Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Primal Strips-vegan jerky review

The picture above is from Primal Spirit Foods website.

I have been buying Primal jerky for years now. I like the juicy, "meaty", and flavorful Primal Strips. They are all natural, low in fat, high in protein, and they contain only Non-GMO ingredients. They don't contain any MSG, artificial colors or preservatives. Unfortunately, my local stores offer a very limited selection of this jerky so I could not do a full review based only on two flavors that I knew. Primal Spirit Foods was nice and sent me some samples to try so I had a chance to try all of their flavors. I was even able to share some with few of my friends, some meat eaters and some vegans. They all liked it. Primal Strips are flavorful, moist flaky layers of soy, seitan or shiitake mushrooms. The texture is very different from Vegan Dream Jerky or Tofurky Jerky (Jurky).



"Thai Peanut"-Seitan

1 oz package contains 74 calories, 2 g of fat, 10 g of protein

Peanut butter and fresh Thai basil give this jerky a very nutty and savory flavor. You can taste the peanuts very well. I tried adding some to my stir-fry instead of the usual tofu and it was pretty good.

"Mesquite Lime"-Seitan

1 oz package contains 74 calories, 2 g of fat, 10 g of protein

I love the combination of tangy, salty and smoky flavors. Fresh lime juice, dill pickles and chili give this jerky a really nice flavor.

"Texas BBQ"-Soy

1 oz package contains 81 calories, 1 g of fat, 10 g of protein

This is a sweet, juicy and smoky treat. It has the right amount of spiciness, smokiness and sweetness.

"Hickory Smoked"-Soy

1 oz package contains 99 calories, 3 g of fat, 10 g of protein

I love this salty, smoky jerky. It tastes like it was smoked over a real hickory wood. I am not a big fan of licorice root, but I hardly noticed the licorice in this jerky. I noticed a hint of black pepper though that was very nice. It is so good!

"Teriyaki"-Seitan

1 oz package contains 99 calories, 3 g of fat, 11 g of protein

This jerky does not taste like teriyaki to me, even though it is sweet and salty. It is quite good, but it didn't blow me away.

"Hot & Spicy"-Shiitake Mushrooms

1 oz package contains 108 calories, 4 g of fat, 6 g of protein

WOW! They were not kidding when they named this jerky "Hot & Spicy". It is very spicy. Unfortunately for me, the licorice root overpowers any other flavors in this jerky, so it tastes like a licorice and hot sauce to me. That isn't a bad thing if you like licorice and a hot sauce, specially if they are combined.

My favorite three flavors are "Mesquite Lime"-Seitan, "Hickory Smoked"-Soy, and "Texas BBQ"-Soy. They are amazing!


6 comments:

  1. i JUST ordered this stuff yesterday from Pangea, and I cannot wait. I ordered just one of each to sample. I cant wait!

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  2. I see these all the time, but was always scared to try them out, but I'm definitely going to try them out now after reading your post -- thanks!

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  3. @erinwyso You are welcome, let me know what you think :-) If you prefer more firm and dry jerky, try Tofurky Jurky.

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  4. I was looking up primal stips as i love them. And i found your website. I will show my mom..as she is Czech as well and like to eat mostly vegan.

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  5. @Anonymus Thanks for reading, I hope that you will enjoy my vegan recipes, especially the Czech recipes :-) Let me know your and your Mom's opinion. Thank you

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