Sweet Earth – Santa Fe Veggie Burger Review

Sweet Sweet Sweet Earth!  Oh how I love your Seitan strips, your Chipolte Grounds, your Curry Satay, the Kyoto Burrito, the Curry Tiger, The Benevolent Bacon Breakfast Sandwich!

The Veggie Burger, on the other hand (there are five fingers), not so much.

I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately it was not my favorite.  I found this product at our newly opened Publix Superstore (kudos for them carrying a LOT MORE products than their sister store just down the street).

Two 4oz patties, ,made with organic quinoa and barley, with 15 grams of protein!  Well…If you have read my Red Robin Quinoa burger review…you would know how much I like it, and I guess that is what I had in mind when I saw this “Santa Fe” flavored bastard in the freezer aisle.

By the time we got home, these guys were already thawed out…so I just threw some oil in a skillet and dropped ’em in.

Just as the instructions suggested, the preferred method was to use a skillet.  Cook over medium heat until browned and an internal temperature of 165° had been reached!  HA HA HA…who really checks that?  Seriously?  I do not go prodding all my veggie burgers with a damn thermometer every-time I decide to cook up one on the stove top.  Browning should be enough…right?

Flipped over…notice the “Flame Broiled” look they achieved.  The box front did not lie!  They look great with them grill marks and this lead me to thinking about the impeding smokey, spicy, tingly, flavor about to hit my mouth.

I cooked these guys for about 4 minutes/side (just as the instructions suggested) and removed them from the heat.  I placed on my favorite bun, dressed it up with some dill pickles, lettuce, Follow Your Heart American Cheese, mayo, and mustard!

Now…before I get into how these things turned out, let us take a look at the packaging to see what I should expect…shall we?

I was expecting corn, pablano pepper (or jalapeno), bean, and chili, onion, etc.

Sweet Potato?  Pumpkin Seeds?

NOPE! 

Here is the rest of the ingredient listed on the back:

Sorry, Sweet Earth, this was not a “Santa Fe”  flavored burger at all!  The flavor was very…cinnamon-y (is that even a word?), and sweet potato-y.  The millet seeds, pumpkin seeds, and whatever liquid emerged from this thing was so burnt — even on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, that it left a terrible aftertaste.  My wife and I couldn’t even finish the damn thing.  It was hard as a rock as well.  The outside was like plastic and the inside was very dry.  Besides the overpowering flavor of cinnamon, which is presume was from the ingredient listed as “Spices”, it was very bland..but yet sweet.  Yuck!

Here is another review from a couple of years ago in which the reviewer feels the same way I did after trying these:

Looking at these ingredients, one would presume that if you made this yourself using these exact ingredients, you would have a somewhat delicious veggie burger…right?

So now…let’s go over the nutritional stuff.

“Nutes”

• Calories 230!
• Total Fat 6g
• Saturated Fat: 1g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 350mg
• Carbohydrates: 32g!
• Fiber: 7g
• Sugars: 4g
• Protein: 15g!
• 40% DV Calcium, 15% Iron, 60% Vitamin A, 10 Vitamin B6, 10% Folate, 15% Phosphorus, and 15% Magnesium!

Not bad eh?  Besides the sugar content ( which seemed…ahem — tasted to be a lot more that 4g) its pretty swell!

I am not sure if I got a bad batch — ones that were over sweetened, over spiced, or just a really bad screw up that day at the factory.  I may try these again just for the hell of it to see.  If I decide to do that, I will let you know here and update the review accordingly.  I already plan on trying their Teriyaki and Mediterranean flavored ones next.  Hopefully I will have a better time with those bastards!

Stay Tuned!

Sweet Earth - Santa Fe Veggie Burger

5.89

5.8

Taste

2.5/10

Mouthfeel

2.5/10

Comfort

2.5/10

Fat

9.0/10

Sodium

9.0/10

Carbohydrates

5.0/10

Fiber

8.0/10

Sugar

5.0/10

Protein

8.5/10

Santa Fe Veggie Burgers