Home LivingAppliancesKitchenI’ve found the best plant based meat ever – a fake steak that’s perfect for your air fryerHow do Juicy Marbles make veg look, taste and feel so much like meat?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Home LivingAppliancesKitchenI’ve found the best plant based meat ever – a fake steak that’s perfect for your air fryerHow do Juicy Marbles make veg look, taste and feel so much like meat?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
How do Juicy Marbles make veg look, taste and feel so much like meat?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
I like meat, but I have no problem at all with vegetables. Vegetarian and vegan food? Bring it on. It’s delicious, at its best. I think even the most hardcore meat lover now knows that the ill effects of breeding animals for meat production will eventually render it a much rarer delicacy – no pun intended. As plant-based diets become more commonplace – fashionable, even – two approaches are coming to the fore. One is to make vegan and vegetarian dishes in the traditional way, celebrating the sheer… vegetable-ness of them. The other is to try to mimic meat products, using vegetarian ingredients and I’ve tried none better than the wackily named Juicy Marbles.
Fake meats are usually fine and nutritious, but they’re also always a little unsatisfactory if you’re a meat lover. I’m thinking of Quorn here, for instance. It’s abitlike meat… but a kind of cheap, crappy meat. Juicy Marbles is not like that. Their fake steak – Feak as I think they should call it – is intended to replicate the taste and texture of filet mignon. So not just steak but posh steak. Juicy Marbles is aiming straight at the upmarket, previously-meat-eating end of the veggie market. And for my money, they have hit the target and scored.
The Juicy Marbles filet mignon can be cooked however you want, but pan fried or air fried seem the most obvious ways to go. You could have them with myperfect air fryer chips, or take thedouble-cooked air fryer chipsroute. Along with myperfect air fryer chicken, Juicy Marbles is one of thebest things to cook in an air fryerthat I’ve found.
Juicy Marbles filet mignon comes unseasoned and raw and as you can see, it really does look like meat(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
Juicy Marbles filet mignon comes unseasoned and raw and as you can see, it really does look like meat
Juicy Marbles filet mignon comes unseasoned and raw and as you can see, it really does look like meat
(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
So right now, you are probably wondering what the hell Juicy Marbles is made of. Well, here are the ingredients:
Water, soy protein concentrate, wheat protein isolate, sunflower oil, natural flavors, beetroot powder, kappa carrageenan, methylcellulose, salt, yeast extract, iron, vitamin B12.
My best guess is that the veg proteins and kappa carrageenan – a sort of jelly –provide the meaty texture, the sunflower oil is set rather than liquid, so as to provide the marbling, the beetroot gives it a pink, meaty look and the other stuff shapes the flavour.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Once cooked, the Juicy Marbles fake steak still looks a lot like meat(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
Once cooked, the Juicy Marbles fake steak still looks a lot like meat
Once cooked, the Juicy Marbles fake steak still looks a lot like meat
(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
The first thing to be said here is that the cooking instructions are as follows: cook in a pan with a little oil, until crisped. That’s it. No timings, just ‘cook until cooked’, essentially.
Immediately, this is completely different to cooking a real steak. Depending on your attitude to these things, this can be more like a science experiment than cooking, with chefs having very precise rules on seasoning, pan temperature, cooking times, number of flips, internal temperature, resting after cooking etc etc.
These elements are so important with real steak, not least because if you undercook it, in extreme circumstances you may die, and if you overcook it, you’ve ruined an expensive piece of meat. You could presumably eat the Juicy Marbles filet mignon raw and suffer no ill effects, although I doubt it would be a very nice experience. You can stillovercook it though, so I think perhaps Juicy Marbles could include at least some kind of cook time guidelines.
Cooking anything in an air fryer is hardly rocket science though, so I sprinkled a little sea salt, scrunched on some pepper, gave it a spray with my trusty supermarket oil spray and put it on at 200ºC/400ºF for 5 minutes. After that time was up it didn’t seem to me to be all that crispy, so I flipped it over, gave it another little bit of seasoning and oiling, and set the timer for a further 5 minutes.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic, but it looked very much like this press photo from Juicy Marbles.
Mmm… meaty(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
Mmm… meaty
Mmm… meaty
(Image credit: Juicy Marbles)
So that was that. It didn’t seem like there was any point resting this, as I usually would with actual meat, so I just got stuck in to the eating portion of the evening.
The first thing to say is that it was delicious. The second is that it was very much like meat. I am pretty sure most people would not be able to tell that it wasn’t meat, in fact, if you didn’t forewarn them. The crisp outer part was indeed crispy and the inside was succulent. It looked and tasted like meat, with the texture of meat. The smell? Well, that was kind of like a more muted version of meat. Let’s just say it smelled very savoury, at least.
What I question is how much it is like steak or filet mignon specifically. That’s why I said it was just like ‘meat’ rather than just like ‘steak’. The strand-like composition of the Juicy Marbles fake meat was more reminiscent of pulled pork or perhaps brisket.
The flavour was unmistakably meaty, but I think most people who try it might be stumped when you ask them to name exactly what cut of meat it is, or even what animal it came from. As well as meats for slow cooking such as the aforementioned pork and brisket, some might guess at something more exotic such as ostrich or crocodile. Sure, it’s just like meat, but what type…?
Anyway, that is not a criticism as such. It was absolutely delicious, and Juicy Marbles have cracked the whole issue of mouth feel and texture. It’s also worth noting that all I had on it was salt and pepper and all I had on the side was some fries. With a sauce and as part of a fuller meal, I suspect it would seem even meatier.
Juicy Marbles: price and availability
This fake filet mignon is made in Europe and needs to be imported to the UK. The cost is €30 for 1 pack of four 113g steaks, plus €15 shipping. While that is a little expensive, you also have the option of buying 2 packs for €60 withfreeshopping.
Since shipping can take up to 2-3 weeks, you might want to buy in greater bulk, in which case 4 packs (16 steaks in total) will set you back €96, with shipping again included.
In UK money at current exchange rates, that is £38 for 4 steaks pack, £51 for 8 steaks and £82 for a party-sized 16 steaks. That is pricey for plant-based meat substitutes but cheap compared to actual meat.
Needless to say, Juicy Marbles should also be much better for you than a real steak. Each filet mignon contains only 192 calories, and it’s also low in fats and carbs and surprisingly high in fibre and protein. A ‘tenderloin’ version of Juicy Marbles is ‘coming soon-ish’according to their website.
Some air fryer deals right now
Today’s best Air Fryers deals$13.99View$36.47View$49ViewShow More DealsWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Air Fryers deals$13.99View$36.47View$49ViewShow More DealsWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Air Fryers deals
$13.99View$36.47View$49View
$13.99View
$13.99View
$13.99View
$13.99
$13.99
$36.47View
$36.47View
$36.47View
$36.47
$36.47
$49View
$49View
$49View
$49
$49
Show More Deals
Show More Deals
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Samsung Galaxy S25: every leak, rumour and spec we’ve heard before the launch eventThis is everything we’ve heard about the new handsets
This is everything we’ve heard about the new handsets
This case turns your iPhone or Android phone into an e-reader, but there’s a catchActually, there are a couple…
Actually, there are a couple…
I’m a kitchen expert – these are the 7 kitchen trends I expect to see in 2025From shrinking air fryers to AI cameras, here are the kitchen trends I want to see next year
From shrinking air fryers to AI cameras, here are the kitchen trends I want to see next year
Samsung announces new AI home screens for its smart fridges and laundry appliancesSamsung previews its CES launches, including new AI Home screens
Samsung previews its CES launches, including new AI Home screens
Nutribullet Flip review: a powerful, portable blender for smoothies on the goCan this portable, insulated blender live up to its promises of powerful smoothie blitzing on the go?
Can this portable, insulated blender live up to its promises of powerful smoothie blitzing on the go?
T3’s ultimate Christmas dinner gadget guide: for sides, mains and beyondWe take a look at the best dinner gadgets to make Christmas lunch easier and hassle free
We take a look at the best dinner gadgets to make Christmas lunch easier and hassle free
Ninja takes on Instant Pot with its own slow cooker – it’s perfect for one-pot mealsNinja’s Foodi 8-Mode PossibleCooker is finally available to buy
Ninja’s Foodi 8-Mode PossibleCooker is finally available to buy
Brevoy Portable Espresso Maker review: a top battery-powered device for making espressos on the goIngenious espresso-making contraption for top-flight espressos in the great outdoors
Ingenious espresso-making contraption for top-flight espressos in the great outdoors
De’Longhi La Specialista Opera review: is this the best domestic espresso machine ever?Brilliantly easy espresso and cold brew maker for discerning coffee connoisseurs
Brilliantly easy espresso and cold brew maker for discerning coffee connoisseurs
9 Great British Bake Off appliances you need in your kitchenBecome Star Baker in your own kitchen with these Great British Bake Off appliances
Become Star Baker in your own kitchen with these Great British Bake Off appliances
