The Store-Bought Veggie Burger We'll Never Put In Our Carts

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Vegans and vegetarians can almost always count on there being a veggie burger on the menu. But while meat alternatives have come a long way, they aren't always that great — in fact, some of them are really quite bad. The proof is right there in our Tasting Table ranking of 14 store-bought veggie burgers, where, of all the brands our taste-tester tried, there's one they'll never put back in their cart: the plant-based burger from Everything Legendary. Interestingly, Everything Legendary is also the brand behind what we determined to be the worst meatless ground beef brand in stores — the very one they could literally smell through the package.

In burger patty form, that observation remains fairly on the nose, with our tester claiming it not only tasted like a hot dog, but smelled like one, too. They aren't alone in that observation, either, with one Target-customer review saying, "Ever wondered what artificial hot dogs would taste like in burger form? These ... right here. Such a gross strong bologna/hot dog flavor. No amount of sauce or seasoning will mask it." The strange sausagey flavor isn't the only issue people have with these plant-based burger patties. As if the smell wasn't off-putting enough, the Everything Legendary burger patties fell flat for the rest of the senses, too.

Apart from both smelling and tasting like a hot dog, the Everything Legendary plant based burger patties don't necessarily look or feel like a burger either. While some might think it counterintuitive for vegans and vegetarians to want their alternatives to taste and look similar to meat, many have tasted animal proteins before, and so have expectations to compare them to. These patties don't even pass for looking like an actual burger — or even the burger Everything Legendary presented on Shark Tank.

The Everything Legendary plant based burger patty packaging shows a browned burger that looks pretty darn close to what you'd get from a typical fast-food chain. However, our taste tester had trouble achieving a nice brown on them without full on burning them. Reviews show customers also struggle to get a good sear — with specific notes on the amount of juice they emit when they attempt to do so, causing them to stick to the pan. That simple fact, on top of the mushy, grainy texture, despite what seems like decent ingredients including pea protein, hemp protein powder, nutritional yeast, and spices, lead to an overall failure in what these burger patties are intended to be: A plant-based burger.