I Tried Chipotle’s New Plant-Based Chorizo: Here’s What I Thought

When Chipotle announced it was introducing new plant-based chorizo, I had to try it. Here's exactly what I thought of the fast casual's newest plant-based option, which is made from pea protein and seasoned with a blend of spices in a proprietary formula.

I always like to get a bit of everything in each bite, so a bowl was the most suitable option as you can curate each ingredient. Chipotle's new menu has “Lifestyle Bowls,” which are pre-set bowls targeted at specific audiences such as “Vegan Bowl,” “Vegetarian Salad Bowl,” or “High Protein Bowl.”

Rather than choosing one of these options to test out its new plant-based chorizo, I decided to make my own bowl and ordered brown rice, fajita vegetables, black beans, plant-based chorizo, fresh tomato salsa, lettuce, and a side of guacamole. I was a little nervous to dive into the bowl for fear that the plant-based meat would be mushy and tasteless — like some often are — but I was greeted with quite the opposite.

Let’s first discuss the flavor: This plant-based chorizo was packed with all of the seasonings you would want in a burrito bowl — garlic, pepper, paprika, and even some chili. Chipotle really nailed the seasoning with this protein. It packed the perfect amount of punch in each bite, leaving me eager for more.

If you aren't a spice-lover, I would give you a slight caution to the spiciness of the plant-based chorizo as it might not be for everyone. One way to balance out this spice is the addition of guacamole to your Chipotle order, as it softens the spice of the plant-based chorizo.

Moving onto the texture, the plant-based chorizo held its form wonderfully. Often I have found that many plant-based meat options either crumble into pieces upon cutting into it or lack any kind of structure and turn into mush. However, this was not the case here. Chipotle’s plant-based chorizo was the perfect combination of firm and moist, holding its structure as I gathered each of the components in the bowl onto my fork. When biting into it, the plant-based chorizo fell apart in my mouth just as you would want, perfectly mixing with the other contents of my bowl.

Overall, I was really impressed with the extent of Chipotle’s vegan options on its menu. Chipotle’s other vegan meat option, Sofritas, has a much softer texture. If you are searching for something a little heartier with a deeper flavor, I would recommend the plant-based chorizo over the Sofritas option. Because Chipotle has two different plant-based protein options on its menu, it gives plant-based customers a choice when ordering, which isn’t true about most fast-food chains.

When ordering on the Chipotle website, you are able to apply filters such as plant-based, vegetarian, and vegan, which automatically highlight which items are in the selected filters. I am truly impressed with Chipotle’s efforts to include plant-based options on its menu, and it is clear that much thought went into the development of its new plant-based chorizo.

For more plant-based options at the fast-casual chain, visit The Beet's guide to eating vegan at Chipotle.

Fast-food restaurants have finally got the memo that their customer base isn’t just coming through for a burger, fried chicken, or a beef taco. Many now have plant-based foods and are coming up with creative, delicious ways to get more greens on the menu. Here are the 6 best fast-food chains with plant-based options on the menu.

Turns out there’s a lot more to rely on than a salad if you’re eating plant-based. Burger King has the Impossible Whopper featuring a meatless patty as well as a few secretly vegan options such as the French Toast Sticks and Hashbrowns.

Known for its mini square-shaped sliders, this hamburger chain jumped on the plant-based bandwagon at some participating locations. You can find an Impossible Slider on some White Castle menus.

This was the first national Mexican fast-food chain to offer Beyond Meat at the company’s 580 restaurants across the country. Del Taco has the Beyond Avocado Taco on the menu along with the Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and Avocado Veggie Bowl.

Another brand synonymous with beef burgers, Carl’s Jr. offers several plant-based options for veggie and plant lover such as Beyond Famous Star Burger and Guacamole Thickburger.

This fast-food restaurant may have been one of the first you frequented while transitioning to plant-based eating. That’s because Taco Bell has eight million vegetarian combinations and sells 350 million vegetarian items a year through menu substitutions or ordering off their vegetarian menu. In fact, they were the first quick-service restaurant to offer American Vegetarian Association (AVA) certified food options.

From the time it started offering breakfast sandwiches in 2006, the coffee conglomerate became a competitor in the fast-food space. You can get your favorite hot and cold beverages made with almond, coconut or oat milk but there are also plant-based food options available such as the Baja Black Bean Veggie Wrap, bagel with vegan cream cheese and Impossible Breakfast Sandwich.