Chipotle is testing plant-based chorizo

[Jilly_in_VA]

Chipotle is testing plant-based chorizo in Denver and Indianapolis -- its first new protein made from alternative ingredients in seven years.

The company developed its chorizo alternative internally, shunning Beyond Meat and Impossible, which have recently struck deals with other fast food-chains for meat alternatives on their menus. Chipotle currently serves sofritas, a spicy tofu, and occasionally sells real chorizo.

Chipotle's plant-based chorizo is made with a lot of seasoning including ancho chili and smoked paprika and combined with a "natural protein sourced from freshly grown peas," it explained in a press release. Chipotle's chorizo is vegan and has 20 grams of protein per serving.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/business/chipotle-plant-based-chorizo-test/index.html
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Just something else I can't eat at Chipotle (you don't wanna know) but good for them, I guess

[StarryNite]

1. I would give it a try.

Yum!

[lagomorph777]

2. I would try it.

Love the sofritas, though I wouldn't mind a bit less spice in it.

[Pobeka]

3. Not for me -- when I see how much processing goes on for meatless fake meat, no thanks.

[totodeinhere]

4. I understand, but the beef industry is a big contributor to climate change.

The less meat we consume the less damage there will be to our climate. So I am all in favor of meat substitutes.

[Pobeka]

6. I just eat a lot less meat, and ... bring on the hummus and lentils!! ;-)

[jimfields33]

14. True, but we're going full forward with electric cars so that should help big time.

[lagomorph777]

23. Eating meat is the greenhouse equivalent of driving a gas guzzler.

[jimfields33]

29. I don't do that luckily. Typically I only eat meat 3-4 times a week.

[awesomerwb1]

7. I know

thank goodness no processing, no preservatives and hardly any natural resources go into the production of meat.

[USALiberal]

8. +1000! Nt

[totodeinhere]

11. Processed food is unhealthy, but there is no doubt that the meat and dairy industries contribute

heavily to climate change.

A cow does on overage release between 70 and 120 kg of Methane per year. Methane is a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide (CO2). But the negative effect on the climate of Methane is 23 times higher than the effect of CO2. Therefore the release of about 100 kg Methane per year for each cow is equivalent to about 2’300 kg CO2 per year.

https://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2/

[awesomerwb1]

16. Please read my post again

but this time with a gigantic dose of sarcasm.

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. I can make chorizo flavored seitan.

It's not bad. Kind of labor intensive but it does for Great Lent. For other fast days I just go vegetarian. Actually I don't much care for Chipotle. I generally go around the corner to Qdoba here.

One thing I have a real problem with is cauli rice. I just can't. I have tried and tried and I can't. Gimme the real thing. At home I generally make Ming's "House Rice"----half brown, half regular, equal amounts. You soak the brown rice in hot water for at least an hour and then cook it all together for the same time you would cook regular rice. I usually make a big batch in my rice cooker and we have several rice dishes through the week.

[MissB]

17. Same

I don’t know what drove me to buy two bags of cauli riace at Trader Joe’s. It’s just awful.

I bought some stuff from imperfect foods a few months back. One item was a Spanish rice mix. I clearly didn’t pay much attention, but it’s a plant based rice rather than a grain? The texture was a bit funky but I used it in a black bean burrito so it worked. It wouldn’t hold up as a side dish if you were expecting actual Spanish rice.

Is there an issue with rice production? Or is it just the general unhealthiness of white rice?

[dawg]

20. Cauliflower ...

needs to stop pretending to be things that it is not.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. What It's Good For

I make whole cauli steaks. Thick slices, cored.
Butter seared with garlic, paprika, turmeric, pinch of wine vinegar, some whisky, then salt to get spices to come forward.
You know what i serve it as? The vegetable!! It's good, but no tricks!

[iemanja]

22. i really like cauli rice

but I eat brown rice too. I also eat some brown rice pasta that is really good.

[Jilly_in_VA]

31. Brown rice spaghetti

Tinkyada, specifically. That stuff rocks. I can eat regular, but that stuff is amazing. Also Walmart makes really good brown rice elbow mac. But the penne...meh. And corn pasta is nasty.

[iemanja]

36. Tinkyada, that's it.

Good stuff!

[Ohio Joe]

9. oh... That is just wrong...

One of my biggest food loves I got coming to Colorado was the great Chorizo you can get here... No, no imitation chorizo for me

[iemanja]

25. It's for vegetarians and vegans

rather than meat eaters. Of course if you eat meat you go for the real thing. That said, I'm a vegetarian and not keen on fake meat, largely because of the high fat content.

[lame54]

10. Trader Joe's sells an excellent veggie chorizo...

A product they've had for years

[Big Blue Marble]

12. I was just going to post about Trader's veggie chorizo.

It is so good. I, too, have eaten it for years.

[tishaLA]

15. Yup. Their soyrizo is great

I even buy Cacique's soy chorizo at my local supermarket when I'm too lazy to go to TJ's and it's good, too. It's so heavily spiced that you'd never know it was something other than meat.

[Jilly_in_VA]

32. I'm soy intolerant

I found out when I ate a Beyond burger that I'm also pea protein intolerant. You do NOT want details.

[MineralMan]

13. Chorizo is sausage made from dead animals. Why name a vegan

food after it? Give it another name.

But, then people can't pretend they're eating dead animal meat while enjoying their "chorizo" lunch. Why pretend?

Makes no freaking sense to me at all.

[iemanja]

21. I sorta agree

I became a vegetarian about 4 months ago. My view about vegan cheese and vegan meat is that you either eat the real thing or not at all. I especially feel that way regarding fake cheese. However, I have to confess that the Beyond and Impossible burgers are really good, but I eat them infrequently because of the high fat content. I typically opt for tofu or beans over plant-based meat.

[Jilly_in_VA]

33. THIS

[LanternWaste]

34. Exactly! Like the car I used to drive named after a cat!

Why did GM pretend it was a cat? Why couldn't they just call it a car, give it another name?

"Makes no freaking sense to me at all..."

[Caliman73]

18. There has been soy chorizo for years and years.

They have it at the market.

I suppose Chipotle is trying to cut out any middle man, but the snippets from the story sound like they are working on some kind of breakthrough.

[DeeNice]

24. I used to sneak it into the house

and destroy the label because I knew my husband would reject it out of hand if he knew. He always enjoyed the layered nachos I'd make with it.

But I always thought "Soy-rizo" was a terrible name for a good product.

[MineralMan]

27. For something like chorizo, which gets 95% of its flavor

from spices, any textured vegetable protein would be fine to add the mouth feel and chewiness. It's a non issue to make something that tastes like chorizo without using meat.

This is ridiculous. Call it "peorizo" or "soyrizo." Just don't pretend it's "chorizo," because it's not that at all.

The only benefit from using the word "chorizo" is that you might fool someone into trying it. However, you're going to use some other adjective to let people know it's meat-free, so why bother.

It's like calling something "vegetarian meatloaf." It won't be like meatloaf, because there's no meat. It's it's own thing. I make a mean vegan loaf with red lentils, black beans and shitake mushrooms and uses okra as the binding ingredient. It doesn't pretend to be meatloaf. It has its own wonderful qualities, and stands up quite well without faking what it's called.

I dislike all pretend foods that are trying to fool people or get meat-eaters to try it. The problem is that it's not meat-based, and that will be patently obvious from the first bite. Instead of convincing people to eat less meat, you only convince them not to eat fake meat.

[Caliman73]

28. Americans are sometimes childish.

We don't like dealing with reality. I don't really care what it is called. I am an omnivore. I eat what tastes good to me. I eat meat and I eat vegetables. I like chorizo made with soy, and I like beef chorizo.

I agree with what you say about "pretend food". I worked with a person who was vegan, mainly for political reasons. They would get tofu turkey but it was shaped like a turkey. I would ask, "So if you are against eating animals, why would you eat tofu in the shape of the animal you object to eating?" We did not get along great. I have no problems with people's food choices or politics, or whatever. I do have a problem with the inconsistency and the make believe.

I have tried the impossible burger and beyond meat products, they are pretty good.

[Iggo]

19. Chorizo from a fast food restaurant seems like an iffy proposition anyway.

Funny, though. I’ll eat it from a taco truck. 😂

[lagomorph777]

26. Too bad Hillary didn't win.

We'd have taco trucks on every corner by now.

[Iggo]

35. I gather you don't live here in Whittier.