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I've got a sort of strange philosophy about these foods. I love tofu and tempeh and seitan, but I can't pretend that they are real meat. I'd rather see "breaded seitan" on a menu than "vegan chicken". I feel the same way about soymilk too. It tastes good for what it is, but it's a poor substitute when you really want milk.

Chinese fake meats are great. They were originally designed for the meat-eating worshippers visiting Buddhist temples on days of worship. It was a way to make a little money for the community of monks/nuns. It's not really meant for everyday consumption.

I also find it amusing that tofu and seitan are seen as meat substitutes, because in Chinese cooking, they're used more as meat extenders -- ways to make a small amount of meat flavour a large dish of food.

I used to eat them quite often, but I've been cooking with more whole foods lately and so try to avoid fake meat. That being said, I do get cravings for veggie corn dogs and Tofurky! I think they're okay as occasional treats but they don't comprise a big part of my diet.

I LIKE Boca and Morning Star Farms products, certainly not all of which can be called "meat substitutes.
MSF's black bean burger, for example, is delish, but not even pretending to be meat. Conversely, Boca "dogs" and "burgers," slapped on a bun with traditional condiments, are pretty darn good. Or maybe it just seems so, since for health considerations, I have to avoid beefy meaty substances. But bet your buns I wouldn't eat them if they were nasty.

I'm of the same mindset as mel.d. I try my hardest to avoid processed anything so I stay away from actual "fake meat" like ground taco "meat," etc. though I still love and cook with tempeh and tofu. That said, I have a really soft spot for "fakeroni."

i can understand how some of these offerings can really turn-off vegetarians. as an omnivore trying to watch my weight, i love subbing boca crumbles for ground beef or treating myself to a "luxurious" morningstar chick'n sandwich.

i try to do it in moderation though, as i view these products as convenience foods. plus they can be expensive!

I don't use them often as I find they are not very healthy. I loved a particular brand of President's Choice veggie burgers, but they have a lot of fat and other bad things. So I don't buy them anymore, or if I do it's just a treat. I still sometimes use veggie ground for chili or something like that. The stores here do not have as much choice it seams.

when i was in high school and tried to give up meat completely for lent, my mom bought me some "chicken" nuggets, which i absolutely hated. the fake chicken flavor just wasn't good, and it made me terrified of fake meats.

now that i'm all grown up and have given up meat again, i stay away from anything that purports to taste like meat (save for soyrizo, which i enjoy). i agree with schwartz - tofu, tempeh, et al. are not meat, and i don't see the point in pretending as such. i add tvp to chili because i like the texture and protein it provides, not because i want my chili to taste like hamburger.

I have been a vegetarian for 10 years and I never tried to "fill the gap of meat" in my diet, mainly because I don't think there is a gap. I don't miss meat at all, otherwise I would eat it. Back in Brazil where I grew up there is not many "fake meats" options. Here in the U.S. I like having Torfuky in a grilled cheese sometimes, and every once in a while I have a Cuorn "filet", they are really nice on the grill. I never tried the Chinese ducks, chickens, etc... Doesn't really appeal to me.

As an omnivor - I love veggie burgers and soyrizo. They are their own flavor and work well when you want something to eat while dining with meat eaters, but if you're craving a juicy burger, these will NOT help. Whenever I serve something like this, I make sure people know that so they say "this veggie burger is tasty" not "this fake burger is gross".

Growing up I went to a religious school with a lot of vegetarians who would get meals with lots of fake meat. I wasn't vegetarian, but I was so excited when my mom let me order lunch with them. Fried chick, mock duck--I loved it! Haven't eaten it since, though. These days I cook fish, some chicken, and lots and lots of beans.

I'm an omnivore with no plans of giving meat up. I go the veggie route at times to reduce my fat and cholesterol intake... so that I can save it for something fatty and cholesterol ridden later that day/week. Priorities. Ok, and sometimes I do it just to be healthy.

Trader Joe's has veggie meatballs that are surprisingly good. They're not perfect, and are also pretty salty, but otherwise are not bad!

There are some meatless crumbles that I've tried that have been great, and some that have been awful. If I remember right, Boca crumbles are great for making a veggie Bolognese. Boca burgers are really tasty, and their italian sausage is great when sauteed with peppers and onions. Seriously, they're VERY good.

I look at these foods as substitutes not so much for identical flavor but satisfaction, in the same way I might choose a turkey meatball over beef. I just can't see any veggie substitute perfectly matching the meat original. That's fine. Its not perfect, but in the end, my criteria will be whether or not I was satisfied. Does the health gain outweigh the loss of flavor/richness? Well, that depends on how much flavor/satisfaction/richness was lost. If I'm having an everyday meal, I won't mind too much. Special occasions, nice dinners, etc... its gotta be meat.

Apart from my weakness for fake chicken nuggets, I'm pretty grossed out by fake meat. Tried tofurkey once, didn't like it, tried fake sausage once, ruined the pasta dish I was making. Since I don't miss eating meat, I don't see any reason to attempt to imitate it in my diet. I cook with tofu and tempeh, but only about once a month; for the most part, I use beans & veggies in place of meat. I've always thought that eating fake meat is a cop-out for vegetarians, and wondered why someone would become a vegetarian, then go to such lengths to try and imitate meat. This is not to say that I don't feel some curiosity (and hope) at the sight of beer brats above--maybe this will be the fake meat that changes everything for me!

I'm a longtime vegetarian, but I have I have had little need to use any of these kinds of products. For protein, I have beans and cheese. However, they sometimes have a place, but only if they are good on their own--not to fill a meat craving. For example, the tempeh strips by lightlife (a fake bacon in no way similar to bacon). make a great "tlt."
I usually eat things like this only in a social setting, such as when meat eating friend have a bbq or something.

I'm a longtime vegetarian too and I love these products. The fake chicken, and burgers, crumbles....I eat them all. It definitely helps me out with a busy schedule and not much time to cook. I'm happy the offerings taste so much better than they did in the early 90s. :)

I'm an omnivore now, but even when I was a vegetarian I never understood these products. (But then, when I was veg it was because I was disturbed by the mere *idea* of eating an animal - real, fake, didn't matter!) These products are so highly processed, and so full of mysterious who-knows-what, it always made so much more sense to me to eat real food (or less-processed things like tofu, anyway).

We use a lot of the morning star products, especially like the sausage patty and the tall kid who is always hungry eats those tofu pups for quick snacks he can make in a minute.

we aren't vegetarian but my boyfriend does not eat any pork/ham, so i don't either 99% of the time. we like the morningstar farms breakfast sausage patties in with eggs/cheese/english muffins. also, i have convinced him that it would be ok to eat chili cheese fries for dinner if we made the chili with the ms farms crumbles. you know, "healthy."

Gimmie lean breakfast sausage has a good, very convincing breakfast sausage flavor and decent texture, but no matter what I do, it seems to stick to the pan and get burnt spots.

Trader Joes's soy chiorizo is pretty good too. Otherwise I haven't come across much that is palatable.

Quorn. The best fake meat products around. Especially the "crumbles." They have the right texture and make a wonderful Bolognese sauce.

I love having tofu. Sometimes I buy Trader Joes' soyrizo and their chicken nuggets(they taste like onion rings to me).

Other than that, I keep away from meat substitutes.
Oh, I also enjoy Sunburgers.

For me, fake meat is about texture more than flavor since there rarely is any. Don't get me wrong, I didn't give up meat to eat fake meat, but I did grow up with the same comfort foods as anyone else and sometimes I really want a chili dog.

I am an omnivore but I love seitan and tofu and I try to include lots of veggie things in my diet for health and ecological reasons.

I definitely don't eat a lot of meat substitutes, though. I have enjoyed fake chicken nuggets because they have the delicious salty, processed taste of regular nuggets. I don't eat them, though, because they're not any better for you than other processed food and they're way more expensive. I can make better, healthier vegetarian stuff myself.

I love fake meat products, because of the convenience. I'm an omnivore myself, like so many others, but it's nice to have these things in the freezer, ready to go when I am. Plus, I never have to worry about whether or not I've cooked them long enough. Just last night, I wanted ramen, and I wanted it fast, and so it was easy to just slap some of Morning Star's fake steak chunks in there.

And man, the Tofurkey kielbasa is so, so good, meat-eater or no. Yum.

Why is it that vegetarians never seem to worry about the health effects of eating too much soy? I learned in culinary school that unfermented soy (i.e. just about anything other than soy sauce or miso) reacts in the body to mimic estrogen. Increased estrogen levels are not good, people. They lead to increased breast cancer risk and early puberty. Girls have larger chests and boys seem more feminine. Those things, themselves, are not necessarily bad, but eating so many soy products that our hormones are thrown off kilter can't be a good thing. A balanced diet is still a good thing for vegetarians and vegans, but I don't see people relying solely on soy products for protein and that scares me.

I love vegan mock shrimp, but that doesn't mean I eat them all the time. I buy mock meats *maybe* once every couple of months - and limit veggie dogs to the Fourth of July. Usually it's beans, nuts, and sometimes homemade seitan.

jls988 - when did you learn that about unfermented soy? Was it a long time ago? Because I actually learned the opposite (not at culinary school) that consumming soy products (soy milk, TSP, edamame) is very good specially for women, it decreases the chances of breast cancer and helps minimize the symptons of menopause. I guess if we all go for the "all things in moderation" theme than there is nothing to worry about anyway.

Just like i don't buy regular hot dogs, premade hamburgers, chicken nuggets, etc. I do not buy the soy version either. They are too expensive and also overly processed. I do like tofu or tempah at times, but they do not have a paragraph of ingredients. If we want vegetarian fare (which is usually about 4 days a week) we go for beans, lentils, or even just vegetables and pasta.

I'm an omnivore... the non-meat items I used most at home are tofu and TVP. But there's a resto here in Montreal called Chu Chai that does thai food, but with all fake duck, shrimp, chicken etc.... and it's AMAZING. I was dubious the first time I went, but it's soooo delicious.

Frieda's taco filling was tasty, if I remember right, and once in a while I like Boca's buffalo nuggets. and Chinese tofu 'jerky' can be downright addictive. But mostly I eat stuff that doesn't pretend to be meat. And I'm happy to use it as a meat extender, too... ma po dofu is one of my favorite dishes.

I'm not a vegetarian, but do eat meatless a lot of the time. I really don't like the meat-substitutes. I'm more likely to use beans, lentils, or grains in place of meat -- for instance, I use a combo of bulgur and lentils in place of ground lamb in moussaka.

Bulger/lentil moussaka sounds great! Thanks for the idea.

The last time I ate a meatless corn dog for dinner, I woke up so puffy that my shoes were tight! Beware the sodium... but they're so tasty they might be worth the side effects. Generally though, I don't really eat those things because they're so processed, and I prefer veggie burgers that taste like veggies.

For those worried about too much soy, Quorn is a great alternative and their crumbles are great -- I use them in chili all the time.

I'm on a perpetual quest for the perfect veggie dog, as hot dogs are one thing I really miss since going veggie. Anyone have a favorite they'd suggest?

I think the bit about soy helping with menopause is simply because it provides some of what your body is trying to shut down, namely estrogen. They used to think hormone replacement therapy was good for people at risk for heart disease until women on estrogen-heavy HRT started dying at an alarming rate from heart attack and stroke. All things in moderation is always the best advice, so I'm gonna keep having Morning Star Farms fake chicken patties from time to time. They can't be worse for you than real chicken...filled with hormones and antibiotics.

I'm an Omnivore. Those who are vegetarians for their own moral reasons, rather than solely for health reasons, I can't see liking most of today's meat subs, since they do taste so much like the real thing.

It's kind of disturbing that both the Morning Star and Boca "Chik'n" patties taste so much like chicken. And they're better tasting than "real" chicken patties!

The Morning Star bacon does taste like bacon, but they look like dog treats. "Beggin' strips," anyone? If you like your bacon crispy, they're a good sub.

Morning Star Italian sausages - taste is right on, but they are a bit dry, leaving the texture a tad bit off.

The chik'n patties are the only ones I keep stocked in my house. For those times when I just want something quick, I figure they're better for me than McDonald's.

jls998, the idea that eating "too much soy" makes "boys seem more feminine" is pure ideology. There are plenty of vegan and vegetarian male athletes who could almost certainly outperform you, and certainly me, who could anecdotally disprove that idea.

More scientifically, my understanding is the latest research suggests certain men with preexisting health conditions regarding hormone production can have those conditions worsened by an over reliance on soy protein, but for an average person there are few if any health risks. Wikipedia summarizes some of this research as follows: "Because of the phytoestrogen content, some studies, but not all, have suggested that there is an inverse correlation between soybean ingestion and testosterone in men. For this reason, they may protect against the development of prostate cancer. A theoretical decrease in the risk of prostate cancer should, however, be weighed against the possible side-effects of decreased testosterone, which are still unclear. The popular fear that soybeans might cause reduced libido and even feminine characteristics in men has not been indicated by any study; the popularity of the notion seems to be based on the simplistic misapprehension that estrogen and testosterone have a simple, inverse relationship in sexual hormone systems and sex-related behaviour. Their interplay is very complicated and largely still unknown. A study published in April 2008 concluded that soy food intake has an inverse association with sperm concentration in fertility-deficient men. The same study found that soy intake does not affect sperm motility, morphology or ejaculate volume."

That said, for health, ecology, and culinary reasons, of course I'd say no one should be completely reliant on one source of food, be it corn, soy, or anything else.

For those reasons, and also for i'm-a-poor-graduate-student reasons, I tend to not buy too many prepared meat substitutes. When I do, I'm a fan of the aforementioned Gimmie Lean sausage (pictured in the post), Tofurky sandwich slices, and Smart Start's chicken strips.

I think a vegetarian's stance on meat substitutes definitely depends on why they chose to be a vegetarian. My husband decided to mainly because he didn't like the taste/texture of meat. Not surprisingly, products that attempt to mimic meat don't appeal to him.

Also, as numerous posters have pointed out, fake meat is expensive. We tend to stick with beans, veggies, some dairy, and occasionally tofu and tempeh.

When I first became a veg over 3 years ago, I hated tofu. Luckily, I have discovered it's delicousness and eat it regularly.

Fake meat--some I hate, some I love, some I tolerate. I don't want something pretending to be meat--it should be tasty on its own. If I couldn't live without eating real meat, I wouldn't.

I HATE Tofurkey and fake chicken strips. Bland and disgusting texture. I hate fake hot dogs and lunch meats. I mostly hate anything that is supposed to taste like meat but doesn't. I never did like meat much anyway.

I quite enjoy Gardenburger BBQ Riblets. They are tasty on a soft roll with pickles and mustard. I also like Trader Joes meatless corndogs with some mustard. And I like the original Boca Burger, especially if it is flame grilled. On a bun, with pickles and mustard (maybe I just love anything that lets me eat mustard). And I like fake bacon. It tastes kind of like Bacos. They don't resemble bacon but they have a crispy, smokey flavor that is yummy with pancakes or on a sandwich.

I don't mind meatless meatballs if they are cooked in a nice marinara or BBQ Sauce. Chikn nuggets are pretty tasty when I am having a junk food craving. I have added crumbled fake beef to vegetarian chili so it is a small part, adding a little protein and texture. The crumbled fake beef isn't so good when trying to make it into sloppy joes. The flavor doesn't hold up well as the focus of the dish.

I have mostly only purchased major supermarket and Trader Joe's brands of meatless products. Maybe I will have to try out some of the suggestions here.

And, these products are not something I eat regularly. They are not all that healthy--with all the additives and such. I mostly stick to beans, whole grains and tofu. But, sometimes I just feel like eating something unhealthy or easy.