So here we have a big hitter in the evolution of vegan meat replacements. Beyond have created a huge splash in the mainstream media over the last few years and made big claims about their offerings. I’ve been intrigued—and somewhat excited—about taking on their sausages as part of The Quest. So here we go.
Quick note of intro; I originally wrote this review after trying the two-pack version of these sausages. They were on offer, and I was really eager to find out what the fuss was about so I swallowed my outrage at there being only two sausages. This fierce indignation at the pack number is palpable in my writing although I have adjusted the review a bit to align with the four-pack version I have bought a few times since. I haven’t removed all the outrage though, since four in a pack is still bullshit.
Tastes like meat?
I’ve bought these a few times but only ever when they are on offer because their RRP is £4, which is expensive. And that’s for just four sausages, which is criminal (it’s worth noting that the first time I got these it was just a pack of TWO, which is utterly obscene!). But they are a decent size, definitely larger than many other sausages, and they look good out of the packet.
As with all other candidates in my quest, I served them in a mini-stottie with brown sauce. These taste really good. They’re nice and dense, with a good bite. They taste meaty without relying on a lot of onion flavouring. They also have a course texture that is a welcome contrast to some of the smoother sausages that tend to give a cheap and lower-quality experience. These feel more like good quality butcher’s style meat bangers. There is a slight sweetness to them, which is surprising; it might sound a little unpleasant, but I actually find it makes the flavour more interesting. On the whole, the flavour is really good and they make for a very satisfying sandwich.
Easy to cook with?
Easy enough to shallow fry, although—as with the Beyond Meat burgers—they give off a gooey residue whilst cooking which ends up giving the cooked sausages an unusual crispy coating. It’s not unpleasant as such, but is a little odd and slightly spoils the cooking process. They don’t have an obvious casing which makes them look and cook a little less like meat sausages. They are also a little difficult to cut open; if, like me, you occasionally like to slice your sausages to make your butty, they are a bit crumbly and prone to falling apart when cut lengthways. They do smell really good though – so good that my long-time vegetarian wife was quite put off; “If I didn’t know better I’d definitely think they were dead”.
Value for money?
As mentioned, these were on offer at my supermarket. But the usual price is anywhere from £4-£5. Which is obscene. Even if you got the industry-standard 8 in a pack, that’s still a lot to pay. But only getting half of that for such an expense is almost comical. Whatever else happens in this review, I’m docking one star for this nonsense. I may penalise more depending on how much more wound up I get about this by the end.
FINAL VERDICT
I am a little torn on this one. These are definitely at the high end of the scale and could perhaps even take the top spot for The Quest. They really taste great and I’ve bought them many times since (because they are often on offer), but the stingy serving is a disgrace. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse for it; I’ve never seen it with any other brand (most others are sold in packs of six) and the very idea of it enrages me. These could taste like manna from heaven, but only including four in a pack would always stop it from achieving a top score. As it is, they do taste good, but not that good. So annoyed, I’m docking 1 point just for that reason alone.
