Burger King Tests Meatless Impossible Whopper (And Even Employees Can't Tell the Difference)

On April 1, Burger King made a pretty huge announcement—the fast food chain is testing out Impossible Whoppers, with plant-based Impossible patties replacing the traditional beef in the brand's signature burger. (And no, before you ask, this isn't an April Fools joke.) There's all the fixings you love on a Whopper: tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, pickles, and sliced white onions, sans meat. And from what we've heard, they taste pretty indistinguishable from the original.

"I had the benefit of being at Burger King headquarters many times over the last several months, and I remember walking through an open office floor serving employees, some of whom had no idea that the Whopper they were trying was made entirely out of plants," Impossible's COO and CFO, David Lee, told Food & Wine. "And I literally remember getting the reaction from certain Burger King employees, the shock of 'wow, wait, this isn't made out of beef?' So after seeing that and the excitement there at headquarters, I became very convinced that we had a great future partnership in the market."

You'll have to wait a little while to try the Impossbile Whopper, since it's only testing at 59 restaurants in the St. Louis area; however, if the tests are successful, the new Whopper would ostensibly roll out to every Burger King across America. In the meantime, there are several other restaurants that carry plant-based meat. Umami Burger carries four different Impossible Burgers: the Original (two Impossible Patties, miso mustard, American cheese, etc.), the Impossible Classic Cheeseburger, the Impossible Trufflemaker, and Impossible Vegan BBQ. You can also find Impossible Sliders at White Castle, and Impossible Burgers at Muscle Maker Grill; Questlove even partnered with Impossible Foods to make a vegetarian cheesesteak, which you'll be able to find at 40 Live Nation venues across the country, in addition to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia (naturally).

The largest carrier of Impossible Meat, at the moment, is Red Robin, which announced on March 25 that it would add an Impossible Cheeseburger to its menu starting April 1—at all 570 locations across the U.S. It comes with standard burger toppings, and you can customize it to your preference. You can also substitute in the Impossible patty for any other Red Robin burger on the menu, which adds a slew of options for people who want to incorporate more plant-based food into their diet.