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We Analyzed 35+ Top Veggie Burgers. These Are the Healthiest Burgers

October 3, 2019 by Jeffrey Trull

You might’ve heard that Beyond Burger and other veggie burgers are taking off in popularity. Beyond Meat has surged in the stock market since it’s early-2019 IPO.

Of course, with the increase in popularity comes additional news coverage. And some of it is not positive. There have been plenty of news stories about how these burgers are processed and that some have as much fat, calories, and other “bad stuff” as an actual beef burger.

To set the record straight, we looked at the complete nutrition information for over 35 top veggie burgers and compared it to a 100% beef patty (found in the USDA database). The goal: find out which are the healthiest veggie burgers out there, and which you may want to enjoy less frequently.

healthiest-veggie-burger-featured

Below are the burgers ranked from high to low in terms of their nutritional values along with where the 100% beef patty ranks as well.

Dr. Praeger’s All American Veggie Burgers tied for the most protein at 28 grams.
Image: drpraegers.com

Protein

BrandProtein (g)
1. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s All American Veggie Burger
28
1. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger28
3. Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy)26
4. Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL)24
5. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)23
6. (tie) Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger22
6. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger22
8. Beyond Meat Beyond Burger20
9. (tie) Hodo Tofu Veggie Burger
19
9. (tie) Impossible Foods Impossible Burger 2.019
31. (tie) Qrunch Green Chile with Pinto Beans Quinoa Burger3
31. (tie) Qrunch Spicy Buffalo-Style Quinoa Burgers3
31. (tie) Hilary’s World’s Best Veggie Burger3
34. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger Gluten Free2
34. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s Korean Veggie Burger (formerly BiBimBap Veggie Burger)2

Interestingly, five veggie burgers contain more protein than the beef patty, with Dr. Praeger’s All American Veggie Burger and Sweet Earth Awesome Burger tied for the most plant-based protein at 28 grams. Seven veggie burgers analyzed have at least 20 grams of protein, and 12 pack 15 or more grams of protein.

However, there is a wide range of variability in protein in veggie burgers. Those at the bottom of the list contain little protein. Eleven burgers contained fewer than 10g of protein per burger. So if you’re looking for a protein-heavy veggie burger, you need to look closely at the nutrition of each one.

Calories

BrandCalories
1. Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger340
2. Sweet Earth Awesome Burger290
3. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger260
8. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)231
33. (tie) Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger90
33. (tie) Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger90
33. (tie) Sol Cuisine Spicy Black Bean Burger90

In total, seven of the burgers we looked at have more calories than the beef patty. Most of these burgers are from the new “it bleeds” category, including the new Sweet Earth Awesome Burger and the Before the Butcher Uncut Burger.

However, there’s quite a bit of variation. The veggie burgers with the fewest calories have less the calories found in a beef patty.

Sol Cuisine Spicy Black Bean Burgers had the lowest total fat at just 1.5 grams.
Image: solcuisine.com

Total Fat

BrandTotal Fat (g)
1. Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger24
2. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger19
3. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger17
3. (tie) Beyond Meat Beyond Burger17
6. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g) 17
33. Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger3
34. Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger2
34. Sol Cuisine Spicy Black Bean Burger1.5

As with calorie count, several veggie burgers have more total fat than a beef patty (five of those analyzed). Most of the fat in these veggie burgers can be attributed to oils (typically, coconut, canola, or palm oil) that give it a flavor closer to beef.

Still, the majority of veggie burgers have less fat than the beef burger, though these tend to be black bean burgers and similar varieties.

Saturated Fat

BrandSaturated Fat (g, %DV)
1. (tie) Impossible Foods Impossible Burger 2.08 (40%)
1. (tie) Before the Butcher Uncut Burger8 (40%)
1. (tie) Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger8 (40%)
1. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger8 (40%)
5. (tie) USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)6 (30%)
31. (tie) Gardein Chipotle Black Bean Burger0 (0%)
31. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger0 (0%)
31. (tie) Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burger0 (0%)
31. (tie) Amy’s All American Veggie Burger0 (0%)
31. (tie) Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger0 (0%)

Some of the fattiest veggie burgers once again outranked the beef patty in terms of saturated fat. This again is likely due to the use of oils in the veggie patties.

Sodium

BrandSodium (mg, %DV)
1. Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy)920 (38%)
2. Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL)
700 (29%)
3. Amy’s California Veggie Burger550 (24%)
32. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger150 (6%)
33. Qrunch Spicy Buffalo-Style Quinoa Burgers140 (6%)
34. Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger Gluten Free125 (5%)
35. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)84 (3%)

Actual beef patties came in the lowest here. However, it’s possible salt is added to beef patties during the cooking process whereas that’s often not needed for most veggie burgers.

Beyond Burger (390 mg, 16% DV) and Impossible Burger (370 mg, 16% DV) were both outside the top 10 highest burgers in terms of sodium.

Cholesterol

BrandCholesterol (mg, %DV)
1. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)86 (28%)
2. Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL)10 (3%)
3. (tie) Boca All American Veggie Burger (Non-GMO soy)5 (2%)
3. (tie) Gardenburger The Original Veggie Burger5 (2%)
3. (tie) MorningStar Farms Tomato & Basil Pizza Burgers5 (2%)
3. (tie) Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy)5 (2%)
(tie) All other brands0 (0%)

The beef patty easily came out on top in terms of the amount of cholesterol with nearly eight times as much as the veggie burger with the most cholesterol.

All but five of the veggie burgers analyzed had zero cholesterol. These five burgers all contain dairy, so they’re not 100% plant-based.

Fiber

BrandFiber (g, %DV)
1. (tie) Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy)
8 (32%)
1. (tie) Hodo Tofu Veggie Burger8 (32%)
1. (tie) Sunshine Organic Black Bean South West8 (32%)
31. (tie) Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger2 (8%)
31. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s Korean Veggie Burger (formerly BiBimBap Veggie Burger)2 (8%)
31. (tie) Beyond Meat Beyond Burger2 (8%)
31. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger2 (8%)
35. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g)0 (0%)

The veggie burgers with the most fiber contain nearly one-third of the recommended daily fiber intake. Additionally, all veggie burgers in this analysis contained at least some fiber.

Like all foods that come 100% from animal sources, the 100% beef patty does not contain any fiber.

Veggie burgers and beef burgers — alike, and different

Overall, there’s quite a bit of variability in veggie burger nutrition. In nearly every nutritional category, there are some veggie burgers that contain more and some veggie burgers that contain less of a given nutrient compared to beef patties.

Veggie burgers vary so widely across nutrition that it’s pretty hard to say what the healthiest veggie burger options are.

Here’s a Google Sheet of the full data used in this analysis, including additional information.

Filed Under: Blog, Nutrition, Plant-Based Meat

About Jeffrey Trull

Jeffrey Trull is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist (AFPA). He also holds a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate from eCornell and T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. He's eaten a plant-based diet for over 16 years and has been 100% vegan for two years. In his spare time, he's an avid weightlifter, cyclist, and home chef.

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