It’s a truth commonly acknowledged by vegetarians everywhere that every time you buy a mass-produced meatless patty, you risk subjecting your taste buds to something that resembles chick pea infused tree bark. Things get more dire for vegans.
And so a group of engineering students from Lund University in Sweden decided to find the formula for a perfect, additive-free vegan burger that could be both mass produced and distributed in a frozen form. The end goal is to sell it to a distributor, because if you crack the veggie burger code, you’d have to be a monster to keep it a secret.
“The first real problem was actually getting it to hold together,” one of the engineers said in a video explainer. They mastered the sticking formula (it took some potato starch manipulation) and tested various blanching methods to keep the cauliflower appropriately crunchy. This scientific masterly led to the birth of the “yellow beet chili burger,” made of yellow beets, potatoes, carrots, cauliflowers, fresh chili, lemon pepper, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and salt. Sounds almost as good as a real meat burger!
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Trump’s Message Worked on Latino Men
- What Trump’s Win Could Mean for Housing
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip That’s Changed Their Lives
- Column: Let’s Bring Back Romance
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Contact us at letters@time.com