EV’s Take: Is it time to dethrone the king of vegan Thanksgiving?
Okay, maybe that’s hyperbole. I was actually excited to review the Tofurky Roast with Gravy in time for Thanksgiving this year. Growing up in a hunting town where no meal was complete without meat, I feel like people loved to make fun of Tofurky. At the time, there weren’t nearly as many plant-based meat options available, so Tofurky was always the butt of jokes about veganism. Maybe it’s because the name sounded funny or because people were apprehensive about vegan or vegetarian diets in my town. It certainly had a bad rap based on how people talked about it when I was a kid, so I think I’ve had this bias against it that I’ve held on to subconsciously for years.
All that to say, Tofurky has always been in the peripheral for me, and I’ve often wondered if it’s really as bad as people made it out to be.
As I mentioned, Tofurky has a long history. It’s been on supermarket shelves for nearly 30 years and is one of the more widely recognized vegan Thanksgiving options. My husband was a staunch vegan in his teens, so he ate Tofurky at every Thanksgiving dinner. We both came to this review with different perspectives. I wondered how the product would reconcile against the negativity I grew up with, while my husband wondered if it lived up to how much he enjoyed it as a teen.
Okay, so does Tofurky actually taste good?
For both of us, it was completely unremarkable. Not bad, not great. A very middle-of-the-road option. Compared to Field Roast’s Celebration Roast, which I reviewed recently, I liked that Tofurky’s wild rice and bread stuffing wasn’t mushed into the roast. Instead, it was an actual stuffing with a distinct texture from the meat, so it felt like you were getting a main and a side dish with one roast. The stuffing was a deliciously savory and moist combination of rice and bread. The “meat” of the roast was just okay. It checked all the boxes of things I don’t like with many plant-based meats: rubbery, bad aftertaste, and dry. Their gravy was better than Field Roast’s but nowhere near as good as Gardein’s.
All in all, I consider Tofurky a fine option for a vegan Thanksgiving entrée, though it’s not my top choice. My husband felt the same way; the product didn’t quite live up to what he remembered, but he wasn’t something he’d turn his nose up at either.
Tofurky Roast Ingredients
The product has three main components: the roast, the gravy, and the stuffing. The roast is made with vital wheat gluten (aka seitan) and tofu. If you have a wheat or soy allergy, you’ll want to steer clear of Tofurky.
Here’s what’s in the Plant-Based Tofurky Roast:
Roast: Vital wheat gluten, water, tofu (water, soybeans, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride), expeller pressed canola oil, natural flavors, sea salt, contains less than 2% of onion, carrot, celery, garlic, leek, rosemary extract, lemon juice concentrate, oat fiber, corn starch, calcium lactate, potassium chloride. CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY.
Stuffing: Water, brown rice, bread cubes (enriched wheat flour [wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid], palm shortening oil, yeast, cane sugar, sea salt), onions, celery, wild rice, expeller pressed canola oil, contains less than 2% of sea salt, spices, dehydrated onion, granulated garlic, natural flavors, cane sugar, sunflower oil, maltodextrin. CONTAINS: WHEAT.
Gravy: Water, wheat flour, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), canola oil, natural flavors, chicory root fiber, corn starch, onion, baker’s yeast extract, salt, carrot, celery seed, garlic, leek, rosemary extract, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, spices. CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY.
Overall, the ingredient list is pretty straightforward, so nothing really gives me pause.
Tofurky Nutrition
| Roast with Stuffing | Tofurky Gravy | |
| Serving Size | ⅕ roast (147g) | ¼ cup (59g) |
| Calories | 300 | 40 |
| Total Fat | 11g | 2.5g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 0g |
| Trans Fat | 0g | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 0mg | 0mg |
| Sodium | 640mg | 260mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 19g | 4g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4g | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 1g | 0g |
| Protein | 34g | 1g |
Is Tofurky roast healthy?
As a reminder, I’m not a doctor, and while I’m not centering my Tofurky roast review around health, I still have my thoughts and things I consider regarding nutrition. In general, I don’t find the nutrition of Tofurky to be problematic aside from the sodium (as usual). But honestly, even the sodium isn’t particularly bad. With a piece of the roast and a generous portion of gravy, you’re looking at about 40% of your daily intake. While it’s a little high for my preferences for a daily or weekly meal, it’s not something that would cause alarm for a special Thanksgiving dinner.
How to cook Tofurky Roast with Gravy
Like Field Roast, you’ll want to thaw Tofurky before cooking, and I give them bonus points for making that very clear in the instructions! You can also cook the roast from frozen, but you’ll need to cook it for longer.
Here’s how to cook it:
- Remove all the packaging from the Tofurky, including the plastic wrap and metal clips.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Place the Tofurky in a baking dish and add ¼ cup water. You can make their recommended baste (recipe below) and pour half of it over the roast now.
- Cover the dish and transfer to the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes if the roast is thawed. For a frozen roast, cook it for 2 hours 20 minutes. Remove the cover and add the rest of the baste, if using. Continue baking for 10 minutes if the roast was thawed initially or 15 minutes if it was frozen.
Tofurky’s Recommended Baste Recipe
Whisk together 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Add 1½ teaspoons fresh or ground sage, if you like. You could also use other fresh or dry herbs like thyme or rosemary.
I opted to brush the roast with olive oil and used veggie broth instead of water since they recommended that as an option in place of the baste.
How to cook Tofurky gravy:
- Stovetop: Add the gravy to a saucepan and whisk over medium heat until smooth and warm.
- Microwave: Their website indicates that the gravy comes in a cup. If you choose to microwave it, you will puncture a hole in the top of the plastic film on the cup and microwave it in 1-minute intervals until warm. My gravy came in a plastic bag, so I followed the stovetop method.
How did EV eat the Tofurky Roast?
As with all the holiday roasts I’m testing, I kept it simple. I prepared the roast according to the package directions. The meat, stuffing, and gravy were filling enough that we didn’t need any additional side dishes, though it would work well with your holiday go-tos like mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, or candied yams.
Where can I buy Tofurky?
As I mentioned, Tofurky is the old standby for vegan holiday options, and you can buy it nearly anywhere. It’s available on Amazon as a standalone roast. You can also buy the entire feast, which comes with a brownie! You can use Tofurky’s store locator to find an online or brick-and-mortar retailer near you.
What do you think?
Have you tried Tofurky? After reading our Tofurky roast review, will it be your go-to holiday meal this year, or will you try one of the new players on the field? Let us know in the comments!
