BBQ Chicken with Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips

I love getting meat eaters to try veggie meat for the first time. It’s always funny to see their reactions, but truth be told, I’d rather a veggie meat virgin try their first meat substitute in my home since I know how to cook it and I can mentally prepare them for what’s coming. Often, a big issue people have with veggie meat is the texture. It’s squishy or mushy, not at all what real chicken, beef, pork, etc tastes like. This was especially true in the early years of vegetarian meat products, but more recently many replacements have come a lot closer texturally to the real thing.

One of the best, in my opinion, is the Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik’n Strips. They’re quite a bit firmer than other chicken imitations, and they actually have that sinewy consistency. Although I think they’re a bit bland to serve plain, they’re great fried and thrown into a salad or smothered in a tasty sauce, like BBQ sauce for example.

If you’ve never tried Chik’n Strips, it won’t take long to figure out why I love them. Morningstar Farms introduced this chicken analog at the 2006 Natural Foods Expo Anaheim, California (thank you Frozen Food Age). It was chosen as the Best New Veggie Food. Now you’ll just have to try them, won’t you?

Nutritionally, I give Chik’n Strips a B. The serving size of “12 Average Strips” is pretty generous, plenty to top a salad or balance out a baked potato. They’re low in fat (3.5 grams, zero trans) and have only 130 calories and 6 grams of carbohydrates. They’re also packed with protein (23 grams) and have almost a third of your daily value of Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Iron and Zinc. The one and only problem I have with them is the sodium. 510 milligrams! It’s enough to keep me from eating an entire serving. It would help if the strips didn’t come pre-seasoned, which they do, especially since I usually like to add some additional seasoning.

Chik’n Strips also work great with a marinade or sauce. I used them with my favorite BBQ sauce recipe last week. The strips soaked up a lot of flavor and really hit the spot paired with some boiled red potatoes and a fresh salad. If you try this and happen to have some left over (I sure didn’t, but you never know), they’d be great in a sandwich the next day. If you’re feeling lazy, you could always just slather the strips in your favorite store bought BBQ sauce and throw it all in the oven, but I promise, this recipe is worth the extra work. I adapted it from a Bobby Flay grill recipe in Sunset Magazine.


BBQ Chicken
Serves 6

Brine
2 tbsp kosher salt
¼ c firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp thyme
24 oz Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik’n Strips (3 bags)

Barbecue Sauce
1 imitation bacon strip, finely chopped
1Tbls thyme
2 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
½ onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 c ketchup
¼ c light brown sugar
¼ c molasses
2 Tbls red or white wine vinegar
1 Tbls dry mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix brine ingredients with 2 quarts of hot water in a 2-gal. resealable plastic bag. Add Chik’n Strips, seal and chill for 15 minutes to 2 hours.

To make sauce, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add imitation bacon, thyme, onion and garlic and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook over low heat, covered for 20 minutes.

Remove Chik’n Strips from brine and combine with sauce in large bowl and until all strips are evenly coated. Place in a large casserole dish, cover with foil and cook for 25-30 minutes.

Tips: Brining is really more effective with real meat, but it does a fair job of adding some extra flavor to certain veggie meats as well. I’d say it’s worth the extra three minutes it will take. This sauce is actually designed for grilling, so definitely try it this summer with some veggie burgers on the grill.