Trader Joe’s Meatless Breakfast Patties

Trader Joe’s Meatless Breakfast Patties (Formerly known as Veggie Sausage Patties). I’ve probably mentioned it before but I am not a vegetarian, but I know that many, many of you loyal Trader Joe’s fan are. So, if I want to get any hits on this website, I need to review as many vegetarian/vegan/gluten free products as I can. So, I review these things for you all! Also, as my wife calls me, a dumpster diver because I will eat just about anything once.

I’m always looking for something different to eat for breakfast and as much as I like pork sausage patties for breakfast, I don’t eat them that much because A) I am the only one in the family that will eat them. B) Not the healthiest thing on the planet. But the problem I always face is that I am a protein in the morning type person. Eggs are my primary diet in the morning and for special occasions I will fry up some bacon. I think one of the most perfect food items in the world is a McDonalds Sausage McMuffin with Egg. If they would just put real cheese on it, I would rate it a perfect 10! I love breakfast sausage.

As usual I was wandering around Trader Joe’s trying to figure out dinner and saw this box catch my eye. I was like, “Is this a new product” but upon closer inspection it’s just a warmed over rebranding of an older product called Trader Joe’s Veggie Sausage Patties. A product that has been around almost as long as Trader Joe’s. So, I said to myself “Why Not!”. I’ve reviewed plenty of fake meat products in these pages and have had some really interesting one. I picked up a box last night and fried them up this morning for breakfast.

First off they look almost exactly as real pork sausage patties. Nicely browned and I would dare anyone by looking at them to tell me they aren’t real thing, pork I mean. They offer three methods to cook them. Microwave, oven and skillet. I don’t like to microwave food if I can avoid it so I opted for the skillet preparation and considering that they are already cooked, it was basically to warm them up. I tossed them into a skillet with a quick spray of Trader Joe’s Canola oil in a spray can so they wouldn’t stick to my stainless steel skillet. Fried them up for a couple of minutes on each side. I have to say they really smell like pork breakfast sausages! So, two good marks for look and smell.

Of course the proof is in the taste and texture. First the texture. I would say that they are about 90% like they would be if there was real meat in them. Kind of uneven, chewy texture that is very similar to pork sausages. So far so good, but I think where there are some marks against these patties is the flavor. There is an odd under flavor that I can’t quite pin down that I found unpleasant. I did like the spices they used and those tasted authentic. I wonder if the flavor comes from the soy in the patties. I found it slightly unpleasant.

All in all I would say that Trader Joe’s Meatless Veggie Sausage Breakfast Patties, or whatever you want to call them are not a complete waste of time if you are trying to be vegetarian. I could live with them, but I definitely prefer real pork breakfast sausages to these. OK, I am going to rate these Trader Joe’s Meatless Breakfast Patties a solid 6 Bells!