What Is MorningStar Farms Incogmeato?
Incogmeato is a plant-based sub-brand launched by Kellogg (now Kellanova) under its long-running MorningStar Farms label. That distinction matters more than it sounds: MorningStar Farms has been a fixture of the vegetarian freezer aisle since the 1970s, but a lot of its classic lineup — the original Chik Patties, the Sausage Links, several breakfast items — contains egg whites or dairy ingredients and is vegetarian rather than vegan. Incogmeato was created specifically to give MorningStar a 100% plant-based line that could compete directly with Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, with no egg or dairy anywhere in the formulations.
The lineup includes Original burger patties, seasoned burgers, ground "beef," Chik'n Tenders, bratwurst, Italian sausage, and a few breakfast items like plant-based sausage patties. This review focuses on the two flagship products — the Original Burger and the Homestyle Chik'n Tenders — since they're the most widely stocked and the best test of whether the brand can go head-to-head with the category leaders.
Ingredients
The Incogmeato Original Burger's full ingredient list is: water, soy protein concentrate, canola oil, palm oil, methylcellulose, soy protein isolate, natural flavors, potato starch, dextrose, yeast extract, cultured dextrose (for freshness), salt, cornstarch, apple juice powder (for color), beet juice (for color), sunflower lecithin, fruit juice (for color), yeast, sugar, ascorbic acid (for freshness), and citric acid. It contains soy but is allergen-free of the "big nine" otherwise.
The Homestyle Chik'n Tenders use a different base: water, wheat flour, vegetable oil (corn, canola, and/or sunflower), soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, wheat starch, rice flour, yeast extract, tapioca starch, salt, garlic powder, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), onion powder, spices, yellow corn flour, dextrose, tricalcium phosphate, color added, natural flavors, paprika extract color, turmeric extract color, potassium salt, carrot powder, methylcellulose, and xanthan gum. This one contains both wheat and soy.
Notice what's absent from both: no egg whites, no whey, no casein, no honey — all fixtures of older MorningStar recipes. The color and freshness inputs (apple juice powder, beet juice, ascorbic acid) are the kind of clean-label substitutions you'd expect from a brand trying to distance itself from "ultra-processed mystery meat" criticism, even though the ingredient count is still long by any measure.
It's also worth noting where these products are made from a supply-chain standpoint. Both rely on soy protein as their structural backbone rather than pea protein (Beyond's preferred base) or wheat-and-soy heme protein (Impossible's approach), which puts Incogmeato closer to older-generation veggie burgers in its raw materials even as the finished texture and flavor aim squarely at the newer wave of realistic meat alternatives.
Is MorningStar Farms Incogmeato Vegan?
Yes. Every product under the Incogmeato name is vegan. That's the entire point of the sub-brand — Kellanova built it as a dedicated 100% plant-based line specifically so shoppers wouldn't have to parse ingredient lists item-by-item the way they do with the rest of the MorningStar Farms catalog. Both products reviewed here confirm it directly: no dairy, egg, honey, or animal-derived additives anywhere on either ingredient list.
The catch is the shared shelf space and shared branding. Regular MorningStar Farms products sit right next to Incogmeato in the same freezer case, often in similar packaging, and plenty of those items are vegetarian, not vegan — several contain egg whites or milk-derived ingredients. If you're grabbing a box quickly, check that it specifically says "Incogmeato" on the front, not just "MorningStar Farms." When you're unsure about any packaged product's status, running the label through the spvegan.com ingredient checker is faster than parsing a 20-item ingredient list yourself.
Nutrition Facts (Compared to Beyond and Impossible)
Here's how the Incogmeato Original Burger stacks up against Beyond Meat's Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger, all measured per single patty:
| Burger | Serving Size | Calories | Total Fat | Sat. Fat | Sodium | Carbs | Fiber | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incogmeato Original Burger | 1 patty (120g) | 220 | 14g | ~3g | ~335mg | 12g | ~7g | 20g |
| Beyond Burger | 1 patty (113g) | 231 | 14g | 5g | 390mg | 7g | 2g | 20g |
| Impossible Burger | 1 patty (113g) | 230 | 13g | 6g | 370mg | 9g | 5g | 19g |
Note: Incogmeato's saturated fat, sodium, and fiber figures are derived by halving the manufacturer's stated per-package totals (2 patties per package), since the label reports nutrition per package rather than per patty on some retailer listings — treat these as close approximations and check your specific box.
The headline takeaway: Incogmeato is genuinely competitive on calories and protein, and it comes in meaningfully lower on saturated fat and sodium than both Beyond and Impossible, largely because it leans on soy protein concentrate rather than coconut oil (Beyond) or heme-heavy soy protein with added fat (Impossible) to build its fat content. It's not a "healthy" food by any conventional definition — it's still a processed patty with a long stabilizer list — but among the three major plant-based burger heavyweights, it's the one with the lightest saturated fat load per patty.
The Chik'n Tenders are a different story nutritionally: a two-tender (80g) serving runs 200 calories, 8g fat, 1g saturated fat, 440mg sodium, 15g carbs, 2g fiber, and 17g protein — solidly in line with other breaded plant-based tenders on the market, though the sodium creeps up quickly if you eat a full serving of four or more.
Taste and Texture
The Original Burger cooks up with a genuinely juicy, slightly springy bite that holds together well on a grill or in a pan — it doesn't crumble the way some soy-based patties do, and it browns and develops a decent crust with a little oil. The flavor leans savory-neutral rather than aggressively "beefy" the way Impossible's heme-driven flavor does; it reads more like a well-seasoned veggie burger than a beef impersonation, which some tasters will prefer and others will find less convincing if they're specifically chasing a beef replica.
The Chik'n Tenders are the stronger of the two products in a blind side-by-side. The breading crisps up properly in the oven or air fryer, and the interior has a fibrous, pulled texture that's closer to real chicken tenders than the mushy centers you get from cheaper breaded soy products. They hold up well reheated, which matters if you're buying the big bag for meal prep rather than eating the whole thing in one sitting.
Neither product is going to fool a dedicated carnivore into thinking they're eating the real thing, but that's a high bar that even Beyond and Impossible don't always clear consistently across every cooking method. Judged as plant-based food in its own right rather than as an exact meat replica, both hold up: the burger is a satisfying weeknight patty and the tenders are genuinely good enough to serve to non-vegan guests without a disclaimer.
How to Cook Incogmeato
Both products are sold raw or par-cooked and need to reach a safe internal temperature before eating — check the box, since instructions vary slightly by product. The burgers do best pan-seared in a little oil over medium-high heat, about 4-5 minutes per side, or grilled over direct heat with a lightly oiled grate to prevent sticking. Microwaving is an option in a pinch but produces a noticeably softer, less appealing crust. The Chik'n Tenders bake in a conventional oven in roughly 18-20 minutes at 425°F, flipping halfway, or in an air fryer in about 10-12 minutes — the air fryer gives a noticeably crispier result than the oven and is the better option if you have one.
Who Should Buy This?
Incogmeato makes the most sense for shoppers who want a mainstream-supermarket plant-based option without hunting for a specialty brand, and for anyone specifically trying to cut saturated fat compared to Beyond or Impossible without giving up a comparable protein count. It's also a reasonable pick for households transitioning away from MorningStar's older vegetarian lineup toward something fully vegan, since the branding and packaging feel familiar.
It's a less obvious choice if you're chasing the closest possible replica of beef flavor — Impossible still leads there — or if you want the absolute lowest ingredient count, since Incogmeato's stabilizer and color list is longer than a simple bean-based veggie burger. For families juggling mixed vegetarian and vegan eaters, it's worth remembering that Incogmeato and standard MorningStar Farms share freezer space but not always the same ingredients, so double-checking the box still matters.
Price-wise, Incogmeato tends to land in the same general range as Beyond and Impossible at most supermarkets rather than undercutting them significantly, so this isn't a budget pick so much as a distribution and formulation pick — you're buying it because it's on the shelf at your regular grocery store and because you want a lighter saturated-fat profile than the two market leaders, not because it's noticeably cheaper.
Final Verdict
Incogmeato does what a legacy brand's plant-based spinoff needs to do: it shows up in more grocery stores than boutique competitors, it's unambiguously vegan across the whole sub-brand, and it holds its own nutritionally against Beyond and Impossible, especially on saturated fat. The Chik'n Tenders are the standout of the two products tested here; the Original Burger is solid but not a clear step above the category leaders on flavor. For a mainstream supermarket plant-based option, it's a dependable, easy-to-find choice.
Rating: 7.5/10
