KFC Original Recipe Vegan Burger Review
Original Recipe Vegan Burger:
What they say:
An Original Recipe QUORN™ fillet, coated in our famous 11 Herbs and Spices, in a sesame bun with fresh lettuce and vegan mayo. It’s a vegan burger the Colonel would be proud to put his name to.
Price: £3.99/£4.49.
Calories: 450 kcal.
KFC UK have added the Original Recipe Vegan Burger (or Vegan Burger for short) to their menu on a permanent basis.
Originally tested in June 2019 as the Imposter Burger, this sold out in under four days and was only available in approximately twenty restaurants taking part in the trial.
Fast-forward to January 2020 and with Veganuary again creating a buzz in some quarters, KFC have launched a burger to compete with the increasing number of vegan options on the high street.
There was a bit of confusion when we went to order the Original Recipe Vegan Burger.
It was clearly on the menu boards behind the counter and on the touchscreens but for some unknown reason the tills were not ready to receive Vegan Burger orders.
This is available on its own or with a drink (priced at £4.49) but the member of staff was unsure how much the individual burger should cost, so I was charged the same price as a Fillet Burger – £3.99.
More confusion is found on the KFC website in their ‘vegan’ section:
As of writing it states “To check which restaurants are dishing up our Original Recipe Vegan Burger, click here.” – this then takes you to a list that are NOT selling it (approx. 50).
Anyway, back to the review…
There will be many BURGER LAD® readers condemning the product before it was even released, but personally I think this is a step in the right direction for KFC by offering a vegan alternative.
Although not very tidy looking, this burger very much looks like something you would receive at KFC. It looks exactly like a KFC burger should be (well a simple version with just lettuce and vegan mayo).
I saw some disclaimer in the restaurant about it being vegan, but if you start customising it with other ingredients it may not make it vegan anymore.
With some of the intelligence levels witnessed in this country, such a disclaimer really does not surprise me.
OK, so the Vegan Burger looks like a KFC burger, it smells like a KFC burger but how does it actually taste?
Biting in, you do get a feeling that you are eating a KFC burger but there is something slightly off which at first is hard to put your finger on.
The lettuce is obviously the same and the mayo is really close to the normal mayo on a Fillet Burger and the glazed bun is up to the task too.
That brings us to the main talking point and that is the Quorn fillet – texturally I didn’t find it as firm as the chicken breast meat found in the regular Fillet Burger, which is understandable.
It’s also missing that brilliant (unnatural?) white of the standard fillet – this “meat” definitely looks darker.
I apologise for not getting a cross-section, but I didn’t have a knife with me and don’t care much for half-eaten shots.
I also don’t believe the Original Recipe coating is as thick and crispy as on the regular Fillet Burger either.
OK, if you are a meat eater you are better off just getting the real deal.
But that’s not a reason to criticise the Vegan Burger!
Like I said above, biting in it does feel like a KFC burger – just with a slightly different textural and taste experience. Close but not spot on.
But I would recommend it if a) you are a KFC fan looking at trying a non-meat version of their burger or b) a vegan who is yearning for a taste of KFC.
If you’re walking into this ready to shoot it to pieces or one of those people who are anti-vegan everything or ready to criticise any product trying to offer a meat-free version of something, then I recommend staying away and sticking to your regular order.
Overall, the Original Recipe Vegan Burger from KFC is not a bad attempt and a good start in offering more vegan choices on the menu (the touchscreens now have their own dedicated vegan section and clear green labelling on specific items).
I’m glad I’ve tried it. I probably wouldn’t have another but that’s more to personal preference than the experience/enjoyment of eating this.
The release of the KFC Vegan Burger is great news for fast food vegan fans in the UK (and the Quorn CEO/shareholders) but as a meat eater I’d tend to opt for a more traditional order.
Burger Lad®
Website: https://www.kfc.co.uk/our-food/for-one/burgers/vegan-burger
