Impossible Whopper comparison, side by side with the Classic Whopper

Burger King recently released, nationally, what they call the “Impossible Whopper” sandwich.  In a nutshell, it is a Whopper sandwich with a vegetable based patty that replaces the char broiled beef patty on a classic Whopper.

I decided to do an Impossible Whopper Comparison, side by side with the Classic Whopper.  A difficult task, but someone needed to do it.

Burger King describes the IW as follows:

Our Impossible™ WHOPPER® Sandwich features a savory flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with juicy tomatoes, fresh lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a soft sesame seed bun. 100% WHOPPER®, 0% Beef.

My Back Story

I was on the track team at Auburn University in the early ’70s.  I trained 8 to 10 hours a day either running or lifting weights, burning 8-10,000 calories a day.  I lived at the athletic dorm and ate my meals at the dinning table.  With the exception of steaks, we could eat as much as we could as long as it was in less than 15 mins.

The food was good but 2 hours after eating I was hungry again.  A few of us would inevitably mosey on over to the local Burger King around 8 or 9 pm.  My standard order would be 5 whoppers, 2 orders of large fries and a large orange.  Yep, that would be at least 5,000 calories.

My point is that I am a Whopper expert and have eaten hundreds, if not thousands in my life time.

The Buns are the same

As advertised, and no surprise, the buns are identical.  As far as that goes, the sandwiches are both Whoppers with the exception of the patty.

Let’s get down to the meat of the matter

The Meat Patty is

charbroiled and tends to be slightly undercooked.  Fortunately for me, that is the way I like it.  There is a firm texture to the patty, consistent with beef.  The noticeable feature of the Burger King Beef Patty is the charbroiled flavor.   You know that flavor and can associate the flavor with the smell of flame broiled beef.

The Plant Patty is

underwhelming.  Yes, as much as I wanted this thing to taste exactly like a Whopper, it was without surprise, that it did not.

Why Not?

For several reasons:

• The texture was mushy and if picked up without the bun for support, it would fall apart.
• The taste just wasn’t there.  I’m  assuming the veggie patty was flame roasted too, but I’m only guessing because there was no charbroiled flavor.  This point alone was the deal breaker for me.
• The combined flavor was bland.  With the meat patty the flavors combine to be better than the parts.  The meat enhances the flavors of the mayo, tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle.  Those flavors work together to create a truly good sandwich.
• The Plant Based Patty, not so much.  All the individual flavors are still there, but it does nothing to enhance the the end combo.  I think it is the acid in the beef that makes the difference.  Maybe a little lemon juice, or vinegar would brighten the flavors.  But as it stands, the Impossible Whopper, is aptly named and compares to eating a whopper after removing the beef patty.