Review: MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals 2018

MorningStar Farms Grillers Original
MorningStar Farms Grillers Original

Please note: this review refers to the older recipe of the Grillers Original. This was replaced with a newer version sometime around mid 2018. You can read our updated review of the new recipe here.

Are MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals any good?

Definitely! I am a huge fan of these patties on all points. Great taste and texture and easily prepared in a minute in the microwave. Not only that, but they’re a healthier choice compared to some of their competitors.

With the world madly, deeply in love with upstarts such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods lets take a minute to recognize one of the stalwarts of the meat free industry. MorningStar Farms have been at for more than four decades and these burgers are one of the stars in their lineup for my money. We always have some on hand in our freezer for a quick and healthy meal.

First up lets get the obvious out of the way – they don’t bleed faux blood nor do they look at all like a real burger. These are old school vegetarian patties – they’re not even vegan. They’re very much a processed and engineered product (GMO is used here, I’m fine with that mind you) and certainly not a veggie burger in the mushed lentils and carrots variety.

I’d stand these up against my other favorite veggie burger, The Beyond Burger all day long due to two main factors: price and ease of preparation. You can literally sling one of these in the microwave and be eating it 120 seconds later. With the Beyond product, you’ve got several minutes of cooking ahead of you, not to mention clean up – those things spatter grease like no tomorrow. When you’re in a hurry these things are wonders.

Taste wise there’s plenty of umami to keep your palate interested through the whole burger; see below, I even make double burgers when I’m extra hungry. Just be sure to keep a good ratio of toppings to patty as you would with any burger creation. One of my all time favorites – caramelized onions – works really well with these patties I should add. Texture wise these are stellar too, plenty of bite and chew. I doubt you’d fool anyone into thinking these were real meat, but then I think that’s true of all the faux-burger products.

Due to these burgers taste, texture, price and nutrition (see below) these win our coveted Smart Buy badge.

MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals what’s in the packet

In this value pack there are eight patties, there is also a smaller four pack available on the market too.

Morning Star Farms Grillers Original whats in the packet
MorningStar Farms Grillers Original whats in the packet
MorningStar Farms Grillers Original packing front
MorningStar Farms Grillers Original packing front

MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals cooking instructions and nutrition

The triple bonus of these burgers over Beyond and Impossible is the nutrition. There’s virtually no fat here, they’re not trying to emulate the mouthfeel of a real hamburger, so say goodbye to all those saturated fats. And again, as you can see from the packaging, cooking is as simple as can be. I should note that as you cook these from frozen, don’t think about throwing onto the summer BBQ or grill, that would probably fail badly – go with Beyond there for sure.

Morning Star Farms Grillers Original packing back
MorningStar Farms Grillers Original packaging back

What’s a fair price?

I paid $6.48 for this eight pack which makes each patty just 81 cents. Four packs came in at around $3.64 at the same store, just ever so slightly more per patty.

What dishes can I make with MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals?

This isn’t a product you’ll be breaking down to use as ground meat substitute, you can use the Grillers Crumblers for that. You’ll largely be making good ol’ burgers with these patties, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all:

MorningStar Farms grillers originals double burger
MorningStar Farms grillers originals double burger
MorningStar Farms guacamole burger
MorningStar Farms guacamole burger

For a different spin on the usual burger how bout this Italian ‘garden’ roll I made this Summer; using fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden, plus a little balsamic and mayo for good measure – this made for a vibrant Summertime lunch treat:

Italian garden roll with MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals
Italian garden roll with MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals

More MorningStar Farms products and dishes

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6 thoughts on “Review: MorningStar Farms Grillers Originals 2018”

  1. The real original “original” grillers were outstanding. Although still marketed as “original grillers” Morningstar farms has changed the recipe. With the recent change in recipe, grillers are now barely mediocre. Quite a disappointment that the old grillers have been discontinued.

    Reply
    • Ive just finished a packet of the Grillers that I’d say were definitely subpar, is the recipe change you’re speaking of very recent, as in during 2018? I don’t know if this is the change you meant? Certainly they weren’t as good as I recall, more inline with the new vegan burger which I do not care for.

      Reply
  2. i agree with other commenter…if you are trying these grillers “originals” for the first time they might seem ok but for those of us who have been using for decades the new unimproved flavor is noticeable. they taste horrible in comparison and i will no longer buy these. thanks for your reviews for other possible products, i will be trying them out.

    Reply
  3. Yes..something has changed for sure…
    I have been eating for 20 years and loved them…Now they taste like Boca, which I don;’t like

    Reply
  4. Stuart, yes, the recipe changed in 2018. There is a Facebook campaign #savethegrillers. I ate the old recipe for 30 years. This new one is simply gross. So bad that I thought I somehow had a spoiled batch.

    Reply
    • Do you have a link Samuel? I plan to update this post soon with a look at the new product, side by side comparison of packaging etc

      For reference, I’ve now transitioned to the Gardein meatless burger, I’m enjoying that quite a lot now, I too dropped MorningStar Farms revamped burger following the change. Be interesting to see the data on overall market sales post update.

      Reply

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