Eating keto can be challenging, but what’s even more challenging is eating keto on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

However that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

There’s a lot of companies making great efforts to provide quality vegan and vegetarian foods at low costs, and a lot of those products are keto-friendly too.

However it can be tough to always know which ones are keto-friendly, and which have way too many carbs.

In this article, I’ll be doing a deep dive on the famous meatless brand known as Quorn, and will get into just how keto-friendly the brand’s products actually are.

What Is Quorn?

Quorn is a meat substitute product that comes from the United Kingdom, and is largely sold in Europe and the continental United States.

Quorn as a company has a wide range of product variants that can be used as both a cooking ingredient and meat substitute in a variety of dishes. Most of their products come in the form of prepackaged meals for microwave or oven use.

All Quorn food products contain mycoprotein as the main ingredient. Mycoprotein is derived from the Fusarium venenatum fungus, and is grown through a fermentation process. It’s the use of this protein that helps their foods replicate the consistency of meat to help cater to both vegans and vegetarians, as well as pescatarians and those who are just looking to cut back on the amount of meat that they consume in general.

In most types of Quorn products, the mycoprotein fungus culture is dried and mixed along with egg albumen, which acts as a binding agent that allows the texture to be adjusted and pressed into a variety of forms.

While the egg albumen is technically not vegan, they also have a vegan formula that instead uses a potato protein as the binding agent, though it is slightly higher in carbohydrates.

As Quorn has grown more popular internationally over the years, it’s expanded its range of product offerings to meet the diversified tastes of both meat lovers and vegetarians.

Some of the most popular products include meatless takes on burger patties (similar to beyond meat), breakfast sausages, mince, deli style turkey slices, and many many more.

You can check out more of their top products and where to find them on their website at Quorn.us

Quorn Nutrition Facts

When it comes to Quorn products, they have a pretty wide range in carbohydrate counts from meal to meal, so it can be hard at first to assess its overall nutrition facts.

For example, the nutrition facts for one serving of their signature meatless nuggets are as follows:

• • 240 calories
  • 10 grams of total fat
    • 0.5 grams of saturated fat
    • 0 grams of trans fat
  • 12 grams of protein
  • 29 grams of total carbohydrates
    • 7 grams of dietary fiber
    • <1 gram of sugar
  • 530 milligrams of sodium
  • 8 milligrams of cholesterol

As you can see, products like these have pretty high levels of total and net carbohydrates. However some of their leaner cooking products products have much lower carb counts. Take for example the Meatless Steak Style Strips, which have the following nutrition facts:

• • 120 calories
  • 3 grams of total fat
    • 1.5 grams of saturated fat
    • 0 grams of trans fat
  • 17 grams of protein
  • 9 grams of total carbohydrates
    • 6 grams of dietary fiber
    • <1 gram of sugar
  • 3oo milligrams of sodium
  • 0 milligrams of cholesterol

With these steak style strips, the net carb count is much lower at only 3 total net carbs, but you also don’t get the same high fat content that you would from an actual strip of steak, so you’d have to find another way to add more fat into your meal.

Another good example is Quorn’s Meatless Grounds, which is pretty comparable in both taste and texture to ground beef. The nutrition facts for one serving of Meatless Ground looks like this:

• • 100 calories
  • 2 grams of total fat
    • 0.5 grams of saturated fat
    • 0 grams of trans fat
  • 15 grams of protein
  • 10 grams of total carbohydrates
    • 7 grams of dietary fiber
    • <1 gram of sugar
  • 50 milligrams of sodium
  • 0 milligrams of cholesterol

So what does this all mean for those trying to follow a keto diet? I’ll explain in more detail below.

Is Quorn Keto-Friendly?

As you cans see above, not all Quorn products are necessarily keto-friendly, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make it work.

I’m a huge fan of their Meatless Grounds, which can lend themselves to a variety of other keto-friendly dishes (you’ll just need to use some extra materials to get that fat content higher).

So to answer the question, yes, Quorn can be keto-friendly, it just depends entirely on which product you’re planning to use.

That’s why it’s important to always do your research when planning out your vegetarian or vegan keto meal, and make sure that the product you’re getting doesn’t have a lot of extra breading and unnecessary carbohydrates that can get in the way of your state of ketosis.

Some other awesome keto-friendly Quorn products include the Meatless Strips, the Meatless Gourmet Burgers, and the vegan fillets.

I like the vegan fillets the most because they’re inherently vegan, and are probably the lowest carb item available out of all Quorn products. The nutrition facts for the vegan fillets are as follows:

• • 92 calories
  • 0.6 grams of fat
    • 0.2 grams of saturated fat
    • 0 grams of trans fat
  • 14.2 grams of protein
  • 3.5 grams of carbs
    • 2.2 grams of fiber
    • 0.2 grams of sugar
  • 450 milligrams of sodium

Keto-Friendly Quorn Recipes

• Brazilian Salad With Quorn Meatless Fillets

Ingredients:

• • 4 Quorn Meatless Fillets, thawed and each sliced into roughly 4 slices
  • One tablespoon of avocado oil
  • Salt, pepper and lime juice to taste

For the salad:

• • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
  • 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup of arugula, washed and drained
  • 1 cup of watercress, washed and drained

For the dressing:

• • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of keto-friendly maple syrup
  • 1 small red chili pepper, diced (or chili powder)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Instructions:

• • Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet
  • Add in the sliced Quorn Meatless Fillets and sautee them for five to six minutes until they are entirely cooked through
  • Season well with salt, pepper, and lime juice
  • Combine the ingredients for the dressing, and mix thoroughly
  • Arrange the salad ingredients on a serving plate
  • Top with the Quorn Meatless Fillets and drizzle on the dressing

• Quorn Meatless Noodles

Ingredients:

• • 6 ounces Quorn Meatless Grounds
  • 2 servings of zucchini squash noodles
  • 3 tablespoons. of keto-friendly teriyaki sauce
  • 2 peeled garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 red chili pepper seeded and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of avocado oil
  • 4 green onions, sliced

Instructions:

• • Bring a large saucepan of water to boil
  • Cook in the zucchini noodles and then set to drain on one side
  • Comine in the Quorn Meatless Grounds, chili, and keto-friendly soy sauce. Mix well
  • Heat the avocado oil in a large wok or skillet.
  • Once the oil has heated up, add in the chopped green onions and garlic and sautee for a minute
  • Finally, add in the Quorn Meatless Grounds and continue to cook over a high heat for two minutes, and then add in the cooked and drained noodles
  • Serve immediately while hot

• Quorn Meatless Chili con Carne

Ingredients:

• • 12oz bag of Quorn Meatless Grounds
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1-2 teaspoons of fresh red chili pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 peeled garlic cloves, minced
  • 1½ teaspoon of smoked paprika
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
  • 3 teaspoons of ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups strained unsalted tomatoes or canned unsalted crushed tomaotes
  • 3 tablespoons of  bone broth
  • Salt to taste (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro leaves finely chopped

Instructions:

• • Heat the oil in a large skillet over low to medium heat
  • Add in the onion, and sautee it for four to five minutes
  • Add i the bell pepper, and cook together for five minutes
  • Add in the chili, garlic, and the rest of your spices, cook for an additional two minutes
  • Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and bone broth
  • Bring entire mixture to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to let simmer for eight minutes
  • Stir occasionally, and add in the Quorn Meatless Grounds to cook over low heat for an additional 10 minutes
  • Season to taste with salt, and stir in the fresh cilantro
  • Serve with your preferred style of keto-friendly tortilla chips