What are the Impossible Burger Ingredients?
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Is Impossible a Better Burger?
The Impossible Burger is a plant-based wonder, a delicious marvel of modern science.
For decades, the best vegetarians and vegans could hope for at barbecues and burger joints alike was a dry black bean patty. Now, as the Impossible Burger and other vegan alternatives to beef burgers become more available than ever, you might be wondering: just what are the Impossible Burger ingredients? How do they get those patties to taste, smell, feel, and sizzle like real beef?
Read on, as Farm to Fit breaks down what the Impossible Burger is, what its ingredients are, and whether it’s healthier than traditional beef burgers.
What is the Impossible Burger?
In 2011, biochemist Patrick Brown founded Impossible Foods with the goal of creating a plant-based patty tasty enough to beat out beef burgers. His motivation? End the pollution and global environmental damage caused by the meat industry.
Through years of molecular study, Brown and his team of scientists and researchers determined that much of the "meat taste" in a burger comes from a protein in hemoglobin known as heme. With more research and experimentation, the team developed a method of extracting heme from soy and yeast that tasted almost exactly like animal heme.
After perfecting the feel of the patty and the oils needed for the "sizzle," the Impossible Burger was born.
Already thinking about a burger of your own? Our Signature F2F Impossible Burger is available to add to any meal plan, every time you order. Served with sweet potato Jojos.
What are the Ingredients in an Impossible Burger?
Put simply: mostly soy, potatoes, coconut and sunflower oils, heme, and starch binders.
Here's the full list from Impossible Foods' website:
Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% Or Less Of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant), Soy Protein Isolate, Vitamins and Minerals (Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12).
Contains: Soy
While processed, all ingredients in Impossible Meat are naturally vegan. The Impossible Burger has also been gluten-free since the recipe switched wheat for soy protein in 2019.
How healthy is the Impossible Burger?
The Impossible Burger is a great source of fiber, calcium, potassium, and is fortified with vitamins and minerals like B12 that are essential for those following a plant-based diet. Many vegetarians and vegans are at greater risk of becoming deficient in these nutrients in particular, so Impossible Burger may be an easy and delicious supplement.
It's important to note that the Impossible Burger does still have a similar saturated fat content to beef burgers (~14 g per/serving), as well as a relatively high sodium content (~370mg). While they're plant based, Impossible Burgers shouldn't be your only food group!
Final Thoughts:
The Impossible Burger is an amazing plant-based alternative to ground beef burgers. It's high in protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals often missing from vegetarian and vegan diets. The ingredients of an Impossible Burger are largely potatoes, soy, coconut oil, and soy-derived heme protein for meat flavor. It's moderately high in saturated fat and sodium.