Stiftung Warentest examines chicken nuggets and veggie alternatives - which performs better?

Created: 2022-01-28 05:33

By: Maria Dirschauer

Chicken nuggets are not only popular with children.

© Andre Bonn/Imago

Stiftung Warentest examined 15 chicken nuggets products and five veggie alternatives.

Contaminants of concern have been discovered in some.

Chicken nuggets* not only taste good in fast food shops, but also at home.

In all supermarkets and discounters you can now find various suppliers of the crispy breaded chicken pieces in the refrigerated section and freezer.

And that's not all: there are now delicious alternatives for vegetarians and vegans that look confusingly similar to

, but consist of substitute products instead of meat.

- and not only found crispy fun.

Also read:

Stiftung Warentest examines chicken nuggets and vegetarian alternatives

from discounters and supermarkets as well as from organic retailers

were examined .

These include well-known brands such as Iglo, Bofrost and Rügenwalder Mühle.

The prices per 100 grams range from

.

It also ranges

.

The test winners include rather expensive products, but good results can also be seen in the test with inexpensive brands.

There are no

.

That's why there are different ways of doing it: pieces of meat joined together or nuggets made from a whole piece.

The meat is either cooked before freezing or left raw.

Breading is often made from wheat flour, sometimes from cornflakes.

Depending on the manufacturer, veggie nuggets are based on soy, rice, pea protein or corn.

The testers found critical pollutants in seven products examined, above all

.

These substances are produced during pre-cooking or during the refining of fats.

They can potentially cause cancer in the human body.

Mold and a lot of chlorate were also found in some products.

Simply make chicken nuggets yourself

To be on the safe side, you can also make crispy chicken nuggets yourself.

Here's a recipe.

READ ALSO:

Chicken nuggets at Stiftung Warentest: These are the test winners

Among the best rated chicken nuggets there are

.

According to Stiftung Warentest, good quality is also available from 50 cents per 100 grams, for example from Edeka or Kaufland.

No product failed the test.

The worst grade given is "sufficient" (3.8) for the Mekkafood Classic Nuggy.

Also interesting:

Veggie nuggets at Stiftung Warentest: These are the test winners

Interestingly, the chicken nuggets generally have better nutritional values ​​than the

.

Because just because vegetarian alternatives are made from plants, they are not automatically healthier than meat versions.

On average, veggies have more fat but less protein than chicken nuggets.

The

among the five examined veggie nuggets at Stiftung Warentest are:

• Rügenwalder Mühle

  Vegan Mühlen Nuggets (€1.55 per 100 g): "good" (1.8)

• Lidl Vemondo

  Vegan Corn Bites (1 € per 100 g): "good" (2.2)

The other vegetarian nuggets - from Bio Inside, Iglo Green Cuisine and Penny Food for Future - didn't achieve too bad results either, but could only achieve the quality rating "satisfactory".

By the way: You can also make vegan “chicken nuggets” yourself.

Despite using tofu or seitan and chickpeas, you will hardly notice any difference to the meaty version.

Try it.

Source: Stiftung Warentest (complete results behind the payment barrier and in the current issue of the magazine "test" (02/2022))