Product: Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp – $5.99+
Dear Sophie’s Kitchen:
I love you. I love everything about you. I love everything you develop and offer to the vegan and gluten free community. Your products have gone from wowing me to astounding me. Sometimes I go into something thinking that it will end up horribly wrong, but then…everything about it just seems right.
That was how I felt about the Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp.
For the record, back when I used to eat seafood (and other meats)…shrimp was my favorite thing in life. However, that being said, I never developed a taste for coconut shrimp. I don’t know why…but that was the case. It disgusted me. So, why, then, was I ever tempted to even purchase a vegan version of a seafood I didn’t like? I have no clue. No answer. Nothing except that I get really excited when I see new products from a beloved and trusted company, and that is the case with Sophie’s Kitchen. I have loved everything from the Fish Filets to the Crab Cakes to the Calamari to the Shrimp and Prawns. Love. Just lots of vegan seafood love. I went into it nervous and a little bit concerned and found out that sometimes, the vegan version from Sophie’s Kitchen is even better than I remember the original and actual seafood version being.
Talk about amazing, right?
So that…my dearest readers…has to be why I picked up a box of the Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp. I got new product happy. I couldn’t help it. It was in my freezer for awhile…just begging to be made. And with a little determination to clear out items that I’ve been hoarding in my freezer/pantry/fridge…I made sure that this box of vegan seafood got used this weekend. Enter…Sunday night.
My roommate was craving shrimp po’boys. She told me so. And she reminded me of the box of vegan coconut shrimp in the freezer. I told her that I was a little bit nervous about those as I never liked coconut shrimp to begin with…but she insisted. Po’boys. Besides…one more item out of the freezer. So, Saturday night, I pulled the shrimp out of the freezer and placed it in the fridge to thaw. I finished up grocery shopping (and discovered my local store stopped carrying the gluten-free sandwich rolls…so I had to purchase gluten-free hotdog buns…which are SO not the same!) and came home to a fun afternoon of hanging out with my downstairs neighbors, eating gluten-free lemon chiffon birthday cake (I made it…as my roomie requested it for her birthday and that happened while we were in New York City), cleaning up the apartment, getting laundry done, and taking a nice walk in the beautiful weather. We were both ready for dinner soon after 5 p.m. And Sophie’s Kitchen makes it a breeze.
While my makeshift sandwich rolls (aka: hotdog buns) toasted in the oven, I prepared a sweet chili aoili to put on top of the sandwich itself. I sliced up some grape tomatoes and washed a mixture of various super greens (kale, spinach, arugula). Then, as the hotdog buns were finishing up in the oven, I put a spoonful of coconut oil into a hot pan and gave a quick pan fry to 12 of the Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp. I mean, coconut oil just seemed logical to me. I allowed them to cook on one side for about 3 minutes, then flipped them over to find them a perfect golden brown on the side that had cooked through. So, I did the same on that side, then removed them to a paper towel and began to assemble the po’boys. A little Veganaise…the greens, the tomatoes, the vegan shrimp, then the aoili to top it all off. It all came together so well…even if the bread was a bit of a challenge.
Okay…so I ate a bit of the shrimp on its own first. Why? Because I needed to taste it without my drizzle of aoili on it. Guess what? My tastebuds lit up. And I was amazed with how much I loved this flavor. Honestly…the texture was meaty and perfect…with the crispiness of the breading on the outside and the soft vegan shrimp on the inside. There was this nice sweet kick in the breading that I absolutely adored. And sort of wished I was eating these outside of the actual sandwich itself. Both my roommate and I saved a shrimp to eat alone. Sophie’s Kitchen definitely did it once more and let me know that I can, in fact, love coconut shrimp. Either tastes change or, more likely, they just do it better than the real thing. But, I devoured this faster than any other product I’ve tried from Sophie’s Kitchen. Big, big love!!
So…what exactly is vegan seafood made from? Well, the Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp is made from water, konjac powder, pea protein, potato starch, coconut powder, rice flakes (from brown rice), canola oil, paprikia, fenugreek, organic agave nectar, sea salt, turmeric, white pepper, alginate (from seaweed), and calcium hydroxide. Is it clean eating…nope. Not even close. But…it’s not too bad as processed, frozen products go. Not at all. These are soy-free, vegan (100% plant based), non-GMO, gluten-free, contain no artificial preservatives, no artificial colors, no MSG, they are free of trans fats, and they are cholesterol free. These also contain no added sugar. Nothing about them is artificial. Nothing.
So, let’s talk nutrition. A serving of Sophie’s Kitchen Breaded Vegan Coconut Shrimp is 4 pieces of shrimp. This serving will provide you with 130 calories and 10 grams of fat. This serving also gives you 150 mg sodium and 1 gram of sugar. A serving will give you 12 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and less than one gram of protein. You’ll feel full, but mostly due to what you pair it with. In this case…I made it into a sandwich…and that definitely gives it a dinner heft that kept me full until the next morning.
Once again, blown away by how much I am loving the products that come from Sophie’s Kitchen. Seriously, if you turned vegan, vegetarian, or are gluten-free and want some breaded “seafood”…I encourage you to seek out Sophie’s Kitchen and try it. Take it from me…you’ll fall in love with the products. If Sophie’s Kitchen can make me fall in love with coconut shrimp…imagine what it can do for you.
I’m so glad to be dining on this once more tonight. Beyond YUM!
The Celiathlete 