One of the reasons I have mad respect for Gardein is because they make it possible to have plant-based Asian food right at home. Sweet and Sour pork used to be one of my favorite Chinese food dishes, and now I can enjoy that dish without involving any pigs. I'm down with the plant-based meats.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical of these Sweet and Sour Porkless Bites at first because looking at the picture on the bag they look puffy like the Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips which is not in my top faves.
As soon as I took a bite of the cooked Porkless Bites, all that skepticism disappeared. These Porkless Bites are a fabulous way to transition from eating real pork. For a plant-based version of sweet and sour pork, these bites are pretty darn delish and they have 13g of protein per serving which is awesome!
The Porkless Bites are best when you pan fry them in some oil so you get that nice crispy outside similar to the crispy outside you get when ordering real pork sweet and sour at a Chinese restaurant. I love that crispiness! I use avocado oil for pan frying.
Speaking of Chinese restaurants, I added some sauteed carrots, onions, and red pepper to my Sweet and Sour Porkless Bites to make it look restaurant style. So good!
The sauce comes in a separate packet so if you do not like the sauce that comes with the bites or you want to try another sauce like an orange sauce or Peking sauce, you can totally do that.