I picked up three products from Delight Soy at the Grocery Outlet this month. I almost passed on them because they felt like they were stuck together in their frozen package. However, it turned out that they were just tightly packed for more efficient transportation. The items I bought ($2.99 each, compared to the normal price of $7.50) were popcorn nuggets, soy nuggets (“chicken pieces” for stir-fries) and soy patties (for vegan chicken sandwiches).
All of these are part of a new gluten-free range from Delight Soy. For this review, I’m going to focus on the popcorn nuggets but I’ll mention that the soy nuggets worked well in a stir-fry (and I haven’t tried the patties yet).
Our journey began [in 1996] in a small kitchen located in Cary, North Carolina, where we started crafting our very first veggie burgers.
There’s a message on the shop page of the Delight Soy website that prices will have to increase due to the new trade tariffs. It turns out that the company has expanded recently and these new gluten-free products (on sale at the Grocery Outlet) are made in Taiwan. I’ve had some very good vegan products from Taiwan (vegetarian Buddhists make up a good percentage of the population) so I was curious to try these out.
Delight popcorn nuggets – how to cook
I’ve just been writing about vegan cheese and the importance of how you serve it – the same is true to some extent for these nuggets. First off, the bag of frozen nuggets also contains a sauce packet, but the sauce is not mentioned on the package! My first attempt to use the sauce was fine but not great – I basically thawed it and used it as a dipping sauce but I found it to be a bit thin. The sauce is also not very flavorful although it is fairly pleasant in a kind of neutral way. So I think the key to elevating the nuggets is to jazz up the sauce. Here’s how I cooked it the second time:
In a little olive oil, sauté a small amount of shallot or onion (I used one small shallot, finely chopped) for a minute. Add in one small chili, finely chopped (I used a habanero with seeds and pith removed) and some chopped garlic (1-2 cloves) and sauté for one more minute. Then add the thawed Delight Soy sauce and simmer briefly until it reduces a little (1-2 minutes). I cooked the popcorn nuggets in a toaster oven, as directed, although I also tried pan-frying them and they worked out fine this way, too. Once cooked, simply add the nuggets to the reduced sauce and mix, right before serving.
I’ve also tried mixing the cooked nuggets (and sauce) into a veggie stir-fry and also a version where they were combined into leftover gnocchi. They’re actually pretty versatile as I enjoyed them in all meals so far. They have a meaty texture and a combination of protein and fat (including some saturated fat from soybean oil) that creates a chicken-like experience. But I highly recommend spicing up the sauce that’s provided with them (shallot/habanero/garlic and a little reduction).
Delight Soy – popcorn nuggets – ingredients
Popcorn Nuggets: water, textured vegetable protein (non-gmo isolated soy protein, non-gmo defatted soy flour, corn starch), wheat protein, tapioca starch, potato starch, pea protein, soybean oil, 2% or less: pea starch, natural flavors, vegetable proteins, vegetable fiber, sunflower oil, rosemary extract, cane sugar, sea salt, white pepper, yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, pea fiber, guar gum,
Sauce for popcorn nuggets: water, cane sugar, maltose, rice flour, chili powder, ginger powder, xanthan gum, sesame oil
Nutrition Facts, per 60 gram serving size: Calories: 157, Total Fat: 9 g (12%*), Saturated Fat: 2 g (9%*), Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg (0%*), Sodium: 283.8 mg (12%*), Total Carb 11g (4%*), Dietary Fiber 1 g (2%*), Total Sugar 2 g, Protein: 8 g, Vitamin D: 0 mg (0%*), Calcium: 44 mg (3%*), Iron: 2 mg (10%*), Potassium: 61 mg (1%*)
The popcorn nuggets contain some saturated fat (which probably helps to give a meaty consistency) but, being plant-based, do not contain cholesterol. There’s 8 grams of protein per serving and a little dietary fiber (something you don’t get from meat).
Ethical rating for Delight Soy – popcorn nuggets
Here’s a summary of how I feel about the social and environmental impact of Delight Soy popcorn nuggets, which I’m rating 4/5 Green Stars:
- All Delight Soy products are vegan. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change, deforestation, animal cruelty, and food scarcity.
- The soy is non-GMO. This matters to me mostly because non-GMO soy is less likely to be grown from seeds coated with neonics (and sprayed with glyphosate) than genetically-modified soy.
- Products do not contain palm oil.
- Delight Soy is a woman-owned small business.
- Products are now made in Taiwan (stated on the package) but a statement on the company’s About page states that Delight Soy is “A small NC kitchen dedicated to a healthy chicken alternative since ’96.” Some updating is needed here, along with information on ingredient sourcing.
- Packaging was about as small as it can be, reducing the material footprint and also improving transportation efficiency.
Summary scores (out of 5) for Delight Soy – popcorn nuggets:
- 4 gold stars for quality and value – I’m going to pick up some more before they disappear.
- 4 green stars for social and environmental impact
If you have a different opinion, please share your rating! Until next time, stay safe : )
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Why we need crowdsourced ethical ratings
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Grocery Outlet Ethical Bargains 
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