Boca is one of the go-to names in veggie burgers, so we wanted to put their vegetarian burger patties to the test. We thought it was probably best to start with a real classic, the All American Flame Grilled Veggie Burgers.
These come four in a box, though the patties are wrapped two per inner packet.
While it might have been more convenient for these to be individually wrapped, we actually don’t mind this two-per-packet method, as we tend to eat two of these at a time.
Our favorite method for cooking these is to toss two patties into a frying pan with some vegetable oil and let them sizzle until the bottom is fully cooked. Then we flip them and let them cook until they’re ready to serve.
You can see that there are grill lines on the patties, suggesting these really are flame-grilled as the name suggests. Of course, Boca could always simply use a press to sear a couple lines into each patty, so the lines don’t necessarily mean actual fire was used on these. We suppose we’re going to have to take Boca’s word for that.
You’ll also notice that those lines pretty much disappear once you grill the patties.
As far as flavor, these do have a charred, smoky taste to them. While this can be easily replicated with some liquid smoke, we’re going to go out on a limb here and assume these are actually cooked with fire. While it’s possible that Boca is behind a big fake-flame-grilling conspiracy, it’s probably easy for them to actually toss some veggie patties onto a grill than it is to maintain such a scheme.
These burgers are made mostly from soy concentrate, though they do have cheddar cheese built into them. Perhaps it’s the cheese that gives these their “All American” flavor, though to be fair, we’re not completely certain we know what an “All American” flavor is supposed to taste like.
We didn’t let the cheese content of these burgers deter us from adding cheese of our own. And for anyone who has strong feelings about this being the “wrong” way to eat these, just look at the picture on the box. Whoever took the picture put cheese on their burger too. While you could argue that it’s unnecessary, it’s a bit harder to argue that it’s objectively wrong.
Your non-vegetarian friends won’t be fooled into thinking these patties are made of beef. There are far too many veggie clues here. The color of the patty is the first giveaway, as these are much lighter in color than a beef patty. The texture is another clue, as these aren’t gristly like real beef and they have a softer consistency. But even though these don’t taste like beef, they still make for a pretty tasty burger. While your carnivorous friends won’t be fooled, they will probably still enjoy eating these.
These are pretty lean on their own. One patty only has 120 calories (40 from fat), and 350 mg of sodium. Just keep in mind that you will probably be eating these on a bun with a bunch of fixings, and that all of those things will add to the calorie count and sodium level of your meal. But all things considered, there are far fattier frozen meals out there.
Boca’s All American Fire Grilled Veggie Burgers are pretty darn good. While these would have been just fine without the smokiness turned up to eleven, they still taste very good, especially once you add all the classic fixings, like lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in these veggie burgers, check out our package scans below.
