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.
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.
Image: drpraegers.com
Protein
| Brand | Protein (g) |
| 1. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s All American Veggie Burger | 28 |
| 1. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger | 28 |
| 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 Fieldburger | 22 |
| 6. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger | 22 |
| 8. Beyond Meat Beyond Burger | 20 |
| 9. (tie) Hodo Tofu Veggie Burger | 19 |
| 9. (tie) Impossible Foods Impossible Burger 2.0 | 19 |
| 31. (tie) Qrunch Green Chile with Pinto Beans Quinoa Burger | 3 |
| 31. (tie) Qrunch Spicy Buffalo-Style Quinoa Burgers | 3 |
| 31. (tie) Hilary’s World’s Best Veggie Burger | 3 |
| 34. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger Gluten Free | 2 |
| 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
| Brand | Calories | |
| 1. Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger | 340 | |
| 2. Sweet Earth Awesome Burger | 290 | |
| 3. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger | 260 | |
| 8. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g) | 231 | |
| 33. (tie) Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger | 90 | |
| 33. (tie) Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger | 90 | |
| 33. (tie) Sol Cuisine Spicy Black Bean Burger | 90 |
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.
Image: solcuisine.com
Total Fat
| Brand | Total Fat (g) | ||
| 1. Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger | 24 | ||
| 2. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger | 19 | ||
| 3. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger | 17 | ||
| 3. (tie) Beyond Meat Beyond Burger | 17 | ||
| 6. USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g) | 17 | ||
| 33. Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger | 3 | ||
| 34. Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger | 2 | ||
| 34. Sol Cuisine Spicy Black Bean Burger | 1.5 |
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
| Brand | Saturated Fat (g, %DV) | |
| 1. (tie) Impossible Foods Impossible Burger 2.0 | 8 (40%) | |
| 1. (tie) Before the Butcher Uncut Burger | 8 (40%) | |
| 1. (tie) Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger | 8 (40%) | |
| 1. (tie) Sweet Earth Awesome Burger | 8 (40%) | |
| 5. (tie) USDA Commodity 100% beef patties (100g) | 6 (30%) | |
| 31. (tie) Gardein Chipotle Black Bean Burger | 0 (0%) | |
| 31. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger | 0 (0%) | |
| 31. (tie) Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burger | 0 (0%) | |
| 31. (tie) Amy’s All American Veggie Burger | 0 (0%) | |
| 31. (tie) Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger | 0 (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
| Brand | Sodium (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 Burger | 550 (24%) |
| 32. Before the Butcher Uncut Burger | 150 (6%) |
| 33. Qrunch Spicy Buffalo-Style Quinoa Burgers | 140 (6%) |
| 34. Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger Gluten Free | 125 (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
| Brand | Cholesterol (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 Burger | 5 (2%) |
| 3. (tie) MorningStar Farms Tomato & Basil Pizza Burgers | 5 (2%) |
| 3. (tie) Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy) | 5 (2%) |
| (tie) All other brands | 0 (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
| Brand | Fiber (g, %DV) |
| 1. (tie) Boca All American Veggie Burger (XL) (Non-GMO soy) | 8 (32%) |
| 1. (tie) Hodo Tofu Veggie Burger | 8 (32%) |
| 1. (tie) Sunshine Organic Black Bean South West | 8 (32%) |
| 31. (tie) Field Roast Hand-Formed Fieldburger | 2 (8%) |
| 31. (tie) Dr. Praeger’s Korean Veggie Burger (formerly BiBimBap Veggie Burger) | 2 (8%) |
| 31. (tie) Beyond Meat Beyond Burger | 2 (8%) |
| 31. (tie) Upton’s Naturals Classic Burger | 2 (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.
