Quorn is definitely healthier than some meats (but not all)
People are often surprised to learn how much Quorn I eat, especially given that I'm not actually a vegan or vegetarian. I just really like the taste of most of the Quorn products I've tried, I love how easy it is to cook, and most relevant to this article, I love how healthy (most) Quorn products are compared to (most) meat products.
I've been researching online and can see that the healthiness of Quorn is quite a hot topic, so I decided it would be fun and useful to try and figure out exactly how healthy Quorn is compared to meat. I thought it would be useful to pick 3 of the most popular Quorn products which I happen to love - Quorn Nuggets, Quorn Pieces, and Quorn Mince - and to compare them to the meat alternatives to see how healthy they are in comparison. Let's get into it:
Quorn Crispy Nuggets vs chicken nuggets
Let's start by comparing the healthiness of Quorn Crispy Nuggets to chicken nuggets. In this case, I've opted to compare them to the Tesco own-brand breaded chicken nuggets.
The first thing that really catches my eye is the difference in calories, with the breaded chicken nuggets containing 60 calories more per 100g. It's often said to me that the issue with Quorn is that it's not as lean as real meat, but this proves that is not always the case. The breaded chicken nuggets also contain quite a bit more fat per 100g than you'll find in the Quorn Crispy Nuggets - 4.3g more of fat to be exact. And also it's surprising to me to see that the breaded chicken nuggets contain more carbohydrates than the Quorn Crispy Nuggets (2.9g carbs more per 100g), but slightly less sugar.
However, it's not all positive for the Quorn Crispy Nuggets. I was surprised to see that although the Quorn Crispy Nuggets do contain more fibre per 100g compared to the breaded chicken nuggets, the difference is not that big. You'll find 4,5g of fibre per 100g in the Quorn Crispy Nuggets, and 1.7g of fibre per 100g in the breaded chicken nuggets. And perhaps less surprisingly, the breaded chicken nuggets contain 4 more grams of protein per 100g.
So overall, although I wouldn't say the Quorn Crispy Nuggets blow the breaded chicken nuggets out of the water in terms of healthiness, there is no denying that they beat them in pretty much every category. The Quorn Crispy Nuggets are lower in calories, lower in fat, lower in carbs, and higher in fibre.
Quorn Pieces vs chicken breast
Next up is a comparison between the Quorn Pieces and chicken breast. Although Quorn refers to this product as simply "pieces", they look like chunks of chicken and have a similar texture also, so it's clear that's what they're going for and that's why a comparison makes sense (and actually I've noticed that Tesco lists the product as 'Chicken Style').
Once again, Quorn is slightly lower in calories per 100g. The Quorn Pieces contain 98 calories per 100g, whereas the chicken breast contains 106 calories per 100g. The Quorn Pieces are also much higher in fibre as there is no fibre in chicken breast and 3.8g of fibre per 100g in the Quorn Pieces.
But it has to be said that in basically every other category, the chicken breast comes out on top ahead of the Quorn Pieces. The chicken breast is lower in fat, lower in salt, and lower in sugar and carbs. And of course, the most notable difference is that, despite the Quorn Pieces being relatively high in protein at 13g of protein per 100g, the chicken breast contains almost double that amount at 24g of protein per 100g.
It's pretty clear that chicken breast is much healthier than the Quorn Pieces I love to use in my dishes.
Quorn Mince vs beef mince
I thought it would be fair to compare Quorn Mince to 20% fat beef mince, as that appears to be the most popular type of beef mince and also the beef mince that is typically recommended when making dishes such as bolognese.
I was really impressed when comparing Quorn Mince to 20% fat beef mince. For starters, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Quorn Mince is way lower in fat and saturated fat compared to beef mince. The beef mince contains 19.8g of fat per 100g, whereas the Quorn Mince contains just 2g of fat per 100g. Quorn Mince also contains less than half the calories of beef mince - 111 calories per 100g, compared to the 252 calories per 100g found in beef mince. But what most impressed me is that the protein content of the beef mince really wasn't much more than you find in Quorn Mince - beef mince only contains 3.4g more protein per 100g. Beef mince has the slight advantage of containing zero carbs, but even then you've only got 5g of carbs per 100g in Quorn Mince. And then lastly, you get 7g of fibre per 100g in the Quorn Mice, and no fibre in beef mince.
To me, it seems like a total no-brainer to swap your beef mince for Quorn Mince, as it's much healthier in almost every regard.
How does Quorn compare to other meat alternatives?
Instead of comparing Quorn Sausages to meat sausages - because, let's face it, very few people are making the case that meat sausages are healthy - I thought it would be more interesting and useful to compare them to another popular vegetarian product, the Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages.
Quorn Sausages vs Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages
You'll find 198 calories per 100g in the Quorn sausages, and only 191 calories in the same amount of Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages. Quorn sausages also contain more fat than the Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages, with 11g of fat in the Quorn sausages per 100g, and 9.2g of fat in the same amount of the Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages.
But what really surprised me was the difference in protein content - I assumed that the Quorn sausages would be higher in protein, but the Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages contain 14g of protein per 100g, 3 more grams of protein than you’ll find in the same amount of Quorn sausages.
Final thoughts
So as you can see, it's definitely not as simple as just saying that Quorn is healthier than meat or vice versa, because it really depends on what meat you're comparing Quorn to. For example, I think it's safe to say that Quorn Mince is a lot healthier than beef mince and that everyone should consider swapping beef mince for Quorn Mince. And when it comes to nuggets, I'd also say that it's worth swapping your normal chicken nuggets for Quorn Crispy Nuggets. However, it's also pretty clear that chicken breast is quite a bit healthier than Quorn Pieces.
But what really shocked me is that the Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Lincolnshire Sausages are way healthier than the Quorn Sausages, which just goes to show that Quorn isn't always the healthiest meat-free option.
What do you think of my guide? I hope this helps to show that Quorn can be a healthy alternative, but isn't always the healthiest option.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.
2 Comments
Ian
No one would choose to eat Quorn instead of meat unless they were vegan, vegetarian, or a climate loon.
bob
What is the bioavailability of the protein in Quorn? Red meat has a bioavailability of 97% meaning your body
Can absorb and use 97% of the protein for growth and repair. What is the Amino acid profile of Quorn does it
Contain all of the essential amino acids that your body can’t make itself mear and eggs contain all the essential amino acids and many of the n9n essential amino acids.