Brian Nagele
With vegan and vegetarian diets gaining more and more popularity lately, meat substitutes and plant-based foods are trending the same way. Plant-based burgers are one of the most popular meat substitutes, even among meat eaters!
Whether you’re doing it for health purposes or even if you simply enjoy the taste, there are plenty of reasons to eat plant-based foods, not least of which is because they’re downright tasty.
One of the more popular plant-based products nowadays are burgers, especially at fast food restaurants. Plant-based burgers have evolved so much over the recent years that there are now a wide variety of restaurants offering them, whereas there used to be only one or two.
With all of these options, it can be hard to choose the best plant-based fast-food burger, and that’s where I come in.
Right down below, you’ll find a guide to all of the most delicious plant-based burgers from restaurants around the country and how they stack up against each other. Keep on reading below to find your new favorite one!
Green New American Vegetarian’s Big WAC
Taking the number-one spot on my list of best plant based burgers is something called a Big WAC from a place called Green New American Vegetarian.
This vegetarian restaurant is located in Temp, Arizona and they have some of the best plant based burgers around.
The Big WAC is made with two of their hand-packed, plant-based patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickles, cheese, and onions on a sesame seed bun. It’s the perfect plant based rendition of the classic Big Mac from McDonald’s.
If you’re in Arizona and you’re in the mood for a delicious plant based burger, this is the place to go.
Arlo’s Bac’n Cheezeburger
For this next entry, we’re heading to Austin, Texas to check out Arlo’s Curbside and their Bac’n Cheezeburger. This burger is everything you could ever want in a plant based bacon cheeseburger.
I highly recommend the Bac’n Cheezeburger from Arlo’s because of the absolutely delicious seitan bac’n that comes on top of it.
This burger also has melted cheeze on it for some extra gooey deliciousness. If you’re feeling extra-hungry, be sure to make it a double and they’ll throw another juicy patty on your sandwich.
Everything works together beautifully with this burger, so I highly recommend it to anyone
Burgerlords’ Double Vegan Cheeseburger
This next plant based burger comes from a place called Burgerlord’s and any California local out there has probably heard of this one.
Burgerlord’s has a delicious Double Vegan Cheeseburger that you definitely need to check out.
Their menu is 100% vegan here at Burgerlord’s, and that includes their cheeseburger. I don’t know what I love more about the vegan burger here, their original plant based blend used in the patty or the 2,000 island sauce that comes on it.
Even the cheese used is vegan. They use Follow Your Heart American cheese on the burgers here at Burgerlord’s.
HipCityVeg’s Smokehouse Burger
Now, the next plant-based burger I want to point your attention towards is the Smokehouse Burger from HipCityVeg. This one has so much flavor, you can hardly even tell it’s not real beef.
HipCityVeg is a vegan restaurant with locations all over the Eastern Seaboard, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and many more.
HipCityVeg uses Beyond Meat, which is one of my favorite plant-based meat brands. In addition to that, the Smokehouse Burger from HipCityVeg comes with crispy onions, tangy BBQ sauce, and smoked gouda cheese.
It’s a delicious combination for the perfect plant-based burger.
Next Level Burger’s The Maverick
The Maverick is the next plant based burger you need to try, and this one is a bit more accessible compared to some of these other burger joints that are only located in one state.
Next Level Burger has locations all over the country, so chances are that you’re not too far away from a tasty plant-based burger. It gets even better because this place also uses Beyond Meat, so you know it’ll taste good.
The Maverick comes with 2 house-seasoned patties, onion rings, tempeh bacon, dill pickles, your choice of cheese, and some amazing BBQ sauce.
Shake Shack’s ‘Shroom Burger
This next plant-based burger has made my list before when talking about the best things to order at Shake Shack. It’s so good, though, I felt the need to mention it again here.
The ‘Shroom Burger from Shake Shack is definitely worth a try.
The ‘Shroom Burger consists of a massive portobello mushroom that’s been stuffed with muenster cheese and then deep-fried to a crispy, golden perfection on the outside, with a hot, gooey mass of melted cheese inside.
Top it off with lettuce, tomato, and ShakeSauce to get yourself the ultimate plant based burger.
Umami Burger’s Impossible Classic Burger
For this next place, you’re going to want to look in the major metropolitan areas like Chicago, New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles for a place called Umami Burger.
This burger joint is unlike any other, in my opinion, and their plant-based burger is just as delicious as their traditional beef burger.
The Impossible Classic Burger is made with Impossible beef, classic sauce, lettuce, pickles, tomato, carmelized onions, and american cheese.
You probably won’t even be able to tell that it’s plant-based because it tastes so much like a regular burger. Vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike will love this one!
Burger King’s Impossible Whopper
Up next is none other than the Impossible Whopper from Burger King.
This one definitely deserves a shoutout for being one of the first plant-based burgers to come out of a fast-food restaurant that I can remember.
The Impossible Whopper is made with Impossible Meat, of course, and it actually tastes a lot like the Original Whopper, in my opinion.
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that it’s flame grilled just like all of their other burgers. That’s probably what makes this one so appealing, plus there are Burger Kings in most cities, so it’s not hard to come by.
Smashburger’s Classic Smash Black Bean Burger
Smashburger is another burger joint with locations all around the country that serves up a delicious plant-based burger.
I really enjoy Smashburger’s plant-based burgers because they’re made with black beans, so it tastes different than some of the other burgers on the list.
The Black Bean Burger comes in many variations from Smashburger, but the best one, in my opinion, is the Classic Smash Black Bean Burger.
The Classic Smash Black Bean Burger is everything you need and nothing that you don’t when it comes to a delicious veggie burger. I always make sure to get extra Smash Sauce on mine.
Vurger Guyz’ The Sunburn Vurger
Last, but not least, is another local restaurant in the Los Angeles area called Vurger Guyz. Vurger Guys is a burger joint that serves up some of the best burgers in LA, especially the plant-based ones.
The Sunburn Vurger is the one I recommend the most from Vurger Guyz.
It comes with a house-seasoned, plant-based patty topped with shredded lettuce, pickles, golden-brown fried onions, a thinly sliced tomato, fried jalapeños, vegan American cheese, Vurger Sauce, and tangy BBQ sauce.
All together, this is such a flavorful masterpiece that you don’t even need to be following a vegan diet to enjoy this burger.
It’s getting easier and easier to find burger joints selling plant-based burgers, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this trend.
Plant-based burgers, when done right, can be simply amazing, so go check out these restaurants to see who’s out there making delicious plant-based burgers around the country and try one for yourself.
