Have been almost completly vegetarian for the last 4 and a half years and was pretty much a carnivore before that, so I feel this is as unbiased of an opinion as is possible.
The Beyond, Gardien, Impossible, etc fake chicken have more flavor, nearly indistinguishable texture, are just as juicy, and aren’t greasy. At this point, I consider them better than regular chicken with the sole exception of fried chicken which was never my favorite but I can see the appeal of it.
I’ll concede that the beef substitutes have a ways to go (I like them and they’re not bad but they’re not fooling anyone, either) but they’re not the subject of this opinion.
Hey in the way if beef substitutes, have you tried carne de soya? It’s sold as “textured soy protein” here in the US which isn’t as tasty sounding, but effectively it’s dried, shelf stable tofu and it’s hugely popular among the poor in mexico for being dirt cheap and very healthy.
Because of it’s dry sponge like properties, it soaks up flavor and fats like you would not believe, and the way it’s crumbled let’s out Cook to be nearly identical to perfectly cooked 90:10 ground beef. I now use it for everything but meatloaf and biscuits in gravey.
You can mix any combination of flavor with some olive oil and water/broth/beer/thin sauce/etc as a marinade, toss it in to soak it up, throw it in a pan and cook it until it’s the texture you like. Made sloppy joes with it, better than with beef. Flavored it like I was making Italian sausage, best pasta I’ve ever had. Mixed it with bacon fat, pale ale, and a fist full of spices, put it in chili, and my coworkers refuse to believe it’s not two pounds of chorizo. My autistic spouse is the only person who can genuinely distinguish the difference in texture, and I rule out that it’s because she introduced me to it. It even comes out perfectly in a crock pot!
To top it off, it’s $1 for 5oz, which is about 2lbs of beef worth of volume, has the same protein per serving, and a third of the calories with still half the calories after you add in your oil.
I’ll be frank, I’m not into it for a health food reason, I’m into it for a culinary experience reason. I can flavor it in two different profiles and cook them both in the same dish, and the flavors will stay distinct in the meaty bits while mingling in the sauce. It’s functionally flavorless on it’s own and uncooked has the texture of fresh crumbly cheese when rehydrated, so you could probably soak it in whey, salt and herbs to get unmeltable cheese. I’m even toying with the idea of grinding it to smaller bits, flavoring it with vanilla and simple syrup, and putting it in rocky road cookies as a substitute for marshmallow that won’t be sticky or caramelize on the bottom of the pan. The possibilities here are endless!
Not that brand specifically, but I use the TVP crumbles in a lot of dishes. The ones I get are frozen and like $5.50 for ~14 oz so not exactly a bargain but I’ll keep an eye out for that brand next time I’m out. They go great in sauces or for chili, tacos, and things like that.
Carne de soya is what it’s called in mexico, literally “soy meat” lol ask about it at Hispanic or Asian markets if you have any in your area, they’ll have the dry stuff cheap.
Just look for dried tvp and it should be much cheaper and functionally similar across brands. Plus you can determine the flavoring yourself. Adding a little no beef better than bouillon when you marinate/cook it can go a long way towards increasing the beefiness.