We're usually skeptical about meat substitutes because so many of them don't taste good or they hardly contain any nutrients. They're just things to chew on.

But we're always open for suggestions, knowing tasty and nutritious meat alternatives exist.

When representatives from Kenny Rogers Roasters got in touch with us to make us try offerings from its collaboration with Beyond Meat for Beyond Burger and Beyond Potato, we couldn't say no.

Kenny’s Beyond Burger is a Beyond Meat burger patty topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo sandwiched between two toasted bun. The patties, said Kenny Rogers, don't contain GMOs. We're not sure if the cheese and mayo were also plant-based but we don't think so.

Here's what we thought of it: Even meat-lovers like us could eat this burger and enjoy it. Except for the edges, which were a bit dry, the burger had a meaty and smoky taste and it was juicy. The tomatoes and lettuce were fresh, too. The burger is quite expensive at Php295 but it's hefty and the patty is very thick, too.

Kenny’s Beyond Mashed Potato is a burger patty nestled on top of a bed of creamy mashed potato and served with mushroom gravy.

Here's what we thought of it: Now, this was the star of the show. We're not sure whether the mashed potatoes contained real milk and butter but they were very creamy and seemed to melt in mouth and was the perfect match for the meaty and smoky but still delicately-flavored burger. The mushroom gravy that came with it complemented the patty and mashed potatoes perfectly. For Php295, this was a really filling and complete meal.

We looked up the ingredients of Beyond Meat and they include: Water, pea protein*, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, contains 1% or less: potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet powder color, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, vitamins and minerals (zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate).

According to verywellfit.com, a Beyond Burger patty has 20 grams of plant-based protein per patty with no GMOs, soy or gluten. Each burger contains 260 calories, 2 grams of dietary fiber and 350 milligrams of sodium with no cholesterol.

Order Kenny’s Beyond Deliciously Healthy meals on kennyrogersdelivery.com.ph or via their hotline at 8-555-9000.