Amy's view:
James snuck these Vivera Plant Bacon Pieces into our shopping trolley when I wasn't looking; he's a great lover of meat, and veganism has been a much bigger change for him than for me. I rarely find a plant-based product that I feel looks, feels and tastes like the real deal - I'm always hesitant as I haven't tasted meat in fifteen years! Having said this, these pieces are the closest to bacon that I have come across in all of those years - they have the smokiness just right and complimented our mac and cheese very well!
Rating: 8/10
James' take:
One thing I've really been missing lately is having a good alternative to bacon. The Quorn option isn't vegan and it's more like a dodgy frankfurter than bacon. When we arranged a Click and Collect and these popped up, it was rude not to give them a shot.
We managed to get two meals out of 1 pack - there's quite a lot in there and being in torn, little pieces they go quite far. The first meal we tried them in was a vegan mac and cheese and then we finished the pack off the next day with some BBQ and 'bacon' jacket potatoes.
I was really pleasantly surprised by these pieces actually - they're really not a million miles
away from bacon. They've got the saltiness, the slightly chewy texture and the flavour is very nearly there. They work really well adding the bacon flavour to meals and I think they'd be a really good option if you're making a pizza at home, want a little bit of bacon on a vegan burger or, if you're being good, sprinkled on top of a salad for a bit of kick.
If you're looking to cut down your red meat, I genuinely think these could be a swap and, while they're high in salt, there's a huge amount less fat in these.
Rating 9/10
Vegan alternative versus meat nutritional stats
(Correct as of 17.4.20)