and gave off a ‘porky’ smell rather than an overpowering artificial scent.
Although an overall paler look when fully cooked, the taste was superb and nearly impossible to tell any difference from the meat version.
The texture didn’t feel mushy or stringy which I found vegan products can sometimes be and the taste made it the perfect plant-based swap for a breakfast pattie.
Rating: 5/5
Moving on to Aldi’s Plant Menu Corn Dogs (£1.99), I will admit that I was both curious and cautious when I spotted this item in my local store, simply because I’ve never tried a meat corn dog let alone a vegan interpretation.
Nevertheless, I picked up the packet and was ready to give it a try.
If like me you’ve never had a corn dog the only way I could describe it is a smooth battered sausage that’s baked instead of deep fat fried.
Taking a bite out of the corn dog, it was very tasty, the batter was thick but nice and crunchy and the ‘dog’ itself did not have any weird texture but was very smooth.
For me, the taste was exactly like a classic Fish and Chip shop style battered sausage but my fellow taste testers did find that for them it was “overwhelmingly beans and stuff”.
Rating: 4/5
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Next on the menu was Aldi’s Plant Menu Southern Fried No Chicken Pieces (£2.39), as someone who often enjoys Aldi’s vegan chicken, I had high hopes.
And I was not disappointed.
The taste of the ‘chicken’ with the southern fried coating works perfectly and you can hardly tell the difference between the plant-based substitute and the real meat.
However, the No Chicken Pieces texture is a clear giveaway, it felt slightly tough and not as moist but it didn’t lose any flavours and with a little bit of sauce, it’s great.
Rating: 4.5/5
Moving on to to Aldi’s Plant Menu Salt and Vinegar No Fish Goujons (£1.99), now I’ve always struggled to find a vegan fish substitute that I like, and sadly it’s still the case even after trying Aldi’s version.
The goujons had a nice breadcrumb coating that reminded by of the classic fish finger style, but it was the taste and texture of the ‘fish’ that let it down for me.
I found the texture very mushy but somehow stringy at the same time, while the flavour was overpoweringly fishy and the vinegar was too strong for my taste buds.
Rating: 2/5
All products are available in Aldi stores nationwide now.
