Simple Truth Meatless Crispy Tenders

I guess vegan foods have gotta be doing pretty good when you're finding store brand versions of stuff. If you love Gardein as much as I do, you'll likely notice these "Crispy Tenders" are very similar to their Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. In fact, breading aside, the ingredients are very similar. I almost wonder if these are actually made by Gardein, but I guess we'll never know.

I guess the next question is then, how are these?




Buying. The Simple Truth brand is Kroger's natural/organic focused store brand. I guess they also like to include vegetarian products under this label, as this particular product isn't organic and it's not exactly what I would call natural either.

Being a Kroger brand, your best bet for finding this product is at Kroger or any of their affiliated stores, for me that would be Fred Meyer. Knowing how store brands typically work though, I wouldn't be surprised if this same product could be found under a different store's private label. I know Trader Joe's sells a very similar product as well. Either way, look for them in the freezer section, either near the natural products or the meatless/vegetarian section (my local Fred Meyer has two completely separate sections for these categories, it makes finding things a bit frustrating).

I plan to update this post later with exact pricing information, but I will say that these are usually more economically priced than the Gardein version, as store brands tend to be.

Ready for baking! I use a bit of cooking spray to help prevent sticking. 

Packaging & Preparation. These come in a pretty standard plastic bad with a section to tear off at the top. It's not perforated though so you may need scissors to open. The bag is also resealable, which I appreciate since I'm usually just making them for myself and not intending to use the whole bag at once.

The directions on the bag give 2 options, oven or pan fry. I've only ever prepared them in an oven. Well, a convection toaster oven to be exact. I'm pretty sure I've also prepared them in a deep fryer in the past, but it's been long enough ago that I can't say exactly how long to fry them for, nor would I necessarily recommend that method for health reasons. I'm sure if you're feeling extra lazy you could just pop them in the microwave for a minute or 2, but I wouldn't recommend that either since I imagine that would just make the coating soggy. Eww.

When baking in my toaster oven using the convection option, I go for a slightly lower temp than on the package, but still cook for the same time recommended. Be careful not to overcook, as I have done more times than I care to admit, they get dried out and don't taste very good.

Here's how they look baked to perfection!

Back of the bag, with nutrition panel, ingredients and cooking instructions.

Nutrition. Let's start off with the nutrition panel for this one. First off, at only a little over 200 calories per serving (four strips) that doesn't sound so bad, until you realize almost half the calories are from fat. Ouch. So there's a whopping 11 grams of fat to be had here, the good news is that only 1 gram is saturated, and zero trans fats, yay!

There is a fair bit of sodium in these, 400 mg per serving, and honestly they taste a bit bland as is, so chances are you'll be adding more salt. If you're watching your sodium intake, be wary.

The label notes these have 2 grams of fiber, which is good, but when looking at the ingredients you see that they have added fiber from beets and carrots as well as modified cellulose. Fiber is good, but I'm skeptical about "refined" fiber removed from it's natural source. Only two grams of sugar in here, probably largely from the cane sugar they contain.

Little surprise that these are a great source of protein, 16 grams! Sounds awesome until you realize it's from soy protein isolate. Sigh.

Unlike the Gardein version, these do come fortified with a variety of vitamins and minerals, probably to give them a nutritional profile similar to actual chicken. Or at least to make them a nutritional option at all. But hey, one of the vitamins they're fortified with is B12, so that's good!

The ingredients list is a veritable train wreck. It probably would've helped with the readability if it had been broken down into separate, bolded sections for the protein, breading, and vitamins & minerals. But no matter how it's broken down, there isn't much genuinely good in these things, just a lot of over processed ingredients that aren't good for you.

The interior texture even looks like chicken, which some may find unsettling.

Noms. Well now that I've demolished any hopes of these tenders being healthful, do they at least taste good to make up for it? Yes! The interior is moist and "meaty" (sorry! can't think of a better way to describe). The exterior breading is nice and crunchy (though I will say the Gardein version is better). The overall flavor is a bit bland, but nothing a bit of salt and something good to dip them in can't help. I would think the blandness would make them a good option for kids.

Bonus round. Welllllll... uhhh... The packaging says they're free from 101+ artificial preservatives and ingredients! What those are exactly, I have no idea. And honestly, a claim like that is really empty. There's plenty of "natural" of ingredients that are plenty unhealthy and harmful, and plenty of artificial stuff that's harmless.

The bag does mention that it's vegan, but no indication of vegan certification.

I don't think you'll fool any omnivores into thinking they're real chicken, but I could see many omnis enjoying these as well, as long as they're not expecting them to taste like actual chicken.

These Crispy Tenders certainly are not a healthy option, but I don't really see a problem with eating them on occasion. Ultimately they are better than eating real chickens.